is there a war on the poor?

capo4th

There are much better cakes available 

Trust me on this (slightly over weight well fed middle aged man)

capo4th

Plenty of nice cake at the food banks nowadays as well amazing menu choices available for the poor peeps. 

Marks and Spencer are really top drawer when it comes to cakes and chilled desserts. 

The Masterbuilders of the cake world in my opinion.

holnrew

@digitalscream wasn't aimed at you. You're being pretty even handed.

holnrew

Also I'm not bitter about people having more money than me. Sure I get envious sometimes, but that doesn't achieve anything. I have no problem with rich people existing and don't blame them for my situation. I just wish some of those on the other end of the scale could be more understanding and less dismissive.

TheBlueWolf

I'm on long term sick so I rely on benefits. I'm not minted by any means but I get by. I've met quite a few over the years who complain of being poor but always seem to have enough dosh for the latest phone, fashion, takeaways etc. Most likely because they're flogging moody goods or have similar scams going.

Chalky

I've been working since I was 14 to afford to build this ivory tower!

Drew_TNBD

RE: Ivory Tower... I've worked my cock off to get where I am. Most of the lads from school back in the Midlands are either in jail, working in sandwich factories, or doing warehouse work.

lloyd

Drew_fx said:

RE: Ivory Tower... I've worked my cock off to get where I am. Most of the lads from school back in the Midlands are either in jail, working in sandwich factories, or doing warehouse work.

Lucky, lucky bastards.

menamestom

hywelg said:

Myranda said:

Any of the plenty of people who are below the poverty line?
The people who were just above the poverty line before the tories decided you can live on less than half of what it costs to live in the uk and cut the low income type benefits?

The poverty line is not real. Its a made up definition based on average incomes. So as society becomes more prosperous so the poverty line goes higher. Its as I said above, you can be below the poverty line and still have a fuck off big flatscreen TV. To me if you can afford any sort of TV you ain't living in true poverty.

Redundant flat screen TV's are ubiquitous.  You can go on freecycle and get somebody's old 40" TV.  You can go to out local tip and see old flat screen TV's there that probably still work.  Somebody offored me a 5 year old Sharp TV because they were getting a 4k model.  Rocking a large Bush LCD doesn't exactly make you rich.  
Poverty is also linked with opportunities and education, it's not all about whether you can be the proud owner of a large TV or not.

Drew_TNBD

menamestom said:

hywelg said:

Myranda said:

Any of the plenty of people who are below the poverty line?
The people who were just above the poverty line before the tories decided you can live on less than half of what it costs to live in the uk and cut the low income type benefits?

The poverty line is not real. Its a made up definition based on average incomes. So as society becomes more prosperous so the poverty line goes higher. Its as I said above, you can be below the poverty line and still have a fuck off big flatscreen TV. To me if you can afford any sort of TV you ain't living in true poverty.

Redundant flat screen TV's are ubiquitous.  You can go on freecycle and get somebody's old 40" TV.  You can go to out local tip and see old flat screen TV's there that probably still work.  Somebody offored me a 5 year old Sharp TV because they were getting a 4k model.  Rocking a large Bush LCD doesn't exactly make you rich.  
Poverty is also linked with opportunities and education, it's not all about whether you can be the proud owner of a large TV or not.

If you're an ethnic minority female from a council estate you have more opportunities and doors open for you in terms of scholarships, education, and job positions than any other demographic.

CabbageCat

Chalky said:

I've been working since I was 14 to afford to build this ivory tower!

I've been slacking since I was 14 to build my muddy cave.

Like Holnrew, I don't blame anyone else for my position. I am where I am because of my own choices. Sure, I'll never be "rich" because I'm naturally lazy but I will always have money because I'm genuinely happy to economise. The £7 a day thing doesn't sound too hard if you have a roof provided and don't have to go to work.

Drew_TNBD

CabbageCat said:

Chalky said:

I've been working since I was 14 to afford to build this ivory tower!

I've been slacking since I was 14 to build my muddy cave.

Like Holnrew, I don't blame anyone else for my position. I am where I am because of my own choices. Sure, I'll never be "rich" because I'm naturally lazy but I will always have money because I'm genuinely happy to economise. The £7 a day thing doesn't sound too hard if you have a roof provided and don't have to go to work.

Aye, you can just get a leccy card and sit around being smug all day. Greggs pasty for lunch and dinner, and a few cans of SKOL. What a life!!

CabbageCat

Drew_fx said:

CabbageCat said:

Chalky said:

I've been working since I was 14 to afford to build this ivory tower!

I've been slacking since I was 14 to build my muddy cave.

Like Holnrew, I don't blame anyone else for my position. I am where I am because of my own choices. Sure, I'll never be "rich" because I'm naturally lazy but I will always have money because I'm genuinely happy to economise. The £7 a day thing doesn't sound too hard if you have a roof provided and don't have to go to work.

Aye, you can just get a leccy card and sit around being smug all day. Greggs pasty for lunch and dinner, and a few cans of SKOL. What a life!!

I don't know how much a Greggs pasty costs but I suspect I can make something cheaper and have a few pence left to add to the homebrew kit fund. Beer, food and smug sounds like an OK life to me.

Drew_TNBD

Drew_fx said:

menamestom said:

hywelg said:

Myranda said:

Any of the plenty of people who are below the poverty line?
The people who were just above the poverty line before the tories decided you can live on less than half of what it costs to live in the uk and cut the low income type benefits?

The poverty line is not real. Its a made up definition based on average incomes. So as society becomes more prosperous so the poverty line goes higher. Its as I said above, you can be below the poverty line and still have a fuck off big flatscreen TV. To me if you can afford any sort of TV you ain't living in true poverty.

Redundant flat screen TV's are ubiquitous.  You can go on freecycle and get somebody's old 40" TV.  You can go to out local tip and see old flat screen TV's there that probably still work.  Somebody offored me a 5 year old Sharp TV because they were getting a 4k model.  Rocking a large Bush LCD doesn't exactly make you rich.  
Poverty is also linked with opportunities and education, it's not all about whether you can be the proud owner of a large TV or not.

If you're an ethnic minority female from a council estate you have more opportunities and doors open for you in terms of scholarships, education, and job positions than any other demographic.

LOL all you want. It is true.

CabbageCat

Drew_fx said:

Drew_fx said:

menamestom said:

hywelg said:

Myranda said:

Any of the plenty of people who are below the poverty line?
The people who were just above the poverty line before the tories decided you can live on less than half of what it costs to live in the uk and cut the low income type benefits?

The poverty line is not real. Its a made up definition based on average incomes. So as society becomes more prosperous so the poverty line goes higher. Its as I said above, you can be below the poverty line and still have a fuck off big flatscreen TV. To me if you can afford any sort of TV you ain't living in true poverty.

Redundant flat screen TV's are ubiquitous.  You can go on freecycle and get somebody's old 40" TV.  You can go to out local tip and see old flat screen TV's there that probably still work.  Somebody offored me a 5 year old Sharp TV because they were getting a 4k model.  Rocking a large Bush LCD doesn't exactly make you rich.  
Poverty is also linked with opportunities and education, it's not all about whether you can be the proud owner of a large TV or not.

If you're an ethnic minority female from a council estate you have more opportunities and doors open for you in terms of scholarships, education, and job positions than any other demographic.

LOL all you want. It is true.

You're probably right when it comes to education and big businesses. I suspect (depending on age) there would still be a covert reticence among small employers to hire a woman who is in danger of pregnancy.

Drew_TNBD

CabbageCat said:

Drew_fx said:

Drew_fx said:

menamestom said:

hywelg said:

Myranda said:

Any of the plenty of people who are below the poverty line?
The people who were just above the poverty line before the tories decided you can live on less than half of what it costs to live in the uk and cut the low income type benefits?

The poverty line is not real. Its a made up definition based on average incomes. So as society becomes more prosperous so the poverty line goes higher. Its as I said above, you can be below the poverty line and still have a fuck off big flatscreen TV. To me if you can afford any sort of TV you ain't living in true poverty.

Redundant flat screen TV's are ubiquitous.  You can go on freecycle and get somebody's old 40" TV.  You can go to out local tip and see old flat screen TV's there that probably still work.  Somebody offored me a 5 year old Sharp TV because they were getting a 4k model.  Rocking a large Bush LCD doesn't exactly make you rich.  
Poverty is also linked with opportunities and education, it's not all about whether you can be the proud owner of a large TV or not.

If you're an ethnic minority female from a council estate you have more opportunities and doors open for you in terms of scholarships, education, and job positions than any other demographic.

LOL all you want. It is true.

You're probably right when it comes to education and big businesses. I suspect (depending on age) there would still be a covert reticence among small employers to hire a woman who is in danger of pregnancy.

Only a sensible business would do that. It is a real factor - you train someone up, they go off for up to a year, and may not even return. Significant cost to a business for a woman to go away and raise a family.

Heartfeltdawn

Drew_fx said:

If you're an ethnic minority female from a council estate you have more opportunities and doors open for you in terms of scholarships, education, and job positions than any other demographic.

Even the privately educated demographic? 

CabbageCat

Heartfeltdawn said:

Drew_fx said:

If you're an ethnic minority female from a council estate you have more opportunities and doors open for you in terms of scholarships, education, and job positions than any other demographic.

Even the privately educated demographic? 

If a University was offering scholarships and had to choose between a white Eton boy and a black Egham girl with the same results I imagine that they would go for the latter.

Admittedly, the privately educated are more likely to have the good results, but they are still down to the individual in the end.

Reverend

Efficiency and progress is ours once more
Now that we have the Neutron bomb
It's nice and quick and clean and gets things done

cm01

Plenty of genuine poverty in the South Wales Valleys - I've seen youth workers club together to buy coats / trainers / swimming trunks for kids whose families couldn't afford them (some of whom didn't care that the kids didn't have them either).

I've also issued foodbank vouchers to people who had been screwed by the job centre (sanctioned for no real reason other than to hit their quotas) and had no money at all for rent / food / electricity.  

I've also seen people take the piss, the best being a woman who gave a sob story to get a foodbank voucher and then collected the food parcel in a £16 grand Focus ST!!