Our prime purpose in this life is to help others. And if you can't help them, at least don't hurt them. – Dalai Lama
Our prime purpose in this life is to help others. And if you can't help them, at least don't hurt them. – Dalai Lama
Who are we to laugh at other people’s misfortune?
Programmes like Benefits Britain, Benefit Street and Skint only exist for the pointless, low-brow entertainment for the careless viewers who enjoy a certain sense of superiority, as these people are being paraded around purely so we can laugh at them then sink back into their comfortable, benefit-free lives with a glass of champagne, unaffected by the struggles portrayed on our TV screens. These programmes find their focus in portraying the lower class, otherwise classified by the media as the ‘underclass’, as nothing more than low life scum who achieve nothing in life but signing on at 18 with no GCSE’s, 7 kids, 3 cats and a state-funded goldfish. This isn’t always the case. Not everyone breeds for a bigger house and more money. There are actually people who claim job seekers allowance who have different interests in life. I bet you didn’t know that these people existed did you? Yet, these programmes don’t show that, they only show the people who adhere to the characteristics of this ridiculous stereotype – adolescent mothers, smokers, drinkers and scruffs. The directors of these appalling programmes are extruding this corrupt idea that these individuals don’t want to work and only aspire to sit on their arses all day overindulging on crap, watching TV with a ‘tinny’ and spending our tax money. But what about the people who do aspire to be something? The people who don’t simply sit around wasting their lives and large chunks of the tax payer’s money, the people who actually try to find jobs, but whom don’t succeed because of our tough, crippled economy (thank you Mr. Cameron!). Why aren’t these people exposed to the nation as well? To show what life is actually like without the fancy things, such as the newest game console, or the latest iPhone. As they have no disposable income for the luxuries, their money automatically goes to where it is needed: their rent, food and clothing. Why don’t we see this? Because, quite simply it’s just not entertainment. But people’s lives and their daily struggles to exist on only a pittance shouldn’t be entertainment. JK Rowling, after a yearlong marriage she divorced and was left to bring up her daughter, alone, as a single parent on benefits. Rowling had suffered with clinical depression and had contemplated suicide; she used her illnesses for the creation of the ‘Dementors’ in her world famous series, Harry Potter. If it wasn’t for the welfare system, the well-loved books and the memories the film series brought would have never been created. Rowling, the first author to achieve a net worth of $1 billion, is helping reimburse the welfare system due to her paying 50% tax per year.
When watching these programmes, that prey on the vulnerable and listening to the innocent individuals whom are being paraded in front of the nation tell their story of how they ended up in the atrocious situation which they are confined to. I fail to understand how anyone can find it remotely amusing. These people are telling you and the nation they can’t live properly, that they don’t have an adequate household income as its lower than average (earning under £24,000 a year) these people are in desperate financial straits, benefits barely afford the basics. How can we see their struggles as entertainment? David Cameron, I’d like to see you raise a family on just 24K.
The poverty-stricken people on these programmes don’t even have enough money to buy food and products from a shop, they buy them from the back of a van or on their doorstep; they go to people who are risking their freedom by stealing stolen products in order to make sure that they, themselves can live (as highlighted by Dean Bell, the foul mouthed father in Skint) Is that funny too? These types of programmes are masqueraded as documentaries; they aren’t in the entertainment category. So why are you laughing? Why isn’t David Cameron sorting this out? Why can celebrities such as Jimmy Carr use tax loops in order to save £1.66 million a year and get away with it? When, someone can’t even claim up to £100 per week without being shamed for it. It’s wrong. The hierarchy needs to be stopped! Our children are being born into a world where it thought to be wrong and embarrassing to claim benefits in order to survive. If you need help, you get it!
We all stereotype the lower class, identifying them as scum of the Earth, fodder for the tabloids and Katie Hopkins’ latest tweets. They are identified with being unqualified due to them not attending school, being lazy, having a disgusting mouth as well as a disgusting wardrobe (White Dee doesn’t even own a bra). Even if these people found a job, due to their lack of qualifications they wouldn’t be able to find a job which pays more than benefits do because companies refuse to pay a living wage, falling into the ‘benefit trap’. These traps consist of single families who when working over 16 hours can no longer claim benefits. But it isn’t always the case that they have enough money to live from and also have a disposable income like other families can. Nuclear families aren’t that common anymore (58% of households with children are headed by a single parent). It isn’t the 18th century. Would you rather work and not be able to fund your life or claim benefits and be able to live? I know what I’d do for the sake of living. People have genuine problems for being on benefits; it’s not just a cheat scheme for everyone. Let’s stop being prejudice!
Deidre Kelly, also known as ‘White Dee’ from Benefits Street, once coming off benefits and being scrutinised by the public, also being called a ‘benefit cheat’ by the controversial Katie Hopkins. White Dee had to nationally announce her private life, on This Morning, that she was no longer claiming benefits due to the outburst of false accusations on the social networking Twitter. Is that really necessary? No, it’s not. Does Katie Hopkins have to share her financial status with everybody? No, she doesn’t and neither do you! So why should White Dee? I bet Katie Hopkins doesn’t pay all her tax properly. I bet she also uses the tax loopholes which many other billionaire celebrities advocate. But do we see them being rudely and unmorally scrutinised across the media? Do we hell! It’s completely ignored, but when someone of a lower status claims money to live, we all jump on the bandwagon and bully them for their misfortunes.
When will it stop? Would we prefer to bring back the Victorian work houses for our so-called ‘underclass’?
