How many facts have to be revealed showing that the inequality and exploitative nature of this capitalist system is also avoidable, cruel, inhumane and downright vicious, before enough of us stand up and state, enough is enough, and bring the whole rotten edifice down.
Every so often we get little parcels of information of the cruelty built into the system, but they are never brought together to paint the full picture of a society built on avoidable poverty and deprivation with an ongoing attack on the poorest and most vulnerable.
The following facts gleaned from--
and
Fact, if you live in a poor area of society you are likely to die anything up to 10 years earlier than someone living in a more affluent area.
Fact, life expectancy among the poorest is declining, contrary to the trend in the more affluent areas.
Fact, children in the poorest areas are two and a half times more likely to die as children then those from the more affluent areas.
Fact, there are 2.2 million people in the the UK living in severe food insecurity, the highest reported in Europe.
Fact, recent Unicef data shows one in five children under 15 live in a home with severe food insecurity, stunting the lives of the poorest children.
Fact, Philip Alston, the UN’s
special rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights, said
policies and drastic cuts to social support were entrenching high
levels of poverty and inflicting unnecessary misery in the UK, and
that Brexit was exacerbating the problem.
Fact, Emma Revie, chief executive of The Trussell Trust, said: “A
failure to address the root causes of poverty has led to soaring need
for food banks, with more than 1.3 million food parcels provided to
people by our network last year.
Fact, high living costs, stagnating wages and the
rollout of universal credit has led to a steady rise in food
insecurity.
Fact, The findings, published in the journal Lancet Public Health,
also reveals that the life expectancy of England’s poorest women
has fallen in the last seven years – having dropped by three months
since 2011.
Fact, findings show that people in the poorest sectors died at a
higher rate from all illnesses – but that a number of diseases
showed a particularly stark difference between rich and poor, notably
respiratory diseases, heart disease, lung and digestive cancers and
dementias.
Fact, Professor Majid Ezzati, senior author of the research from
Imperial’s School of Public Health, said: “Falling life
expectancy in the poorest communities is a deeply worrying indicator
of the state of our nation’s health, and shows that we are leaving
the most vulnerable out of the collective gain.
Fact, Researchers said this showed that poorer people in England were
dying from diseases that can be prevented and treated, and that
greater investment in health and social care in the most deprived
areas, as well as industry action to make healthy food choices more
affordable, would help reverse the trends.
Fact, “Working income has stagnated and benefits have been cut,
forcing many working families to use foodbanks. The price of healthy
foods like fresh fruit and vegetables has increased relative to
unhealthy, processed food, putting them out of the reach of the
poorest.”
Fact, “The funding squeeze for health and cuts to local
government services since 2010 have also had a significant impact on
the most deprived communities, leading to treatable diseases such as
cancer being diagnosed too late, or people dying sooner from
conditions like dementia.”
All of the above facts are happening in one of the richest countries in the world. All of the above facts are avoidable. All of the above facts are created by deliberate ideological strategies. None of the above facts are unavoidable accidents. Put all these facts together and ask yourself, is this system worth persisting with, or should it be brought down and replaced with a system of equality, justice and sustainable co-operation that sees to the needs of all our people, a system freed from the corrosive and exploitative motive of profit that benefits a small bunch of pampered and privileged parasites? What does your humanity and intellect tell you?
