Being in government now is a bum rap however you look at it, as whatever you do a lot of people will be moaning about it.

The fact is the bigger picture is irrelevant to most and for these people anything that results in a reduction of their net (spare) income, whether as a result of benefit restrictions or increases in tax or fuel costs or food costs, will result in tiresome complaining.
And in a one person/one vote society this matters.

Most people complaining about how hard done by they are right now are a bunch of pussies who wouldn't know true hardship if it bit them on the arse, and if money is tighter for them now than it was that is probably because they were spending beyond their means five years back when they should have been putting some money aside.

Not everyone is in the position to put money aside though, with the price of property a couple with a low income and two kids aren't really going to put much aside are they?

You would benefit from a visit to the surface of the planet at some point :thumb:

Several things spring to mind..

Rent
Why 2 kids
Sky TV
Fags
Beer
Mobile phones
Clothes
Shoes

I suspect the household finances of most who plead hardship would make fairly predictable reading.
And that your average Bulgarian or Romanian would do just fine on the same finances.

Two things here.

1) In case you hadn't noticed we're pretty close to bankruptcy as a nation. You need to take some pain like everyone else and if you can live comfortbaly without a state pension then if I had my way you wouldn't be getting one! If the country goes properly bankrupt you wont be getting one anyway, but you will be getting a whole lot more pain besides. So stop being so f**king selfish! :thumb:

2) I haven't got any kids and I pay for state education out of my tax contributions. Am I bleating about it? No because it's what a proper society should be about - everyone should pay in and inevitably some will take out more than others due to circusmatnce, opportunity etc. Of course where this is spoilt is by the lazy and crooked section of society who are happy to profit off everyone else's backs. It's why neither socialism (or capitalism for that matter) can every truly work!

Bollox! I've worked bloody hard for what I have got so why should I give any of that up, or my state pension for that matter, to subsidise the many 1000s who have not and will not contribute anything. Selfish maybe. But I am sick and tired of the spongers in this country who are just too bone idle to get up off their fat arses and contribute.

Chip

like I said above apart from applying more lube to make your anal shafting a little more bearable, what are you going to do about it?

BTW, I'm not arguing with you. I actually agree with you.

Because put simply if we don't all do something like this the country is going under and then we will all be in a lot worse trouble than having a reduced pension!!!

The fact is that thanks to a succession of weak governments (both parties) as far as welfare and other major issues go we have ended up in a precarious state whereby we are spending more than we are earning. That cannot now be properly addressed by trimming round the edges or by talk (even if that is what Cameron seems to think as he does little else).

It needs drastic action! Part of which is cleaning up those spongers and crooks you mention in a rather heavy handed un-ECHR friendly manner!

I have to agree with Chip on the matter of the spongers, you can work for 50 years, put money into your own home, put money into a private pension scheme to keep you going in your retirement, basically work at living and trying to make a good retirement plan for you and your other half.

What happens in reallity is that the guy who has avoided work for 50 years gets a pension (note he has put nothing in to the pot but can take out of it), has the government paying for his council house, no tax to pay, has housing benefits, has that nice flat screen tv you wanted but you couldnt afford, has sky tv, has a nice mobility subsidised car (and he really is pretty mobile just too fecking lazy to get off his/her ass), gets too old to be in that house so gets free care in a home for the elderly (your house gets sold and you have to pay for it yourself...) and it goes on.

I know they have stamped down but its still all on the wrong people, this country (not trying to sound racist) needs to say to imigrants as well, that if they dont have the means then they cannot stay here, off you go, we are over crowded as we are, we really need to be hard lined here or its going to drag all of us down :(

It's already happened Tony.

Worry not, global economic recovery is on the way. Stock markets are showing signs of returning confidence in capital investment by businesses and consumer spending. The Dow Jones and FTSE are reaching a near all time high since the crisis started 5 years ago. Other indicies such as the Nasdaq and S&P 500 are also seeing the same confidence. Come towards second half of the year to early next year, we could see the beginnings of a worldwide economic recovery.

Good man, nice to see a positive view on here for a change and very true as well.
:thumb:

To be honest, I'm fed up with everyone talking down the economy, both UK and global and it becoming a self-fulfilling prophecy. As we already know markets go by sentiment rather cold hard figures. Its been 5 years, time to change the record.

:thumb: