Subject:
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Re: What happened?
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.off-topic.debate
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Date:
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Fri, 16 Jul 1999 10:26:57 GMT
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Viewed:
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877 times
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In lugnet.off-topic.debate, Mike Stanley writes:
> The poorest people in America are lightyears ahead of the poor in some
> countries.
I don't doubt that. I'd say the same is true in the UK. What I disagree with
is your implicit assumption that just because you managed to get
qualified etc. and you saw a few other people doing it, that must mean
EVERYONE can, even without help. For example, I notice all the people
you quote on your course did already have some sort of job - which presumably
means they are in a better position to pay to get qualified than other people.
Put yourself in the position of someone right at the bottom of society.
You haven't got much of an education because when you were a 7-year-old
kid you were permanently too scared about the next time your dad was
going to beat you up to concentrate on schoolwork. You live in a slum
area - you've not got a job, or perhaps you've had a few temporary jobs
that have just about got you enough to live on. You've no chance of getting
a loan because you've got no security to offer in return for a loan. You've
got no money even to travel to job interviews and no decent clothes to
wear to go to the interviews in anyway. Perhaps you might be able to
live a bit more carefully but you simply don't have the education or knowledge
to know how to do so. And you don't know how to do a good interview anyway.
Result - you pretty well always get turned down when you do apply for jobs.
As a result you've no longer got any self confidence. You'd love to
work - to get a decent life - but it looks like that's beyond you. You've
been knocked down so many times that you just don't believe you can ever get
anywhere.
OK - I'm trying to take an extreme example - but that sort of thing does
happen. Perhaps you can tell me how someone in that sort of situation is
ever going to get a decent life if they don't get help????
I don't know quite what happens in the USA. In the UK what roughly
happens is the person registers as unemployed. They get given just enough to
live on - depending on their age perhaps £40 ($60) a week plus their rent
for their lodgings paid. That money continues ONLY as long as they convince the
Employment Agency officials they are genuinely looking for work. They have
regular interviews to check this - and during those interviews, the
officials will probably go over the problems the person is having - and
may end up sending them on training courses to enable them to get more skills
- or even things like lessons in how to conduct yourself at a job interview.
These courses are paid for by the Government.
How does that system sound to you? I'd say it seems to work fairly well here,
but it does cost money. I don't begrudge paying for it out of my taxes
because I want to live in a society where everyone has a decent opportunity.
Simon
http://www.SimonRobinson.com
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Message is in Reply To:
 | | Re: What happened?
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| (...) Hrmmm. "if the Government doesn't spend some money to make sure that people get the opportunity..." Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness. Pursuit. Think about what that means. It doesn't mean that you receive a gift or some other (...) (25 years ago, 16-Jul-99, to lugnet.off-topic.debate)
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