posted on Jun, 30 2010 @ 11:19 AM
Hmmm... When have we heard this anti-scrounger rhetoric before? Seems I've been hearing it all my politically aware life (since early 80s). There are
2 times which stand out as particularly sustained & vociferous: just before the recession of the late 80s &, poured on even thicker, just before the
recession of the early 90s.
We've just found out that the Treasury expect massive unemployment, a revelation which Cameron failed miserably to respond to at today's PMQs,
instead inadvertantly revealing conclusively something a lot of us suspected, ie that the Office for Budget Responsibility is the new statistics
spinning machine.
Past history of rising unemployment, prediction of the same & the same rhetoric: a scientist would say there's a correllation there that bears
scrutiny. I'd say that neo-con monetarist economic policy is demonstrably a failure &, since you cannot polish a turd, any hybrid versions of it are
also doomed. The question then is why do politicians of the right & (pseudo) left persist with these ideas?
Is it all down to (1) the global elites controlling everything in a deliberate (explicit) conspiracy in their favour? Is it (2) an implicit conspiracy
whereby individuals acting in their own interest only also create the environment whereby those of similar means also prosper, but as a by-product? Is
it that (3) the way economics has been taught for several decades fundamentally misunderstands what "the market" actually is & the function of work
in society?
Personally, I suspect about 1/2 of it is a dynamic combination of 1 & 2, about 1/3 3 & the rest is down to inherent conservatism (small c), ie
politicians just do not dare try really new ideas.
Let's not forget however that, regardless of economic conditions, many Conservatives (big C) want to dismantle the welfare state & even those who
recognise society cannot afford the crime that would result, realise that minimum benefits create the environment whereby people must accept low
wages. This is actually a self-defeating policy. (more>)