On a huge downer about living in the UK at the moment

[Matblack]

Originally Posted by iCraig

There are genuinely incapacitated people claiming those benefits, some are fat, some are thin and some are even black!

It's the ones who abuse the system. They rake the benefits in because "there's no way I can work in my condition" and that pisses me off if they're milking it (e.g: they say they can't work, but they're down the bookies everyday though) or if it's self-inflicted and have no interest in sorting themselves out.

Leave it out with concentrating JUST on the fat stereotyping before I come and sit on your skinny arse

MB

[iCraig]

I haven't, all sorts of people abuse the system and they get away with it because the government are too soft.

[Dymetrie]

Don't worry Craig, MB's just accusing you of being fattist when we all know....

*runs away from the Jimmy Carr joke*

[iCraig]

Well, I'm not going to sugar coat the truth.

Because he'd just eat that too.





*flees*

[Matblack]

Read the last 2 paragraphs of post 14; I'm not going to debate you, this is a very small point but as a fat person I do find it irritating.

MB

[Dymetrie]

Sorry Matt, I do completely agree with you but was trying to make the thread a bit more lighthearted.

Plus I feel you missed the point of Craig's follow up thread (which you quoted) which first stated that there are all kinds of people who genuinely need incapacity benefit and there are all kinds of people who abuse it.

The problem lies in the fact that there are far too many people that abuse what began as a very fair and altruistic system back in the late 40s/early 50s. But due to the changes in society and the further rise of capitalism then it's making it harder for genuine people to get the help they need, whereas those who fraudulently claim are finding more and more ways of doing so.

[iCraig]

I'm not having a go at fat people in general; just the stereotype of those who eat themselves into oblivion and then get people like you and me to pay for them because they then physically cannot go to work any more. There are other types of "abusers" but those are the ones I hear of the most and the ones I picked as my example.

[Fayshun]

In my biased straw poll of scroungers and the great unwashed, most of the long term unemployed I come across in custody are thin, they spend all of their benefits on class A drugs. And then go out on the rob to get more money for more drugs.

[Stan_Lite]

I understand the thing about incapacity benefit but think a better example than fatties could be used (probably because I'm one - albeit, borderline like Matt).

When I lived back home in Shetland, I lived next door to a guy who was paid incapacity benefit because he couldn't work due to being an alcoholic. I was on a lowish wage at the time and this guy was better off than I was (and I was working 45-50 hours a week) at mine and your expense, simply because he hadn't the self control not to drink. When you see things like that you wonder why you bother.

I don't have the answers but part of it would be to stop wasting the taxpayers money so much. If people see their taxes being put to good use, they are less likely to grumble about having to pay them. I don't think taxes in this country are too high but I do think the revenue could be utilised much more effectively.

I don't think leaving the country is the answer. I get this quite a lot in my job - a lot of the brits I meet at work have moved abroad and many of them try to persuade me that I should do the same. Why should I do that? I like the UK, all my friends and family are here. It's not too bad a country in itself - it has it's problems, like every country. Leaving would only be running away from the problems in your country of birth to the problems you would encounter living in another country.