Margaret3

http://www.abc.net.au/4corners/

Did anyone watch this, thought it was a bit one sided myself (for one i would hazzard a guess the wee girl from glasgows mum had a bit of a drug problem, so i think perhaps some of the income was used in that area. I also was amused by the subtitles for the scottish wee girl (i thought she was quite well spoken).

Amazulu

I did and found it very sad. What struck me though was how nice, balanced and resilient all the children were.

Margaret3

Yep the children were amazing. The look of joy on the little glaswegian girl when she got into that council house would've brought a tear to a glass eye.
I honestly did not know that people were renting in such terrible conditions, (not referring to ones of their own making), i thought that was a thing of the past.

papilon

I watched it as well and although as previous posters have said it's a very sad situation for the kids but in my opinion it has always been like this and always will be. Not sure i agree with the guy at the end when he says that it is much worse than the rest of Europe. I think he is just comparing us to the Scandinavians and Northern Europeans who do have a much higher welfare system and the taxation that goes with that. But you will most certainly find people living in similar circumstances in France,Ireland, Italy, Spain and Greece and probably much worse, let alone Eastern European countries such as Poland, Bulgaria etc.

The white underclass in Britain is in for a tough ride in the next few years as there is simply no money to support there cradle to grave welfare dependency. Might just be the best thing that happened to them for a long time.

sonlymewalter

watched it and thought it was really sad people still live in those crap conditions and not sure why its the best thing to happen to them for a long time

Amazulu

Agree with most of what you say and if you think about it, the very poorest people in the west have a much better lifestyle/prospects than the same people did 75-150 years ago. At least nobody is starving, living in rags or in the workhouse.

There will always be an underclass - there always has been one.

papilon

I know what i said might sound callous but what i mean is this, we have created a class of people that go thru life just living off benefits, they have lost all self respect and see no wrong in being subsidised by the rest of society there entire life, and the cycle is carried over to the next generation. Education is free in the UK but these people cannot grasp the incredible opportunities they have compared to the underclass in the developing world who in my opinion grasp every opportunity they can to improve there lives.

Margaret3

[QUOTE=papilon;9658353]I know what i said might sound callous but what i mean is this, we have created a class of people that go thru life just living off benefits, they have lost all self respect and see no wrong in being subsidised by the rest of society there entire life, and the cycle is carried over to the next generation. Education is free in the UK but these people cannot grasp the incredible opportunities they have compared to the underclass in the developing world who in my opinion grasp every opportunity they can to improve there lives.[/QU

Not sure the psychology is as simple as this, its a generational thing now and i do feel that over the last couple of decades people in these situations have been abandoned. There has been no real plan to combat this problem (however dont ask me the answer, if i knew i would be pm)

Amazulu

When you go to the 3rd world and see how much people value education (despite it often being very little and of poor quality), you get ashamed of how many in the west treat their educational opportunities with contempt.

lesleys

But not those children last night. They were extremely articulate and mature about the whole thing. I think that was the stand-out feature of the program.

sonlymewalter

Exactly mate through no fault of their own they were as poor as. felt sorry for the boy having to wear a hand me down girls school blouse how the hexk did his dad manage on 80 sqid a week?

Amazulu

See post #2