A Chilling Sign of the Times

[Portrait]

So, what taxation rates are you suggesting?

Dear Kaninchen,

Cordial greetings and a very good day.

What does admit of no doubt, dear friend, is that it is manifestly obvious that the present rate of taxation in woefully inadequate if those in receipt of welfare relief are having to choose between eating and heating. Basic living standards are drastically falling notwithstanding the governments economic ‘recovery’ rhetoric. The poorest and most vulnerable members of society are loosing vital wallet-filling assistance as social security, including tax-credits, is either reduced or withdrawn altogether. Many, including the sick and disabled, are falling foul of the so called ‘Bedroom Tax’ and suffering severe hardship as a consequence. They are told to find smaller alternative accommodation, which is all well and good, provided there was an abundance of such accommodation. Alas, much of the affordable council housing stock has now been sold off by the ‘right to buy’ policy of the 1980’s. This was not necessarily wrong per se but what was wrong was that the proceeds from the sale of council housing was used to balance the books of regional councils and not used to build more social housing. The result is that now there is a real dearth of such housing and thus many on benefits and low incomes must pay exorbitant rents to private sector landlords - at great cost to the British taxpayer I must hasten to add. This make absolutely no sense at all and the urgent need of the hour is to invest in building more affordable council housing for the poor, rather than to continue paying ridiculously high rents to greedy private landlords out of the public purse.

Moreover, dear friend, it is disgusting that the hierarchy of multi-national companies are taking up to 200% bonuses in times of austerity whilst some of their employees are of so slender means that they can hardly support themselves or their dependents. It is high time that the workers of Britian were paid a decent wage that did not necessitate having to have ‘top ups’ from the government. The labourer is worthy of his hire and it is morally inexcusable that the working poor are being robbed of a decent living wage by their greedy and selfish employers. Even the children of the working poor are being forced live in cold and damp homes because there is no money for heating and this is a national scandal which should cause us to hang our heads in shame.

Some Conservative politicians who have been born with the proverbial silver spoon in their mouths may look away and pretend this is all bleeding heart liberal nonsense but the fact remains that their punitive policies are ruining lives, even those of children. They are inept, dear friend, but they are also heartless and strangely insensitive to the very real need of those who are less privileged. Moreover, there is no room in their welfare ‘reform’ agenda for those who are losers in the struggle to survive and I predict many more victims of the flawed ATOS work capability assessments unless something radical is done, such as scrapping them completely.

Once the Church of England was called the Conservative Party at prayer, but now bishops pray for the victims of iniquitous and inequitable Conservative policies.

God bless.

Warmest good wishes,

Portrait

In Christos

 

[Kaninchen]

What does admit of no doubt, dear friend, is that it is manifestly obvious that the present rate of taxation in woefully inadequate if those in receipt of welfare relief are having to choose between eating and heating.

It isn’t some rich person ‘over there’ who is going to pay for it all, Portrait, it’s all of us ‘over here’, many of whom are not that much better off then the people you’re talking about.

Handing over more money to some, supposedly, wise and beneficent operation that will relieve all this suffering flies in the face of experience, we’ve decades of experience of throwing money at problems and we still have the problems.

 

[edwest2]

I would say to those who are worried about the restrictions or strictness applied to the provision of state welfare payments to disabled or sick people in the UK…

Be thankful you’re not living in Greece, where such provision has all but ceased as a result of the axe taken to government spending.

Some may argue that the rich should bear more of the burden through higher taxation, but the practical effect of this has to be that you can’t tax the rich excessively otherwise they up and leave and take their money with them, at which point you get less revenue that you would have done - i.e. none - and those that are left (the middle classes who can’t afford to escape) have to find even more.

There’s a point at which there are diminishing returns to the state when it is suffering under unsustainable debt. Look at France where a top rate of tax of 75% has just been introduced. Rich French people are leaving in droves.

When a State is simply incapable of continuing to fund itself, then what it provides has to be cut back, either by restricting or reducing what it pays across the board, or tightening up the rules to prevent access to State funding to all but the absolute neediest.

It’s not pretty, it’s not often popular, but ultimately there aren’t many other options. Debt cannot be heaped upon debt infinitely because at some point the country runs out of the ability to service the debt - i.e. interest payments consume more and more of the country’s tax income and leave less and less of it to pay for the things that need to be provided thereby requiring even deeper cuts than before. It’s relatively simple economics and unfortunately that’s the position the UK is in right now and has been for the past 5 years or more since the world financial crisis.

What matters is that where the state is unwilling or unable to support people who have a measure of need, there should be others willing to step in where they are able to. It is our Christian duty to do so. Tax and state spending on benefits is a blunt instrument, Christian charity can be finely tuned to individual need. It’s not worth complaining to the government - it can only spend what is realistically available to it and it has to protect the overall economy of the country. By so doing it thereby enables those who have the resources to be charitable to actually do so by ensuring that their resources remain available to them. The government needn’t take credit for that, but we can take credit for doing what we can and should do.

My friend from Germany explained the situation in Greece quite well. It was all avoidable.

