I want doesn't get
Once of the most ugly things about living in the UK today is the very effective way in which Labour has manipulated the national psyche for its own purposes, and sought to legitimise the politics of class hatred and envy and to engender an attitude of entitlement without responsibility or merit.
This rot is setting in at all levels of our society: no teacher can discipline an unruly pupil without running the risk of infringing his rights, dangerous prisoners are released by a litigation-phobic probation service and law-abiding citizens are warned to hide their MP3 players and mobile telephones so as not to encourage muggers and pickpockets.
Labour has even allowed this nasty culture to permeate one of its most noble goals: that of eradicating child poverty. There are a number of ways of defining child poverty, but the one used by the Government is to define child as living in poverty if the family's income is less than 60% of the "contemporary median equivalised household income". By using this subjective test and measuring child poverty relative to national average wages, Labour is further reinforcing the attitude that if you have less than someone else, this is somehow unfair and something should be done about it.
I do not wish to denigrate from the very difficult conditions in which some of our poorest families live, and nor do I wish to detract from the very laudable work of the ECPC. I wholeheartedly agree with the Government's aims to provide assistance and opportunity to help lift families out of the cycles of unemployment and poverty which can be so destructive. However, I would point out that on an international scale, British families can hardly be said to be living in poverty (i.e. living on less than a dollar a day). We do have a welfare state which provides housing, healthcare and income support for the poor.
The thing with which I violently disagree is the culture of entitlement which seems to eminate from the New Labour machine. Part of growing up is realising that you cannot always have what you want, although you can work to try and obtain it. Too many people in this country are not learning that "I want doesn't get" and are instead adopting an I-want-therefore-I-deserve attitude to life. If we are to succeed at restoring respect in our communities, a good start would be teach children (and adults) the satisfaction of achieving things for which they have worked.
This rot is setting in at all levels of our society: no teacher can discipline an unruly pupil without running the risk of infringing his rights, dangerous prisoners are released by a litigation-phobic probation service and law-abiding citizens are warned to hide their MP3 players and mobile telephones so as not to encourage muggers and pickpockets.
Labour has even allowed this nasty culture to permeate one of its most noble goals: that of eradicating child poverty. There are a number of ways of defining child poverty, but the one used by the Government is to define child as living in poverty if the family's income is less than 60% of the "contemporary median equivalised household income". By using this subjective test and measuring child poverty relative to national average wages, Labour is further reinforcing the attitude that if you have less than someone else, this is somehow unfair and something should be done about it.
I do not wish to denigrate from the very difficult conditions in which some of our poorest families live, and nor do I wish to detract from the very laudable work of the ECPC. I wholeheartedly agree with the Government's aims to provide assistance and opportunity to help lift families out of the cycles of unemployment and poverty which can be so destructive. However, I would point out that on an international scale, British families can hardly be said to be living in poverty (i.e. living on less than a dollar a day). We do have a welfare state which provides housing, healthcare and income support for the poor.
The thing with which I violently disagree is the culture of entitlement which seems to eminate from the New Labour machine. Part of growing up is realising that you cannot always have what you want, although you can work to try and obtain it. Too many people in this country are not learning that "I want doesn't get" and are instead adopting an I-want-therefore-I-deserve attitude to life. If we are to succeed at restoring respect in our communities, a good start would be teach children (and adults) the satisfaction of achieving things for which they have worked.
posted by Token Bird at 5:32 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home