to think that workhouses definitely have a place in today's society?

[expatinscotland]

if people are poor, it's their fault.

if they just worked hard they wouldn't be in such a state of penury.

'the poor' by definition are lazy and feckless.

and those who won't fit in the workhouse definitely require some indoctrination!

they should never be allowed indoor plumbing, central heat, food other than rice and pulses or toilet paper.

this will inspire them to achieve more.

forget the workhouses, shouldnt we just bring back the slave trade. That way all the MPs could have as many as they wanted so they didnt have to claim expenses. Im sure my poor DCs would love to clean out a few moats in exchange for a bowl of gruel and a rat infested celler to sleep in!

Sorry, I can't go along with a modest proposal. The meat could not possibly be organic/free range etc and would have been tainted by E numbers, cheap ready meals and other noxious substances that are in value ranges (though possibly not in the Waitrose Essentials range).

Lilymaid....the poor would like that...it's what they're used to.

Rice and pulses? Why would the poor be given a Macrobiotic diet - tis only for the rich and famous, surely!

rice and pulses indeed! do you WANT these unworthy povs living to a ripe old age? feed 'em pureed turkey twizzlers and blue slush. With dead flies in. That'll learn 'em.

'I wonder who thinks that workhouses actually should be brought back? I haven't seen anybody on MN say they should or even hint in that direction. '

I was actually told that not long ago on here- by Sorento

but xP- fab thrad, kudos.

Be careful, thi will end up in the Daily Mail as real article on MN views, Rita Skeeta style

All middle-class debt-junkies should be in a debtors prison. They should be forbidden from buying anything ever again (and be forced to live on a diet of Sainsbury's budget gruel and toenail clippings).

This should have the fortunate effect of destroying the Daily Mail's entire reader base, forcing Paul Dacre to earn a crust by busking, while a jeering crowd throw hubcaps and bricks at him.

In fact people in the workhouse were often not allowed to do work which had a purpose ,because being poor they were not even deemed worthy to be allowed any sense of satisfaction.Instaed they were often made to spend all day turning wheels which powered nothing at all.
People were loathed,humiliated and blamed for being poor.I don't think they should be joked about

"People were loathed,humiliated and blamed for being poor.I don't think they should be joked about"

I think that is Expat's point - we may have eradicated the workhouse, but the repellent attitudes that allowed its creation are still with us.

OMG, I thought this was for real at first! New Deal has a 'workhousey' ethic going on the attitudes are still around.

"People were loathed,humiliated and blamed for being poor.I don't think they should be joked about"
People have been oathed, humiliated and blame for beig poor on mumsnet this evening. No it's not funny. But if we don't send up the self-rightcheos, snotty, elitist, ignorant so and sos that merrily perpetuate it,i for one would be feeling more than a little murderous now.
excellent op! sometimes a little humor is all it takes...
could sell dd instead of claiming ctc? she's pretty and really quite well behaved, and at 8 weeks can't be completely beyond saving from the poor taint. as i am poor, and ignorant, she's ffd as well, so she's barely been touched by my manky povvo breatmilk.

For sale: two children.

Will work for gruel food.

Apply within.

Thank goodness my DCs have blond curls, that's all I can say.

TAFKA - I know an undertaker who's willing to take on kids. Can they look suitably solemn in tall hats?

Ds would look awesome in a tall hat. Dd, less so, as she is only 5 months.

They have bad coughs at the moment, due to being poor various illnesses which they cause we are poor

It will be hard work won't it? God forbid my kids should have an easy time of it. Make 'em suffer, I reckon. That'll learn 'em.

How many packets of JPS can I buy from the proceeds, do you reckon?

Oooo, several. They'll have to sleep under the shop counter. In coffins. Will that be OK?

Did anyone else see the story on loan sharks? Some poor woman borrowed £500 and was intimidated into paying back £88,000.

I think this idea of cushy benefits is just wrong. I was discussing homelessness with a class a few weeks ago and a few of them were convinced that people begging actually went home to council houses and they raised more money begging than if they got a job - I was saying no unlikely, starting to give reasons why people end up begging when my LSA piped up, no it is true, I read they all have houses and are on benefits.. (probably have cars and leave the engine running at lights while they eat thier pre-cut fruit)

They'll think that's pure luxury, Kemble. They sleep on hemp bags at the moment, I run velcro over them to make them extra itchy before bedtime.

wonderstuff - there are a lot of homeless beggars who have 'homes'. I have been homeless and was surprised to learn that most of the beggars/buskers actually lived in dodgy rented bedsits. You can make £200 per night begging outside clubs on fri/sat night if you don't mind being regularly beaten to within an inch of your life.

Homelessness is a very complicated issue. There are many ways in which you can be homeless. The heroin addicts in our area normally share these crappy bedsits and send a couple of them out to beg for smack money which they all share between them providing the beggar comes back. The homeless kids live in tents in the sand dunes and mostly claim benefits and ocassionally there are a couple of really homeless people who live in shelters on the promenade but they are often helped into temporary accommodation by a local charity. I think all these people are still homeless.

homeless people often have an addiction and may well make more money begging/stealing than if they got a job because addictions are expensive.

The poor do not eat pre-cut fruit because

A) it is pre-cut & therefore more expensive than normal fruit

b) it would leave less room for crisps, chips and other junk food which is the staple diet of the poor.

c) it prevents scurvy, and it stands to reason that you cannot be really poor unless you have scurvy.

Bedsits very different to council houses, homeless is not having a permanent address, rather than literally not having a roof.

The point is that beggers are in a desperate situation and are genuinly poor, rather than workshy as some of my class and my rather ignorant helpful lsa belive. They often have mental health problems and truely are on the margins of society, no one thinks 'know what I can't be arsed to get a job, I'll sit in this shop doorway instead, I'll earn much more here'

There are many, many homeless families and no drugs, addictions, etc. involved.

My SIL fled a violent relationship in Edinburgh.

She and her two sons lived in a B&B for ten months waiting for accommodation, ANY accommodation.

She was meanwhile finishing a course in college to become a medical receptionist (she was removed from her biological mother for neglect when she was 4 and adopted by her foster parents, my ILs, but took up with her ex when she was 16 and became a mum at 17).

They lived all in one room and shared a bathroom.

They had to be out of the B&B pretty much all day, so in Scottish winter this meant a lot of hanging out.

Their stuff was stolen several times.

SIL lost a stone she really didn't need to lose (no cooking facilities).

The place where teh council finally put them has been condemned for 3 years, but won't be ripped down until the end of next year.

Oh, btw, SIL now works. She earns about £14,000/pa. Impossible to live on in Edinburgh with two children. She has to get top up benefits.