Austerity or what?

[eighthobstruction]

... perhaps you and he might like to re-read 'The Death of Ivan Ilyich' and have a little think.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Death_of_Ivan_Ilyich

....surely just a weeks viewing of Eastenders would suffice.....

[french frank]

Ah, the dreaded green-eyed monster!!

That isn't, in fact, any kind of response to any of the three points I made: it's merely your conclusion, from what you yourself had already written.

[handsomefortune]

if only we had been joined on this thread by tarantella ...the global tomato giant! she might have been more considerate and humane ....(but perhaps not)!

That isn't, in fact, any kind of response to any of the three points I made: it's merely your conclusion, from what you yourself had already written.

i wonder if that's considered a 'vertical', or 'horizontal' type of response?

The morality of society moves in a vertical direction, not horizontally. what does this actually mean tarantella?

can total evasion of a given question ever actually constitute a 'moral' stance? since most might automatically assume it blind, ignorant, covert &/or arrogant behavior, rather than 'vertical' or 'moral'? maybe current neocon concepts are borrowed (recycled & inverted) eg from 70s feminist theories, about the objectives and effects of vertical capitalism. the sort of concepts that US artists such as barbara kruger (and many others) made/make their work from.

either way as a method of response, it probably worked on the cattle down on the farm.....but (at a wild guess) is less successful with fellow humans.

In short, they'll be the kind of people you hate.

thanks so much for the warning tarantella.

but i think most reading your posts may have suspected what you're up to long since..... so don't gloat too hard on that if i were you.

(personally, i hope you listen to 'the food programme' on bbc radio 4 this sunday, which is all about the effects of eating meat produced by intensive farming methods, produce which sheila dillon believes causes cancer). http://www.artnet.com/artists/barbar...aYiAQ5gJ04ioA2


and bang on topic......last but not least, (and especially for all the 'jet setters' on this forum) a late 70s 'play for today' film called 'the spongers', never more relevant since it was made (directed by brummy chap, tony garnet in 78). http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f9uM4oOJqWU (best not to watch, then listen to this week's 'all in the mind' on bbc r4, which coincidentally features vulnerable people in care now moved far from home, simply dumped off amongst strangers... apparently for austerity reasons). personally, i've never enjoyed such a convincing portrayal of royal duty quite as much as this film opens with.

http://www.artnet.com/artists/barbara-kruger/untitled-endangered-species-xDZgsSj-vVFpnVxtQs9WRw2

[handsomefortune]

This is going to be fun! For all the sexist misogynists on this board who hate and fear "strident women", here goes...!!

I like Cameron, but I think he'll be defeated - too much negativity in GB. Cameron has class and style and he's pretty direct. Not rough enough around the edges for the average Pom. In the end we all get the leaders we deserve.

perhaps it's your views people detest, rather than your gender?

you can't like cameron and be aware that for women and children his austerity policies are disastrous surely?

or is it that 'strident' actually means.... selfish, dogmatic, to the point of extreme introversion?


we all get the leaders we deserve

and trot on, tally ho & toodle pip!

[teamsaint]

Then you obviously don't know much. The physical demands of being on the job then the endless hours of paperwork soon racks up those hours. But I don't think you know at all. I'm wasting my time here, but I did think it was a discussion worth having. Trying to break through prejudice and resentment isn't easy. My husband ran a huge intensive agricultural business and he worked 7 days a week for 23 years; 7 days a week, not 6. Now we can afford to live in Europe for extended periods of time and enjoy business class travel. We both deserve it, and our sons have followed suit and now have their own businesses (except for one who is working in our national parliament, very very long hours).

There's no such thing as a free lunch. I'd suggest to all these people here that if they're not satisfied with the system, then 1) run for parliament and make some changes yourself, 2) try something entrepreneurial and work like hell to make it successful or 3) move out of Britain to a country where there are better opportunities. Don't sit down and cry about the system and feel sorry for yourselves!! I think you'll find more than a dozen reasons why you shouldn't listen to a word I've said, in which case you make way for those of us who want to be successful and get ahead. There's no substitute for very very hard work.

So am I right in thinking that you do know things because you (claim to have) experienced them, but that my experiences are invalid? or are you saying that I am not telling the truth? or are you saying that I can't draw simple conclusions from 20 plus years of observations?

What happens in a world where everybody wants to be a go ahead , go getting business person, at the expense of everybody else? Where do the workers in your intensive agricultural business come from? How do you make your profits then?

7 days a week for 23 years ? Hmmmm, even trolls don't work THAT hard. Especially, trolls, in fact.

