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AIBU?

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Original poster

to be shocked that Jack Monroe

359 replies

samandi · 29/10/2013 16:19

was on £27,000 a year just back in 2011?

This is a woman I associate with desperate poverty and yet in the space of one and a half years ? she managed to go from having a prosperous job at a pretty young age to struggling to feed her son?

At the age of 22 she had about a £20,000 net income, which is more than many people can dream about. £27,000 is way more than I've ever earned in my life and I'm over ten years older than her.

Am I being unreasonable to think this detracts a bit from her message? Or am I just living in a different world.

OP posts:
Mitzyme · 30/10/2013 09:37

Why should anyone have to feel ashamed of themselves ?
This is anonymous AIBU and I have seen far more robust opinions about several people in the media discussed here.
I have real admiration for Jack Munroe but feel that by joining the threat she has effectively shut down what was a really interesting discussion.

Naebother · 30/10/2013 09:37

I think jack Monroe is very admirable. She speak out for people who have no voice.

Who cares what she earned before she lost her job? She was outif ork with a small child, was very poor and is using her experience of that to help others and highlight their plight.

Her recipes are good too.

Original poster
samandi · 30/10/2013 09:38

*Samandi - gosh I'm gobsmacked by your thread. Horrible sentiments by you and others on here.

I am going to presume you don't live in the se or have any empathy.*

I'm from the south east and lived in London for years. So perhaps it's best not to presume things, eh?

OP posts:
mignonnette · 30/10/2013 09:40

Jack wasn't presenting herself as the image of poverty on 27K a year. Jack wrote about living in poverty when she was no longer in that job.

BTW she has great resonance with some of my clients - they have had severe and enduring MI for years (some of them decades) and all have been living in benefits poverty for far too long. They have never had careers or even jobs to lose. When you develop Schizophrenia or Bi Polar or severe depression in your late teens and early twenties you don't get to build a career or acquire savings.

I speak on their behalf at their behest. Not for them.

ubik · 30/10/2013 09:41

Samandi - if I'm correct, Jack worked as a fire service operator? Is that right? Frankly looking at the hours they work and what they deal with I would not be jealous. They earn every fucking penny working tough shift rotations under alot of stress, listening to stuff which is sometimes very distressing.

Oh but fuck it. Why on earth am I joining in pulling this woman's life apart? She doesn't deserve it. Why don't you focus your attention on David Cameron or IDS or George Osbourne?

You are being ridiculous. And I need to get some sleep.

MrsDeVere · 30/10/2013 09:45

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

mijas99 · 30/10/2013 09:50

There is absolutely no criticism of JM from me. I was discussing the point from the perspective of how to look at JM's situation as a representation of where is British society is at the moment, only because she is something of a social phenomenum at the moment :)

From reading mumsnet and the guardian, the two are pretty intertwined to be honest, you get the feeling that people who are earning good salaries are living in poverty and cannot feed or give appropriate shelter to their children

Having not lived in Britain for a while, and having been brought up in a poor working class family in the UK, I don't buy it. Life is tough but children are not starving in the UK, they aren't. They may go hungry for a day or two, but that was life for me and many people growing up in the 70s and 80s. What used to be normal is now deemed as shocking

One question I do have for JM, although do not feel obliged to answer it. Is where were your parents and extended family in all this? In most cultures and even British families, if you are going hungry then your relatives help you out. An extra tenner a week means you and your child wouldnt go hungry.

Another question I have is how did you manage to upload your blogs? Did you have free internet? 20-30 quid saved from internet again would have meant the different between going hungry or not

MrsDeVere · 30/10/2013 09:57

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

KhunZhoop · 30/10/2013 09:59

"I don't buy it. Life is tough but children are not starving in the UK, they aren't. "

They ARE. Foodbanks weren't "normal" in the 70's and 80's, but they are now. People are dying because of poverty, and the government thinks that getting US to blame THEM for being poor is the right way to deal with the situation. Saying people aren't poor enough to be talking about their own experience of being poor. For shame, all of you, taking part in this victim-blaming.

mignonnette · 30/10/2013 10:00

Yes you hit the nail on the head there what used to be normal now is considered shocking.

Quite right. There'd be no social and moral progress if we casually accepted poverty because 'people have always experienced this and we didn't complain'. Children going hungry a few decades ago in a comparatively prosperous western country is abhorrent. It is beyond abhorrent that little has changed but the gap between the wealthy and the poor is now a gaping abyss.

What other things did we used to have/do that are now considered shocking? Hmm let me think.......

MIgas Have you not heard of library internet? Wifi? People having a laptop, phone or PC bought when they were better off/in employment? Jack explains the internet use thing on her blog. I suggest you go read it. This is just the telly comment all over again.

