Skivers and Strivers

Here we go again with the old 'Divide and Rule' routine that saw the Tories dominate the eighties and first half of the nineties. The latest great idea is the usual old 'demonise the poor' technique as used to great effect in the past by Saatchi and Saatchi (Thatcher's ad men of choice).

Apparently the great British public can be divided into two sorts of people. The strivers - those plucky individuals who are somehow managing to hold down jobs and keep their dignity in these terrible times. And the skivers - who are just happy to live a life of luxury on the dole. Boy the dole must have changed a hell of a lot since I signed on for twenty odd quid a week back in the eighties!

I suppose I shouldn't let this sort of thing get to me. But it really gets my goat when I look at Osborne and Cameron. Tell me honestly do you think that these guys have strived for anything in their life? From their silver spoon births; through the best education that privilege can buy; leading to jobs from their mates in the old school network. 

Many of the people they are condemning have been put into the position they are in by the decisions and actions of this 'dynamic duo'. A policy of cutting jobs has inevitably left people unemployed. Its a bit of a double whammy to be then giving a verbal kicking by the very same people.

I can understand why the corporations and super rich individuals that finance the Tory party buy into this skivers/strivers split. But I can't see why the majority would do. 

I'm no class warrior. I'm happy to admit that I'm totally and completely middle class. Relatively well off working for a large corporation. However sometimes I still feel like I'm clinging on. It wouldn't take much for my comfortable lifestyle to come to an end. Job security is pretty much non-existent these days. Once you've lost your job you are than left to the whims of fate. When I see people losing their jobs and signing on I don't see skivers. I just think - there but for the grace of god go I.

When I look around at my fellow middle classers I don't see that they should be any more confident about their lot than me.

I'm not naive enough to think that there aren't people out there who are taking more than their share; people who don't work but take money out of the system. But to tar everybody with the same brush is just disgraceful.

The timing is interesting as well. At a time when there is renewed interest in the tax affairs of big corporations and rich individuals. Corporations and individuals who don't appear to be paying their fair share. 'We are all in this together' was once the motto of our glorious leaders but that all seems a long time ago.

It sometimes seems that rules and responsibilities are only for the little people. Global corporations are above all this sort of thing. They should start to remember that people do their labour for them and buy the stuff they sell. Without people to work for them and buy their products they wouldn't have any profit to pay tax on. If they want to belong to society they should take part in all aspects.

I'll start to take Osborne and Cameron more seriously when they start to treat tax avoidance with the same seriousness as they treat benefit fraud.