Peace,
Ed

 

[edwest2]

Dear Kaninchen,

Cordial greetings and a very good day.

What does admit of no doubt, dear friend, is that it is manifestly obvious that the present rate of taxation in woefully inadequate if those in receipt of welfare relief are having to choose between eating and heating. Basic living standards are drastically falling notwithstanding the governments economic ‘recovery’ rhetoric. The poorest and most vulnerable members of society are loosing vital wallet-filling assistance as social security, including tax-credits, is either reduced or withdrawn altogether. Many, including the sick and disabled, are falling foul of the so called ‘Bedroom Tax’ and suffering severe hardship as a consequence. They are told to find smaller alternative accommodation, which is all well and good, provided there was an abundance of such accommodation. Alas, much of the affordable council housing stock has now been sold off by the ‘right to buy’ policy of the 1980’s. This was not necessarily wrong per se but what was wrong was that the proceeds from the sale of council housing was used to balance the books of regional councils and not used to build more social housing. The result is that now there is a real dearth of such housing and thus many on benefits and low incomes must pay exorbitant rents to private sector landlords - at great cost to the British taxpayer I must hasten to add. This make absolutely no sense at all and the urgent need of the hour is to invest in building more affordable council housing for the poor, rather than to continue paying ridiculously high rents to greedy private landlords out of the public purse.

Moreover, dear friend, it is disgusting that the hierarchy of multi-national companies are taking up to 200% bonuses in times of austerity whilst some of their employees are of so slender means that they can hardly support themselves or their dependents. It is high time that the workers of Britian were paid a decent wage that did not necessitate having to have ‘top ups’ from the government. The labourer is worthy of his hire and it is morally inexcusable that the working poor are being robbed of a decent living wage by their greedy and selfish employers. Even the children of the working poor are being forced live in cold and damp homes because there is no money for heating and this is a national scandal which should cause us to hang our heads in shame.

Some Conservative politicians who have been born with the proverbial silver spoon in their mouths may look away and pretend this is all bleeding heart liberal nonsense but the fact remains that their punitive policies are ruining lives, even those of children. They are inept, dear friend, but they are also heartless and strangely insensitive to the very real need of those who are less privileged. Moreover, there is no room in their welfare ‘reform’ agenda for those who are losers in the struggle to survive and I predict many more victims of the flawed ATOS work capability assessments unless something radical is done, such as scrapping them completely.

Once the Church of England was called the Conservative Party at prayer, but now bishops pray for the victims of iniquitous and inequitable Conservative policies.

God bless.

Warmest good wishes,

Portrait

In Christos

Dear Portrait,

The wealthy are used to being wealthy. It’s all they know. I can think of no other way to put it but it appears the peasants of today are like the peasants of old. However, a bit of land to grow crops and keep a cow are impractical nowadays. Some people may need to buy surplus military gear: tents, kerosene lamps and rations. If they are fined or chased off, then they simply go elsewhere. Some may be able to scrounge up some wood and build a shack. Landlords may begin to notice, along with the government.

God bless you,
Ed

 

[Portrait]

It isn’t some rich person ‘over there’ who is going to pay for it all, Portrait, it’s all of us ‘over here’, many of whom are not that much better off then the people you’re talking about.

Handing over more money to some, supposedly, wise and beneficent operation that will relieve all this suffering flies in the face of experience, we’ve decades of experience of throwing money at problems and we still have the problems.

Dear Kaninchen,

Hello again and thankyou for your response.

Indeed, but I am chiefly referring to the higher wage earners in this thread. Moreover, since there is different levels of taxation the contribution of lower wage earners will obviously not be anything like those in very lucrative positions. However, I see nothing unjust or indefensible with the wealthy bearing the brunt of heavier taxation.

What history has demonstrated, dear friend, is that when a government closes its bowels of compassion to the poor and sick social tensions emerge and the gap between the rich and poor becomes ever wider, as is the case in Britian today. Moreover, the language over benefits and its recipients becomes much harsher, with the sick and unemployed being demonised as ‘skivers’ who are systematically swinging the lead. This also, I am sorry to say, is what is happening in contemporary Britian.

The fact is, dear friend, that money answers all things and alleviates suffering and hardship. Thus the mother who cannot turn her heating on because of the cost and who fears that her children’s health will suffer as a result, needs the cash to be able to do this. Heating in a modern Western country such as Britain, the seventh richest country in the world, is a basic need not a luxury, as is food and shelter.

God bless and thankyou for your responses.

Warmest good wishes,

Portrait

In Christos

 

[Portrait]

Dear Portrait,

The wealthy are used to being wealthy. It’s all they know. I can think of no other way to put it but it appears the peasants of today are like the peasants of old. However, a bit of land to grow crops and keep a cow are impractical nowadays. Some people may need to buy surplus military gear: tents, kerosene lamps and rations. If they are fined or chased off, then they simply go elsewhere. Some may be able to scrounge up some wood and build a shack. Landlords may begin to notice, along with the government.

