Tag: Poverty

Compassion?

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I just wrote this in response to someone complaining about people being on benefits. I’m trying to point out that you don’t have to look disabled to be disabled, and most people would not choose to be poor.

I gave up working to look after my hubby because of his severe PTSD and my health started to deteriorate. I tried to set up a small business but couldn’t earn enough to manage and when he died I was left with my work pension and a bit of savings. My Diabetes had never been good and two and a half years ago I started to shake. That turned out to be Parkinsons disease. For several years I’ve had to wear a mask at night because I suffer from sleep aponea. I lack strength in my arms because of a frozen shoulder and the spasms from Parkinsons in my arms and legs. Now I might have heart failure after several years of atrial fibrillation. I used to be able to cycle up to 100 miles with hubby and was quite fit.
In all that time until I gave up work to look after hubby, I was only unemployed for 6 months. I have full pension contributions.
I appreciate that there are some people that don’t want to work, but would you know about my disabilities if I hadn’t just told you? I know I’m deteriorating but I want to keep going. There are a lot of people out there with hidden disabilities.
Why do we always complain about benefit claimers when 80 men in the world have as much money as half the world’s population? That’s 4,000,000,000 people? Many of these billionaires inherited their money and avoid paying any tax? The poorest don’t chose to be poor. Imagine yourself going to a food bank once every two or three months and getting 3 or 4 days food? Or desperate people renting houses they can’t afford in poor or moldy homes. Would you choose that?
I’m sorry for this long comment. I can tell you about all the hospital visits I keep having to attend. The scans and blood tests. I try and keep going. Life is difficult. We all have our crosses to bear as they say. It’s that old thing of don’t look at the speck in someone else’s eye and not see the beam of wood in your own. It’s easy to criticise but we need more compassion.

Poverty

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If you had to give up one word that you use regularly, what would it be?

I wish I didn’t need to use the word poverty, in this country and about the rest of the world.

Poverty can be relative, a millionaire can feel poor in relation to a billionaire. But that’s not real. Or someone who lives in a first world nation can struggle to survive on a very low income, having to chose between heating and eating.

But I think true poverty is in countries wracked by famine, war, sickness or all three. When starvation is rife, and children are stunted by lack of food and clean water.

And yet there are eighty men in the world that own the same amount of money as half the world’s population. That’s 80 : 4,000,000,000. Each one has an average amount of money equal to 50,000,000 individuals.

If only our world was not so unequal. I’m not talking about complete equality, people would fight to the death over that, but perhaps a bit more generous support for the poor and more taxes for the rich. Perhaps charitable foundations to spread food and medicine, to reduce wars, to care for one another. I know that trickle down economics does not work. The trickle is stemmed by the slightly less wealthy. But somehow we must change things, stop poverty, be fair, and tackle the climate change to which is having the most detrimental effect on the poorest in society.

So instead of poverty my new word would be fairness.

Minus 10°C

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Ice or a plastic star? Just a Christmas decoration…. Its too cold outside to go and take photos, but the frost as sparkling on the pavement earlier this evening. I’d been out to panto rehearsal, and walked across the road to the shops and I had to hold onto a handrail because it was so slippery. There was a report on this evenings TV decrying the poor standard of housing in the UK and the cost for the poorest people to heat their homes. If you want to know its 10% in France and 18% in the UK.

So tonight it’s going to be minus 10°C in places. That’s quite cold for this country.

Fuel price cap

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Later today the United Kingdom is going to be told the new price cap for Gas and Electricity which will affect the cost of bills. The price is set to skyrocket to about £2300 a year in October but then £4200? Per year in January! Bills are going to be unaffordable for the poorest in society and the question of whether to heat or eat becomes very bad if all you can afford to buy is cheap tinned food but you can’t heat it up.

The UK is supposed to be the sixth richest nation in the world but we seem more interested in giving the fuel companies shareholders masses of money instead of supporting our citizens. Our government is currently deciding who will replace Boris Johnson by letting 160,000 members of the British Conservative party choose the next prime minister instead of doing something about the cost of living crisis. Note to Liz Truss who is likely to win. If you cut taxes that’s fine for the rich, but a lot of people don’t pay them because their incomes are already too low. A 1% cut of nothing is nothing.

History being made.

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The debate over politics continues. Boris Johnson has resigned as leader of the Conservative Party but remains as a caretaker Prime Minister for the next three or four months while his Members of Parliament decide who they want to select as their new leader. Several ex ministers have been suggested and some have even said they will stand. This will be the fourth Conservative Prime minister in six years. They have been in power for twelve.

Why write about this as an artist? Because things are getting worse not better. Cost of living, less rights, more poverty, poorer education. We keep getting told things are getting better? Really, I do wonder?

Trading

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Today’s #bandofsketchers prompt was trading. I was thinking about all the crops that get sent around the world that don’t really pay the growers a fair price. Many people in the world only earn a few pounds a day, not enough to live well, not enough to pay for education or health services. I wish more people bought fair trade crops, but I guess as the cost of living crisis becomes worse the people at the bottom of the ladder will get treated worse. X

Votes for women

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Today is International Women’s Day and out local theatre, the Mitchell Memorial Theatre is showing archive footage from history of the Votes for Women movement more than a century ago.

Even now Women in the world do 2/3 of the work for 1/10 of the pay. When you compare that to the 80 richest Men in the world own the same as half the worlds population about 3,500,000,000 people. Women are restricted by laws and religious beliefs. They often only get basic education and are sometimes forced into marriage as children. The World is an unequal place. If you are holding international Women’s days events I hope they are well attended and go well. X

Yes I hate football

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Football ⚽

Used to like it, the beautiful game. The skills, the athleticism, the ability. But I got fed up with it. The prices players are bought and sold for. The money they earn. I hate the way some teams can receive millions of pounds in TV rights, while the bottom clubs languish and are often running out of money.

The other thing I dislike is the way the fans act. They can be so antagonistic, fighting and getting drunk. The rivalry can turn into violence. I don’t think there is any need for it. There is too much racism too.

I hope that things will go OK tonight. That’s when England play against Denmark. May the best team win.

Eating chocolate icecream

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Oh dear! After a couple of gin and tonics some chocolate icecream became too tempting. We’d only had a small evening meal and hubby was talking about cooking our breakfast tomorrow as supper tonight. So I had the bright idea of pulling a tub of chocolate icecream out of the freezer. Not healthy or good. But it tasted lovely.

The only way I can lose weight is not to buy nice things. I have to really restrain myself. A first world problem. People in most of the world wouldn’t even know what icecream is. Its an example of greed I guess. We can grow huge because we are sold empty calories. Sugar and fat in a delightful combination. And people starve. It’s a stark reality that there are too many have nots compared with those that have….. Yes I do feel guilty. Yes I should not be greedy. No I don’t have any real excuse. I was lucky to be born in a rich first world country. That should not stop me trying to help others and change my attitudes for the better.

Feed the kids!

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We are in a pandemic and many people in my country (England) are struggling to survive on lower incomes and less hours at work, despite being one of the richest countries in the world.

The situation is only made worse by our government refusing to help pay for free school meals during this coming week. They say they have given 63 million pounds to local councils to help pay for food. Conveniently, they don’t mention that they have been cutting benefits to people over the last ten years, and councils have shrunk by about 75%.

A footballer, Marcus Rashford, has raised the issue and many local businesses and food outlets are trying to help. This led one of the MPs to say it was good to see businesses had bounced back so much that they could now afford to help out!

I’m not saying which party are doing this. I just think that there needs to be more compassion in the world. Not just here but everywhere. We are in a bad situation. Don’t deliberately make it worse!