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Explore, Probe and consider the latest blogs from our members
Germany’s Social Cleansing of Welfare Claimants.
Written by terratech Tuesday, 27 March 2012 20:36
The Brutal assault on benefit claimants is following an international agenda which is seeing millions being pushed to the edge of society literally, as they are forced to relocate through legislation that either cuts their hosing benefit or strips them of the necessary means to purchase shelter altogether.
This socially divisive policy cannot be seen as anything else but an agenda by governments to un-nerve their populations; socially ripped apart from friends and family support, claimants are left with so much uncertainty about their future and financially security they are unable or at odds at how to fight back since no political parties left or right is willing to support them.
Germany’s untold story is that of poverty and homelessness amongst news that lauds its prosperity and low unemployment but as the infestation of neo-con ideas spread internationally we see the stark reality of a city willing to threaten 100,000 welfare recipients in Berlin with eviction.
Delightful News out of Greece This Morning (for bankers)
Written by Administrator Monday, 13 February 2012 22:23
This sarcastic take on reports of Greece’s approval of the Austerity measures imposed on it by the European Union has a message that bankers and speculators need to hear before the horror story that is unfolding before us drags them down along with us.
It is also a reminder to the individual that thinks they are somehow immune to the consequences of austerity in their own country because just as it is only Greece that had to apply some of the worst measures since the settlements of the 2nd World War, it could be your country next affected by the rampage of idiots and a system that “lives for the day only”.
Read more: Delightful News out of Greece This Morning (for bankers)
Fighting unemployment in the 1930s
Written by Administrator Saturday, 11 February 2012 21:43
The 1930's saw the National Unemployed Workers Movement organise a series of huge marches that defied government, police and trade union leaders.
'Struggle or starve!' 1932 - When Birkenhead workers beat the means test
Written by Administrator Saturday, 11 February 2012 21:25
To the present generation of workers and young people, the phrase 'means test' probably means little. Yet the mere utterance of those words once struck terror into the ranks of the poor and unemployed in 1930s Britain because it denoted a state-enforced programme of savage cuts in the living standards of the most vulnerable. For this reason, in the decades that followed, the mere mention of a 'means test' was largely taboo.
One of the most important movements against the means test took place in the autumn of 1932 in the town of Birkenhead. In his book, Idle Hands, Clenched Fists - The Depression in a Shipyard Town, first issued in 1987, Stephen F Kelly recounts the tumultuous events in this town in 1932 and predicts what could happen today. I confess to having a special interest in the events that unfolded then because my own parents were involved in this epic battle.
Read more: 'Struggle or starve!' 1932 - When Birkenhead workers beat the means test
We will not starve in Silence - The unemployed struggles of the 1920s
Written by Administrator Saturday, 11 February 2012 20:48
Dave Garroch looks at the unemployed struggles between the Wars in a review of two books about the period – Harry McShane’s “No Mean Fighter” (Pluto Press) and Wal Hannington’s “Unemployed Struggles (Lawrence and Wishart).
In March 1921 Harry McShane led his first demonstration, “…a couple of thousand turned up and they were really wild and angry men. Some of them were carrying hand grenades they had brought back from the front – I also knew that some even carried guns on demonstrations. They were a very militant, threatening crowd.” They had good reason to be. They were among the 1.5 million unemployed in that month. In percentage terms that meant about 12% of those covered by unemployment insurance.
Read more: We will not starve in Silence - The unemployed struggles of the 1920s
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