God bless you,
Ed

Dear ed,

Cordial greetings and a very good day. Thankyou for your contributions in this thread, which, as always, are so well written. Thought what you wrote above was jolly good.

The poor and sick in Britain today are being really singled out by this present coalition government, mostly, I believe, for political reasons. Having it in for the unemployed and sick is always a vote winner with middle-class voters and is almost guaranteed to secure their cross at the ballot-box. Deplorable and very sad.

God bless and a belated happy New Year, my dear brother.

Warmest good wishes,

Portrait

In Christos

 

[edwest2]

Dear ed,

Cordial greetings and a very good day. Thankyou for your contributions in this thread, which, as always, are so well written. Thought what you wrote above was jolly good.

The poor and sick in Britain today are being really singled out by this present coalition government, mostly, I believe, for political reasons. Having it in for the unemployed and sick is always a vote winner with middle-class voters and is almost guaranteed to secure their cross at the ballot-box. Deplorable and very sad.

God bless and a belated happy New Year, my dear brother.

Warmest good wishes,

Portrait

In Christos

Dear Portrait,

Thank you for the compliment. I dare say that if the poor are viewed as expendable since they are at the bottom of the ladder, some may decide to turn to robbery, or, God forbid, some type of rebellion. It becomes difficult if too many see others near their own class suffering so badly and the government is perceived as deaf. I mean, how can the UK fund troops sent to fight somewhere while the people they are serving are starving or cold or left untreated? I would not want to be a family man and see my wife and children suffering through no fault of their own.

This may sound daft coming from an American, but perhaps a petition should be sent to the Queen.

God bless and a belated Happy New Year to you,

Ed

 

[Kaninchen]

Indeed, but I am chiefly referring to the higher wage earners in this thread. Moreover, since there is different levels of taxation the contribution of lower wage earners will obviously not be anything like those in very lucrative positions. However, I see nothing unjust or indefensible with the wealthy bearing the brunt of heavier taxation.

My goodness, just like magic, tax the rich and all will be well - except, of course, it won’t be. We’ve done the punitive taxation trick before, the result? Stagnation, stagflation.

The fact is, dear friend, that money answers all things and alleviates suffering and hardship. Thus the mother who cannot turn her heating on because of the cost and who fears that her children’s health will suffer as a result, needs the cash to be able to do this. Heating in a modern Western country such as Britain, the seventh richest country in the world, is a basic need not a luxury, as is food and shelter.

The fact is, Portrait, that there’s no magic bullet for this. Year in/year out, the money has to be raised and taxing ‘the rich’ isn’t going to cover it, it may raise part of it but most is going to come from ‘average taxpayers’.

 

[Avila123]

Whilst much that has been said is true about some of the sick and unemployed, there is the other side of the coin. In the UK, many unemployed get free housing, repairs, prescriptions, dentistry, glasses, and childcare. We have unemployed single people being housed in well maintained 3 bedroom houses with solar panels, whilst families are crammed in tiny flats or houses. A working person cannot afford the rent on many places as they are priced out of the market by people on benefits.

Many unemployed are also immune from the law as they suffer no consequence for their crimes. They go to court (even after violent crimes) and return laughing loudly, yelling threats at everyone and pointing out the truth - they were untouchable. No one gave a toss for the workers or the vulnerable, except the media who pointed out injustice after injustice, until the government was forced to bring in some protections for taxpayers and the vulnerable.

The value of the benefits, often exceeds the total income of working families. A system that results in working people living a lower standard of life than the unemployed is unsustainable. It isn’t funny when you have to stop taking blood pressure pills, suffer untreated IBS and cannot buy glasses when your eyesight weakens, because all of your wages are paying basic bills (no treats) and taxes to support the unemployed and there is nothing left for medicine. Meanwhile, your unemployed friend can afford to eat out, buy fresh fruit, chocolate, have a TV and DVD player etc. Your brother refuses to work until he gets a highly paid job saying it is beneath him to take any job and the Government owed him, forgetting the free education (including university) and 10 years of receiving benefits that exceeded my take home pay from a full time job. No wonder there is resentment.

We need a balanced view and system. One that supports those who genuinely struggle to support themselves for whatever reason. A system that treats people with dignity, does not give up on enabling those people to fulfill their potential, whether in paid work or a few hours of voluntary work. For those who deliberately make themselves unemployed (and I have had the misfortune to met many of them), the system should support them with training and education whilst slowly withdrawing all but the very basic support so that they have the incentive to work.

Now we have a system that expects people to undertake some voluntary work in return for benefits, enabling individuals to gain experience and skills. Many are grateful for the opportunity, others gain dignity and value through the experience, equally others complain that doing a few hours of work a week in exchange for benefits is slave labor, a violation of their human rights and the work is beneath their perceived value of self. The people paying their benefits work full time, sometimes in jobs they hate, in jobs they are over-qualified for, in work places where they are bullied or harassed, walk miles to and from work, work unsocial hours, and drag themselves into work when they are ill or in the middle of chemo-therapy or on dialysis. And at the end of it, our pensions are cut and working life extended, soon only the rich and unemployed will enjoy pensions.

