David Oakes - Images, Everyday Life, Peace, postaday, Thoughtful

Same issue… Nothing Changes

22.6

An old sign in a Village near to us…..  it is not the original of course but one restored, replaced and repainted.

Listening yesterday to our News Reports on the homeless, just one of many over the past months, I thought of the above sign.  The language may have changed but the intentions are just the same……    move on – then we can conveniently forget you.

In 2021, we here in the UK have many more people homeless.  Some say it is there own fault….. but with wages not keeping pace with inflation, with too many folk on re-negotiated contracts, many now on so called zero hours deals, the odds are stacked against so many.  Add on a cost of housing that has made buying a house totally out of reach of the young, then Rents now so high, as being a Landlord is our current big financial industry, it is no surprise that life is tough.  Then of course we have Covid and lockdowns which just made a bad situation worse.  Access to health care has become harder for many.  Add a suicide rate that has increased, much of the deaths reported directly relate to the daily issues many can no longer manage.  It is a shameful picture.

Big announcements on policy by our PM – “We are creating a high skill, high pay economy”.  Sounds good. But no real new initiatives to solve an existing problem that is getting worse.

Thankfully we do have Charities that try to help, but funds are slim for a big task….  a task that in 2021 shouldn’t be getting bigger.

  Nothing changes… apart from a problem that just gets bigger.

Lets think about everyone and now it is more important than ever to…

Please Remember ….

Stay Safe …. Be Kind…. Look After Each Other

26th October

(C) David Oakes 2021

 

17 thoughts on “Same issue… Nothing Changes”

  2. You didn’t catch me on a bad day David, and my apologies for using your fantastic blog as a sounding board for a rant. Your words just reminded me of what I think of every day, and what I feel so helpless to do anything about.

    We have had far too many years of lack of investment and all we get is platitudes from successive governments. Meanwhile we talk about saving the planet, aiming for net zero carbon emissions when we should be aiming for negative values; we dump raw sewage into our oceans; we fail to recycle and continue to dump rubbish in land fill, in seas, and export it to countries who have no means of dealing with it; we fail to insulate homes and continue to build properties that have the bare minimum of insulation, are not fitted with solar panels as a matter of course, and are treated as a financial asset to increase in value rather than be a home; we allow properties to stand empty for years on end, slowly decaying, when they could be converted into affordable and sustainable housing; we fail to educate everyone that “they” and “them” and “someone” is “US” and “EVERYONE”. We are all responsible, we all must pay towards the solutions, and we all must work towards fixing it.

    That is just the UK! I shall not continue on to world matters. Everyone sees what is happening, and mostly ignores it. It could be fixed!

    Liked by 1 person

    1. I was rather fearful of talking on the Blog about a social situation and yes I did ponder if broadening the subjects was appropriate. It is a strange world we all live in. A world so advanced, yet so backward, the obvious seems to be the impossible, speed and urgency is matched by lethargy, a world of communications that talks but doesn’t listen, a world where numbers of deaths and infections become acceptable and the statistics are just taken for granted as a norm. A world so rich yet so poor in empathy. So I hope folk forgive this intrusion into my Blog…. but the Blog is described as “everyday life” and sadly this is very much everyday life.

      Liked by 1 person

  3. All too true, and as Peter has said, too many years with lack of investment, and governments tat dish out platitudes…and the issues with sewage and landfill must come to a head before too many more years have passed…

    Liked by 2 people

      1. And it’s all down to greed…money is the root of all evil as the saying goes, and the gap is getting ever wider between the ‘haves’ and the ‘have nots’….

        Liked by 1 person

        1. It sounds like and ‘Old Record’ …. but it is still so true. Water Companies break the law, avoid investing to solve a major issue yet the Directors get a bonus, share holders a dividend…. and they say crime doesn’t pay. Of course they are not alone in ensuring that the majority pay for their rich life styles.

          Liked by 1 person

  5. It’s a worldwide situation and our “leaders” talk a good game yet do nothing nor do they care, I think. Here in the USA, social agencies and religious organizations can only do so much and yet we are being inundated with more folks who will probably add to the problem.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. When David Cameron became our PM in 2010 he made a speech to introduce what he called The Big Society. Government would step back, delegate powers to the Local Elected Authorities. He stated that the wide number of Charities and none government bodies could tackle local issues far better than Central Government..
      The future was for Big Society taking care of itself, locally where it mattered. Sounds great…. but he then delegated responsibilities for many services to the Local Authorities and immediately reduced their funding. Charities also had funding streams removed or reduced….. many have closed. Then “austerity” became the buzz word. From then on the gap between the super rich and the rest just got wider. New laws introduced to prevent begging…. beggars were to be arrested and fined…. just how does someone with no money pay a fine? Not that much has changed since….. very sad.

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