When was he last time the government helped you?

I was always under the impression that this Labour Government has done more to help the lower income people than any other Government.

Problem is though, that alot of these people who "live below the poverty line" do bugger all to help themselves. They'll take the money from the Government quite happily, but not actually try to better themselves. This set's precedent for the kids who can't be arsed at school and the cycle repeats. the Government pours money into helping the socially disadvantaged, but relatively few will actually use all the help that is available to help themselves.

that is a downside to throwing money at the poor though. Some will use it to better themselves. Many will not.

I myself came from a low income background. I had to leave school after GCSE's due to "family issues" and couldn't even do my A-levels (which i was gutted at as I really wanted to do Physics and go to Uni). I then had to work my way up from a crummy job and now I earn more than my dad did at 25. Without help from Government on things such as council tax benefit, tax credits and the like, I would have sunk without a trace years ago in a quagmire of debt and poverty. Now I have a career and I pay my dues.

I would be surprised if you received no help from the Government yourself, unless of course you chose not to accept help, in which case, good on you!

reply to post by die_another_day


just read your comment-----when was the last time your government helped you?------ha ha ha ha ha ----every single dealing i have had with government "workers ?" for the last 30 years has been an experience like--------wow you moron-- them to me ----how dare you bother me with such silly questions why dont you do exactly as we say? dont you know your breaking the laws of the country ?my answer is no --i didnt have a clue what your rules are they never taught me that stuff in school---do you mean that in order for me to become a janitor--i had to become a lawyer first ???? i kid you not--i worked for +34 years for canada's government and spent basically the whole time having to argue with incompetent administrators that interfered with me doing my job when they didnt have a clue about what my job involved to install maintain and repair large emergency power plant generators and super-kitchen size buildings kitchen cooking equipment feeding 1000 troops at a meal .i spent as much time trying to get these nuts out of the way and off my back as i actually spent time working at my job----trying to do it legally and efficiently.

reply to post by stumason


With respect to the kids living in poverty not being arsed to help themselves, I presume you hadn’t read my u2u before submitting that response =]
Ok, its not the kids fault they are in poverty so it would be fairer to say that it’s the parents fault. A lot of kids including myself didn’t have the opportunity for a good (not brilliant! Just a good) education. So whos fault is that? The parents for not earning enough money to move to a better area? Im not saying that the current government isn’t doing anything but as far as im concerned too little has not been down and changing things now a little, isn’t imo going to make a huge difference.

I would imagine that schools in London are far worse than when I was going to school and for an example, I went to high school and didn’t know not one of my times tables, I could barely write let alone read or spell. My parents were very hard workers, my dad held up three jobs and my mother looked after three kids (one being very disabled and the government done jack diddly to help with her! But anyway), held up a job and was she expected to teach her kids maths, English etc in her sleep?

I can see your point as I see other peoples points but its not totally fair to blame the people solely imho. Yes, a lot do not help themselves and I see a lot of African kids with a chip on their shoulder and don’t want to help themselves. They;d rather take up the life of crime (hip hop doesn’t help but hey, who am I lol) than actually prove to the world they are worth a 30k job. lIke me, I had to start off at the very bottom opening post, I managed to within a year prove to my last employees I had to determination and the ability to go higher. I ended up managing a team of four others (all quite older than me) at the age of 20. That was one of the hardest things I could do, they did not want to take directives off of me, I could not motivate them and they knew damn well that I wouild work my bollards off and get the job done irrespective of what work they hadn’t done. I most cases I carried them but I wanted to make a career out of it and work my way up higher. Anyway, I have a lot to say and some experience in the matter. Not sure what experience you have with kids living in poverty but if you want to know fully where I am coming from please u2u me =]

And please, don’t think im sticking up for people that don’t want to work, im not, im just saying there are reasons behind some people not being given the chance etc. and i hope i was coherent lol so much on my mind and quite tired (no excuses hehe)

