tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1165773290907101242.post5058932643310906666..comments2024-01-24T11:41:28.022+00:00Comments on A Cuban In London: Sunday Mornings: Coffee, Reflections and MusicA Cuban In Londonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16423293358605007539noreply@blogger.comBlogger23125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1165773290907101242.post-72961868164561941182014-02-26T21:14:17.541+00:002014-02-26T21:14:17.541+00:00Everyone should spend time in council estates. I&#...Everyone should spend time in council estates. I've lived in two of Edinburgh's council estates and teach creative writing in another. Which does at least mean i don't label the people who live there...<br />Crafty Green Poethttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02486633917197181851noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1165773290907101242.post-72970368709386582392014-02-26T19:30:03.562+00:002014-02-26T19:30:03.562+00:00A very interesting and thought-provoking post, tha...A very interesting and thought-provoking post, thank you.<br /><br />I've lived with the haves and the have nots. I agree, NO ONE wants to be poor. <br /><br />It's so much more than just a lack of money that makes anyone poor. <br /><br />A mindset, circumstances, misfortunes...that can snowball beyond what any individual might have imagined, and in a short period of time. I've been there...not homeless (thank goodness) but hopeless...<br /><br />and it's a hard road back to feeling secure and able to look into the future, even if it's just the next day, without fear.<br /><br />Geraldine https://www.blogger.com/profile/07410019941984295767noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1165773290907101242.post-50011967543133128132014-02-26T17:56:43.687+00:002014-02-26T17:56:43.687+00:00Wow, you are tackling the issues! I'm an admir...Wow, you are tackling the issues! I'm an admirer of Jack and anyone who can get people to relate to the poor. Empathy is her best recipe. Love Bob Dylan too.Sarah Laurencehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00423008641739156182noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1165773290907101242.post-73444273150359161582014-02-26T14:20:10.268+00:002014-02-26T14:20:10.268+00:00This is a brilliant post.
your lines say it well, ...This is a brilliant post.<br />your lines say it well, 'poverty is a reminder of the flaws in our society' Jac Monroe was on Woman's Hour on Radio 4 today - she has given the money Sainsburys paid her to Oxfam - she is someone that we all should admire - not the money grabbing element which makes up most of our society.Cait O'Connorhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04569760764766505179noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1165773290907101242.post-72299318619108729132014-02-25T13:03:09.882+00:002014-02-25T13:03:09.882+00:00I often wonder where the welfare state would be if...I often wonder where the welfare state would be if politics wouldn't be involved...it really is a shame. Enjoyed reading about Jack...good for her! We'll have to check her articles out ~ love that she's shaking up the system a bit :) Lovin' the Pearl Jam this morning!!The Summer Kitchen Girlshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14705922236211577732noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1165773290907101242.post-52295256911955580762014-02-24T14:19:42.549+00:002014-02-24T14:19:42.549+00:00Don't get me talking about this subject... the...Don't get me talking about this subject... the frustration of it would drive me to distraction. Brilliant post, though, Cuban.Valeriehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12099030819314552958noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1165773290907101242.post-10831986656149907372014-02-24T07:37:35.618+00:002014-02-24T07:37:35.618+00:00Thanks for introducing me to another person/blog -...Thanks for introducing me to another person/blog -- and the whole discussion, including the comments has been fascinating as well. I have very little to add and have to restrain myself from sinking into an utter cynic by crying that these appear, sometimes, to be "end times" in the sense that utter corruption and gross inequality rule the day --Elizabethhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03313726816776097840noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1165773290907101242.post-87462518547669439532014-02-24T04:35:49.737+00:002014-02-24T04:35:49.737+00:00What a thoughtful piece - loved it. I have no answ...What a thoughtful piece - loved it. I have no answers though...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1165773290907101242.post-20527197931885822482014-02-24T03:13:29.418+00:002014-02-24T03:13:29.418+00:00great post and no easy answer love her column and ...great post and no easy answer love her column and tips such talent chow and chatterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04225995063075911644noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1165773290907101242.post-37830862582809859112014-02-24T02:45:17.612+00:002014-02-24T02:45:17.612+00:00There was a great program in the U.S. back in the ...There was a great program in the U.S. back in the late 1970's for ex-felons and drug addicts to help them find jobs in non-profits. I remember a lot of people found really good jobs through this program and became fairly productive citizens. Shortly after this was when the "war" on drugs began and addicts and the mentally ill were demonized and sent to prisons for way too many years, perpetuating the cycle of recidivism. And so it has gone since. It is as if there is some sort of hidden agenda to keep a poor class of people in place. <br /><br />One of the growing classes of poverty here is with senior citizens. People such as myself who lost jobs during the "recession" of 2008 were never able to find another job because of age discrimination. Last year I was part of a program called SCSEP that enabled me to earn enough money through work with nonprofits to survive. However, funding for this program has been greatly reduced and many older Americans live a bleak existence of sheer survival. <br /><br />My point is there are simple ways to help people out of poverty but the bottom line seems to be no one really has an investment in giving the poor a chance and even more so there is a need to keep a poor lower class. One example would be our prison system that is rapidly being privatized so that money can be made. And so on...Rubye Jackhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02511953177053448513noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1165773290907101242.post-91319533228361294182014-02-24T02:21:05.945+00:002014-02-24T02:21:05.945+00:00Poverty always needs its spokespersons, and I appl...Poverty always needs its spokespersons, and I applaud those who do. Its a wonder they manage on the funding.Barbara Martinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00610140328527165017noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1165773290907101242.post-69047511295096533702014-02-23T23:05:46.156+00:002014-02-23T23:05:46.156+00:00WONDERFUL post.