Our Diocese calls upon all its flock to give to support those in genuine need and we have pensioners and people on low incomes denying themselves a treat to give to Food Banks. They do it because they are confident that the need is genuine whether the recipient is employed or unemployed. And notwithstanding this post, I answer the call as God has blessed me with a little more than is sufficient for my needs if I am careful and prayerful. I simply resent giving (whether through tax or other means) to enable others to enjoy a comfortable lifestyle without any effort on their part.

 

[esieffe]

Hi,
I am strictly guessing here, but even with the British government’s illegal manipulation of the requirements for public assistance, I would guess the level of protection exceeds those that are in place in the US. There seems to be a complete and intentional lack of understanding concerning those with mental disabilities.

There have been and always will be a group of people who are indeed guilty of the sin of sloth who can indeed work, but I would imagine they are a minority. It is a shame when there is a system in place to help people and that system is intentionally and inappropriately maligned in order to save some money. In the case of Briton, the people who are being maligned are of a type who often cannot successfully defend themselves. I am quite sure this problem is not limited to the UK.

Thank you fro bringing up this important issue.

 

[Portrait]

Whilst much that has been said is true about some of the sick and unemployed, there is the other side of the coin. In the UK, many unemployed get free housing, repairs, prescriptions, dentistry, glasses, and childcare. We have unemployed single people being housed in well maintained 3 bedroom houses with solar panels, whilst families are crammed in tiny flats or houses. A working person cannot afford the rent on many places as they are priced out of the market by people on benefits.

snip/

Dear Avila123,

Cordial greetings and a very good day. Thankyou for your contribution to the discussion.

Let me begin by saying that I am jolly glad that our Welfare State provides such basic needs as free prescriptions and dental care for God’s poor in Great Britain. This is surely something to celebrate and I struggle to understand why any Catholic would demur at such humane provision. Would any of us, for example, wish to see one of our fellow citizens pacing up and down the room with rampant toothache because they have no money for basic dental treatment. Again, would we really want to see essential medication denied to those suffering acute mental health problems, simply because they are not in work, most probably owing to said mental health problems? Moreover, let it not be forgotten that those in receipt of state benefits are still taxed and that this money is automatically docked from their entitlements. In any event, the vast majority of those who claim some sort of welfare relief have previously been in regular full time employment, sometimes for a considerable period of time, and have therefore paid their share into the system. Contrary to popular belief, only an infinitesimal number of bogus clients are actually exploiting the benefits system and thus to speak of high benefit dependency or a burgeoning benefits culture is nothing more than misleading extreme right-wing rhetoric - rhetoric which may dupe readers of the Daily Mail, but which does not fool the rest of us.

Since the introduction of the so called ‘Bedroom Tax’, single people cannot now occupy properties with more than one bedroom, without loosing some of their housing benefit. Some see this as perfectly fair and reasonable and it would indeed be, if only there were an abundance of smaller affordable properties into which such people could relocate to. Then there is also the deep seated prejudice against the sick and unemployed, fuelled by the present government and the right-wing media, which means that many private sector landlords will not let to those in receipt of welfare. Indeed, one landlord in the north of England has said that he intends to give notice to quit to some 200 of his tenants who claim benefits. That, dear friend, is utterly disgraceful and is nothing short of discrimination against vulnerable people who are already very down on their luck. Moreover, those who claim housing benefit usually have to pay a shortfall on their rents, which given their meagre benefits is often jolly crippling, especially given that they must also now pay a proportion of Council Tax as well. Certainly the cost of private sector housing is exorbitant and this, alas, does cost the British taxpayer a great deal of money. However, as I said previously, successive governments have failed to build affordable additional council housing for those of slender means (not just the sick and unemployed), following the sale of much council housing stock. Now the taxpayer is paying the price for this monumental failure by having to pay greedy private landlords who are happy to milk the system. Therefore, it is not the fault of welfare clients that they must live in expensive private sector accommodation - blame should be laid at the foot of government for not investing money wisely in affordable social housing.

The working poor of Britain are experiencing a low standard of living because greedy employers will not pay them a decent living wage, which is an entirely different matter, dear friend. However, this, I concur, is scandalous and urgently needs to be addressed.

Look here, dear friend, we certainly must not encourage men to be feckless freeloaders and I would shout from the rooftops that work is a positive reinforcement in giving a man a sense of self-worth and purpose. However, surely the government of a civilised country has a moral obligation to provide for its poor and vulnerable citizens. The fact is that not every person will be able to hold down a job, either because of a severe physical disability or chronic mental health problem, perhaps both. These poor souls will never be able to enter the world of work and therefore must be cared for indefinitely, without continually having ‘prove’ they are unwell at degrading and flawed work capability assessments. Many of us our deeply concerned that modern Britain is moving towards disability denial, simply because of misguided ultra right-wing political ideology. This is just wrong and God will not prosper a country that allows such inhumane treatment of its most vulnerable citizens.

