I never worked and never will

I love some of the responses this thread is bringing up. I think it shows a very clear divide between people who have the motivation and the smarts to sort their lives out and those who want to be nannied.

And before you all come at me with a flamethrower....I DO NOT mean people who GENUINELY need assistance. The system is there for people who really are not fit to work, and help should never be taken away from them. Any one of us could be in that same situation at any time, and need the same help...we have to remember that. What I'm talking about here are people who have a sense of entitlement without any kind of contribution. Spongers if you like, women who have baby after baby by god knows who, and that's their life, that's what they're teaching their daughters to do.

So.....there have been some very touching stories here, from real people who are intelligent and dignified enough to run their lives the right way up, even if it means they don't have much. I've seen both sides of this argument very close to me, and it's not something I talk about readily, because, to be honest, I'm kinda embarrassed that I didn't get out of it sooner.

The post I made about my ex's niece? Well, that stinky attitude of hers clearly runs in the family, as my ex was just the same. Made all the right noises about wanting to work, but really only wanted to be an eternal student, never earning any money to help support us, racking up god knows how much in student debt, and fleecing any organisation he could for as much money as he could. He even convinced his college, and his doctors, that he should have disabled student status, even although his "disbility!" was back pain due to weighing 400lbs. The amount of money he got thrown at him was insane...I mean thousands every year on top of his usual student loans. When I did eventually nag him into getting a part time job, on day one...I'm not joking....he hurt his back again and was signed off for months. I had to drive him everywhere, and the funding and benefits kept coming in, because he was smart enough to know how to talk the system. One particular incident that made me really angry, and is in hindsight the point where I should have just walked out, me and the dog and the car. He got a chunk of money for some kind of injury compensation, and spent half or it on.....AN INFLATABLE CANOE!!!! I swear to god I'm not making this up. Didn't pay any of the damn bills that I was having to cover...no...he wanted his lifetime dream of owning a canoe, and let me just say this...the one and only time he used it, it sat very low in the water.............

People who weigh 400lbs don't get like that for any other reason except that they eat too much and don't move enough. Fact. I've seen it, and have to live with it for years, and I guess you could argue it's a kind of mental illness, and that sense of entitlement again, but people like my ex who are smart enough and tenacious enough to argue that they have a disability when they just don't will always get what they want.

I'm a little torn between my natural instinct to live simply, eat home food, not consume more than I need, work close to home, cut down or cut out what I don't need or want, and almost a kind of grudged admiration for people who will work the system so ruthlessly. I work, admittedly not quite full time, but I spend no money on fuel to get there, and have spent decades working 40-50-60-70 hours a week, so I think if I can afford to, I can let up a little now. But I'm so damn careful with the cash that comes in... Everything is accounted for, budgeted for, planned, organised, homecooked, repaired if I can, recycled, thrift store bought, anything I can think of. Very old fashioned housekeeping and money management...a valuable skill that people just don't have to have any more. Obamaphone woman made me scream!! Do I admire her or do I hate her? I think really I want to slap her, take away her phone and make her live on brown rice and beans for a month.

The thing is, I totally agree with a previous poster who said that even a cashier job is better than being in the welfare system. As soon as they have us in the system, they have us, full stop. They may as well just own us outright. You might argue that working for not very much money is a kind of slavery, and I would symathise with that sometimes, but I see it as freedom....total financial freedom, peace of mind, simplicity....I work, I pay tax, I get paid cash, I pay the bills, my life is sweet.

reply to post by cahlmac


What I read here, the attitudes of you guys, really disgusts me to the core!

Your comments are full of bigotry, prejudice, inhumanity and oppression of women.

I write this reply on the premise that WOMEN HAVE A RIGHT IN SOCIETY TO CHOOSE WHETHER TO WORK OR NOT WHEN THEY ARE BRINGING UP CHILDREN.

I would even go as far to say that ALL people have a right whether to choose to be part of the labour force and machine of societies or not. It is the freedom and the right to choose. The authorities own all the land and resources. We can't just go off and do our own thing anymore so the authorities should atleast subsidize to a degree those who cannot fit in with the very fascist authoritarian work place.

Do you know how much of the tax we are paying actually gets used in benefits? I would imagine that if you knew the figures they would actually be miniscule in comparison to say the defense budget or bank bailouts, etc.

