What a cunt

  • Aux@feddit.uk
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    1 month ago

    People don’t like cuts to social welfare spending, but the UK is one of the top spenders in the world and do you know what is common to all top spenders? Economical stagnation. If we don’t cut it today, our expenses will only rise tomorrow.

    • Churbleyimyam@lemm.ee
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      1 month ago

      Man, there is a lot that you can correlate with economic stagflation. High residual nitrogen in soil. Gay marriage. Sales of left-handed ukeleles.

      Why specifically choose welfare?

      More to the point; do you know what happens to sick people who become poorer? They get sicker and become more expensive to look after. Check out the public cost of helping a disabled person keep some independence versus the cost of looking after them in hospital or a care home.

      These people won’t magically disappear if you pull the rug on them.

      The issue is health, not welfare.

      • Aux@feddit.uk
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        1 month ago

        They shouldn’t get sick in the first place. The focus should be on prevention, that’s what is cheaper and more helpful.

        • Churbleyimyam@lemm.ee
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          1 month ago

          I think you may be getting unfairly downvoted for this particular comment. Because yes, the focus should be on prevention - lack of exercise and poor diet on the physical side and the breakdown of in-person community and brainrot screen time on the mental side.

          Too many people are losing control of their lives for avoidable reasons and that is what should be addressed.

          The point obviously remains that removing people’s support after they have become ill is a bad idea and there are also people who are sick/disabled for unavoidable reasons e.g accidents, violence, genetic disorders etc.

          I hope this conversation has helped change your mind about sick people a bit. We’re all guilty of not thinking things through sometimes and there are a lot of malevolent voices shouting for our attention.

          • futatorius@lemm.ee
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            1 month ago

            Because yes, the focus should be on prevention

            Great idea. But it’s far from the case that all forms of illness are preventable. And prevention strategies don’t always work perfectly: sometimes they improve people’s odds of avoiding a disease, but don’t work in every case.

            • Churbleyimyam@lemm.ee
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              1 month ago

              Great idea. But it’s far from the case that all forms of illness are preventable.

              Of course; if you read the third paragraph of my you’ll see that we agree.

        • Coldcell@sh.itjust.works
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          1 month ago

          I don’t like hoping that someone suffers a spinal injury in a car accident only to be told it’s their fault, and if they’d chosen not to become disabled they’d be able to walk and live free from constant unbearable pain, yet here I am.

        • Tippon@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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          1 month ago

          Fuck me, you’re a moron.

          ‘Hey, you with the chronic illness! Why didn’t you try not to get sick?’

    • slakemoth@lemmygrad.ml
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      1 month ago

      'people don’t like it when the government decides to cull the vulnerable ’ this isn’t some reduction of pocket money to lazy teenagers, this is literally the cutting of people’s basic needs. How would you feel if i took away your ability to feed and house yourself?

      • JasSmith@sh.itjust.works
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        1 month ago

        The welfare spending provides an oversized return in productivity. What is common to all the low spenders - low life expectancy.

        I don’t think this is correct. Prevention provides outsized benefits, but unless benefits lead to a return to work, they do not result in increased productivity. I’m happy to be proven wrong if you have a source. I think this is a moral discussion rather than an economic one.

      • Aux@feddit.uk
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        1 month ago

        Increased life expectancy should come with proportionally increased retirement age. Which is also a very unpopular policy. Otherwise you end with an aging population and the whole mess we’re in today.

    • alykanas@slrpnk.net
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      1 month ago

      It’s broadly accepted that austerity is the primary cause of stagnation.

      Krugman, Stiglitz, Chang, Piketty etc etc have all explained how cutting welfare weakens demand, which in turn prolongs a period of stagnation.

      The time to cut welfare, if you have a hard on for hurting the poor, is when the economy is booming.