Regicollis
19th March 2012, 12:21
To sum up the debate on poverty and unemployment benefits where I live it has recently changed for the worse helped by a bourgeois media monopoly without even a wishy-washy social democratic outlet to counter the bourgeois class war.
Previously whenever politicians debated poverty they came up with all kinds of moronic excuses as to why there was no poverty at all. The most amazingly stupid excuse was the claim that "poverty does not have anything to do with money".:eek: It was bad but at least those in power were so ashamed about poverty that they tried to deny it.
But now the debate has shifted towards pundits and politicians talking about how the poor are not poor enough. All kinds of petty questions have been aimed at the poor and unemployed like "is it OK that they can afford to smoke/have a dog/have an internet connection".
But the most saddening example on how the unemployed are being slandered is how the media has been filled with the claim that "it doesn't pay to get a job". The claim is that the difference between unemployment benefits and minimum wage is too low. However we don't have a legal minimum wage here so the surplus/demand-mechanisms of capitalism will logically put the minimum wage just above the unemployment benefit.
These claims have been followed by a lot of low-paid workers directing their anger against the unemployed. It is really saddening to watch what seems like a deliberate bourgeois divide and conquer strategy with the purpose of preparing the public for new reductions in welfare.
There is certainly a lot of genuine and legitimate anger among those who work shit jobs for low wages. It is easy to see that they should unite with the unemployed and direct their anger towards the bourgeoisie if they wanted to better their situation.
But how can one penetrate the bourgeois media flak with this message? Working class people in this country have become so brainwashed that they buy into the bullshit about workers and company owners having a shared interest in being competitive in a global market.
Previously whenever politicians debated poverty they came up with all kinds of moronic excuses as to why there was no poverty at all. The most amazingly stupid excuse was the claim that "poverty does not have anything to do with money".:eek: It was bad but at least those in power were so ashamed about poverty that they tried to deny it.
But now the debate has shifted towards pundits and politicians talking about how the poor are not poor enough. All kinds of petty questions have been aimed at the poor and unemployed like "is it OK that they can afford to smoke/have a dog/have an internet connection".
But the most saddening example on how the unemployed are being slandered is how the media has been filled with the claim that "it doesn't pay to get a job". The claim is that the difference between unemployment benefits and minimum wage is too low. However we don't have a legal minimum wage here so the surplus/demand-mechanisms of capitalism will logically put the minimum wage just above the unemployment benefit.
These claims have been followed by a lot of low-paid workers directing their anger against the unemployed. It is really saddening to watch what seems like a deliberate bourgeois divide and conquer strategy with the purpose of preparing the public for new reductions in welfare.
There is certainly a lot of genuine and legitimate anger among those who work shit jobs for low wages. It is easy to see that they should unite with the unemployed and direct their anger towards the bourgeoisie if they wanted to better their situation.
But how can one penetrate the bourgeois media flak with this message? Working class people in this country have become so brainwashed that they buy into the bullshit about workers and company owners having a shared interest in being competitive in a global market.