And might I remind you that the job centre requires a person to apply for many many jobs to qualify for benefits. So many jobs now are online application only. So many sources of information are online only. Sadly for a job seeker, access to the internet is NOT a luxury. Not if you want to keep your JSA. And my internet is £9 a month. Not £20-30. If that is what you are paying then I have no faith in your fiscal abilities to save the amount you claim people should be saving!

pinkoneblueone · 30/10/2013 10:00

Can't believe some of u ladies ripping jack to shreds because of some of the circumstances and the facts surrounding all this. she shouldn't have to come on here and defend herself or justify herself to everyone! Her advice helps people from what she's experienced (which sounds awful and I wouldn't wish that on anyone. The facts surrounding her circumstances shouldn't matter what has come out of her experiences is that a lot of people now have more knowledge of what happens in our country and the people who are struggling have ideas on how they can make food that's not processed to feed their families with to make the best of a bad situation.

mijas99 · 30/10/2013 10:00

MrsDeVere, that is appalling. Is this a big problem in Britain?

I really believe that in hard times family should help as much as they can. If not, then they dont really deserve being called family

Original poster
samandi · 30/10/2013 10:01

Mijas - I think she used a phone to upload her blogs

OP posts:
Original poster
samandi · 30/10/2013 10:05

pinkoneblueone (and posters making similar comments) -

Is it possible for you to understand that people aren't making personal comments or trying to "rip her to shreds". She is a public person, with a strong media presence, and questioning/criticising aspects of her image/story are not aimed at making her feel like shit (why would I want to do that, I don't even know her?).

OP posts:
mijas99 · 30/10/2013 10:06

Debate is useful for helping people learn. No more. I don't think people are being judgemental, but are interested. I am interested

JM can't and shouldn't take any of this personally if she wants to be in the public eye. Once someone is in the media then everyone kind of owns their situation. After all, JM sells her situation to get people to read her blog and articles for which JM is paid for. And JM's Guardian articles are political (as they should be), they aren't really about food

Anyway, JM keep up the good work!

dawntigga · 30/10/2013 10:07

Because, Mitzyme if you can't say it to somebody's face then you shouldn't say it behind their back. The fact you posted that tells me all I need to know about you, and yes, I would actually say that to your face.

TypingSlowlyForTheHardOfThinkingTiggaxx

roundtable · 30/10/2013 10:07

Well if that's the case Samandi, I find it even more surprising that your empathy skills are lacking.

Shame really but I suppose that's the divide and conquer mentality being used by this government in action.

Yes, I do think people should be ashamed. Trivialising and mocking someone's misfortunes is an unpleasant trait. Even if you don't think they were poor long enough...

mignonnette · 30/10/2013 10:11

it is not debating when people don't arm themselves with the facts before they open their mouths. JM has laid herself on the line explanation wise in her blog.

Please read it. She answers your points there.

She also answers peoples comments on her blog. And super fast too. The bile that has been spouted at her when she herself comes from a place of non judgment herself has to be seen to be believed.

People need to separate the media construct from the real person and doing this is not difficult when the person in question has a blog.

LuisSuarezTeeth · 30/10/2013 10:11

Mijas, your comments are making you look stupid. It's happening, RIGHT NOW. Moreover, many people don't have family to help out, or their families are in the same position. Or they have elderly parents in poverty, trying to decide between a bag of good or putting the fire on.

You don't buy it? Open your eyes. Walk a mile in these shoes.

WilsonFrickett · 30/10/2013 10:13

Mitzyme you are of course entitled to your opinion, but I don't feel that Jack coming on shut down the debate at all. I think it merely reminded some posters that she was a real person, with real feelings.

People were questioning why she had her child, which is fucking ridiculous. They were questioning her credentials. As much as we have the right to question, she has the right to reply, surely?

YouAreMyFavouriteWasteOfTime · 30/10/2013 10:13

Anyway, JM keep up the good work!

yes - I always think the recipes look good (we eat similar food through choice) and I have a huge deal of respect for someone able to make the best of a difficult situation.

Mitzyme · 30/10/2013 10:19

Dawntigga how very silly and naive of you, really.

MrBloomsMarrow · 30/10/2013 10:20

mijas off the top of my head, a few things that have been considered "normal" at various times in history:

Living in caves
Burning witches
Slavery
Child labour
Women not being able to vote
Imprisoning people for being gay
Separate sections for black and white people on buses

I hope to God you don't think any of these are OK because they used to be "normal"?

NewtRipley · 30/10/2013 10:24

agirl

"Mumsnet" didn't question. A few people did. We have a range of opinions on here and are prepared to robustly debate them. I hope this doesn't put you off MN. It's a tremendous support to many many people.

Will look at your blog now

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