Capitalism's Phoney Christmas.

    So that was Christmas, a period of abundance, an avalanche of gifts, a gorging of food, a tsunami of merriment. Well that's the picture our babbling brook of bullshit would have you believe is the norm, but capitalism doesn't work like that. No doubt in this crazy unjust system there were those who gave diamonds, cars and other expensive gifts, while feasting on an array of exotic foods all washed down with buckets of “the best Champagne”.
      However, there is the other side, the brutal side of capitalism, where kids go hungry and live in a gift free zone. This Christmas saw record levels of our fellow Scots being forced to seek sustenance from foodbanks. This year, according to the Trussell Trust, the week that contained Christmas saw more than 7,000 families and individuals forced to seek help from foodbanks. December was their busiest month, with the week before Christmas being the busiest of the month.

The Trussell Trust said people had been driven to rely on charity due to financial poverty, increased winter fuel bills and the absence of free school meals during the holidays. Many families have been plunged into “financial famine” over the festive period, the charity said.
One foodbank in Glasgow said it had received referrals for nearly a dozen clients in need of help on Christmas Eve.
Last year just over 14,000 people were helped by the foodbanks throughout the entire month of December – an increase of 53% on the previous year's figure of 9,263.
The total included 5,818 people who were helped in the week running up to Christmas Day - a rise of 51% on the figure of 3,842 in 2013. This year's figures dwarfted those for both 2014 and 2013.

       For many, Christmas is not only a period of hunger, but a period of homelessness. According to Alison Watson, deputy director of Shelter Scotland, "It's completely unacceptable that in the 21st Century 100,000 children across Britain will spend Christmas homeless, with nearly 5,000 of them in Scotland. "It's even more damning that in Scotland this represents a 15 per cent increase on the same statistics last year - so the problem seems to be getting worse, not better. 

         Glasgow fares worst in Scotland, with approximately one-fifth of the total, with more than 1,000 children in the city who opened their eyes on Christmas morning to a homeless world. The total of children living in temporary accommodation in Scotland, is up 13 per cent on last year. 

        So this is part of the ugly face of capitalism, poverty and homelessness, with children having their life's potential stunted at an early age, their health and physical development permanently undermined, while others gorge on abundance, they never earned. If you see this injustice and are aware of the suffering involved, then surely you must stand up and work for the destruction of this cancer that is capitalism.

Visit ann arky's home at www.radicalglasgow.me.uk