Yes, the welfare system has frauds...WONDERFUL post.<br />Yes, the welfare system has fraudsters. However, I suspect that it has less than some more profitable things - banks, politics leap to mind, just because the pickings are so much slimmer.<br />I have been poor and don't want to go back there again. But acknowledge that it is possible. <br />And that acknowledgement is a starting point. It could happen to me - so what can I do to reduce the risk, and make it shorter, and safer...Elephant's Childhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06650565833097914052noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1165773290907101242.post-14318296011320470262014-02-23T21:14:50.052+00:002014-02-23T21:14:50.052+00:00Your right wing papers and America's right win...Your right wing papers and America's right wing papers have a field day demonizing the poor. Too bad they can't spend Sunday morning -as those in my church do - making breakfast and feeding SF's homeless. Gay, lesbian and transgender kids kicked out by their families with no place to go. People who used to be considered "working class" who have been laid off and have no place to go. Jesus may have said "blessed are the poor for their's is the kingdom of heaven" but I think that all of us could use a lot less pie in the sky and more real projects and programs like the ones that FDR created in the 1930's. In a world where the 1% get 99% of the wealth, that doesn't leave much for the other 99%. The venom and hatred thrown toward the poor by those who are wealthy staggers me - but such hatred is the seed bed of revolution. Nancy Ewarthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12116290968007398337noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1165773290907101242.post-27607574611241106782014-02-23T20:19:02.994+00:002014-02-23T20:19:02.994+00:00Many thanks for your thoughtful replies.
This is ...Many thanks for your thoughtful replies.<br /><br />This is a difficult topic to write about, especially as I can't really talk too much about my 9-5 job (which isn't really 9-5) which revolves around working with families many of which are living on or below the breadline.<br /><br />Fram, I'm with you and the New Deal. The problem is that the current government cut the lifeline of many of these programmes. Rather than spending to create, they withdrew funding from many schemes that proved to be effective with the poor and the unemployed. Disgraceful.<br /><br />Have a great week ahead.<br /><br />Greetings from London.A Cuban In Londonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16423293358605007539noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1165773290907101242.post-71683380026551507882014-02-23T19:25:05.693+00:002014-02-23T19:25:05.693+00:00There was a time, only a few decades ago, where ov...There was a time, only a few decades ago, where overpopulation often was cited as the primary problem confronting humankind. Although, in my view, that still remains a fundamental truth, if anyone really is echoing the warning, I am not sure who or where the voice might be.<br /><br />While I do think human frailties and weaknesses are the biggest factors which create poverty (no one has a choice of which genes, which environments, which physical and mental talents they are born with or into), ever-increasing technology and other causes are closing the doors to meaningful economic opportunity while the population of the Earth is burgeoning at a doomsday rate. This creates more competition for fewer resources (and jobs). <br /><br />Another thing most politicians seem to forget is that not all of us want to be a doctor, a professional athlete or a rocket scientist even if we could be. Nor is the person who makes hamburgers at a fast food outlet ever going to make the same money as the person who can throw a baseball one hundred miles an hour or a person who can perform near-miracles with a scalpel in an operating room.<br /><br />I am afraid I take a Biblical view: The poor will always be with us. They are a permanent segment of any society.<br /><br />In the meanwhile, I endorse the "New Deal" Works Project Administration approach of the 1930s in America: Help people who need help by having them participate in public works projects to earn their daily bread and their choice of cigarettes. It makes infinitely more sense, to me, than simply passing out free money collected by centralized governments levying ridiculous tax burdens on the people who are working and earning a living.