Friday 22 October 2010

It isn't fair and it sucks.

Well, we've all had a couple of days to chew over the figures released in the spending review. For my part, the department in which I work is not the worst hit, but is certainly not getting off lightly. There will be a significant reduction in posts over the four year plan, but I think the majority of those will be covered by retirements, natural wastage and the opportunity for people to take a voluntary package, we're also in a position where we can raise a bit of revenue independently of the public purse. It will take some reorganisation in the way that staff are deployed, both as individuals and as units, and that will upset some people.

In my district I think there's the potential for a pretty major change which would be welcomed by some staff, but would also lead to some front line positions going. If that major change were to come to pass, one section of the press will probably have kittens. Quite how all of this will change how I work, or even if I work, remains to be seen. One thing is for sure, if I am caught in the storm, you'll not hear any whining or complaining about it. I refuse to be a victim and will look at the situation as an opportunity rather than a tragedy.

The crying from the left has been predictable. It is going to hurt the poorest the worst and so forth. Some of the gloating from what is called 'the right' has also been predictable and is a very unbecoming way of behaving.

As stated before, I support these cuts. Not because I enjoy seeing people lose their jobs, but because we simply cannot afford the money we've been borrowing and then spending. We've never been able to afford it, there was no way we could afford it the day we took the credit card out and the bill has just got bigger and bigger.

It is true to say that I think the State does far too much. I want the power and intrusion of the State to be pared back to the bone, but I'd rather it was done as a gradual process, rather than by ripping it aside.

Here's the shocking news; this spending review is not a ripping aside of the State's and their client class' addiction to borrowing money, taking money from the productive part of the economy and spending it. This spending review amounts (if I've understood the figures properly) to 3% of the defecit. It is nothing. It is even less if the figures from the TaxPayers' Alliance are anywhere near accurate. This is a gradual reduction, and it hurts.

Is it fair that these public servants will lose their jobs? No. It isn't. These people are not responsible for the defecit, it is the holders of the public purse who bear that responsibility. These people saw the jobs advertised and applied (and make no mistake, we're not talking about managers of departmental budget losing jobs here, it will be the grunts) with the reasonable expectation that the people advertising the positions knew what they were doing and could afford to take the staff on.

Is it fair that the people who rely on public services will lose the support? No. It isn't. These people have been conditioned to believe that the State is a cure all for their ills. The State has been the pusher which has got these people addicted to the heroin of quick fix money and having things done for them. Like all pushers, the State doesn't care about the people in their thrall, they just care that the people are in their thrall, and their actions ensure that they live in hopeless squalor. Is it true to say that the cuts will hurt these people the most? Of course, they are the ones who have become enitrely reliant on a State which cannot love them, which cannot provide what they need and will always, always let them down. It is an abusive relationship of the worst kind.

Unfortunately, the simple reality of the situation is that these cuts have to be made. Nothing will change that, and hearing the coalition and Labour arguing over the depth and rate is like hearing two sailors in a sinking oil tanker arguing over whether they should bail it out with a saucepan or a jug.

Ask yourself this question; who is really to blame for the situation in which we now find ourselves? There are two obvious answers.

Firstly, the Labour party, it is they who have spent the last thirteen years spending and borrowing, taxing and spending, taxing and borrowing. Surely it is they who have overseen this disaster whilst making insane claims about abolishing boom and bust and non-existent prudence? No, say their supporters, it is the fault of a global recession that the borrowing and spending has had to increase, to prevent an even bigger economic disaster.

They will point the finger at the second obvious answer; the Conservative/Lib Dem coalition. It is they who are gleefully tearing through public services, abandoning those who rely on them, those who have no option but to rely on the State to look after them. It is they who are throwing these public servants on the scrapheap, pushing up the benefits bill whilst reducing the tax take. Of course the point about the public servants is missing one vital aspect. Granted these public servants may push the benefits bill up, but how much are they paid now? How does that total compare with what they'd be paid on benefits? Less, of course. Now, where does the money to pay these public servants their salary come from? Taxes. Where does the money to pay the benefits come from? Taxes. The point about the taxes paid by these public servants is a red herring as well, the tax take is not a tax take at all, the wages are taken from tax, paid out, and then a proportion is taken back. This does not represent a loss to the public purse.

Either way, the obvious answers are wrong, it is not the fault of the Labour government, nor is it the fault of the coalition. It is the fault of every single person who voted for the big three, not just at this election just gone, but in every election for the last thirteen years.

Every time it is the same. The Tories become more and more self serving, they destroy public services trying desperately to reduce spending. Then they are kicked out and a Labour government come in. They become more and more self serving, they spend huge amounts making large swathes of the public reliant on the manna they send and then the country ends up broke.

This cycle repeats, time and time again, the same pattern emerges on every occasion. Wasteful Labour, evil Tories. And it is all YOUR fault. You put them there, you go to the polling station, really believing that this time it will be different. Labour/Tories have learned their lesson, they've changed. Well they haven't, never have, never will. Yet every time you allow yourselves to be hoodwinked, you refuse to learn the lessons of history.

'Oh, but there's no alternatives.' Rubbish, there are a plethora of alternatives, the Greens, UKIP, BNP, English Democrats, Libertarians, the list goes on ad infinitum. Hell there's plenty of people on that list I detest, but can they really be any worse than what we have? How many times do these people have to fail for you to learn the lesson? You put them there, and you removed them, then you put them back in again, why did you think it would be any different this time?

Look at the people running the show. Do you think Cameron and Osborne really care about you? Or do they only care about having power and their own wealth? Do you think Clegg and Cable give a damn about you? Or do they only care about their European project and being able to press some of the buttons? Do you think Miliband and Harman give a flying fuck about you? Or do they only care about their social engineering plans and having control over your life?

Just as the poor are made reliant on the State for their survival, these politicians are reliant on YOU putting them in the position where they can ignore you and do what they hell they want. Remove your support, take your succour back from these people who lie, who cheat, who steal, give it to someone else.

1 comment:

OneTrueSaxon said...

Great post, old bean. Anyone who voted for one of the three main parties only has themselves to blame. In my naivety, I thought the expenses rigamarole would cause a sea-change in voting patterns and voters would turn to the smaller parties in their droves. Didn't happen.

If I was in England, I would likely vote English Democrats - not that I think they're a particularly impressive organization right now, but a good idea is a good idea, even if the people suggesting it are loons.