Cyprus-Forum.com

[cyprusgrump]

a few dollars a week in country is not the same as a few dolars in another. it is how much things cost that matters.

this is reality.

Case studyTracy lives in Ilford, Essex with her partner and baby daughter. Her partner is a teaching assistant; Tracy has been in and out of low-paid work since leaving school at 16. She also suffers from long-term depression and is currently on ESA (Employment Support Allowance). Tracy and her baby daughter came to Tower Hamlets Food Bank after being referred by her daughter’s social worker. Tracy’s partner is only paid during term-time, but their social security payments are paid at the same rate throughout the year.

This means that during school holidays the couple receive just £6 insocial security payments, which is their total weekly income. ‘You don’t manage on £6 a week. We have had to borrow off friends and family.’In addition, budget cuts have meant that her partner’s hours were slashed from 13 to seven a week. ‘Before my maternity pay we used to have just half a meal a day. We’d shop at Iceland. We don’t get frozen ready meals as they’re expensive but they do have like eight chicken breasts for £2.

We’d have one of them each and maybe some chips and that would be all we’d eat for the day. And we’d just drink water, and occasionally have tea or coffee.’Tracy was concerned about the quality of their food, but felt she had no choice. ‘Meat is so expensive these days. When I was growing up we’d only have fish fingers or something once or twice a week, and proper food the rest of the time, now it’s the other way around. We only have proper meat once a month now.’‘I’m disappointed I’ve had to use a food bank as you want to be able to survive on your own, but at least there are people out there who help, that is nice.’

So why did Tracy and her partner that don't have enough cash between them to buy a bag of chips think that having a baby was a good idea...?

I'm guessing that they thought the taxpayers would just pick up the tab and they could lead a cushy life with their iPhones and Sky subscription (I bet they have them) and everything would be fine...

And I'm also guessing that the amount they get from the government (taxpayers) is more than £6 and includes rent, child allowance, etc.

[erolz66]

That is your proof of poverty is it ...

No it is evidence that supports part of my earlier post of

If you remember constantly feeling hungry because your parents were unable to feed you enough, If you remember not being able to concentrate properly at school because of hunger, if you remember getting illnesses like rickets because your parents could not provide the right balance of food, if you remember illness brought on by having to live in damp and mouldy housing because your parents could not afford anything else, if you remember getting ill because your parents could not afford to heat your house sufficiently then you were living in poverty. Absolute poverty , not relative poverty.

Pyrpolizer had already given evidence in support of people struggling to provide enough food in UK (8.4 million), which you ignored. I gave some of increase in ailments like rickets, which you ignored. This was just to complete the set, which you did not ignore but attempt to ridicule. This all after conceding that your starting position of there is no absolute poverty in the UK at all was in fact not true. Are you seeing a pattern here yet ?

[erolz66]

So why did Tracy and her partner that don't have enough cash between them to buy a bag of chips think that having a baby was a good idea...?

I'm guessing that they thought the taxpayers would just pick up the tab and they could lead a cushy life with their iPhones and Sky subscription (I bet they have them) and everything would be fine...

And I'm also guessing that the amount they get from the government (taxpayers) is more than £6 and includes rent, child allowance, etc.

So many 'guesses' that all just happen to fit and are required for the narrative that even if there are some people in the UK who live day to day in real absolute poverty, which you originally claimed just did not happen at all, they are in such a position solely because of their own choices. That it is all their fault alone that they ended up in such a position.

There is a reason why the former Tory Prime Minister herself talked about the Tories having an image of the 'nasty party'. There is a reason why Cummings talked of the Tories not just having an image of not caring about those poorer than themselves but of that being true for many of the Tory MPs he had personal dealt with. Are you seeing any connections yet ?

You talk about (in binary terms) how those on the 'left' (all of them because once they are in your box they are by definition all the same) are driven by envy of and hatred for those richer than themselves. Yet you seem not to realise how your own posts (you an individual) are, from my perspective, drenched in contempt and hatred for those less well of, less fortunate than yourself. The stories you have to tell yourself. It is the entirely the fault of the poor that they are poor. It is entirely the result of your own hard work and abilities that you are rich and nothing else. Chance plays no part. Unequal access to opportunities plays no part, yet you will use your wealth to buy such advantages for you own children none the less.

