mandation to volunterr for a charity shop

[oblivious]

just one thing to add how do you afford a car on JSA because i couldnt?

[oblivious]

thankyou lily-monroe.

[oblivious]

you said things far better than I ever could lily-monroe and in my experience those that enjoy playing the game are not as genuine as those who would rather be straight up and find they are punished for being so.

[impecunious]

How are you meant to earn respect when you cannot get a job.

I also would question how can anyone keep their respect when jumping through the hoops and often in a very demeaning manner - to keep on the right side of claiming benefits.

 

You sort of make it sound as if we should bow down and kiss the ground for the little help we get.

Most people who claim benefits are genuine people, who want to work - they just wanted to be treated with respect - and that cuts both ways surely.

 

 

Respect is about more than just having a job .... its not what you do for a living but the person you are and how you deal with life.

 

I may be temporarily unemployed but I'm certainly not lacking in self-respect, or ambition, or drive or passion for what I want to do. I regularly help and support many people both able-bodied and disabled, not only by being empathic and listening but also in very practical terms, by sharing what I have, teaching others, sharing my skills and talents, and volunteering in the charity sector to raise very substantial funds to support sick and disabled children - some with life-limiting or terminal illness, along with running my own fledgling business for 2 days a week.

 

In an ideal world, we wouldn't have to claim benefits but we live in a welfare state, and if we're not employed or on a very low income and want to survive, we have to jump through hoops - no matter how idiotic or complicated they are - in order to satisfy DWP, we have no choice. We do, however, have a choice about how we behave and treat other people ...... I certainly would never antagonise any member of DWP staff - they are only doing their job - I am always polite and respectful and would never deliberately fail to follow any "direction" given ,,, whether I approved of them or not. There is more than one to skin a cat. Empower yourself with knowledge, know your rights and be assertive but not aggressive. There is no dignity railing against the moon!

 

I believe that most people who claim benefits are, of course, genuine - there are almost 6,000,000 of us in the UK who claim benefits of one kind or another. We can rant and rave about the inadequacies of the welfare system but, unless we play the game, we'll starve. So, until we all vote for a party who will be all to all people, we're stuck with the coalition government we voted for.

 

Impecunious!

[impecunious]

just one thing to add how do you afford a car on JSA because i couldnt?

 

 

 

I hadn't realised that being on JSA precluded anyone from owning or running a car, or a washing machine or even a pc and internet connection - which we all seem to have cos we're here! I budget carefully, pay my bills, eat well and do it all on my own. I also manage to save a little. It's called living within your means.

 

Imp!

[oblivious]

exactly Impecunious. its about exactly who you are. no one was questioning what you stand for but you questioned me and what I stand for. you told me to stop applying for housing and tax benefits because my stance is I will not work in a charity shop because I believe it will not benefit me.

 

you then state that I should be grateful that I am able to eat and receive whatever else I need each day. Why should I be grateful for this? I cannot make an employer employ me, I cannot be responsible for the economic climate, I cannot be responsible for companies being greedy and placing their millions of profits into bank accounts, and will not invest, because they place no confidence in the economic climate to make them further millions.

 

I am not responsible for anything. All I want is a job if no one will give me one thats not my fault.

[oblivious]

you have much more means than anyone else because running a car is expensive.

[Lilly_Monroe]

Respect is about more than just having a job .... its not what you do for a living but the person you are and how you deal with life.

 

I may be temporarily unemployed but I'm certainly not lacking in self-respect, or ambition, or drive or passion for what I want to do. I regularly help and support many people both able-bodied and disabled, not only by being empathic and listening but also in very practical terms, by sharing what I have, teaching others, sharing my skills and talents, and volunteering in the charity sector to raise very substantial funds to support sick and disabled children - some with life-limiting or terminal illness, along with running my own fledgling business for 2 days a week.

 

In an ideal world, we wouldn't have to claim benefits but we live in a welfare state, and if we're not employed or on a very low income and want to survive, we have to jump through hoops - no matter how idiotic or complicated they are - in order to satisfy DWP, we have no choice. We do, however, have a choice about how we behave and treat other people ...... I certainly would never antagonise any member of DWP staff - they are only doing their job - I am always polite and respectful and would never deliberately fail to follow any "direction" given ,,, whether I approved of them or not. There is more than one to skin a cat. Empower yourself with knowledge, know your rights and be assertive but not aggressive. There is no dignity railing against the moon!

 

I believe that most people who claim benefits are, of course, genuine - there are almost 6,000,000 of us in the UK who claim benefits of one kind or another. We can rant and rave about the inadequacies of the welfare system but, unless we play the game, we'll starve. So, until we all vote for a party who will be all to all people, we're stuck with the coalition government we voted for.

 

Impecunious!

 

I did not vote for this shower.

Neither do I see it as a game we must play - far from it.

I see it as playing with peoples lives at a time when they are at their most vulnerable.

 

I went for my 2nd ATOS medical last week.

I was asked to take 25p from a £1 a coat was pointed to and I was asked what it was.

Touch my nose with right and then left hand.

Spell the word - house!

Is that a game; because it is was no game to me, that is my dignity being kicked into the gutter.

I am ill - not brain dead.

 

I am 56 and have never claimed benefits up until the last few years.

You are not alone in helping others I have always done so - not sure that why, when I am ill, I am seen as a possible scrounger or why I should jump through hoops to prove my illness.

 

I have been honest in all of dealings with the DWP attended every meeting, (with a yes Sir no Sir attitude) and apart from my medical they have been fair to me (would not want to say otherwise).

