Saturday 5 February 2011

Ostrich

My default settings at the moment seem stuck between 'irritation' and 'rage'. It's not healthy. Every time I hear the words prime minister, Westminster, schools, cuts, economy, budget, financial, etc etc, I turn off the radio (sorry Radio 4, between the Archers and the obsession with Westminster you're driving me away. Plus their idea of reportage seems to be - this is really going to affect poor people in a negative way! Let's interview a middle class journalist and a minister and hear their thoughts on it!)

And the same goes for the TV. I wish I could live up a mountain far from everyone, with nothing but the sound of birdsong.

But it's wrong to be so disengaged when other people don't have that luxury, they are really in the shit and are fighting for their existence. So it's hard to find a balance.

As I may have mentioned once or twice, I don't like my job. I find it very stressful and very frustrating. But have somehow ended up a union rep, which in these tough times involves mainly nag nag nagging people for stuff, to come to meetings, to give up their time, to send their votes in.

Because the cuts are worse in Tower Hamlets (poorest, most deprived borough in the whole of London, if not the country) than anywhere else. So the services which are the safety net for the most vulnerable, poor people in the country are being stripped away from them.

When we met recently one of the speakers pointed out of the window, where we had a lovely view of Canary Wharf glittering away. 'Why are our kids paying for this? Was it their fault? Why aren't THEY paying for it, they fucked up?'

Anyway, I guess I can't bury my head in the sand just yet. What can I say? Come to the march on 26th March to show we want an alternative.

And watch this video.

Why cuts are the wrong cure from False Economy on Vimeo.

2 comments:

  1. I've gotten rather worn down, to the point where my comments on the cuts now consists of emoticons.

    :(

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  2. I think I genuinely need to stop listening to the radio. It's not good to wake up to seething rage every morning.

    This morning, for example, people were getting all het up over the 'Big Society' not working ('Charities warn David Cameron his Big Society project is being undermined by spending cuts.') It seems naive on a grand scale.

    The principle idea seemed to be 'We will stop paying people to do a job. Instead they will volunteer to do the same thing for no money.' How was that ever going to work? It was always only ever going to be another Tory lie, just propaganda & spin.

    I don't know if they ever thought it was a) going to work or b) that people would fall for it, it was just a convenient blah meaningless contentless PR phrase to throw out there before the election, to make it look as if they had some plan, some ideology beyond dismantling the welfare state like they've been itching to do, all those years in opposition.

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