It is uncharitable and a grave injustice to tar all benefits clients with the same brush and imply, as many are wont to do, that a high percentage are malingerers who are probably being dishonest as to the gravity of their medical condition. An urgent rethink is required on this whole topic of welfare and the hysterical prejudice and language surrounding benefits clients needs to be exposed for what it is. At the current time there is no “balanced view” of this topic and that is the problem.

God bless and thankyou for your (name removed by moderator)ut.

Warmest good wishes,

Portrait

In Christos

 

[Portrait]

Hi,
I am strictly guessing here, but even with the British government’s illegal manipulation of the requirements for public assistance, I would guess the level of protection exceeds those that are in place in the US. There seems to be a complete and intentional lack of understanding concerning those with mental disabilities.

There have been and always will be a group of people who are indeed guilty of the sin of sloth who can indeed work, but I would imagine they are a minority. It is a shame when there is a system in place to help people and that system is intentionally and inappropriately maligned in order to save some money. In the case of Briton, the people who are being maligned are of a type who often cannot successfully defend themselves. I am quite sure this problem is not limited to the UK.

Thank you fro bringing up this important issue.

Dear esieffe,

Cordial greetings and a very good day. Thankyou for your contribution to the discussion.

Indeed, dear friend, as you say there does appear to be an intentional want of understanding on the part of the present British government as regards welfare and its recipients. To take just one example, many of us here experienced some elation when G.P.'s (family doctors) at the British Medical Association’s anual conference voted unanimously to ditch, and jolly sharpish, the notorious Work Capability Assessments used by the government to determine whether an individual is fit for work. The doctors realized that enough was enough and that it was time to wash their hands of this grubby little episode once and for all and find another more secure and stringent way of testing sickness and disability. However, to date, the flawed ATOS assessments remain and the government has refused to acknowledge that the testing is not working, notwithstanding that it has repeatedly been brought to their notice that the work capability assessments are simply not fit for purpose. There is a stubborn refusal to face facts. Though the British tax payer pays the French owned IT company ATOS multi-millions a year to administer the screening of the sick and disabled, the failure rate of the product is substantial (three quarter of the people processed are failed but then win on appeal). The government seem not to be really bothered that appeal tribunals are overturning ATOS based decisions at an alarming rate. Unfortunately, dear friend, this is what takes place when a government is driven by an ideological war against a countries weak and defenceless citizens. Once you have started with such a shameless agenda it is exceedingly difficult to stop, at least without loosing credibility with your core voters, namely the chattering middle-classes.

The British public who never tire of bemoaning their taxes being spent on the welfare budget should stop to think of the multi-millions squandered administering the flawed ATOS assessments. This money could surely be better spent by providing for the genuine needs of the sick and disabled, ensuring that they can live their lives with some degree of dignity. Moreover, those who are employed ought to reflect upon the human cost of these flawed work capability assessments. People need to think about the very negative impact that these degrading tests have upon the physical and mental well-being of those who are subjected to them. Rather than aiding the possible journey back to work, they are actually impeding people’s progress by exacerbating condition’s, possibly rendering them permanently unfit for work. In short, dear friend, they are counter-productive and therefore a total waste of tax payers money.

If we are a modern civilised country, dear friend, then we are under an obligation to provide for the needs of our poor and sick, from the cradle to the grave if necessary, and it was this very noble principle that was at the very heart of the foundation of the British Welfare State. Of course people will trot out the hackneyed argument, like Kaninchen above, that it is the hard pressed taxpayer that has to fund the welfare budget, but there really is no alternative, we either let our most vulnerable members of society fend for themselves and possibly die, or we provide for them through state taxation of all working people. There is nothing inequitable or morally repugnant about this and, thankfully, many working people with a social conscience would concur. Who knows, we may well have to have recourse to the Welfare State ourselves at some point - perhaps a serious long term mental health problem that prevents us from returning to work.

No, dear friend, no government, no matter how benevolent it may be, will ever succeed in totally eliminating poverty - “the poor ye have always with you”, but that should not stop us in making every endeavour to eradicate it form our midst. Even our Prime Minister, Mr. Cameron, spoke with apparent passion concerning the damage done by inequality in his 2009 Hugo Young lecture: “We all know, in our hearts, that as long as there is deep poverty living systematically side by side with great riches, we will remain the poorer for it”. However, once elected, the uncharitable and harsh language that he and his ministers used to blame the poor for their plight was utterly despicable and untrue and you have to go back to Edwardian times to find politicians and social commentators so viciously dismissing all on low incomes as cheats, loafers and drunks. Such language only serves to perpetuate the myth of a bloated benefits culture with rampant daily abuse. However, this taps into the deep and unkind prejudices of middle-England, which relishes having its worst fears confirmed and who will gladly vote for any politician who will be ‘tough on welfare’.

God bless.

Warmest good wishes,

Portrait

In Christos

 

[Portrait]

Dearly beloved friends,

Cordial greetings and a very good day. May I just thank everyone for the latest batch of responses and contributions to this thread.

Residents of Great Britain may be interested to know that on February 19th, 2014, campaign groups including Disabled People Against Cuts, ATOS Miracles and Black Triangle have called a national demonstration to protest against the shameful inhumane treatment of people receiving disability benefits.

