I have been poor.
I held the same values and work ethic I have now.
It was not fun.
I got lucky, the things I tried to improve my lot worked - to an extent.
There are just as many lazy despicable wealthy people as there are lazy despicable poor people.
Wealth and social standing does NOT guarantee a good heart and up standing moral fibre.
I'm not defending people who refuse to try and improve their situation in the belief the are owed a keeping from the state. But I know, from experience, that sometimes your attempts to improve your lot in life come to nothing.
When that happens, and you're on your uppers, then you have a right to support.
Pre-benefit system Britain was not great. It was a place where the poor, and that was nearly everyone by the way, was either worked to death from a very early age or left to die as a lost cause.
The reason it was changed, by people in government who had grown up within that society, was that it was morally undefendable and just plain wrong!
That has not changed.
We all have the responsibility to care for each other, that goes hand in hand with our responsibility to care for ourselves to ensure we don't over burden others.
The second part of the above is what has failed to be taught to many generations and THAT is what is wrong, not the system.
If modern politicians believe that removing the welfare state, and the NHS, will improve the lives of individuals in Britain then they are wrong. Very, very wrong.
If they believe that it will keep the wealthy rich and widen the gap between those that have and those that don't, which I believe is their main concern, then they are right.
And that is not to mention the rise in crime that'll go with it.......
And one last thing,
Anyone can be poor.
It can happen to anyone, very quickly.
If you are poor, I wish you well in improving your lot.
If you are not, then long may it stay that way.
And if you are in power, how about taking good care of the poor just in case you end up as one of them?