<br /><br />Again, you are very serious for a Sunday morning, CiL, ....Fram Actualhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01540773153894050197noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1165773290907101242.post-23376397290481852542014-02-23T19:20:11.281+00:002014-02-23T19:20:11.281+00:00This comment has been removed by the author.Fram Actualhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01540773153894050197noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1165773290907101242.post-91065527367671640362014-02-23T18:28:50.467+00:002014-02-23T18:28:50.467+00:00Greed always seems to stomp on the little guy from...Greed always seems to stomp on the little guy from up high, so until you knock them down a peg or three, not sure what can be donePat Hatthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07745293224202430152noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1165773290907101242.post-86752652259672782532014-02-23T18:01:34.065+00:002014-02-23T18:01:34.065+00:00poverty is a big theme and there's certainly n...poverty is a big theme and there's certainly no easy solution - not even providing enough money would be a solution cause the roots of those that grew up in poverty are deep - they have "learned" certain things that will probably put them into the same place again soon - it's something that affects the whole person and family and society - and the politicians better start thinking seriously about how to improve thingsClaudiahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03011763027311966186noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1165773290907101242.post-2875688770984422662014-02-23T16:33:18.172+00:002014-02-23T16:33:18.172+00:00Hmm...what do we do about the poor?
Unfortunately,...Hmm...what do we do about the poor?<br />Unfortunately, every feasible reply has it's complications.<br />I agree with everything Jo has already said...there are so many aspects to this subject...I try to make light of it...self-preservation, you see...:)Ygrainehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00300519608303898969noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1165773290907101242.post-74852785361821726242014-02-23T15:26:39.784+00:002014-02-23T15:26:39.784+00:00Pearl Jam, gran recomendación para un fin de seman...Pearl Jam, gran recomendación para un fin de semana, saludos amigo.Boris Estebitanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08961516002917595069noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1165773290907101242.post-17775746948855791382014-02-23T13:29:55.891+00:002014-02-23T13:29:55.891+00:00first, i love pearl jam...one of my top bands of a...first, i love pearl jam...one of my top bands of all time...people dont want to live in poverty...i didnt but i did for over 7 years...my family was fed...we learned to do without much...which is counter culture because we sell the need for everything and have created an entitled culture...its funny we then blame social programs for the problems that it creates and not our own obsessions...Brian Millerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00722940075884718007noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1165773290907101242.post-83778483563124246092014-02-23T11:32:34.817+00:002014-02-23T11:32:34.817+00:00Thanks, Jo. I saw Jack on Sky News with a bemused ...Thanks, Jo. I saw Jack on Sky News with a bemused and puzzled Eamon Holmes (what's he doing presenting telly?) and she came across as a confident and humble person. She has a cookery book out. You can buy it by clicking on the link provided on my post. As I wrote last week, I don't do promotions or advertise products to make money. I do, however, provide links to webpages, blogs and other online fora of artists, writers and bloggers whose work I think should be more widely known and bought.<br /><br />Have a great week.<br /><br />Greetings from London.A Cuban In Londonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16423293358605007539noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1165773290907101242.post-23527915055571819932014-02-23T10:33:40.186+00:002014-02-23T10:33:40.186+00:00We don't have to listen to Jack - or Jeanette ...We don't have to listen to Jack - or Jeanette Winterson, who talked with great rage about poverty on Question Time last week - because they're lefty lesbians.<br /><br />We don't have to listen to a Catholic Archbishop, because religion shouldn't venture into the sphere of politics.<br /><br />We don't have to listen to the tattooed bloke in the hoodie because, well, who wants to listen to him.<br /><br />Instead - we reframe the problem. If there weren't so many food banks we wouldn't have so many people using them!! Hurrah - a solution. Redefine poverty!! Only those with no money at all, nor a roof over their heads, can expect any help.<br /><br />But wait - that might mean we support people from overseas who have come to exploit our benefit system. We can't, of course, have that. <br /><br />So only white people, with no money, who can prove that they have never smoked, drank, or said an unkind word to dogs are entitled to any sympathy - and then they must wait for three months till they get a penny.<br /><br />(No I'm not serious. I'm ask angry as Jeanette Winterson, and Jack.)JOhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03127111575563904349noreply@blogger.com