As a man who had a childhood with his mother absent I KNOW what a curse it is to be deprived of the affection of one's mother through childhood and how that can have very dangerous and severe repercussions in adult life. These poor kids of non-working single mothers atleast have their mothers there for them, to make some kind of human adult in the future.

You BLAME these women for doing this? Your blame is misplaced. I tell you none of these women actually want their lives to be like that. We all want a stable partner and an income that can allow us to aspire to the greater things in life. The reality of life and society is that not everyone can have this.

Sooner blame all the idiot young men who don't know how to make a relationship work or stick to one woman. Blame the authorities for deliberately breaking up the nuclear family for economic purposes and business profiteering.

You are just singling out a group of women who have no voice. All the single women I know are full of love for their kids and do the best they can for them, given the circumstances and the vulnerability of this social group.

I think you people are bigots. I bet you would not want your own daughter or sister to starve if she was in that situation. Would your really say to her that she and her kids can starve to death because you don't want to pay a few pennies out of your tax?

If the ideas expressed by some of you guys were ever actually put into place can you imagine what would happen? Think about that (if you are able to actually walk in another's shoes and have enough imagination to do so)! There would be starvation, prostitution on a huge level, kids with no clothes, kids starving like in Africa, rapant disease (which you might catch because it will be on YOUR DOOR STEP).

Well, thank goodness, people like you will never have any power to put into practise your barbaric prejudices.

There are not enough jobs anyway. Women have a human right to concentrate on bringing up their children full time if they so choose. I am happy to pay taxes to support them. Their partners should be made to support them finacially. If they get a woman pregnant they are the father of the child. Society should make the man pay towards the maintenance of that child.

Those descriptions of women dripping in gold while their children go barefoot do not happen in the UK. If that were the case then social services would be called in instantly. May be in the U.S that happens. I don't know because I do not live there.

So why don't you think about the consequences a little more. You are just being tight and greedy and trying to shirk YOUR responsibilities to play a part in making the society in which you live more humane, less impoverished and making sure that ALL children no matter who they are atleast are assured some level of material care.

So get off your high horses and think before you speak! Know your song well before you start singing!

reply to post by cahlmac


Good observation, same here in the heart of Europe. When people find out what my salary is, they start to salivate with envy. But I cannot afford any luxuries and, most of all, I have very little time.

The reason for the situation is income tax. People who work get punished for their efforts. The lazy are rewarded with social welfare. And the criminals and those with an unethical attitude get away without taxes, i.e. without contributing anything to society.

Conclusion: Support abolition of income tax and never again vote for a politician who does not have the same goal.

reply to post by Revolution9


The bottom line is....every woman can choose under normal circumstances whether or not to have a baby. Contraception is free in the UK. If you can't afford to support your kids by yourself, don't have them. This thread is not about people who genuinely need help, or women who need support because their partner isn't doing what they should, it's about the people who have kids and see them as income generators. I don't agree that this doesn't happen in the UK, that it's just a problem in the US, and I'm sure it wouldn't take much digging to find some shocking instances of the same kind of benefit abuse over here.

reply to post by Revolution9




You have said "that ALL people have a right whether to choose to be part of the labour

force and machine of society or not. It is their freedom and the rght to choose"

Well if thats the case surely the 'other side of the coin' should apply to ALL those who

work very hard and pay taxes, as to where that tax money gets spent, and IF it should

subsidise the standard of living of someone who will not work?


It is also mo that Banks should not have been bailed out. When the first one went under

(and i lost money when that happned) I bet the others would have been a lot more careful.

After all they are still making (not modest) but mega profits, and paying out exhorbitant

bonus's I can remember when a bank manager knew his customers by name!!


Perhaps the "idiot young men" (your words) who don't know how to make a relationship

work - learnt it from their mothers who have had numerous children from numerous men??

Work ethics is something that is seen and learned and passed down....If it is not seen to

happen it cannot be learned!

This conversation will undoubtedly take place again in the not so distant future by robots that took all your base, errr.. jobs

This makes me as mad as it does the rest of you. I mean really, we should punish a child and say "Because your mom/dad doesn't have a job, you can not have a candy bar once in a while." Just because some abuse the system, does not mean everyone does." I know people who work their butts off to make ends meet and get food stamps. Because they can't afford to give their kids a $1.19 to spend on a candy bar once in awhile, they shouldn't be able to buy their kid a candy bar. It doesn't matter what we talk about pain meds, food stamps, housing help, there are always going to be people who ruin it for the ones who need it. I know everyone is talking about people who abuse the system and I agree with most of what has been said. But there are people who really need and deserve the help and we need not punish those who need it because of idiots.... I think people who have kids without means of taking care of them, should be made to be fixed temp. bases (in case they better themselves& want more). If there is to be a candy limit make it where X amount can be spent on "junk food" . These people may also need to make their kid a lunch for school. I know they have hot lunches at school and other kids know who gets free lunches, the kid may not want to be picked on or may be a picky eater. I know I wouldn't want my kid picked on if I couldn't afford to buy their lunch. I know I would rather my kid eat than not eat. I think they should not have junk in their lunches either, but a small bite sized candy bar or bag of chips once in a while on special days doesn't hurt anyone. Sorry, all I am saying is for every single person who abuses the system there are more who actually need it....... Let's just but the lazy people and the repeat criminals on an island to fend for themselves!! ( I am only half joking)

I went to college as an adult learner a couple of years back, because I wanted to retrain since I was having a hard time finding a job after I'd had a child (I'd already been previously employed for many years, but due to unforeseen circumstances, I didn't go back to the job I had).
At this point, bear in mind, I was 24, living in my own house, with my partner who works full time, and we got (and still get) no benefits other than the usual parental entitlements.
So I start college, I meet this girl who in the first week reveals to me her sexual status, which I wasn't really interested in, but whatever.

After a few weeks, she says in front of quite a large group, that she is thinking of getting pregnant, because then she can leaver her boyfriend and go on benefits which will enable her to move out.
The look of horror that passed between my friends and I...

I'm studying my degree now, and still haven't worked since my son was born. Not for want of looking, believe me. Luckily, I'm getting into a field which is in desperate need in the area I live in, so chances of a job in my immediate area are pretty bloody good.

I just find it horrendously unfair when I can't afford to take my little boy on his first holiday in the country without hoping that someone else (family member) can foot the bill, or saving up for another 5 years, yet people who don't work/won't work can go on two or three holidays abroad a year.

I find it disgusting that some weeks, we can barely make ends meet, and my partner and I massively reduce our meals per day so our son can have a decent dinner; yet others are buying take out food three times a week.

It's a joke that I almost never drink, or go out with my friends without having to save up for a couple of months, yet people who can't be bothered to work are given money each week which they spend on cigarettes, booze, quite often drugs, and going out with their scabby mates.

It's a SCANDAL that people are churning out babies like money making machines, yet I am unable to have children.

I saw a tv show a couple of years back, where a TV show host visited and assessed these people who won't work, this woman had SIX children, had a four bedroom house which was paid for her by benefits, she takes her kids on holiday often, they've got brand designer clothes, and she buys 200 cigarettes a week, she pays for her boyfriends weed, they're given £1,700 a month AFTER bills and other mandatory deductables.
How is this fair? This is more than twice what the average wage earner in my area gets in a month.

It's bull#. People know the benefit system is there to cushion them, so why not exploit it to the max?

What are your feelings on people who are full time students, live at home to save for their own place, and receive only $200/mo in food stamps? For the record I have been working since I was 14 but stopped to go back to school. No kids by the way.

Reminds me of a story I read online a long time ago.
A person was in Walmart, I believe in the U.S. and heard 2 ladies talking about how they didn't have enough money for groceries on their small welfare budgets.
The sales associate comes out from the back with 2 pools, on sale for $200and something each.
The ladies look at the person and say "it's such a good price, who can resist?"
And the person says "Yeah, who needs food when you have a pool?!"

I am all for people who truely need help getting it, but this is disgusting.
But then again, maybe we are all just jealous... working and never getting ahead.
These people scam the system and get away with it. Maybe we should just lower our levels of integrity and we can benefit, too.

reply to post by Revolution9


Very idealistic. Are you Tony Benn?

I'd like to agree with you but your post seems extremely naive. From what I see, people have posted their real life experiences. You seem to have no experience of people who are genuinely happy to bleed their state dry and have no intention of working. Cornwall is a beautiful place but I'm sure it also suffers from this very real problem.

You are right about the banks, however two wrongs don't make a right.

In my opinion it's a misappropriation of the money I put into the system for bankers to be allowed to squander it AND men and women to be allowed to take, take take without putting something back in.

I fully support women not working to bring up their children, I think parental input is extremely important in any child's life. It's also vitally important to teach a child that they need to earn a living.

The trick to making things work is to live within your means. Get a cheap car, cheap apartment, so on and so forth. Then look for ways to smartly invest your money with good returns for your investment.

Many people don't seem to understand that.

Most people want expensive things because they think it gives them some sort of status because of the way they're portrayed in commercials.

And that's what ruins them, is they get too wide eyes and say.... ooh SHINY!

It's always the shiny that bites back. You never when there's going to be some sort of spike pit trap in front of the shiny to lure you in to fall on those rusty spikes. You rush in, thinking "OH BOY! SHINY!" then you fall into the trap.

Ah well, that's life.

Full of spike pits to take everything away.

reply to post by EvilSadamClone

Any example of these investments?

reply to post by _Phoenix_


I don't know how to invest as yet. I am going to learn how in the near future. I just know enough that there are investments that if you plan well enough and are smart with your money you can come out on top. So, I'm sorry, but at the moment I don't have any examples.

reply to post by EvilSadamClone


goldman sachs or merill lynch maybe? wonder if bernie madoff is still investing from his room at the butner. I know... just tell old people you have a great investment opportunity for them and just take their money. seems to be the norm for western business practices these days. I heard the value of lemons is goin up... maybe you should buy a few trees and make some lemonade

I've never been against assistance going towards people who are legitimately in need...many of my friends have been having immense difficulty finding work. My best friend is a new mother and she's been applying for a plethora of jobs to no avail. On the other hand, I've known many people who know exactly how to manipulate the system and are not above bragging about it. One in particular was a former coworker who somehow continued to receive unemployment benefits while working full time, this went on for about a year.

I'm a 25 year old female and I have been working since I was fifteen. When I was laid off work in February this year I applied for unemployment. I stopped filing as soon as I found a new job, ultimately I only needed that assistance for a couple of months. I was so thankful to get back to work. It just feels so much better to know that I earn those paychecks.

I suffer with chronic pain due to Scoliosis and arthritis and could probably win a disability case if I pursued it. The thing is, I don't want to do that. I don't want to become a leech. It's certainly frustrating when someone takes advantage of our tax dollars due to laziness or self-entitlement, while I'm still pushing through the pain and stiffness to give nothing less than %100 in the workplace. The sense of responsibility and accountability throughout society is continuing to nose dive at a ridiculous speed.

Originally posted by smyleegrl
Then they answer their smart phone during the conference and drive away in an SUV.

Where I live gov. assistance barely covers rent... and we are socialists! You badly need reform NOW!

Originally posted by Sinny
Tell me about it.

I need new friends. I did have loads, but now they all have babies, and they've never worked!!

Grates on me! I work constantly, and I cant afford ANYTHING. They left school, got up the duff, got a free flat/house, and EVERYTHING paid for. They have more spare than me, and constantly complain they don't get enough.

Funny that, you go clothes shopping every week, and are always ringing me to ask me if I want to go on some elaborate trip, that I repeatedly tell you I CANT DAMN AFFORD. NOT THIS MONTH, NOT NEXT MONTH, NOT EVER.

I'm far too busy paying for my keep, food, and travel.

Kindly, all of you, go fock your selves.

Have a nice day, Sinny.

You are right as can be.... and it's sad, or downright a p** off that the working people can't have some time to themselves without everything coming undone ie. late bills, evictions, loosing your wheels etc.
But I'll tell you...... you got to figure a way to escape sometimes just to settle your brain back down, gather your power again. I'm watching so many around me fall into servitude to the state by accepting the bait 'handouts', and then becoming loafers on the government teat.

Whoa, everyone is so outraged about the fact that "I have to work hard and others can live without working, those pieces of s...t!"
And there goes the "Divide and Conquer" strategy of TPTB, and it's SO working on us!

Why people feel that they have the right to judge others?
Why people can't mind their own life and let others live?
"We're paying taxes for these bastards!" So what? You'd pay taxes anyway but you should be happy that a part of them can help another human being to live... or not? You'd rather give for more luxury cars, 5-stars condos or exquisite trips for the "beloved leaders"?

Jesus Christ, we're SO stupid, SO mean and SO convinced by our own rightfulness... so arrogant, in the end.

Sorry, I had to put this up, though I don't want to offend anyone here but the previous posts are so offensive and they lack so much care, it's unbelievable.

... and yes, I'm working, I worked all my life but the TPTB propaganda didn't brainwash me.

reply to post by shansen


I'm not trying to be offensive either but I believe you may have missed the point of my original post and the vast majority of the replies.