There are protests planned outside every ATOS centre. For more details go to ukrebellion.com/atosdemo

God bless and goodbye for now.

Warmest good wishes,

Portrait:tiphat:

In Christos

 

[silver2soul]

“Hey mate alls not so good on th eother side of the fence?”

Here in the US with our ever increasing deficit many of us hide in our “bunkers” trying to ignore the infraction our society is incurring. The end times and the revelation all speak of continual decay and the eventual outcome that cleanses and purifies, but we still have to remain steadfast and faithful to one another in love. We fail that because we love money rather than GOD/JESUS CHRIST and each other. Capitalising on “things” rather than on the one true faith grounded in love.

I see people driving around in Mercedes, bmw’s, ashton martins, and wearing expensive attire and inappropriate forms of garbs that model lust rather than appropriations of modesty.

“WE THE PEOPLE…where is that when we the people is more like “I” the person to some extent?” There are homeless people eeking out existence in hovels when passerby’s with wadfuls in their “pockets” ramble by or live next door in luxurious houses and instead of giving the less fortunate opportunities to better themselves and thrive they hoard their allowances and buy those cars, boats, houses, etc. for what? “FOR WHAT?” The greeed of their own desires and selfishness when others are in need here in the US and around the world.

“How can the love of GOD be in anyone when they see and know there are homeless people in this world that suffer and die because we don’t love one another!!!” …and some of us do have enough or more than enough to give. “What excuse do we have when we do not love one another?”

Praise be to GOD the heavenly father and his son lord JESUS CHRIST forever>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

 

[edwest2]

Here’s the deal. One can drive down a certain street in Detroit and pass buildings that look like they were targets in a war zone. Burned out, abandoned or vandalized. But 1,000 feet later, one enters Grosse Pointe. Modest to opulent homes and mansions. Flowers. People walking their dogs. A quick look through the rear view mirror gives the impression that one has just left a movie set while entering a world filled with obvious signs of wealth. Wooden street signs. The list goes on.

I don’t write this assuming that those who live there are any better or worse than the rest of us. However, I did hear one priest on Catholic Radio who has a parish in a posh suburb. He said, “Christ said he came to comfort the afflicted. My job is is to afflict the comfortable.”

It is easy to lose perspective when a young lady has the means to dress and be groomed as if she just stepped out of a page of Vogue circa 1959. Wealth can be like a drug that dulls empathy and compassion for some.

Peace,
Ed

 

[Portrait]

Dearly beloved friends,

Cordial greetings and a very good day.

In a previous post (# 31) I referred to the vast amount of British taxpayers money that has been squandered administering the unfit for purpose ATOS work capability assessments. ATOS is the private company employed by the British government to screen the countries sick and disabled to determine whether or not they are fit work, or least capable of moving towards employment via work programmes. Recently, to the astonishment of nearly everyone, the ATOS chief, Joe Hemming’s, claimed that people were satisfied with the job his company was doing, notwithstanding that politicians informed him the sick and disabled had been left in desperate circumstances as a consequence of incorrect assessments. Clearly, if Mr. Hemming’s really believes that his company are doing a sterling job, then he must in denial and live in some fantasy world. The only people who can possibly think that ATOS is fit for purpose must be those who have bought into the present demonization of the sick and unemployed by the coalition government and the ultra right-ring media - the *Daily Mail *and Channel 4’s ‘Benefits Street’ immediately spring to mind. The sick and unemployed are a convenient scapegoat and harsh welfare cutbacks will always ingratiate a government with the electorate, especially with those devoid of any mercy for those who are losers in the struggle to survive.

It is high time, dear friends, that this French owned IT company was given its marching orders forthwith. Many genuinely sick and disabled claimants that have been assessed by ATOS have been told that they are fit for work, even though they are suffering from long-term mental and physical illnesses. Alas, in some very sad cases people have died after being wrongly assessed by an unqualified assessor. When this is added to the high number of successful appeals against this company’s medical reports one begins to get some idea of just how incompetent ATOS actually is.

As one British politician corrects observed, dear friends, Mr. Hemming’s must be living in a “parallel universe” when he says that ATOS is “liked”. Evidently he does not have much thought for the multitudes of vulnerable people who’s lives have been seriously blighted by his company. These people’s lives are exceedingly difficult already without them having to be subjected to humiliating assessments and having vital benefits drastically cut or withdrawn. If some men had their way I cannot help but think that they would bring back the Victorian Workhouse, such has been the hardening of attitudes against the sick and unemployed in Great Britain

God bless.

Warmest good wishes,

Portrait

In Christos

 

[Portrait]

Dearly beloved friends,

Cordial greetings and a very good day.

