Friday 11 December 2009

Adding Value or Poverty - No-one owes the UK a living


Another interesting post from a fellow blogger to ponder ...

... this time referring to the 'fairy tale' we have lived in and the 'harsh reality' the UK now faces:


"I think some people are missing a big point ... the big point being that we're not just anybody, we're British.

Consequently, normal laws of economics don't apply to us. Hadn't you heard? For example, we're not subject to the economic cycle like lesser mortals - 'boom and bust' has been abolished by that Nobel economist of the future, his Holiness Gordon. The abolition of boom and bust was a great weight off my mind when I heard about it, I must say. Sorted. Well done, Gordon.

Being British exempts us from manufacturing - for goodness' sake, don't you realise that working in a factory can make your clothes grubby, and you could even get dirt under your fingernails? Certainly beneath our dignity as Brits.

We don't mind doing a little work, mind, but we feel much more comfortable in 'service' jobs - as far as manual labour is concerned, well, that's what foreigners are for, isn't it?

We're proud to be "a nation of shopkeepers"... and hairdressers, consultants, estate agents, civil servants, care professionals, and, er ... consultants. Obese, us? Never - we get plenty of exercise, walking down to the benefits office.

OTT, I know, but the British mentality has been painfully close to this caricature, unfortunately. Most people seemed perfectly happy living on North Sea oil revenues, financial services, and borrowing against artificial rises in housing equity.

Well, those gravy trains have hit the buffers. We can learn how to work, or we can get used to a new concept - poverty. As we're about to find out very soon, no-one owes the UK a living".


Are such insights misguided, or getting too close to the truth ? ... you decide!