[Flosshilde]

Interesting looking back at Tarantella's previous posts - there's a thread she started about Lionel Shriver, in which she accused everyone here who disagreed with her of being misogynist, and ended by saying she had been conversing with 'undergraduates' (apparently she thought she was using the ultimate put-down). In her first posts she sought reassurance that she wouldn't encounter any trolls here, as she'd suffered abuse by a troll on another forum

[eighthobstruction]

Interesting looking back at Tarantella's previous posts - there's a thread she started about Lionel Shriver, in which she accused everyone here who disagreed with her of being misogynist, and ended by saying she had been conversing with 'undergraduates' (apparently she thought she was using the ultimate put-down). In her first posts she sought reassurance that she wouldn't encounter any trolls here, as she'd suffered abuse by a troll on another forum

Until today I thought she was MALE....

EEEEee it's got nowt on the Cowling Gala....procession -drum majorettes -specials ales -<that bloke thar drives around in a jeep in WW2 uniform>....straggley scouts out of step....barrel organ....rain and wind <eee we stand straight and undo the buttons on our shirts....>....marvellous.....seaside only 70 miles away....

[Tarantella]

....There was me thinking you were a crazy, mixed up, malcontented kid.....and it pans out you are a pious, arrogant, preening adult mother....proud, gleeming, iridescent in the morning sun of many continents....

....Actually T if you read more than just taking snatches, I think you would find (you won't, because you will not look) that mostly the comments and concepts etc on this board are altruistic rather than egregiously self serving....worring about the younger generations having to navigate the cut and thrust of a world stacked against them. Your peacock strutting (all the more strange for being a peahen)....and the procession of your [time poor] chicks....makes me wonder if you realise who made your clothes, TV, Computer, Kitchen appliances, Car, Aeroplane for holidays,etc etc........it was hard work <but not yours>.....(you know that sound that peacocks make....ooooo too piercing man....Dayo)

....oh dear i've been a bit ad hominem....

Oh dear, this is SO SAD. You do need to find some meaning in your life, a job even. 2,044 posts on an internet messageboard. Hey, there's a world out there.

Seems I've struck a nerve with my comments.

[Flosshilde]

Oh dear, this is SO SAD. You do need to find some meaning in your life, a job even. 2,044 posts on an internet messageboard. Hey, there's a world out there.

Seems I've struck a nerve with my comments.

Troll-la lee, troll-la la

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

Oh dear, this is SO SAD. You do need to find some meaning in your life, a job even. 2,044 posts on an internet messageboard. Hey, there's a world out there.

Hoi! Less of that!

[french frank]

Seems I've struck a nerve with my comments.

Not so much 'struck a nerve' as perhaps 'have a nerve'. The forum is for BBC Radio 3 listeners to discuss the radio output - plus other subjects when they wish. I would suggest that you enter into the spirit of that sort of forum, as otherwise your presence is likely to be disruptive without providing any reciprocal benefit to the community. But it's up to you.

[Flosshilde]

Oh dear, this is SO SAD. You do need to find some meaning in your life, a job even. 2,044 posts on an internet messageboard. Hey, there's a world out there.

Seems I've struck a nerve with my comments.

It does seem a bit perverse, coming on a messageboard, & saying this -

Hello, I'm a newbie here - it looks interesting. Looking forward to great discussions and no trolls!!

and this -

Thank you so much for clarifying the situation. I just want to feel safe on a messageboard, having been abused by a troll over a period of time. I'm naturally very wary. It looks good here!

in your first posts, & then berating someone for participating on a messageboard.

[eighthobstruction]

you undergraduate....

[vinteuil]

... what is sad that there is all this talent, wit, and wisdom offered generously on this thread and elsewhere on these 'ere Boards - and which our benighted Australian visiting trollesse doesn't even begin to appreciate...

[Tarantella]

Two other main reasons:

idleness
the belief that the country owes you a living irrespective of what you do to help yourself

At last: somebody on this message-board who doesn't have a chip on his/her shoulder!! Yay!!

Yesterday I was having a long talk with one of my sisters about the cringing mindset of "the left" - particularly of the perennial undergraduate variety. We both commented that not one of our four sisters experienced poverty and that we were all financially successful after decades of hard work. That doesn't happen by accident, nor by complaining, nor by commiserating with others about the state of capitalism. Just hard grind, taking risks and being prepared to fail at any time.

We also talked about the new trains which our state government has delivered and how these have recently been horribly vandalized by those who sit on their butts and complain. Her comment to me was a good one: "so they behave badly when given something new: no more treats for them"!! Brilliant. I wish I lived in a right wing country like Austria where I can walk around any time of the day or night and feel safe and secure, travel in non-vandalized public transport and in a graffiti-free city. That's the price of having Polizei on the ground - peoples' behaviours are regulated to ensure the safety of others. Unemployment is a feature of Austria as it is elsewhere, but the government takes up the slack and asks in return for appropriately socialized behaviours.

On the other hand, "progressive, liberal" societies - where people brag about their "freedoms" - are a chimera. There's no freedom at all if one cannot walk the streets. The freedoms I particularly enjoy are those of hard work, drawing a good income and being able to walk the streets (as I did in Vienna).