Welfare reform

I've had a week of feeling angry, railing at injustice. It looks like that is going to continue for a bit longer. One of the blogs I follow is by Scarlett, the Heavenly Healer. I enjoy Scarlett's blog, because it's a bit different from the usual blogs I keep an eye on. I suppose that Scarlett is in some ways many of the things I'd love to be in a perfect world. She's an optimist (I'm cynical), she's caring (I'm a harsh judge) and she's in touch with herself (I'm angry). Her blog normally talks about the nice things in life, her allotment, things growing, that sort of stuff. It sort of reminds me of the bit of me that isn't angry. She likes making things of beauty, I like high energy punk rock, tinged with a dark sense of humour.

Don't get me wrong, I like myself. I love the music I'm into, but her blog is flower power and in a perfect world that would be me as well. In this world, my blog is inspired by songs such as "Hate and war" by the Clash, "Feeding the 5,000" by Crass and "Orgasm Addict" by the Buzzcocks (to name but a few). Still there are days when I wake up, the sun is shining, and I wish I were a calmer person.

I read her latest blog and it wasn't about the nice things. It was about her experiences trying to claim benefits. It really is one of the most awful things I've read recently. It seems that her problem is that she tried to be honest with the system and paid the price. She doesn't want to malinger, just recover from a serious illness. Just because she said she was getting better, she got penalised. Worse than that, staff at the jobcentre and her doctor told her she should "Play the game". There is a key quote in her blog

Little wonder that people in this country get stuck in the benefit system when it is based on having to lie and show no hope. You dare not tell the truth and say that you are recovering for fear of having your meagre payments stopped. It’s a ridiculous set up.

The thing is, if this is how people are treated by the system, then they will adapt. If you get penalised for trying, you won't bother. This is how dependency culture has evolved. Now I've never claimed benefits, so I've no experience, but this blog is depressing reading. The game should be to get yourself back into doing useful things. I have no glib answers as to how to fix the benefits system. All I can say is that if Scarlett's blog is really how it functions, then it really is not working and not fit for purpose.