to be disappointed in the apathy of the county

[southeastastralbeing]

and the quickness at which the people seem to roll over and accept all these horribe cuts and looming redundancies - it's so accepting and lambs to the slaughtery (yes i know that's not a word)

i find it very depressing and wish i lived in france, where at least they're prepared to get on their arses and be heard

:(

country obviously, though i could me my county alone

well
some of us are probally busy with rl you know

oh am i'm not lol

I think a lot of people accept that the cuts need to happen.

What is the alternative?

You're assuming that the people marching in French streets represent the majority. They don't. Most support the idea that raising the pension age from 60 to 62 isn't all that outrageous. There is a long tradition for striking for fairly vague in France, usually around this time of year as it happens.

Maybe, rather than 'rolling over' as you put it, people are very sensibly waiting to see what the full picture is before they decide how to respond?

people just seem to join a facebook group to protest, these days

thing is cuts have to be made, but as of yet I haven't found out how it will affect my family, so how could I protest If I don't know what I am protesting about?

ha that's true

x post

it's just the general - oh well we have to make cuts - spiel that people seem to be accepting

have only seem one or two posts on mn questionning this at all

2shoes that is very true. Unless there is a big tax hike then we will remain largely unaffected because we don't rely on any of the services that are likely to be affected.

But - despite being a 'dreadful' Tory voter I have very firm ideas about what should be provided for the needy in society and if I think that the wrong (IMO) things are being cut then I will stand up and make a fuss.

southeast we do though, have to make cuts. There are no two ways about it.

Don't worry I'm sure the Tory voters won't be affected too much

usualsuspect, if you look at what I've written you will see that I am concerned about others, rather than myself.

but why can they suddenly find all this money for free schools yet cut the funds to rebuild crumbling exising schools? to start with

they seem to be focussing alot of services that benefit children for their first cuts.

by the time people realise it will be too late.

Well Ali ..lets hope theres a few more like you out there ..but I think the 'I'm all right Jack' attitude will prevail amonst the better off.

I haven't been reading about them, because it's too much for me to take in right now.

I don't understand the raising of the threshold to repay student loads to £21, 000 but I guess that's not going to the Exchequer.

If the cuts are made fairly and don't disadvantage those at the bottom disproportionately, then ok.

Has anyone read The Shock Doctrine by Naomi Klein? I'm only a third of the way through and it's fucking scary.

I agree that most people are fairly stoic because it's obvious that the cuts are going to happen (and our tax bill just went up by £8.5k this year).

Personally, we won't be hit by many of the cuts as we don't get benefits (and the CB will stop when ds would stop being entitiled to it anyway, when he's 19), but we expect yet more tax hikes.

The French are being a bit daft imo.

Alibabaandthe40nappies oh the services I rely on will be cut, i know that, but I doubt if people will protest as most of them will be too busy picking up the pieces

what's it about, i remember there was a documentary about it too, but missed it (shock doctrine)

Oh bum, just remembered about the student loan thingy. We'd sort of mentally ringfenced £50k to getting ds through med school (I stress the mentally btw, haven't actually saved a bean yet), but the bill will be more like £100k now, so I guess we'll have to keep going at the coal face for a few more years than originally planned. C'est la bleeding vie.

I am disappointed too - I keep thinking that surely the way out is not cuts but growth. I'm not an economist mind you, I just wonder whether we have all been brain washed.
I really feel like getting out on on the streets but would look a little silly by myself in front of the council offices with a placard and the cuts that are being applied locally are having a huge impact on the workload I do as a volunteer.

looks interesting wastingaway.

Wasting I think there will be a lot of people that never pay back their loan at that threshold, or that don't until they are well into their 30s. I can sort of see the point - means graduates on lower incomes have disposable income to spend rather than it all going to the SLC. It is a while since the threshold was raised anyway, I know when I graduated it was £15k and that was 12 years ago.

southeast - I don't know much about the free schools, not sure anyone does? I know that some money was put upfront, but like everything else we have to wait for next week to see where the axe falls and where it doesn't. In principle they are a good idea, but as with everything the devil will be in the detail.

hmm this bit on wikipedia from the shock doctrine sounds familiar:

Part 7 is about the winners and losers of economic shock therapy, how narrow groups will often do very well by moving into luxurious gated communities while large sections of the population are left with decaying public infrastructure, declining incomes and increased unemployment.

this is what i cannot get my head around - how there can be such a divide in income and wealth yet we are in such a decline.

will have to get that book...

glad to hear you feel the same badghostie

i do get the impression that they are trying to tell us one thing when a complete opposite is true

i don't think anyone has every really explained cogently why we are in such a mess. at least so i can understand it...