Very low interst school loans.
When my husband has deployed or TDY....I have been very well taken care of (though not all spouses can say this).
When I got laid off from a job (just after 9/11), I got unemployment to cover my basic necessities until I found another job.
I receive "government" healthcare (military) and it has been excellent so far (though not everyone can say this, im sure).
They have protected me from criminals....

and many other things already listed here


[edit on 4-11-2007 by greeneyedleo]

[edit on 4-11-2007 by greeneyedleo]

Hey, I like the idea for this thread, good question, I give you stars, mate.

reply to post by greeneyedleo


i am glad your government---i assume the usa's--which always treated me very well----looks after you----apparently the uk's and canada's is not so generous-------my experience has been 1 of fighting for everything they legally owe me-------i have to do research to find out what the laws actually are and then "rudely"? so they think i am-- tell them-so as to get what they should have given me without question anyway----if they were not incompetent or had been ordered by their "superiors" to cheat us ?------i had to fight like this to get permission to even work for the queen and country to do my assigned job---------i hate this kind of government and its school system but i would never help the enemies of our countries--------as my wife has reminded me over and over------it is a miracle that the brits and the commonwealth countries were ever able to be victorious over their enemies because the brits are their own worst enemies----i was born in england from a jewish family-------and before i found this out---my experiences with other brits gave me a 1 on 1 education------ so no one had to tell me i wasnt "normal?" like the rest of the brits----and the ones i was thrown in with i never want to meet again---not till G-D gives them some common sense.

Why would you want help from something you probably hate in the first place?
Wouldn't that make you a hypocrite?

Don't you think it is better to not rely on Govt in the first place but instead rely on yourself to make things happen and to better your life?

Why are you looking for a handout?

Originally posted by Alxandro
Why would you want help from something you probably hate in the first place?
Wouldn't that make you a hypocrite?

Don't you think it is better to not rely on Govt in the first place but instead rely on yourself to make things happen and to better your life?

Why are you looking for a handout?

Because people working together can always accomplish more than people working alone. I simply don't have enough time and resources to learn how to take care of myself as well as a doctor, to build myself a house as well as a carpenter, or to defend myself as well as the police and military. But as long as I do my part and everyone else does their part, then everyobdy benefits.

Well I can't they they havn't helped but everytime we requested, but sometimes they delay the process and lose contact with us. Our green card got delayed for a few years, my dad got stabbed and robbed in a university but the police ignored us, health insurance is covered by employers, and...

Well it may be better elsewhere in the North, but here in Florida everything is so poor . I have to buy all the school supplies including workbooks, there is no bus in the afternoon to pick me up from a afterschool club (In Virginia they did). Schools being monopolized by companies such as Texas Instrument.

I have all my respect for the healthcare workers, the fire department, and other neccessities in society. We need the police even when brutality incidents are happening. Just know that police in other countries are similar.


[edit on 4-11-2007 by die_another_day]

Originally posted by stumason
... alot of these people who "live below the poverty line" do bugger all to help themselves. They'll take the money from the Government quite happily, but not actually try to better themselves.

well actually.... here in the USA, which has a similar bureaucracy structure,
if/when one is successful at 'bettering' their condition - - they (and the family) will be dropped from the 'assistance' ledger.

So, as with myself--- i do not report my success, i need to build a 'buffer'...
which may ammount to several months of rent/food/expenses before i cut myself off from the 'social safetynet'...

i first realized this when a huricane Hugo blasted us here in myrtle beach, SC....the nationalguard was activated to insure peace and to stop possible looting...........but the FEMA org. came a week later and handed out $400.
of food stamps to every resident able to apply at the relief center.
& the SBA (small business administration) handed out primo loans at really discount rates to +99% of the applicants.

After I seen/witnessed this '3-ring-circus'.... i just look upon the 'scavangers' as social survivalists... not users & abusers

I don't feel that my government has done anything for me, well, that's how I feel.

