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The unemployable

Mooks | 21.04.2011 21:14 | Social Struggles | Workers' Movements

Interesting article.... a dependency on the state through welfare.
This made me think: What happens when we manage to destroy The State?
Where will these people who are so dependent on it get their money from?
I realise many can do things like get a grant off the Arts Council or something, but if we are talking about 80,000 that is going to be a lot of hungry mouths.

More than 80,000 Britons claim payments for long-term sick leave because of obesity or drug or alcohol addiction, contributing to a 7 billion pound annual bill for Incapacity Benefit, the government said on Thursday.

Out of these, more than 21,200 alcoholics and drug addicts have been receiving the payments for over 10 years, according to the Department for Work and Pensions.

"Far from being the safety net it should be, the benefits system has trapped thousands of people in a cycle of addiction and welfare dependency with no prospect of getting back to work," Employment Minister Chris Grayling said in a statement.

As part of its welfare reforms, the government has started reassessing the circumstances of 1.9 million people off work on Incapacity Benefit to see if they are fit enough to return to employment.

Ministers promise more help to those out of work but threaten sanctions against those who avoid getting a job.

The changes are politically risky and could provoke a public backlash, coming at a time of rising unemployment, state spending cuts and an economy weakened after a deep recession.

Mooks

Comments

Hide the following 6 comments

Are you serious...?

21.04.2011 21:28

What you mean the State is destroyed but capitalism remains intact and people still need money and welfare...? I suggest you read some books on politics and anarchism.

Anarchist


Was there supposed to be a link to an article in this?

21.04.2011 23:22

Was there supposed to be a link to an external article in your post? It doesn't really make sense otherwise.

Sure anarchy means no centralised welfare state, but people with health problems or disabilities would be looked after in their communities.

If people took the piss by taking without contributing their fair share I imagine they would be told to leave and would have to resort to begging or petty theft to survive.

anon


Capitalism's detritus get meanstested welfare while the rich are subsidised

22.04.2011 02:14

Lets be clear. The welfare claimant section of society are not a drain on public finances. Infact, while the Tories publicise long-term claimants as being like a boil that needs to be lanced, it's clear the economy is largely one in which the rich are in effect subsidised whilst the poor are meanstested, not least in the way that RBS, Lloyds TSB, HBOS and Northern Rock were all bailed out by the taxpayer because they all squandered their investments on the roulette table (we just bought them new chips to gamble away again).

The welfare claimant section of society are not a drain on public finances as compared to other considerations. For instance,

- The amount lost to tax avoidance per year is estimated to be between £20-£25 Billion, eclipsing the annual sum total of Incapacity Welfare (£7 billion).

- The amount given to the EU each year (£10 Billion+) of which £3.3 Billion comes back in CAP subsidies is predominantly dished out to the biggest landowners in this country, in a country of collossal land inequity where 189,000 families (less than 1% of the population) own over two-thirds of the UK's 60 million acres (69%) and pay no tax (they are infact subsided to do so, with subsidies dished out in proportion to land acreage) on that acreage except council tax on their homes.

- Privatised rail companies are subsidised by the taxpayer, yet guarantee dividends for their shareholders, whilst customers pay through the nose (taking the piss, even more so before when maintenance of track and rail infrastructure was initially completely compromised after a botched privatisation by the last Tory government at the expense of the public‘s safety leading to several major rail accidents). As well as this constant subsidy, loads of dosh has gone to some of these private companies - such as First Great Western, who in 2008/09 received a secret £50 million bailout from the taxpayer.

- Billions are estimated to be wasted in the public sector each year (this is currently being addressed by the current government aka efficiency savings). The Counter Fraud Service in the NHS cut expenditure through targetting reductions in waste/fraud by £800 Million over a 8-year period. [Source: "Reckoning up the true cost of fraud", by Jim Gee, The Guardian, 14/04/2010]. If this was extrapolated across the whole public sector, it would amount to 4.57% of total public expenditure - £31 Billion which over 8 years would be £3.8 billion a year.

And what are the long-term origins of this capitalist detritus? Most immediately, it is because of post-industrial structural unemployment which is a given in countries with largely post industrialised economic systems. And going further back, we're here because that's where "they" put us. Sheep ate men as our commons were enclosed, then "they" made us wage slaves as we packed off to live in sardine city. Then "they" exported that model of economic slavery across the world whilst continuing to constantly steal from us time and time again as is the nature of capitalism.

"They" obviously refers to the capitalists.

The structure of the capitalist system remains as it has been for 100s of years - a few hundred corporations and a handful of countries monopolising the world’s financial and productive resources, ie. monopolies and cartels who out grew their domestic markets to expand internationally, (corporations who legally have the rights of individuals into eternity). However, now the capitalist consumer class (the bourgeois) is not nation-specific, with tax havens around the world protecting vast stores of personal wealth, notably including various islands in the Caribbean under Royal protectorate, which also act as conduits for speculative investment venture capital which remains poorly regulated (the cause of the 2008 financial crash). A lack of adequate regulation has allowed shareholders and upper management to become dominant stakeholders, which has also extended into greater financialisation. And it is an economic system driven by ruthless demand for growth on account of a banking system which creates credit at compound interest, creating an economic playing field of predatory competition configuring state infrastructure largely in support of the financial growth of those sectors of the economy accruing most value with a non-democratic allocation of credit (credit is extended purely on the basis of short-term profitability and no other concerns so leading to an economic system which is structurally brittle whilst corporations' drive for growth means greater internalisation of profit). Meanwhile, whilst the profits are always privatised, the losses are nationalised (taxpayer bailout).

the Land is Ours!


sounds like now

22.04.2011 07:16

> Sure anarchy means no centralised welfare state, but people with health problems or disabilities would be looked after in their communities.

By who? People currently have to be coerced to pay their taxes to fund the welfare state using a threat of a lengthy prison sentence. Under anarchism rule, why would the 60million of britain act any differently towards "the needy" (or in the case of this article - the lazy addicts).

> If people took the piss by taking without contributing their fair share I imagine they would be told to leave and would have to resort to begging or petty theft to survive.

In other words, exactly like now except these people would have nothing rather than a few bob off the state. So, they'd actually be worse off? (not that i'm arguing - if it was my decision - I wouldn't pay such people anything or give them anything. I don't have any spare money, and I don't get out of bed early in the morning to feed a drunk or a drug addict).


Does anarchism mean the disbandment of money?
I doubt most people will subscribe to that. You'd need a police force to enforce it.

rex


AV Forum

22.04.2011 11:01

This is actually a last stand by the politicians trying to say 'hey,look over here, is this normal?'.

As the final drops of blood were extracted from their brains, there was a black cat moment as the expressions in the room, turned to smiles. I can't believe, no bodies, going on, about PR. The only answer in my eyes. Power to the voice. Political ToretteS.

Steak and Kidney


Fight back!

22.04.2011 11:43

Disability activists, claimant groups and anti-cuts campaigners have called a week of action against poverty pimps Atos Origin beginning on Monday 9th May with a picnic and party in Triton Square*, home of their head office, at 2pm.

 http://benefitclaimantsfightback.wordpress.com/2011/04/15/national-week-of-action-against-atos-origin-begins-monday-9th-may/

riotact
- Homepage: http://benefitclaimantsfightback.wordpress.com/


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