Poll: Government Spending Philosophy

[DanaC]

Something worth bearing in mind during debates about how much should be spent on this or that - is that most of us don't really know the facts on the ground.

Unemployment figures for example. If lots of people grossly over estimate the numbers of people unemployed and claiming benefits, then that can have a profound effect on whether or not there will be support for a welfare safety net.

It is interesting, that many of the countries which least overestimate the rates of unemployment, are also the ones that probably have the least anti-welfare rhetoric in the public sphere.

The elite have done a serious number on us (Brit and US). The economic elite wrecked the economy through shady dealings, and their friends, the political elite secured them a raft of assistance, low taxes and greater freedom to make profit without having to consider petty little things like a decent wage and working conditions for the workforce, whilst convincing us all that we went broke paying for welfare and the country simply cannot afford to keep throwing money at the massed ranks of the poor and indigent - they convince us every year that there are hordes of workshy chancers and we go with that.

Meanwhile social mobility has never been lower.

When there was a bigge safety net in place - when there was greater levels of assistance available to various people in need, from low income families to the unemployed - there was greater social mobility. All this talk I hear about not wanting people to become reliant on welfare - its bollox. The percentage of claimants, certainly in the UK, who claim as unemployed for longer than one year is minimal and has been for a long time. There's always been a small core of people who stay on for years and years - but the overwhelming majority of people who claim unemployment benefits do so temporarily. And the vast majority of people who claim benefits at all are either old age pensioners or working people on low wages or low hours. And the rates for fraud are very, very low - and have been for as long as they've been recording estimates.

But we get sold the picture of generational dependency for unemployment, with kids whose parents never worked, and now they don't work - and it's a lie. It accounts for such a small fraction of the whole - but the entire lower income bracket gets shat on in the name of that lie. And stopping benefits doesnt inspire people to climb higher - it makes them double down on what they already have - it makes people scared of leaving the shitty low pay job because at least it's a job.

Better safety nets for the whole people and fewer perks for the ones who actually broke the bank.