So as to avoid any misunderstanding let me say that I agree that the welfare system must weed out bogus claimants who are swinging the lead, if not only because they are causing *bona fide *claimants to be evil spoken of. Moreover, it is quite true that we need to improve the efficiency of the system, ensuring that taxpayers money is wisely spent and goes to those who most need it because they cannot, owing to chronic mental/physical ill-health, be part of the work force. However, what we do not need is the national vilification of the sick or unemployed such as we have in Britain today. Improve the benefits system by all means (who would argue against that?), but do so in a way that does not engender fear, anxiety, further illness and death. Defective work capability assessments that result in finding very sick and disabled people able and capable of work is surely not the way forward in a civilised country. Last year the Dean of St. Paul’s Anglican cathedral (London) held a service for the multitudes of people who died within weeks of being wrongly declared fit for work. This is very tragic indeed and clearly evinces beyond any doubt that something is seriously wrong with this governments so called welfare ‘reforms’. Indeed, many charities and the British Medical Association have said that these flawed work assessments must stop, but thus far they have gone unheard. What many of us see is a plain violation of the human rights of many vulnerable persons because of an ideological war being waged by the present government.

It is, dear friends, utterly disgraceful that attitudes towards the sick and disabled have hardened during the course of the present administration. The government, edged on and supported by the their friends in the ultra right-wing tabloid press, enact punitive but ultimately unworkable legislation targeted at the most vulnerable members of British society. All this whilst the corporate tax dodgers cosy up with the Inland Revenue and billions are lost - billions that could be channelled to the Welfare State and the needs of the sick and disabled.

Being sick and disabled is not a lifestyle choice and could happen to anyone at anytime, including you or one of your friends and relatives. The urgent need of the hour is for more compassion and mercy in Britain, for the way in which a nation treats its most vulnerable says a great deal about that country - more than economic prosperity in the final analysis.

God bless and goodbye for now, dear friends.

Warmest good wishes,

Portrait:tiphat:

In Christos.

 

[KyrieEleison17]

I would like to see the Catholic hierarchy in Britain speaking out against this. I have e-mailed the Archbishop of Westminster THREE times on this subject since July and haven’t had as much as a token, automated reply. I gave up in the end. If that’s the level of indifference we are dealing with at leadership level, then I guess it** is **up to ordinary Catholics (again) to do as you suggested. One does wonder if the architect of these reforms (a Catholic) has his feet under the table at Archbishop’s House…

Best wishes,
Padster

Luke 9:50
But Jesus said, Forbid him no more; the man who is not against you is on your side.

Sometimes people can’t speak. It may be a character defect in the end and between your Archbishop and God; but do not be dismayed by this, for the reason our Lord gave above.

Rest assured, someone opposed to the idea or your concern would have gone out of their way to frustrate, confuse or obstruct you. The Archbishop did not.

 

[Portrait]

Dearly beloved friends,

Cordial greetings and a very good day.

It gladdens one’s heart that both Catholic and Anglican Church leaders have denounced the British government’s draconian welfare reforms and have highlighted the misery and hardship which they have engendered. For far too long the sick and unemployed have been unfairly demonised and there are, alas, very few voices who plead their cause. These so called reforms mean that often very vulnerable people are left without money for days, weeks and even months and that cannot be right in a civilised society. Many of my fellow countrymen are actually going hungry, which is why there is a growing use of ‘Food Banks’. Only last week a government report came out during parliamentary recess that showed, contrary to uninformed opinion, how the vast growth of these food banks is not spurring demand. Indeed, the report states that the opposite is true, namely that the huge need for the food banks is actually driving their numbers. Throughout the length and breadth of Britain people are desperately struggling to feed themselves and their families owing to cuts and changes to welfare benefits, outrageously inadequate wages, unacceptable benefit delays, zero-hour contracts and many other reasons. Whilst poverty cannot be utterly eradicated, the very sad fact is that people living in the sixth richest economy in the world are bereft of the most basic needs such as food and warmth. You have parents who cannot afford to adequately clothe their children and who are looking in despair at empty food cupboards, wondering how they can keep skipping meals without their children noticing. Teenagers are arriving at school weak and exhausted and, therefore, too hungry to learn.

It is very fashionable nowadays, dear friends, to blame the poor for their poverty and to imply that they are indolent or ‘skivers’ who want something for nothing. This is manifestly unkind and untrue and is part of the harsh rhetoric unrelentingly churned out by the coalition government and the ultra right-wing press. In any case, many of those who resort to food banks are the *working *poor trying to survive on very low wages. Contrary to popular belief there is no bloated welfare benefits culture, merely a small percentage of people who are exploiting the system, but this has always happened and always will in a fallen world. Moreover, disability-related fraud is estimated at a mere 0.5% (Source: DWP), which necessarily means that only an infinitesimal number are bogus claimant’s who are fraudulently abusing the system. Welfare miscreants are very small minority and thus most people who are recipients of disability benefit are bona-fide claimants who’s illnesses preclude them from being part of the work force.