[Maximus]

so what is the solution?

[erolz66]

so what is the solution?

I suggest

I am not sure there is any 'solution'. Believing that there is , is a form of trying to impose a simplicity on the universe that will not have such 'limited' things imposed on it. There is no ultimate 'turth' , no universal right or wrong.

What there is, what is real, is the choices we make along the journey that is life. The myths we chose to believe. I chose to believe stories of 'hope', of 'redemption' of 'we can collectively do better', of 'empathy for others', of 'compassion' and of 'love'. Not ones of 'despair', or 'it can not get any better than this', of 'self interest above everything else' and of 'hate and contempt for any we deem as 'other''.

But that is just me, my identity. Which really is all I am doing here on so many levels and at so many scales. Expressing my identity. Because that is a human urge as universal as they come across distance and time as far as I am concerned.

[Maximus]

that is quite paradoxical.

And therein could be the answer.

those that live in poverty in the UK chose it.

Some chose to believe stories of hope and prosperity, while others chose to believe in stories of poverty and despair.

Each got what they thought and believed in.

Therefor, everyone is able to change their thoughts and that can change their life.

[Lordo]

that is quite paradoxical.

And therein could be the answer.

those that live in poverty in the UK chose it.

Some chose to believe stories of hope and prosperity, while others chose to believe in stories of poverty and despair.

Each got what they thought and believed in.

Therefor, everyone is able to change their thoughts and that can change their life.

you what? this is just about most ignorant comment i have ever heard. my god man, go seek some help for fakkkk sake.

[Maximus]

If you thought differently, you wouldn’t be such a bozo.

Of course, my comment will probably go way over your head.

And Why are you making reference to your god when you told us before that you don’t believe in one?

[cyprusgrump]

So why did Tracy and her partner that don't have enough cash between them to buy a bag of chips think that having a baby was a good idea...?

I'm guessing that they thought the taxpayers would just pick up the tab and they could lead a cushy life with their iPhones and Sky subscription (I bet they have them) and everything would be fine...

And I'm also guessing that the amount they get from the government (taxpayers) is more than £6 and includes rent, child allowance, etc.

So many 'guesses' that all just happen to fit and are required for the narrative that even if there are some people in the UK who live day to day in real absolute poverty, which you originally claimed just did not happen at all, they are in such a position solely because of their own choices. That it is all their fault alone that they ended up in such a position.

It isn't really guesses is it...?

One of them doesn't work at all.

The other works only part time, and not at all during school holidays.

They have brought a child into the world despite clearly being unable to afford it.

Really, on what planet would you expect to be able to live a 'normal' life under those circumstances...?

And this is held up as an example of the terrible poverty in the UK eh...?

[erolz66]

So why did Tracy and her partner that don't have enough cash between them to buy a bag of chips think that having a baby was a good idea...?

I'm guessing that they thought the taxpayers would just pick up the tab and they could lead a cushy life with their iPhones and Sky subscription (I bet they have them) and everything would be fine...

And I'm also guessing that the amount they get from the government (taxpayers) is more than £6 and includes rent, child allowance, etc.

So many 'guesses' that all just happen to fit and are required for the narrative that even if there are some people in the UK who live day to day in real absolute poverty, which you originally claimed just did not happen at all, they are in such a position solely because of their own choices. That it is all their fault alone that they ended up in such a position.

It isn't really guesses is it...?

Actually it is. You 'guess' that they planned to have a child. You can not know that. You then go on from this guess to they planed to have a baby because they thought the tax payers would pick up the tab. You can not know that. You then go on to guess that whilst they struggle to put food on the table they have a sky subscription and iphones. You can not know that, Your entire 'story' is based on 'guesses'. It is a house of cards based on your prejudice and contempt for those less well off that yourself.

And this is held up as an example of the terrible poverty in the UK eh...?

It is a singular example that shows your original position that no one in the UK has to struggle to meet basic needs like putting food on the table is a fallacy.