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Return to serfdom?

Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2011/nov/16/young-jobseekers-work-pay-unemployment

Work in order to receive the funds for your housing and for your food expenses, but no upward prospects. That's pretty much serfdom 101 isn't it? Economic slavery.

200 years ago the governments of the civilized world recognised the workers right to own or at least to have a stake in the land they worked. It's sad to see we have travelled so far backwards now.

I can see in the future:
- Owner class (very wealthy, funds businesses, enterprise)
- Business class (skilled and experienced workers and professionals, earn a comfortable income, can afford own home, have careers)
- Worker class (perpetually on short term placements of either unpaid or minimum wage work, work that doesn't really build or offer any skills, no future prospects for improvement of life situation, unable to own own home)

Right now I believe we are seeing the government manoeuvring to get its members in the most favourable position for the future - cheap and abundant labour = high profits for the owner class.

Comments

  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I think you're being a little dramatic.

    We all have to do jobs we don't want/don't like/are dead end to in order to pay bills whilst we're working towards our end goal - whether that be retirement or our dream job. The only reason I'm not stacking shelves right now is because I'm not well enough to! Otherwise, thats exactly what I'd be doing, with a degree in Music languishing to the occasional moments of spare time and the once monthly local open mic night.

    Yes the conservatives have royally fucked up, but I don't think they invisaged this situation - tbh, I don't think they had the foresight. Its what happens in a recession!

    I think you need to stop reading reddit so much, and getting so worked up.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I say this in no way to defend the tories, or say that it was all labours fault, but I entirely envisage us being at pretty much the same point as if we had a labour govt right now.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    G-Raffe wrote: »
    I say this in no way to defend the tories, or say that it was all labours fault, but I entirely envisage us being at pretty much the same point as if we had a labour govt right now.

    Could have been worse, in fact I thought it would be. No cuts were going to be painless and I was expecting a recession by now (and I say that as someone who thinks we do need to cut). In the end the piper always had to be paid for our profligacy and it is going to be less painless now than twn or twenty years down the road when the debt was higher, with greater interest payments and much less room for manouvre
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    There's definitely an issue with rising inequality, tumbling social mobility, and the fact that the social class you were born into is the main determiner of future success. However, these problems were going on long before the current financial crisis. I thought your thread was going to be about the Tories' newly created slave-class to benefit their big business buddies. This is more worrying because not only are taxpayers subsidizing the workforce of big business, those same taxpayers will suddenly find, when unemployment is at its highest, that there are no jobs at Tesco, because why would they pay someone when they can get workers for free? But the problem of unemployment is completely alien to anyone in the Tory party, so why would they be bothered about that.

    Here's a story.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru

    That kind of is what the thread was about ;) I might have rambled off on an angle for a bit, but I posted the same link in the first post.

    You only need to look at the gini coefficient over time in the UK to see the trend.

    Furthermore it begs the question, what incentive would there be for this trend to change if the people with power benefit from this system?

    Also with regard to labour being just as bad - perhaps or perhaps not. The problem is more the ideological underpinnings of the members of the conservative party - they want the future to head in the direction it's headed, to decrease the cost of labour and increase international competitiveness, to increase profit for businesses and wealthy individuals. Labour members by and large would prefer a future with better opportunities for all and a smaller gap between the richest and poorest. (These aren't exclusive options, but it demonstrates where the 'spotlight' is, it is not possible to focus on one aspect without a second concern at times being compromised)
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    375630_10150367505586305_144144931304_8432380_146912861_n.jpg
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Increasing efficiency is the name of the game!
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Yet its all those who are not in government who are screaming for a more cost effective NHS.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Achieving efficiency in industrial processes takes significant investment and years of research, why is it assumed that achieving efficiency in government should be any easier?

    Without proven methods, committing to using less resources through increased efficiency is ridiculous.

    "Um, er, we'll just do what we're doing now.. but.. use less stuff to do it, yeah?"
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Because it's an easy political promise to make I guess.

    'Oh, we won't make things worse, but we will save you money! We will just be more efficient!.'
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    It's a load of bollocks. We've got to be more efficient at work but with shifts that have halved in size, fewer cars and no overtime. It isn't making us more efficient, we're not doing twice the work to cover for our missing colleagues.
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