Tax avoidance, dear friends, amounts to a loss of £30 billion pounds as compared to £1.2 billion in terms of welfare benefit fraud, not that his somehow excuses the latter, but it does help one to get things in perspective a little. Surely the stench of tax avoidance disgusts every decent, hard-working man in Great Britain. The problem truly runs a great deal deeper than any benefit abuse, but I cannot really see any government zealously tackling it, especially no the present one. Tax-cheating individuals and companies owe this country billions, but the Conservative-led government will probably never make any effort to recover this unpaid money. However, it will mercilessly take vital money from the sick and disabled to ingratiate themselves with the chattering middle-classes in the hope of securing their vote. Why, one could be forgiven for thinking that the poor and vulnerable are the real villains, not politicians, lord’s, multi-national companies, entertainers and others who swindle their taxes and expenses. Everyone has to their way in tax according to what they earn, especially the rich and powerful who are earning thousands a week. If these tax dodgers paid their dues then the country would have more money for the sick and needy, many of whom are bereft of the most basic needs such as food and warmth.

God bless.

Warmest good wishes,

Portrait

In Christos

 

[holyreyes]

Dearly beloved friends,

Cordial greetings and a very good day.

As a resident of Great Britain I have become increasingly concerned with the climate of hostility towards my countries sick and unemployed, fostered by politicians and misguided ultra right-wing journalists. It now seems that these, often very vulnerable people, are considered fair game and somehow deserve to be vilified and demonised. Odious comparisons are drawn between ‘skivers and strivers’ and the mentally and physically sick are subjected to harsh and unsound work capability assessments, simply designed to declare them fit for work, regardless of how unwell they actually are. The grim reality is that many poor and vulnerable people are either loosing or being denied essential welfare benefits to which they are rightfully entitled. Many find themselves unfairly ‘sanctioned’ by the DWP (the British government department responsible for administering welfare) for *alleged *violation of the rules. Now am I alone in thinking that all of this highlights a new and troubling trend in this supposedly tolerant nation? Why, it is now almost tacitly assumed that the vast majority of unemployed are feckless ‘scroungers’ and that those claiming sickness benefits are probably swinging the lead and almost certainly exaggerating the extent of their medical condition. Is it any great wonder then that in the current age of austerity the unemployed and disabled have become easy scapegoats?

It is a chilling sign of the times, dear friends, that such a harsh new mood towards the sick and unemployed has become acceptable and normative. What admits of no doubt is that there has most certainly been a hardening of attitudes among the British public, so much so that if one even dares now to defend the sick/jobless then one may find themselves being branded a ‘bleeding heart liberal’ and even a Socialist. Unfortunately, much of the blame for this sad state of affairs must rest on the shoulders of the extreme right-wing press and the present governments ill-conceived welfare reforms. There has in recent times been a new dialogue respecting disability, characterised by the unremitting drip-drip of stories implying that the vast majority of benefits claimants are bogus and live a carefree lifestyle at the taxpayers expense. We are continually told that benefits have been doled out without proper checks and that people have, for example, been given indefinite disability payments just because they feel a little depressed and stressed. Alas, very few people are prepared to stop and ask if this is merely ultra right-wing political propaganda, designed to curry the favour of the chattering middle-class and secure their vote on the ballot paper.

Alas, dear friends, it is a sad fact that there has been a significant increase in articles about ‘benefits cheats milking the system’ and ‘feckless scroungers and skivers’ in the media. Moreover, this propaganda, for such it is, is not only to be found in tabloids like the Daily Mail, but also in quality broadsheets. However, what is also very noticeable is that alongside the increase in such shameful articles is a gradual reduction in reports on discrimination and sympathetic stories about the sick and unemployed. Politicians remark that they cannot be held responsible for the actions of the media, but they are clearly not ignorant as to how the game is played.

However, dear friends, it is not only the press who is to blame. Much of the propaganda has emanated from the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP), which has twisted facts, manipulated statistics and distorted data to win widespread support for its drive to cut costs and crack down on benefit abuse. Now it does not take rocket science to see that this cascade of spurious claims and scandalously spun stories results in demonising the sick and unemployed and hardening public attitudes towards them. In reality, levels of fraud for disability benefits are 0.5%, much lower than for other benefits and, indeed, less than the level of errors made by government officials. This is certainly a glaring and despicable social injustice, but what is far worse is that the British public have largely allowed themselves to be duped, hook, line and sinker. Sadly, you will always find a celebrity to voice their disapproval on the plight of badgers, but you would be hard pressed to find any who will champion the cause of the sick and unemployed and denounce the shameful injustices being perpetrated against them.

If, dear friends, there is one group who have really suffered as consequence of the British governments recent welfare reforms, then it is those with mental health problems. Incontrovertably, they have felt the coldest chill of the new mood of intolerance of which I have been speaking. The problem for these poor souls is that often they do not look obviously disabled and are therefore targeted as being workshy or of not thinking positively about what they can achieve. This is jolly patronising and based upon sheer ignorance.

My plea, dear friends, is for the Catholic faithful in Britian to champion the cause of the sick and unemployed and be a voice for them. Please write to your Member of Parliament and raise the issues which I have discussed, stating your dissatisfaction with the way that your fellow citizens are being treated in a supposedly civilised society.

God bless and thankyou kindly for taking the time to read the above.

Warmest good wishes,

Portrait:tiphat:

In Christos