I have gotten local, state and federal help in my situation. In June of this year I was having back problems and was falling while walking. It was found that I had calcium spurs from t11 to l5 on my spinal cannal and was compressing the cord.I applied for medicade and ssi on June 5th. Normally an approval take 4-6 weeks. well it took 3 full months to get approved. I hadto writeletters to my local state reps and I ended up getting the goveners office involved. Now I am recovering. I am paralyzed from the hip down due to cord compression. It is a slow road. But until then I have disablity and medicade because I am 27, no job because they keep going over seas, inschool trying to finisg my degree because mommy and daddy can't pay for me to go. Don't have insurance because it cost too much to have and try to live. So the government has done alot for me.

They "help" snitches all the time. Other than that...........I can't think of any help I have got on ANYTHING from the government. Good thread

I got a loan a few years back. I repaid the loan, repaid it early and overpaid it. Then I got a letter form the government saying that I still owed them $69,000. I figured that there was some simple mistake so I asked for a meeting with them. After the loam officer saw that I had repaid the loan, he said that he didn't care what the records showed I was going to repay the loan again. Even at hearings, my lawyers were not even allowed to prove that I had repaid the loan. After two hearings, numerous meetings, phone calls to the head office, letters and phone calls to congressmen and senators and two investigations by the office of inspector general....nothing. I did finally get one person to listen to me. He told me that he couldn't find the information, but he would give me an answer by the end of the week. He was in my driveway that Friday morning. He said that the loan had been paid for 3 1/2 years but there had been no record of it, but he had it straightened out and asked me if there was anything else he could do for me. I said yes, ask that s.o.b. loan officer why he had tried to foreclose on me for 3 1/2 years on a loan that was repaid and he said he would and he did. He said that every time he would ask the man why he kept trying to foreclose on me, he would just turn and walk away without answering him.

The loan officer is a known drug dealer and was arrested just a few days after I got the loan and I found out that he paid a guy to take the rap for him. My lawyer thinks that he took the money that I paid the loan with to pay the man off. The office of inspector general said that he had never been involved with drugs in any way. Well, I just sent them a copy of newspaper article where he had been arrested for coc aine trafficking from an ongoing investigation.

They have ruined my business to the point I will never recover.

i say everyone should trust in their government and support it fully, i mean with out gov. there would be anarchy right, just sit down and be good little citizens.

the government helped me a great deal
it used to be against the law to charge
more than 24% interest . the government
changed that law so now my credit card company
charges over 30%, apparantly I had too much
money so the goverment helped me change that.

you ever see that Gary Coleman loan ad
24 to 96%
what the hell is that?

state of CT is giving me $3,500 to train for a new job

that's kinda cool

reply to post by uberarcanist



Um, in response to that I'd say the people who really did something there were the university staff who educated you and the laborers who built those highways.

The government did what? Withheld money and permission for the go-ahead until then?

I think we need to wake up to the fact that money and government is an obstacle impeding progress, and never the answer to our problems.

Think of the great depression. There was no shortage of willing workers, the American people didn't change. We just lost control of the money. Money is the tool by which we are manipulated.

Originally posted by Esoterica
...I simply don't have enough time and resources to learn how to take care of myself as well as a doctor, to build myself a house as well as a carpenter, or to defend myself as well as the police and military. But as long as I do my part and everyone else does their part, then everyobdy benefits.

What a very pathetic attiitude you have.
And what exeactly is your "part"?
Seems to me you are lazy and will always ask for a handout.
Yes, I truly believe that those who have, should give to those who don't, but no one should force them to do it.

Rather than feeling sorry for yourself you need make time and work harder to make things happen, only then will you stop feeling sorry for yourself.

Should University students who always study hard to maintain a 4.0 GPA
be forced to surrender a few percentage points to those who don't?

Of course they help the people. They are going to make us SAFE from the "terrorists".
Mmmm. Take away people's NATURAL rights like food, water and shelter, and then PROVIDE it back to people as if it is some sort of gift.
Oh, hang on, it's not a gift. I forgot we have to PAY for it...

[edit on 10/11/07 by NuclearPaul]