Tuesday 4 September 2012

POVERTY WAGES - GOOD FOR BUSINESS.


      Here we are in the 21 century, living in one of the wealthiest countries in the world and we have charities handing out food parcels. According to the Citizens Advice Scotland, around 3,000 people have been given food parcels from The Trussell Trust since April this year. The Trussell Trust operates 6 food banks in Scotland but is scheduled to open more by the end of the year. Its busiest food bank is Dundee where they have handed out 1,188 food parcels between April and September this year. Approximately 50% of those seeking food parcels claim problems with their benefits. What is even more criminal is that almost 50% of food parcels go to those who are working. With food prices having risen by 30.5% over the last five years and massive increases in energy bills on top of wage freezes/cuts, it is no wonder that more and more working people are turning to charity to survive.
      Another feature of this capitalist system is the number of people in Scotland that live in what is called fuel poverty. Fuel poverty is when you have to spend 10% or more of your income on fuel, and here in Scotland we have 35% of the population living under those conditions. The figure is set to rise as another increase in fuel prices are set to hit the poorest hardest. Just another indictment against a system of greed.
     Because of the deliberate policies of our millionaire lords and masters, who frequent the Westminster Houses of Hypocrisy and Corruption, we are rapidly heading back to the Victorian era of poverty in the midst of opulence. Our Westminster millionaire cabal are happily and arrogantly creating a society that is based on a low wage economy, where the ever increasing poor can beg or rely on charitable institutions. A low wage economy relies on a pool of desperate people eager for any kind of work as long as it gives them an extra crust. As far as our millionaire cabal of parasites are concerned, cheap labour is good for their millionaire business buddies.
      We have to ask ourselves, is this what we want for our children and our grandchildren? Is there an alternative? The parasitical political class will tell you that it is the only game in town, and all this sacrifice will bring you pie in the sky in the future. Lost generation after lost generation, waiting for that piece of pie from the sky, while the bloated parasites get ever richer and richer. This is all that this system has to offer.
       We want a better world for our children and our grandchildren and we know there is an alternative to this greed driven unjust, unequal, exploitative system. We can create a system that is based on sustainability, that brings our communities together in co-operation and mutual aid, we can create a society that sees to the needs of all our people, we know that there are enough resources to meet these desires. All that is lacking is the will of the people, the desire to take control of our own lives and our communities. The longer we delay the deeper we sink into the capitalist pit of deprivation and the harder it will be to dig ourselves out.


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