{"id":10685,"date":"2015-05-22T18:24:38","date_gmt":"2015-05-22T17:24:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.glass-cage.com\/dianas_blog\/?p=10685"},"modified":"2015-05-22T18:29:51","modified_gmt":"2015-05-22T17:29:51","slug":"non-reversible-austerity-future-imperfect","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/glass-cage.com\/dianas_blog\/2015\/05\/22\/non-reversible-austerity-future-imperfect\/","title":{"rendered":"Non-reversible ‘austerity’ – future imperfect"},"content":{"rendered":"

I came across this article on facebook and its worth sharing here.\u00a0<\/strong><\/em>
\nThe article pretty much nails the intent of the present government or should I say regime, as that sounds more appropriate…\u00a0<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Re-bloged from\u00a0http:\/\/www.davidkilpatrick.co.uk\/<\/a><\/p>\n

Source: Non-reversible ‘austerity’ – future imperfect<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

Here\u2019s a simple question for David Cameron and George Osborne \u2013 and IDS, and all the cohorts of Conservatism, UK 2016 style.<\/p>\n

When a government uses fiscal measures to balance the books, through tax changes, the measures are adjustable and reversible. They can be modified, ended, tweaked, extended or whatever is needed.<\/p>\n

When a government implements cuts to budgets, staffing levels and grades can be controlled along with purchasing contracts, attention to waste, changes in allocations to match changing times (ever worked with a big underused stationery expense budget but an inadequate capital budget for the IT systems which have actually replaced all that stationery?). All these things are reversible. Staffing levels can go up as well as down. Salaries can be frozen for a period, but increased generously when greater prosperity permits.<\/p>\n

My question \u2013 how do you REVERSE the current implementation of \u2018austerity\u2019?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n
\n

When times are good once again, do you stipulate that instead of paying a bedroom tax, all social housing tenants should be housed with at least one spare room to take account of modern lifestyles and Britain\u2019s terrible record for cramped housing?<\/p>\n

Do you send in a team from ATOS to re-assess the terminally ill, disabled, or incapacitated and ensure life support with indemnity\u00a0from punitive financial action by banks, landlords, government and local authorities, and utility providers? To remove from unsuitable work those forced to undertake it, and remove the detriment to their lives and the lives of their families?<\/p>\n

Do you GIVE BACK what you have taken away and RESTORE the welfare cuts, reverse your social policies, and mend the safety net which is supposed to stop those who fall off the tightrope of life from crashing to a hard landing way below?<\/p>\n

\"Vintage<\/p>\n

North Anston, Sheffield, 1972 (condemned, replaced by an industrial estate) @ David Kilpatrick<\/em><\/h5>\n

I don\u2019t think I need speculate about the answers.\u00a0\u2018Austerity\u2019 sounds so much like the period I was born into, just after rationing had ended (though petrol coupons returned for other reasons). That was austerity too \u2013 but with apromise in return<\/em> that once the nation was through its few years of utility furniture and clothing, austerity would be replaced by prosperity. It was succeeded, over the years, by measures such as 25% Purchase Tax, unthinkably high Supertax on income, pre-EU import duties and quotas and measures affecting the whole of society from the top downwards (while enabling the NHS, public utilities and transport, nationalised essential industries and the construction of the modern welfare state). All could be undone, or moderated, to suit conditions and most now have been even though the conditions rarely demanded it.<\/p>\n

The answer is that this austerity is not intended as a temporary measure.<\/p>\n

\"Miners<\/p>\n

Retired miner, Canklow Meadows Miners\u2019 Gala, 1974 @ David Kilpatrick<\/em><\/h5>\n

It\u2019s planned as a permanent part of our future society regardless of what happens to the economy in five, ten, or twenty years\u2019 time. It has been imposed selectively, making life in Britain worse for those who already found it most difficult. Unlike taxation, the measures now being extended can not be \u2018rolled back\u2019 or fine tuned. They are intended to be permanent.<\/p>\n

So, it\u2019s not \u2018austerity\u2019 then. It is not a period of reduced expenditure intended to rebalance the books. When Cameron talked and talks of so many years of austerity being needed to cut debt and deficit, he has never been talking about aperiod<\/em> of austerity. He\u2019s been talking about the time-scale\u00a0needed to introduce and implement cuts, which will then be permanent. For those involved this austerity is forever<\/em> austerity, not a few years\u00a0of corrective action.<\/p>\n

\"york1969-web\"<\/p>\n

Family life with dog, terrace backs in York, 1969 @ David Kilpatrick<\/em><\/h5>\n

Maybe if you\u2019re reading this you will consider your position on \u2018austerity\u2019 with more care, for your own future and that of your families and friends. Cameron was and is a PR executive, an expert in the use of language to deceive or persuade. This is not \u2018austerity\u2019\u00a0as there will no return to normality.<\/p>\n

Had the Government taken the route of using higher taxation a very small basic increase and few critical adjustments \u2013 all fully reversible or tuneable to suit future conditions \u2013 would have seen us through. Instead they promise a five-year tax ceiling and repeated measures to enrich the rich, squeeze the middle and turn \u2018honesty poverty\u2019 into despised destitution.<\/p>\n

Please hit the social media, whenever you like in future, to quote this article and prove me wrong the very first time you learn that any of the measures of \u2018austerity\u2019 have been reversed or removed because the GDP has risen, the deficit is lower and the debt is affordable.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u2013 David Kilpatrick<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I came across this article on facebook and its worth sharing here.\u00a0 The article pretty much nails the intent of the present government or should I say regime, as that sounds more appropriate…\u00a0 Re-bloged from\u00a0http:\/\/www.davidkilpatrick.co.uk\/ Source: Non-reversible ‘austerity’ – future imperfect Here\u2019s a simple question for David Cameron and George Osborne \u2013 and IDS, and … Continue reading Non-reversible ‘austerity’ – future imperfect<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10685","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-musings"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6NRDR-2Ml","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":4285,"url":"https:\/\/glass-cage.com\/dianas_blog\/2014\/06\/22\/tens-of-thousands-march-in-london-against-coalitions-austerity-measures\/","url_meta":{"origin":10685,"position":0},"title":"Tens of thousands march in London against coalition’s austerity measures","author":"diana Stone","date":"June 22, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"An estimated 50,000 people in London addressed by speakers, including Russell Brand, after People's Assembly march","rel":"","context":"In "Musings"","block_context":{"text":"Musings","link":"https:\/\/glass-cage.com\/dianas_blog\/category\/musings\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Powered by Guardian.co.uk","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/image.guardian.co.uk\/sys-images\/Guardian\/Pix\/pictures\/2010\/03\/01\/poweredbyguardianBLACK.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2121,"url":"https:\/\/glass-cage.com\/dianas_blog\/2013\/12\/08\/osborne-wants-to-take-us-back-to-1948-time-to-look-forward-instead\/","url_meta":{"origin":10685,"position":1},"title":"Osborne wants to take us back to 1948. Time to look forward instead","author":"diana Stone","date":"December 8, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Plans in the Treasury's autumn statement to return state spending to 1948 levels will do permanent damage to Britain","rel":"","context":"In "Musings"","block_context":{"text":"Musings","link":"https:\/\/glass-cage.com\/dianas_blog\/category\/musings\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Powered by Guardian.co.uk","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/image.guardian.co.uk\/sys-images\/Guardian\/Pix\/pictures\/2010\/03\/01\/poweredbyguardianBLACK.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":83783,"url":"https:\/\/glass-cage.com\/dianas_blog\/2017\/06\/29\/more-about-the-magic-money-tree\/","url_meta":{"origin":10685,"position":2},"title":"More about the magic money tree","author":"diana Stone","date":"June 29, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Keith Lindsay-Cameron writes: \"As far as I can see there are four magic money trees. The bank of England can print money at will, though sensitive to inflation. The banks can create money out of thin air as debt, with seemingly no considerations other than the interest, as profit, they\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Musings"","block_context":{"text":"Musings","link":"https:\/\/glass-cage.com\/dianas_blog\/category\/musings\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":143780,"url":"https:\/\/glass-cage.com\/dianas_blog\/2019\/06\/23\/austerity-is-a-psychological-attack-on-the-disabled\/","url_meta":{"origin":10685,"position":3},"title":"Austerity is a psychological attack on the disabled","author":"diana Stone","date":"June 23, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"","rel":"","context":"In "Musings"","block_context":{"text":"Musings","link":"https:\/\/glass-cage.com\/dianas_blog\/category\/musings\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":5810,"url":"https:\/\/glass-cage.com\/dianas_blog\/2014\/12\/12\/austerity-will-only-create-more-hungry-children\/","url_meta":{"origin":10685,"position":4},"title":"Austerity will only create more hungry children","author":"diana Stone","date":"December 12, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Post by The Guardian.","rel":"","context":"In "Musings"","block_context":{"text":"Musings","link":"https:\/\/glass-cage.com\/dianas_blog\/category\/musings\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":7283,"url":"https:\/\/glass-cage.com\/dianas_blog\/2015\/03\/31\/camerons-workers-v-shirkers-scam-has-at-last-exposed-the-tory-law-of-benefit-cuts\/","url_meta":{"origin":10685,"position":5},"title":"Cameron\u2019s workers v shirkers scam has at last exposed the Tory law of benefit cuts","author":"diana Stone","date":"March 31, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"With the fictional divide beween deserving and undeserving poor collapsing, the Conservatives\u2019 ugly logic is turning into the one story they truly fear","rel":"","context":"In "Musings"","block_context":{"text":"Musings","link":"https:\/\/glass-cage.com\/dianas_blog\/category\/musings\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Powered by Guardian.co.uk","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/image.guardian.co.uk\/sys-images\/Guardian\/Pix\/pictures\/2010\/03\/01\/poweredbyguardianBLACK.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/glass-cage.com\/dianas_blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10685","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/glass-cage.com\/dianas_blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/glass-cage.com\/dianas_blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glass-cage.com\/dianas_blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glass-cage.com\/dianas_blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10685"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/glass-cage.com\/dianas_blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10685\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10689,"href":"https:\/\/glass-cage.com\/dianas_blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10685\/revisions\/10689"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/glass-cage.com\/dianas_blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10685"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glass-cage.com\/dianas_blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10685"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glass-cage.com\/dianas_blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10685"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}