It is time they worked out the genuine people and treated them with some respect whatever benefit they are on.

After all that costs nothing!

[impecunious]

exactly Impecunious. its about exactly who you are. no one was questioning what you stand for but you questioned me and what I stand for. you told me to stop applying for housing and tax benefits because my stance is I will not work in a charity shop because I believe it will not benefit me.

 

you then state that I should be grateful that I am able to eat and receive whatever else I need each day. Why should I be grateful for this? I cannot make an employer employ me, I cannot be responsible for the economic climate, I cannot be responsible for companies being greedy and placing their millions of profits into bank accounts, and will not invest, because they place no confidence in the economic climate to make them further millions.

 

I am not responsible for anything. All I want is a job if no one will give me one thats not my fault.

 

 

 

You are totally responsible for yourself and your actions!! Good God man!! If no-one will give you a job, do it for yourself. I am!

[impecunious]

I did not vote for this shower.

Neither do I see it as a game we must play - far from it.

I see it as playing with peoples lives at a time when they are at their most vulnerable.

 

I went for my 2nd ATOS medical last week.

I was asked to take 25p from a £1 a coat was pointed to and I was asked what it was.

Touch my nose with right and then left hand.

Spell the word - house!

Is that a game; because it is was no game to me, that is my dignity being kicked into the gutter.

I am ill - not brain dead.

 

I am 56 and have never claimed benefits up until the last few years.

You are not alone in helping others I have always done so - not sure that why, when I am ill, I am seen as a possible scrounger or why I should jump through hoops to prove my illness.

 

I have been honest in all of dealings with the DWP attended every meeting, (with a yes Sir no Sir attitude) and apart from my medical they have been fair to me (would not want to say otherwise).

It is time they worked out the genuine people and treated them with some respect whatever benefit they are on.

After all that costs nothing!

 

 

My comments have not been directed at you. I can't imagine being ill, unable to work and surviving on benefits but I know about caring for someone with mental illness.

 

My son suffers from severe mental illness as I've posted before on here - Paranoid Schizophrenia Psychosis -- he works full-time in a very technical and demanding job, rarely ever has time off sick (but he's constantly sick and ill), is medicated to the hilt, is on anti=depressants and has OCD and a sleep disorder. He does not and will not claim any kind of benefits. I couldn't spend 24 hours in his head. I respect him totally ... he is an example to so many people. He literally has to drag himself out of bed every morning because he is almost comotosed with drugs but he does, every minute of every day is a challenge. He's had this illness for over 12 yrs now but I've never heard him complain - he just gets on with it - because it's the only life he has. The day gives up will be the day he dies - literally and metaphorically.

 

Impecunious!

Edited March 17, 2013 by antone
Fixed quote tags

[oblivious]

you sound just like the advisors at the job center Impecunious and all the liberal ideological thinking that precedes today, no understanding whatsoever for people and how difficult things can be and because someone does not have a job in an employers world who can pick and choose from hundreds of applicants it's automatically their fault.

 

I wish I was back in victoria britain at least I would be able to just walk into a job without having fill in application forms, write CVs and then have an interview before I am even considered for a job and then have to struggle before I am even paid for the work I have done. The victorians were cruel but at least they kept things far more simple than they do today. The politicians do not see this and blame only the job seeker for not trying hard enough.

 

 

 

If finding a job was just as simple as contacting an employer I would have hundreds of jobs to go to.

 

I agree with lily-monroe I am not interested in playing games just so I can eat and have anything else that is my human right. I am a person who should be treated with respect no matter what my values are, no one has the right to dictate how people should think and act just to satisfy their own beliefs.

[impecunious]

you have much more means than anyone else because running a car is expensive.

 

I get exactly £71pw week - normal JSA for someone over 35 _ DWP only allows for a £5 pw disregard. Any income earned in excess of £71 will be deducted almost penny for penny from my HB and CT ... ..... Not disclosing earned income whilst on benefits would be classified as "fraud" .. I might be forthright but I'm certainly not dishonest or a benefits cheat!

[impecunious]

you sound just like the advisors at the job center Impecunious and all the liberal ideological thinking that precedes today, no understanding whatsoever for people and how difficult things can be and because someone does not have a job in an employers world who can pick and choose from hundreds of applicants it's automatically their fault.

 

I wish I was back in victoria britain at least I would be able to just walk into a job without having fill in application forms, write CVs and then have an interview before I am even considered for a job and then have to struggle before I am even paid for the work I have done. The victorians were cruel but at least they kept things far more simple than they do today. The politicians do not see this and blame only the job seeker for not trying hard enough.

 

 

 

If finding a job was just as simple as contacting an employer I would have hundreds of jobs to go to.

 

I agree with lily-monroe I am not interested in playing games just so I can eat and have anything else that is my human right. I am a person who should be treated with respect no matter what my values are, no one has the right to dictate how people should think and act just to satisfy their own beliefs.

 

 

Of course I have an understanding of being unemployed -- I live it every day -------------------- I am UNEMPLOYED, in receipt of JSA and signing on every fortnight - just like you and millions of other people ...... but I'm not going to be defined by being jobless .......

 

In Victorian times, if you were unemployed and starving, with no financial support, you'd probably end up in the work-house ...... or debtors' prison ........... or dead!

 

END OF!!

[IdaInFife]

I think we may have digressed

 

[citizenB]

Can we please get this thread back on topic otherwise we will be forced to close it