Marus Rushford - AIBU?

[Pr1mr0se]

it's admirable that he feels he can raise the topic of school meals and poverty and the campaign seems to be growing wings with the food alliance HOWEVER AIBU to think that given that he is an extremely wealthy footballer with many footballer contacts in similar positions that they should be putting their money where their mouth is, so to speak too?

@RunningAwaywiththeCircus

Do you not think that the fact you received FSM did not help your mum ensure you were fed, or possibly even that she got to eat.
Do you not think that many children who receive FSM today come from similar families to you and they might need FSM for precisely the same reason you did.

I wish the Tories on this site would stop assuming everyone who votes Labour or other left-wing parties is lazy and feckless. I worked my fucking arse off to get through uni and at various points, made myself ill through overwork. On top of that I have fibromyalgia - I'm typing this after a horrible sleepless night due to chronic pain. It took me a good few years for me to get to where I am now, career wise. I resent a bunch of people assuming I'm lazy because of who I vote for.

@RunningAwaywiththeCircus
Well done to you and your Tory pals
volunteering with the commoners.
All the volunteers I work with are SNP supporters so there you go, maybe because there’s few Tories in Scotland.
Voting leftwards encourages the feckless and idle? christ that is the most Tory thing I’ve read in a while 🙄🙄

@MannymanMunroe

Jealousy. Pure jealousy. Working class people who make good always encounter this. Especially when it comes to footballers. For people like the OP, Marcus Rashford could never in a million years do right for wrong.

I wonder if people would prefer it if he was doing a George Best and spending all his money on prostitutes and alcohol.

I'm sorry, I don't remember the bit where I called you that.

If you don't like it being done to you, don't fucking do it to other people.

@RunningAwaywiththeCircus Maybe you should go and have a nice lie-down.

Even if he donated all his money, I doubt he could make a dent in child poverty - I certainly don't think he could eradicate it in the future - so I don't think you are being reasonable, @Pr1mr0se.

If he can influence Government policy, going forward, that will do much more to reduce child poverty now AND in the future, for more children - and I think that is a very worthy use of Marcus Rashford's high profile and influence.

@RunningAwaywiththeCircus
What exactly do Tories do for working class kids? They don’t even want to feed them!
I’m quite comfortably off now and it hasn’t changed my opinions or political leanings at all, I see the useless succession of Tory Governments and their abuse of my country and the disdain towards ordinary people, they’ve created a huge divide of rich and poor.

Printing money and giving it to people to buy stuff because we’re all wringing our hands over “relative poverty” is futile.

You're right that handing out money is just a sticking plaster. It's easier (and cheaper) for the government to hand out money than tackle the causes of food poverty. Many of the causes can only be fixed by the government eg not allowing NRP to avoid paying Child Maintenance.

@HoneysuckIejasmine

Actually it's the responsibility of parents. Government policy should ensure that benefits (money or vouchers for specific items) are provided as a safety net to those in need. Unfortunately all of us who work with food banks and hot meal provision know that the majority of our clients would have enough money if they made better choices, so frustrating as it's their kids suffering. Last week I ranged hot food to be delivered until yesterday because a family had no money until today but the lady was smoking, cigarettes are nearly £10 a pack! I would never say anything but behind closed doors we vent

This Government since 2010 has also made claiming the benefits to which people and families are entitled a huge bureaucratic nightmare, from UC and FSM entitlement, to disability benefits (how many high hoops for how few peanuts?!) including those for children. Carer's Allowance, which is a pittance anyway, is deducted from UC. Child Carers don't even qualify for it.

All this impacts on children from the families with the most need, the lowest literacy skills, and the least access to IT.

These are shit policies for children.

I'm more shocked how wrong you got his name considering you seem to know what he is/isn't putting his money towards...

There are always comments on these threads about not making the children suffer because of the decisions of their parents. The problem is that all the children then hear is that it's someone else's fault because they are not being given what the should be/are 'entitled to'. The children then grow up believing that it is other peoples responsiblity/the governments to ensure they have adequate housing, food and clothing. Many of these children will then go on to have their own families and possibly carry this attitude. Something bigger needs to change to make going to work pay more currently there is too much intertwining of working/not working and benefits.

For those that talk about chasing maintenance from absent fathers - I think many people are unaware of how many will not even consider chasing the father for money but they are happy to take money from the government.

@RunningAwaywiththeCircus I wanted to tolerate you there, even maybe respect your viewpoint in the belief that even Tories can be good people, but you ruined it when you suggested that being Left-leaning somehow equals lazy and feckless. Just as problematic and damaging as suggesting That all Tories are swan-chomping old wankers with no idea of what the real world looks like.

Also, I didn’t grow up in an area that had grammar schools after the early 70s, so it’s not an area that I know anything much about, but it seems like you’re a legend and they’ve served you well so I’m sad I never had the chance to go. I was a bright kid, so I probably would have got in. What was it like, was the curriculum broader, did you have better access to the top universities? Sounds like a dream come true, although I’m not sure how I would have felt- even aged 11- about pledging allegiance to Margaret Thatcher and being required to start all of my sentences for the rest of my life with “my mother got out of the gutter through sheer sweat and hard work and now between us we are paying enough tax to provide free school meals for all of Leicestershire!” I imagine it makes getting anything done difficult.

Remember, even those of us paying £100k a year in tax are all of us in the gutter, it’s just that some of us are looking at the stars.

i don't think that my comment was nasty, it is the job of parents to provide for their own family, free school meals are great for the poorer families but some families have loads of kids, we always hear of single parents but where are the Dads? Probably moved on and started a new family? We are fortunate to both work and have done for the last 20 years, some people (not all people) don't want to work and and think the government should feed them as well as all of the other benefits there are, the list goes on and on, eg free dentist, opticians, once you start claiming benefits as a way of life and breed like rabbits then the more dependant you are on the poor government.

@brakethree

There are always comments on these threads about not making the children suffer because of the decisions of their parents. The problem is that all the children then hear is that it's someone else's fault because they are not being given what the should be/are 'entitled to'. The children then grow up believing that it is other peoples responsiblity/the governments to ensure they have adequate housing, food and clothing. Many of these children will then go on to have their own families and possibly carry this attitude. Something bigger needs to change to make going to work pay more currently there is too much intertwining of working/not working and benefits.

For those that talk about chasing maintenance from absent fathers - I think many people are unaware of how many will not even consider chasing the father for money but they are happy to take money from the government.

Could you quite the published sources of evidence for this? Thanks.

I mean quote

Poor Government? The punching down never ceases to amaze me.