Youth Unemployment

[1976_Child]

And here we have exactly why people need to look at themselves first and foremost before blaming politicians (of every persuasion) and banks and everyone else, for them apparently 'not being able to afford' things. Sure, the world is full of problems and a lot of them are caused by politics, banks, capitalism, immigration and god knows what else, depending on your standpoint, but ultimately, the person in control of your finances is YOU, so if you need to moderate your spending but don't, then that's your choice.

 

The phrase 'I/we can't afford it' is one of the most used these days, but actually, if people were honest, what a lot of them really mean is: 'I could afford it if I gave up something else, or didn't waste money on non-essential things, but that's my choice so I can't complain'.

 

There are many who are genuinely struggling, and I really feel for them, but the genuine cases are often overshadowed by people effectively crying wolf.

 

 

Absolutely spot on. I have been going through all my regular spending recently. Anything non-essential goes. I am now weighing up whether I need to pay Sky £45 per month. Especially as I just received a marketing letter from Bupa and so just to see how much it would cost for comprehensive health cover I logged on to their website and went through the quotation process ticking every single box, i.e. the most comprehensive cover. The monthly premium? £88.80. Now, compare that - which provides world-class, clean hospitals and prompt (like tomorrow) diagnosis and treatment against sitting on one's backside watching sport on tele. Personally, I won't be joining Bupa just yet, but the comparison is there for all to see.

 

It is still actually very possible to live on a very little, quite comfortably. Whilst I acknowledge that having kids is a whole new ball game, as a single man I can have a roof over my head, heating, clean running water, in-door lavatory and electricity all for only £800 per month. And this includes paying the council to collect my rubbish, fix the roads, provide social services to the community (and thus crime down), policing (and thus crime down) and education for the neighbours' children. In all, a veritable gamut of services. I can feed my body for about £100 per month extremely healthily (cooking from fresh and eating meat sparingly) and add another £50 for travel around town and all-in-all I need only £950 after tax which is only £1,100 per month before tax and NI (go to http://www.listentotaxman.co.uk if you don't believe me). Sure, there are no luxuries but who said luxuries were necessary? They ain't. To most of the world's population running clean water is a real luxury whereas a new wizzy phone every 6 months is just weird). Ok, so I would have to mend my own clothes, darn my socks, and perhaps shop for every-day wear at budget outlets or even Oxfam shops but it is possible to dress smartly without 'logos' and do it cheaply.

 

(£1,100 * 12) / 48 = £275 per week gross pay - allowing for 4 weeks of doing nothing, if not a luxury holiday.

 

£275 / 45 = £6.11 per hour. Minimum wage for 45 hours a week.

 

168 hours in a week - 45 hours at work - (say) 10 hours travel = 113. Now, 113 hours - 49 hours (7 hours kip a night) leaves 64 hours in the week to just doss around. And that is the real reason we are still rich beyond an African's wildest dream. (ok, so there are some rich Africans). Having all of the above AND 64 hours free time per week would have been though crazy just a few generations ago.

 

I totally agree - people assume that they are just plain entitled to all the luxury they have. In reality they are not. And in reality they will still be living way, way, way better standards of living than not only the vast majority of the planet today, but also at levels only attainable by Kings and Emperors just a few hundred years ago.

Edited 17 October, 2011 by 1976_Child

[Lord Duckhunter]

 

 

I totally agree - people assume that they are just plain entitled to all the luxury they have. In reality they are not. And in reality they will still be living way, way, way better standards of living than not only the vast majority of the planet today, but also at levels only attainable by Kings and Emperors just a few hundred years ago.

 

Spot on and it is why these idiots who the BBC wheel out every now and again to bang on about "child poverty" in the uk, really **** me off. It's an insult to the millions of poor people around the world, and to the past generations in this country that really did have nothing.

 

There was a Woman on QT the other week asking how she was going to put food on the table, as she had suffered a "pay freeze". I'm sure people who really live from hand to mouth dont have time to pop onto QT and whine about how poor they are.

 

We have too many people in this country who consider the defination of "poor" to be, someone without the latest phone, holiday, car or TV. My Grandmother died at 98 leaving just £300.However she would have been proud of that having struggled all her life as my Grandad had Multiple Sclerosis and was in a wheel chair for years(in an era when there wasn't much help).She never once considered herself poor or complained about what she could not afford.

[Thedelldays]

As I have said on here before, an ex works for the local council assisting poor families etc..some of the stories of many who demand everything delivered to them..

laptops, bus passes, trainers, gift vouchers, school uniforms etc etc...some essential..some plain not and many parents demanded (very rudely) that these things are delivered to them...asking them to pick them up was like asking someone to poke their own eyes out..

 

whilst she used to do visits there was nearly always a car in the drive way, sky dish on the wall, playstation in the lounge, huge telly etc etc.........

 

the sense of entitlement is a disgrace....give people what they need..not what they think they deserve

[1976_Child]

the sense of entitlement is a disgrace....give people what they need..not what they think they deserve

 

I couldn't agree more.

 

(at this point, the keen observer will notice that I appear to be going against my usual dune-bashing anti-capitalism ravings. I am still very much opposed to the unfettered free market, crony capitalism, growth-obsessed neo-classical economics of the last 30 years. But one can be against all those things and still be appalled at the sense of entitlement of the non-working population)