(no subject)
At the moment I'm reading The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists &I love it, but it makes me so sad. The utter unbelievable poverty suffered by these people is just appalling. But what's even sadder is reading the book with the knowledge we have now that socialism never really works. I don't think that's because it's unrealistic, it's just that there are too many fucking bastards in the world to make it work. &Socialism has died an awful death in Britain because this sort of povery no longer applies to us. Yes, there are still a fair few people in Britain who are living on the bread line {&most of those are immigrants who we should try to help more, but that's another story}, but the fact is that most people in Britian today have everything they need &most of the things they want. Socialism nowadays for us has to apply to developing countries, &people are far less willing to make an effort in that case. But it's just such a miserable situation: why should we have so much &they have so little; why should the few rich people in those developing countries use up everything the workers produce &leave them with barely enough to live on? It's so fucking unjust, so horribly depressing. I feel that writing my dissertation on socialist literature might go some way to help, but really it'll just be a pretentious waste of my thoughts which will achieve little more than a good mark for me.
I come from a nouveau riche family, all in all, &though my parents had little when they started out, they now both have a lot {a consequence of the capitalist development of the entire country really}. As a result, I have never wanted for anything, even though I've lived on one of the roughest estates in Britain. I have nothing to complain about. Now, of course, I'm supposed to be out on my own, &even though my parents continue to support me financially, I'm mounting up huge debts that I'll have to pay off eventually. &When I get a mortgage these debts will increase {but as long as I stay away from credit cards, they hopefully won't spiral out of control}. But even with all these debts I know I'll never actually struggle to stay alive, &I'll never be completely without alternative options. I've had the privilege of education &money, but nothing more than this has given me the right to live my oh-so comfortable life. My real privilege, of course, was being born in this country.
When I get older &I'm earning a salary, I've always planned to give a portion of it to charity. But which charity is the most worthy? It's easy enough to realise that PDSA &similar organisations are bottom of the list, but how do you choose between Oxfam, Amnesty, Mind, NSPCC &Shelter? Arrrrrrrrg. &If Tony Blair can find a spare million in his back pocket to give to Jamie Oliver's School Dinners project {another worthy cause} why can't he do the same for all the other people who need it?
Money is nothing - it is paper given to those who don't really deserve it. But unfortunately, it's also everything. &Isn't that just bloody MISERABLE?
I come from a nouveau riche family, all in all, &though my parents had little when they started out, they now both have a lot {a consequence of the capitalist development of the entire country really}. As a result, I have never wanted for anything, even though I've lived on one of the roughest estates in Britain. I have nothing to complain about. Now, of course, I'm supposed to be out on my own, &even though my parents continue to support me financially, I'm mounting up huge debts that I'll have to pay off eventually. &When I get a mortgage these debts will increase {but as long as I stay away from credit cards, they hopefully won't spiral out of control}. But even with all these debts I know I'll never actually struggle to stay alive, &I'll never be completely without alternative options. I've had the privilege of education &money, but nothing more than this has given me the right to live my oh-so comfortable life. My real privilege, of course, was being born in this country.
When I get older &I'm earning a salary, I've always planned to give a portion of it to charity. But which charity is the most worthy? It's easy enough to realise that PDSA &similar organisations are bottom of the list, but how do you choose between Oxfam, Amnesty, Mind, NSPCC &Shelter? Arrrrrrrrg. &If Tony Blair can find a spare million in his back pocket to give to Jamie Oliver's School Dinners project {another worthy cause} why can't he do the same for all the other people who need it?
Money is nothing - it is paper given to those who don't really deserve it. But unfortunately, it's also everything. &Isn't that just bloody MISERABLE?