The Truth About Poverty - it is deliberately maintained, and why imposing judgemental caricature of the impoverished as the mainstream narrative is so important.

The Truth About Poverty - it is deliberately maintained, and why imposing judgemental caricature of the impoverished as the mainstream narrative is so important.

"The silver lining in an otherwise grim landscape is that the disastrous right-wing grip on public policy has been shattered. Truss was right on one thing: it is an imperative the country breaks out of economic stagnation. The alternative to trickle-down economics is to raise public and private investment along with rising exports, the universal drivers of economic growth. Britain needs a step change upwards in public investment and it needs to recast its financial and ownership system to foster the great companies that innovate and invest."

The Observer Lead Opinion Sunday 16 October 2022

Nothing about poverty, let alone the fact that poverty is deliberately inculcated, intentionally maintained, the impoverished constantly gaslighted, with great human harm as a consequence .... and as it happens, no - the neoliberal grip has not been shattered, they are flexing it, and there's more to come.

Middle Class myopia. Hope. Unfortunately, growth of the economy does not correlate with a robust, happy pulse of the health, welfare and safety of the population. It is not an accurate measure, taken on it's own. 

The Observer headline for this rather dull witted passage: Patronising bollocks.

None of this is new, none of this poverty is necessary.

1914

The lived experience and the meaning of social mutual aid, and it's absence.

2008 - The Subprime Lending Fraud collapses, States bail out fraudulent system. Poverty increases, wealth accumulation increases. Austerity and Big Society, tiny state. 
'The Spirit Level: Why More Equal Societies Almost Always Do Better' was published in 2009. 
"Written by Kate Pickett and Richard Wilkinson, the book highlights the "pernicious effects that inequality has on societies: eroding trust, increasing anxiety and illness, (and) encouraging excessive consumption". 
It shows that for each of eleven different health and social problems: physical health, mental health, drug abuse, education, imprisonment, obesity, social mobility, trust and community life, violence, teenage pregnancies, and child well-being, outcomes are significantly worse in more unequal rich countries."

Source : https://equalitytrust.org.uk/resources/the-spirit-level

2022 - Things are not improving, are they? War budgets and Billionaires wealth are increasing in line with the increase of poverty. 

The Truth About Poverty
Everything we think we know about poverty is probably incorrect, a caricature of the impoverished, designed to mislead us. 

The Truth About Poverty - and why it is deliberately maintained, and why imposing judgemental caricature as the mainstream narrative is so important.
We see all around us, above us, besides us, below us - an institutional culture of deliberate judgemental paternalistic societally enforced snobbery, for profit. 
People must be taught to see the poor as having only themselves to blame 'because people are flawed and selfish and lazy. Inferior.'

What of the 'advice' given to the poor from that perspective?

Pull up your socks?

Whereas the truth is much simpler - most people are decent, honest and caring. And most people are living with near intolerable levels of chronic stress.
Why so decent? Because it's so much healthier. That's just common sense. Food banks, local charities, applause for health care workers, raises for all workers, peace and a clean environment. No more than what we need for a genuinely healthy life. Decency. Humanity. Community. These are all real political forces if we truly understood their potency.

Rutger Bergman gets into the detail, in the video just above - it's a friendly chat.

Make a cup of team sit back, open the popcorn, switch off the phone, take it all in. This is healthy science meets social care as an economic commons at it's very best.

Given our general good nature, what's happened to our perception of one another?

This raises the question as to why the caricature of poverty and the theme of the selfish individual remain as existential assumptions within the narratives of the established political and economic system, irrespective of ideology, creed, 
Hegemony 
Maintaining the dominance of Corporations and Wealth over the people, as it is,  is cruelty beyond imagination.




Kindest regards

Corneilius

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Free Speech and Bullying in the Public Domain - thoughts on how to confront this conflict of interest

Free Speech

Free Speech is a Responsibility, it is neither an automatic Right to a free-for-all nor is it a Privilege.

The Responsibility: that when speaking to the commons, the shared space between us all we speak truthfully, transparently and  honestly, we speak to the commons and be attentive to be evidence based, to be as good a listener as a speaker and to acknowledge what is verified, reliable and true as such, and to also acknowledge beliefs as made up, as guess-work at the very best. This responsibility is absolutely critical in any matter that concerns the welfare of millions or billions of people who share the commons. It is a fundamental humane duty of care, and cannot be abrogated.

Free Speech is not a right to promote beliefs over evidence in action on matters concerning the shared commons, the welfare of people and their lives.

Free Speech is not a right to groom, manipulate or exploit others through use of language and various logical fallacies.

Lots of very clever abusive people hide behind Free Speech - the correct way to deal with that is to identify what is being done, name the precise tactic, the logical fallacies, the half truths, twists and spins and show how they inform the agenda that is being driven, and to do so in full transparency.

This blog is a REALLY useful in helping with this.

https://politicsandinsights.org/2015/01/22/how-bullying-works-projection-and-scapegoating/

"Very few people, when put to the test, have the integrity and moral courage to stand up against bullying, harassment, abuse, threats and corruption. The targets of adult bullying are selected often because they DO have the moral courage to challenge; many people will pass by on the other side.

A target of adult bullying is most often chosen because of their strength, not their weakness. 

Research shows that targets of bullying tend to have highly developed empathy, and sensitivity for others, a high degree of perceptiveness, high moral values, a well-developed integrity, a strong sense of fair play and reasonableness, a low propensity to violence, a reluctance to pursue grievance, disciplinary or legal action, a strong forgiving streak and a mature understanding of the need to resolve conflict with dialogue. 

Often, targets of bullying are independent, self-reliant and “different” in some way. Weak people often disingenuously confuse these hallmarks of character with weakness.

Bullies aim to inflict psychological injury more often than physical injury. Their main aim is to control, discredit, isolate and eliminate their target."

It is vital, therefore, that all decent humane people who wish to participate, contribute and engage with the deliberations on how we deal with matters that concern our collective welfare (and our individual well being) are educated to become adept at this process of confronting the tactical arsenal that bullies, ideologues, demagogues, populists and others with malign intent bring when they present their theses in the public domain, such that they are clearly identified, their tactics exposed, their activity inhibited, disabled and prevented in the first instance, thus protecting the commons from avoidable harm. 

Our collective safety and sanity demand nothing less.

Kindest regards

 Corneilius

"Do what you love, it is your gift to universe."