Self deceptions

I've noticed with the Olympics that it gets co-opted.

A woman I followed on Twitter wanted to make the point that women were dominating the medal podium one day. She was apoplectic when I pointed out that it was because they only competed against women. If they had taken equality to it's logical conclusion the Olympics would not have a separate category for women it would simply celebrate the best at each sport. And some women would make it. I imagine that South Korean archer Ki Bo Bae would be there - she is awesome. But in athletics men run faster, jump higher, lift and throw heavier weights, the swim faster etc etc. Look at who holds the world records in most sports activities and it will be men. I don't see this as a put down, it's just a fact. And yes it is quite true that the fastest women are faster than the average man, faster than me. But this does not alter the fact. I grew up with women assuring me that thy were not only as good as men, but better in many respects; that they could do anything and probably better than men; that women deserved to be treated as equals or betters in any aspects of life. OK then let's have a level playing field in sport. There's no reason why most sports need to have separate leagues and separate competitions for women. Why should women runners not run against men? Where size is a factor - as in weight-lifting or judo - we already have weight grades to even things up. I'm all for equality.

Another person wanted to compare the medals that Scotland won with the medals that New Zealand won. Except that Scotland didn't win any medals - the United Kingdom certainly won a lot of medals and within Team GB (as it is inaccurately called) there were lots of Scottish Athletes. Would Scotland win so many medals if they were independent? We'll never know until they follow through on the independence movement. New Zealand is a separate nation, and we did not benefit from UK money or facilities. And we did not have a home crowd advantage in the last couple of weeks. Same with Yorkshire claiming to have won more medals than any other county. So what? Yorkshire wouldn't survive for 10 years as an independent country - they're absolutely dependent on wealth generated elsewhere in the UK (including Scotland). One of the main proponents of this Yorkshire lark is Jon Lord Prescott - who is so fat these days he couldn't run 100 metres let alone race it, though I'd want to be arms length away when I said that because not doubt he's still got a mean left hook.

It's all just a weird form of jingoism - dividing into arbitrary groups and then saying "we're better than you are". As if that really means anything that one's neighbours are good athletes. I like seeing Kiwi's doing well, but I don't then claim to be a superior person on the basis of that. It's not me that won the match! Why should I feel good about myself because someone I've never met and never will has played a good match, or run fast?

Medals were won for your country not by your country.

ATOS Victims Group: a webpage which tells the truth about ATOS, who they are, how they operate to force ill and disabled people off benefits and into the job market (at a time of high unemployment); and the government and what their program of welfare is really about.

Unfortunately the government have waged a campaign of press releases which deride and disparage the ill and disabled and have manipulated public opinion. So welfare reform is a popular policy and many of the government's lies have been accepted as true. The truth is that benefit fraud is tiny, and mistakes in payments are high. Tax cheating costs the UK 100x as much as benefit fraud. White collar fraud in banking and finance have cost this country trillions of pounds. 

Still waiting

Still waiting to hear the result of my WCA. Depressed and despondent. Suicidal thoughts.

So now we know...

What we've suspected all along is that ATOS employ artificial targets aimed at shifting people of benefits into the workforce, and this at a time of high unemployment (though the most recently figures showed a decline in the jobless, the figure is still higher than when the ConDem goct came to power).

The Guardian have reported on a secret film made of ATOS training:

Atos assessors told to keep disability benefit approvals low, film suggests

GP applied for job with Atos assessing whether benefit applicants were fit for work, and secretly filmed his training.

"Undercover filming shows Bick being told by his trainer that he will be watched carefully over the number of applicants he found eligible for the highest rate of disability payments."

The article also says:

"Large numbers of people found ineligible for the benefit are appealing against the decision to find them fit for work; about 41% of those refused support go to tribunal and 30% are subsequently granted the benefit. There have been more than 600,000 appeals since the WCA started, costing about £60m a year."       

Of course ATOS continue to deny that they set targets.

The film was shown on Channel 4 8pm Monday 30th July. It can be seen on Channel 4OD online.

Coming Out

The politics of mental healthLast month, four MPs bravely told the world about their own mental health issues in an effort to reduce the stigma. They talk about what happened next - Guardian.

The article mentions this website:  Time to Change. Thousands of people talking about their mental health problems.

Meanwhile 

Million jobless may face six months' unpaid work or have benefits stopped.
Community action programme to tackle long-term unemployment could prove expensive failure, says thinktank - Guardian.

WCA

I had my Work Capacity Assessment yesterday.

I was interviewed by a nurse rather than a doctor. The nurse did not perform any of the standard tests I have come to associate with my conditions -- fibromyalgia or anxiety/depression. He seemed to take my diagnosis as read, but was solely concerned with my ability to work despite the diagnosis.

But then as a nurse he could not really make that assessment and his job was simply to run me through a questionnaire so that other faceless bureaucrats could make a decision well removed from me. I have no right to face my accuser or to have a day in court over this. To the people making the decision I'm not even a person, just a file. And they have no idea of the consequences of their actions.

He was all business, appeared quite friendly, but not particularly sympathetic. At one point I burst into tears and it took me a while to get myself back under control. He pushed a box of tissues across to me. I tried to convey what my life is like when things are bad. He seemed to take me at my word on this which was one thing. But then I did not see what he was typing on his computer.

It was a grueling experience that I have no wish to repeat.

The one thing that has become all too clear is that being at the mercy of these cunts is not something I think I can tolerate long term. I'm going to have to find a way out of the health trap. I'm wondering about going back to school, but I'm not interested in practical subjects. If I could I'd like to study economics and public policy for instance. I've become quite concerned about how the government is trashing things. But where's that going in employment terms?

In any case I have to wait a few weeks now. I'm dreading being forced into job seeking. I wish I could have found a way out for myself before now. Losing the Income Support I've been getting and dropping down to the level of basic ESA is not going to be easy. It's about £25 a week less. At present I have about £50 of disposable income -- from which comes clothes, shoes, and any extras. I confess to spending most of it on trivial stuff, but it includes books.

At 47 and not having worked for five years now, who is going to offer me employment? Or will I be forced into one of these workfare benefit slavery deals? The chances are I'm going to fall apart under pressure and that's all going to be distressing for me, any employer and the people I work for.

Sensible Economist

Steve Keen, Autralian economist talking about the world financial crisis (which he predicted in 2005). He identifies the amount of private debt as the big problem. In the US it reached 300% of GDP. It will take decades to get back to manageable levels by paying off and bankruptcy. 

The solution is to abolish debt. Have a debt jubilee (by giving money to the debtors, but requiring people to pay off debts if they have them). Allow the banks to go bankrupt. Restructure them. Never again allow banks to lone money to people so they can speculate on the price of assets. If we don't the right-wing will probably rise up (as it did in the 1930's), and there will be widespread social unrest.

Reform economics so that it reflects reality (which is doesn't now). Don't over-rate sincerity, the most sincere person you'll ever meet is the maniac with an axe trying to chop your head off. Or indeed the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions...