PUBLISHED: 18:58, 13 May 2012 | UPDATED: 11:49, 14 May 2012 Scottish tycoon Sir Tom Hunter has accused his countrymen of being 'pampered' and 'dependent' on welfare as it emerges almost nine-out-ten working-age people in one deprived area of Glasgow are claiming benefits. Hunter, Scotland's first self-made billionaire, claims the shocking statistics are evidence of a wider problem and that too many Scots 'expect what others strive and work hard for'. Astonishing figures from the Department of Work and Pensions reveal 85 per cent of working age adults in Bridgeton, in the city's impoverished east end, are claiming some kind of welfare payment. He told the Sunday Times: 'The fact is the welfare state has simply enabled us to become pampered, dependent people who expect what others strive and graft hard for. 'For those most vulnerable, most in need in our society, (the welfare state) is sacrosanct. 'However the pendulum, in my view, has swung too far and we expect too much from our state when in many respects we have not earned that expectation. He said: 'Too many families feel outside of society, with no expectation that will change for them or their children. Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...d-benefits-capital-Britain.html#ixzz1ut3hqfEx dont want to work, can't work, just hopelessness and despair. Why go down this path?
Do we know that these people don't want to work? Let's face it - as technological efficiency makes the hard working 'working man' obsolete we're going to have to either provided at least subsistence for the economically irrelevant or put them all in gas chambers. An easy choice for any true capitalist of course.
I've got an ex-girlfriend that I talk to every few days who lives in a moderate sized town in Oregon. She has been explaining that most of the town is on welfare, food assistance, housing assistance and just about every other kind of federal or state program that you could possibly think of. Its sort of a mecca for those who don't wish to work. Many live on student loans or education grants or small business loans. The choices seem endless and many adopt the party lifestyle and end up using hard drugs or drinking nightly. It is as though mainstreet USA has quickly accepted being dependent and has given up its ambition. Its a 60s-like carnival atmosphere and those who are respected are the ones who figure out how to get the most free stuff from the government. The irony is that this friend is among those trying to talk me out of emigrating but the more I hear the more I'm convinced to press on. In all honesty it is not the only reason I'm leaving but it sure does seem like those with my kind of ambition and self-reliance are no longer welcome and no longer fit in. Anyone paying for their home these days is regarded as a fool. Anyone working and paying taxes is also dismissed as being a slave to the rest of the population. This mentality seemed to install itself almost overnight. It was not a gradual thing.
I'm leaving but it sure does seem like those with my kind of ambition and self-reliance are no longer welcome and no longer fit in. --------------------- I read this thread earlier and was going to comment later but you summed it up. If you work or are ambitous you are just not going to fit in with entitled people. You have nothing in common. Generally people hang out with others of similiar income levels, now we are going to have another divide. ------------- This little boy worked hard and saved money to buy a new bike. When he bought his bike he showed his friend. His friend was jealous and cried. His mother bought him the same bike. What a sad lesson for the both of them.