tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8441439.post4605803690227074249..comments2023-11-19T17:31:49.939+00:00Comments on Bristling Badger: criminalising unemploymentUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8441439.post-52620324766971446102008-08-13T01:12:00.000+01:002008-08-13T01:12:00.000+01:00Punkscience, Hari's lament for his alienated frien...Punkscience, Hari's lament for his alienated friend is indeed moving.<BR/><BR/>I'm all in favour of giving people opportunities to train so that they can improve their skills and find something beneficial to do.<BR/><BR/>But making people go for the first McJob that comes to hand under threat of being made to shovel shit for under £2 an hour is inhumane. I hardly see how that would make anyone feel less alienated or aggrieved at the world.<BR/><BR/>It would only be socially beneficial in the sense that someone's making money out of them. The claimant would feel just as or more shit, and there'd still be the same amount of benefits being paid out, just to different people.<BR/><BR/>I don't see this undermines any of what I said; let those who can live happy, active and fulfilled lives on the diddly-squat of dole do it and leave the admin budget to help those who really do need and want help.merrickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10959849087751101034noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8441439.post-67713338322427294322008-08-10T11:09:00.000+01:002008-08-10T11:09:00.000+01:00Dude, I love your work but I have to disagree with...Dude, I love your work but I have to disagree with you on this whole community service for the unemployed thing. I'm definitely with Johann Hari.<BR/><BR/>http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/johann-hari/johann-hari-yes-for-welfare-you-must-be-made-to-work-872836.html<BR/><BR/>I should mention that I agree with you completely on the incapacity benefit thing and that the minister is a cockweasel. <BR/><BR/>Word.punksciencehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05322481220029985750noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8441439.post-57287108642358356662008-08-03T17:13:00.000+01:002008-08-03T17:13:00.000+01:00Paul, I hadn't seen that article. Like so many of ...Paul, I hadn't seen that article. Like so many of the things fossil companies do (BP's solar panels on filling stations, shell sponsoring a competition for renewable energy technology), BMW's hydrogen car is a decoy. It's a way of them saying 'don't worry, we've got a solution coming, everything'll be fine', so we extend their license to operate.merrickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10959849087751101034noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8441439.post-91079812213812249422008-08-02T13:14:00.000+01:002008-08-02T13:14:00.000+01:00"everyone should have more holidays; that our over..."everyone should have more holidays; that our overconsumption of energy is unsustainable and ultimately suicidal, that the idea of economic growth being the point of society needed to be jettisoned and we all need to renegotiate our relationship with work and have a lot more of our lives to do the things that really give us a sense of worth and community."<BR/><BR/>- Pretty much exactly what Robert Tressell was saying 100 years ago.<BR/><BR/>BMW, by the way, were having a pop at Lexus a few months back, claiming that Diesel is a more honest technology than hydrogen hybrid.<BR/><BR/>http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7291323.stm<BR/><BR/>Your article makes that claim stand up. So why are BMW researching a technology they think of as dishonest?Paulhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07477727620596783913noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8441439.post-27222749873286164252008-07-31T11:04:00.000+01:002008-07-31T11:04:00.000+01:00Hello matey,Just want to let you know that, once a...Hello matey,<BR/><BR/>Just want to let you know that, once again, you have successfully cut through all the spin and bluster surrounding a government announcement, and laid out the real issues with clarity, righteousness, and beautifully scathing sarcasm.<BR/><BR/>This was one of those news items that I vaguely heard in the background on the radio, and thought "that sounds a bit crap" without really considering why. After reading your post, I now feel able to defend that position properly against all those people who fall back on the "lazy scroungers" line without really thinking it through.<BR/><BR/>So thank you. Your blog is a Very Good Thing. You might also have inspired me to fire mine up again in time for the Climate Camp.<BR/><BR/>See you very soon I hope...<BR/><BR/>DxDannyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09576844505273423952noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8441439.post-56949629145596429072008-07-25T13:56:00.000+01:002008-07-25T13:56:00.000+01:00One of the things that freaks me out most about al...<I>One of the things that freaks me out most about all this is how clearly it demonstrates that those in power view people solely and strictly in terms of economic value.</I><BR/><BR/>Even madder is that even if you share that view, it doesn't make sense. The musical chairs system is surely more expensive.<BR/><BR/><I>We need to be finding ways to feed, clothe and house people while doing far less "work"</I><BR/><BR/>Absolutely. I remember watching Channel 4 News last summer interview a guy from the Camp for Climate Action at Heathrow. The interviewer kicked off saying 'you want to stop people having their holidays'. <BR/><BR/>The Camper said that no, everyone should have more holidays; that our overconsumption of energy is unsustainable and ultimately suicidal, that the idea of economic growth being the point of society needed to be jettisoned and we all need to renegotiate our relationship with work and have a lot more of our lives to do the things that really give us a sense of worth and community.<BR/><BR/>Not what they were expecting, I'll wager.merrickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10959849087751101034noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8441439.post-91362908560152334012008-07-25T13:26:00.000+01:002008-07-25T13:26:00.000+01:00Well said, Merrick. Good piece.One of the things t...Well said, Merrick. Good piece.<BR/><BR/>One of the things that freaks me out most about all this is how clearly it demonstrates that those in power view people solely and strictly in terms of economic value.<BR/><BR/>I'm not saying it's ever been different, by the way, merely that it should be.<BR/><BR/>And what's worse is the inability of these people to see beyond that model of reality. To realise that most of the economic activity currently occurring on planet earth is a self-destructive.<BR/><BR/>We need to be finding ways to feed, clothe and house people while doing far less "work" (work being literally defined as the expenditure of energy).<BR/><BR/>You just know it'll sink in eventually. But the only evidence will be a single gunshot ringing out from a locked office in Downing Street.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com