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I'm quite angry right now. As most of us do, I like to think that I am a reasonable person with a realistic outlook on life, the universe and everything. I'm not perfect by any means and some of my views aren't shared by my friends but that's ok. We can't all have precisely the same ideas and opinions. However, I find it gaulling when I'm lectured to regarding the great british government and system. Having worked for three seperate branches of it (Housing, Homeless Team and Social Services) for a few years, I know how desperately bad things are and what a mess it all is. Our system is certainly better than nothing at all, granted. But it doesn't work terribly well either.
I've found that those who are most deserving of the help and support our government tries to offer often don't get it because of red tape which shouldn't be there. I've also found that those least deserving tend to get the most assistance (usually because they shout the loudest). Now, I do have and have had lots of friends who have been unemployed, homeless, immigrants etc. I've seen some horrific situations which no person should be left in or have to deal with. I've seen the system catagorically fail people and continue to do so. I've seen the rules and red tape work and I've seen them go horribly and very badly wrong. There isn't ENOUGH help there for those who need it, if they indeed get any to begin with.
In an ideal world (we'll call it Ebbworld as it is never likely to exist), I see it this way;
Cut the red tape.
Help those who need help, who are doing their best or who are no longer able to do anything and need support and guidance to get them going again. Whether this be housing, healthcare, financial support... basically, give hope and support so that everyone has, wherever possible the chance to have a fulfilling life and role in society, whether that be living in a hippy commune and being self-sufficient or being a city slicker.
Be reticent with help for those who have little to no need for that support but be willing and able to catch those who fall and get them on the way again.
Have the funds to do all of this.
Be FAIR and RIGHT and JUST and aim it where it's needed rather than obsessing over being politically correct. The problem being, in the vast majority of cases it isn't a lack of WANTING to help, it's a lack of being ABLE to.
AS A FOR INSTANCE; is an older single homeless unemployed man with mental health problems who is in need of a social worker and housing ANY less deserving than a young woman who has just left home due to disputes with her parents? No. They are equally vulnerable though in very different ways. They both deserve help to set up a safe and secure place to live and both deserve to have enough money to look after themselves, as well as being supplied with the skills to be able to do so. If you're a government with limited funds however and you can only help one, which do you choose? It ultimately, and very wrongly, comes down to money.
In addition, the problem is and will always be, how do you decide what is genuine and what isn't? And how do you help someone who isn't asking for it however much they need it? And how do you discern what will actually help or what will create a self-perpetuating situation? I don't pretend to have the answer by any means. I'm not a government official and am under no illusions that my way is the right way, nor do I think for a second it would or could work. Rules and regulations are needed, points allocations for homeless housing, means testing for benefits etc etc are all totally necessary.
So in light of all the above, whilst it's better than nothing, the system is far from perfect. And I hate that. And it's been a good while since I was so angry and frustrated about the entire situation and a recent lj entry has reminded me of just how much I despair of it all.
As I'm having a Sarah moment; "It's not fair". Because it isn't. Any of it. And I feel powerless and unable to do anything to fix it.
I'm quite angry right now. As most of us do, I like to think that I am a reasonable person with a realistic outlook on life, the universe and everything. I'm not perfect by any means and some of my views aren't shared by my friends but that's ok. We can't all have precisely the same ideas and opinions. However, I find it gaulling when I'm lectured to regarding the great british government and system. Having worked for three seperate branches of it (Housing, Homeless Team and Social Services) for a few years, I know how desperately bad things are and what a mess it all is. Our system is certainly better than nothing at all, granted. But it doesn't work terribly well either.
I've found that those who are most deserving of the help and support our government tries to offer often don't get it because of red tape which shouldn't be there. I've also found that those least deserving tend to get the most assistance (usually because they shout the loudest). Now, I do have and have had lots of friends who have been unemployed, homeless, immigrants etc. I've seen some horrific situations which no person should be left in or have to deal with. I've seen the system catagorically fail people and continue to do so. I've seen the rules and red tape work and I've seen them go horribly and very badly wrong. There isn't ENOUGH help there for those who need it, if they indeed get any to begin with.
In an ideal world (we'll call it Ebbworld as it is never likely to exist), I see it this way;
Cut the red tape.
Help those who need help, who are doing their best or who are no longer able to do anything and need support and guidance to get them going again. Whether this be housing, healthcare, financial support... basically, give hope and support so that everyone has, wherever possible the chance to have a fulfilling life and role in society, whether that be living in a hippy commune and being self-sufficient or being a city slicker.
Be reticent with help for those who have little to no need for that support but be willing and able to catch those who fall and get them on the way again.
Have the funds to do all of this.
Be FAIR and RIGHT and JUST and aim it where it's needed rather than obsessing over being politically correct. The problem being, in the vast majority of cases it isn't a lack of WANTING to help, it's a lack of being ABLE to.
AS A FOR INSTANCE; is an older single homeless unemployed man with mental health problems who is in need of a social worker and housing ANY less deserving than a young woman who has just left home due to disputes with her parents? No. They are equally vulnerable though in very different ways. They both deserve help to set up a safe and secure place to live and both deserve to have enough money to look after themselves, as well as being supplied with the skills to be able to do so. If you're a government with limited funds however and you can only help one, which do you choose? It ultimately, and very wrongly, comes down to money.
In addition, the problem is and will always be, how do you decide what is genuine and what isn't? And how do you help someone who isn't asking for it however much they need it? And how do you discern what will actually help or what will create a self-perpetuating situation? I don't pretend to have the answer by any means. I'm not a government official and am under no illusions that my way is the right way, nor do I think for a second it would or could work. Rules and regulations are needed, points allocations for homeless housing, means testing for benefits etc etc are all totally necessary.
So in light of all the above, whilst it's better than nothing, the system is far from perfect. And I hate that. And it's been a good while since I was so angry and frustrated about the entire situation and a recent lj entry has reminded me of just how much I despair of it all.
As I'm having a Sarah moment; "It's not fair". Because it isn't. Any of it. And I feel powerless and unable to do anything to fix it.
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