It is a well-known fact that me, unlike the lying scumbag slimeball politicians, dislike weasel words. You know, social, or sustainable or any of the usual say-nothing, ignore-debate statements they always spout. (You can read more of them by getting the Centre for Policy Studies’ lexicon. But this post was not brought on by that. Oh no. Read on.)
While snuffling this afternoon, a misguided misanthrope’s tract came through the letterbox. (Alas, not a decent tract, as that would have got my attention. I see a gap in the market: political cartooning in the mould of good ‘ol JC.) A local tract for local people. We need more police in our village! Old people! Those youths are running wild! They are all out to steal your pension money! sigh Anyhow, what got me riled was their headline on housing. Because, you know, there isn’t enough of it, and our children (at least they always think of the children) can’t afford homes.
But we should give special dispensation to a certain class of people. Key workers. I am sorry. This annoys me. Not only do they hide the fact they are talking about public sector workers, they are trying to give them special status above and beyond the rest of us. Isn’t that just gerrymandering in all but name?
Regardless of whether you agree with me that the State is too big (it is, and if you don’t agree, you are wrong and a grotesquely ugly freak), how can you justify that some people get better treatment when it comes to housing lists? Oh you wail they teach our kids, they heal our wounds, they lift our bins. Once a bloody fortnight. So what? Just because I am not public sector, I get to foot the bill for those who are? Where is your so-called social justice in that?
It is all a sleight-of-hand, intellectually corrupt way of arguing. Almost emotional blackmail. Feathering their own nests, because you just know these keyworkers will be members of some grotty Union or other. (Point to note: I don’t care if people want to join a Union, their choice. They just no longer are what they started out to be. But I won’t get into that here and now.) And Unions have sway with the Labour Party, whether it is as much as it was is a moot point.
It is all a way of fixing the market. You know, they want to stop all those braces-and-cocaine types buying seconds homes in decaying Oop Norf villages. They want to stop the private sector types spending their bonuses on whatever they want. Back to the old staple of Left culture: envy. (This isn’t the place for pointing out that companies should have no social responsibility. Their only responsibility is to make money for their shareholders. If shareholders want to donate to a charity, then they can. It isn’t for the company to decide. I digress again…)
No level playing field for us. Keyworkers. Grrrr.
