My Forum

I think Universal Credit might help a bit, but it still means lots of form filling and confusion.  If you just make it 'everyone gets so much to start, and everyone gets to keep most of what they earn on top, and everyone who's earning pays some tax' that makes it simpler all round.

Targetting part timers?  Doing any work is better for society than none, and should be rewarding for the person doing it.  Right now many part-timers should be getting medals for going out and working for often basically no increase in income or even losing money.

Mr Puffy: 1) A major part of the idea is it needs to be simple.  2) Those government petitions only allow a certain length.

Long time no see!  Lapsed from running due to having trouble being able to walk for my job for a while... but hope to get back into it.

Meanwhile I popped in to post links to a couple of government petitions I believe in.  I believe that the current benifit system makes it difficult for people to move into work, as taking shorterm/low paid/short hours work is often more trouble than it's worth as it can mean massive amounts of form filling and no increase in income.  The government and press also use the unemployed as a convenient scapegoat for society's ills.  I'm talking as someone who was long term unemployed and has now been in the same job for three years.

 http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/4326

http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/5623

While I'm at it, just for a laugh: http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/19802  Some people...

I agree the jobs I have listed aren't the nicest or most rewarding in most people's minds.  That's part of the point.  If you take the average family, leaving aside the odd job that needs real skills to be done, aren't the 'chores', the boring, unskilled work, shared between family members?  (In a good family anyway...).  Same in a flatshare that's working. Bad families and flatshares you end up with one member dumped with all the unpleasant stuff and feeling pissed off and put upon, and maybe they end up refusing to do it and then it doesn't get done.

You say people want those jobs.  But do they really? Is it that they feel they have no option?  And even if they genuinly enjoy them (I've done cleaning up other people's waste in an old people's home, and there is pride to be found in it), is it good that certain jobs in society are seen as 'less worthy'? Again... for those that genuinly want these jobs, they'd still need permanant staff to supervise the tempories.  My scheme would even allow for people to be surprised, and find they enjoy them...

It doesn't HAVE to be those particular jobs.  I suggested them because they run by public not private companies, and (as far as I know) privide lots of unskilled work opportunities, so I think such a scheme is feasable.

In the long term it wouldn't have to take people out of their own jobs either: maybe people could do a stint imediately on leaving school (or during school even).  Adults generally wouldn't have to do it, though I think a few prominent people setting an example would be a good start...

 I think we need to find ways to bring society together... again... Anyone got any other ideas?

My idea was that everyone should share in doing the jobs 'no one wants to do'.  If we have part of society that doesn't believe it's part of society, then we need to build bridges between them and the rest of society. Public service for everybody could give shared experience, and also reduce the stigma of certain jobs, and make some unemployed people more willing to do them.

As for taking jobs... take litter collection.  I've had people tell me it's OK to drop litter because it's keeping someone in a job (presumably not them... they'd probably consider themselve above it).  But, if you think about it if you weren't employing so many people picking up litter, maybe you could be spending the money employing them doing something else.  And maybe something that makes a long term difference, not something that's undone when the next selfish git comes along.

Maybe if people realised what clearing what other people's mess was like, they wouldn't create so much mess themselves.  But if you are going to try and bring society together, you can't just apply that to the group that needs the lesson.  Everyone needs to give them an example, and show it's not about punishment, it's about everyone doing their bit.

Anyone got better ideas to bring society together?