Path: ccsf.homeunix.org!ccsf.homeunix.org!news1.wakwak.com!nf1.xephion.ne.jp!onion.ish.org!gcd.org!vda-gw!newsfeed.hashimoto.gr.jp!newsfeed.media.kyoto-u.ac.jp!newsfeed.icl.net!newsfeed.fjserv.net!feed.news.tiscali.de!fu-berlin.de!uni-berlin.de!individual.net!not-for-mail
From: Declan Murphy <declan_murphy@hotmail.com>
Newsgroups: fj.life.in-japan
Subject: Re: Poor People's Greatest Hits
Date: Sun, 02 Jan 2005 23:38:01 +0900
Lines: 36
Message-ID: <41D80749.7070100@hotmail.com>
References: <33eih0F40e8rsU1@individual.net> <cqtju5$sdt$1@nnrp.gol.com> <dwsAd.3565$5R.1409@newssvr21.news.prodigy.com> <cqu507$11l$1@nnrp.gol.com> <J9xAd.3620$5R.817@newssvr21.news.prodigy.com> <cqu8fe$1v2$1@nnrp.gol.com> <KGyAd.3639$5R.3038@newssvr21.news.prodigy.com> <cqudua$3k8$1@nnrp.gol.com> <dgAAd.3650$5R.3401@newssvr21.news.prodigy.com> <cqur48$8ga$1@nnrp.gol.com> <o70gt0d0mfmhtk04kj031sp0i5fero4t45@4ax.com>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii; format=flowed
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
X-Trace: individual.net WPAkAxjvnqOvdkpswdyfFAf+OvpLxvZz5oX2cxxpS/aoAKTgVk
User-Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.0; en-US; rv:1.2.1) Gecko/20021130
X-Accept-Language: en-us, en
In-Reply-To: <o70gt0d0mfmhtk04kj031sp0i5fero4t45@4ax.com>
Xref: ccsf.homeunix.org fj.life.in-japan:23985

Michael Cash wrote:
> On Thu, 30 Dec 2004 02:54:36 +0900, B Robson <Xb-robsonX@gol.com>
> brought down from the Mount tablets inscribed:
> 
>>TAX, Gowen and I are talking about TAX. I am sure you have paid tax, you 
>>can freely criticise poor people for abusing their most generous welfare 
>>payments. As for me, I am glad I come from a country that doesn't have 
>>an underclass.

There are plenty of people comprising an underclass down there. It might 
be smaller in overall percentage terms, but in the regions and districts 
where unemployment is 20-25%+ (even in Sydney there are such plenty of 
such places), the long term disadvantaged are very real.

> from http://www.totallyofftherecord.com/story/
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
<snip>
> Needless to say we 'spiritually' reduced her benifits.
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> 
> Maybe you don't have an underclass, but there's at least one weirdo
> bum-ette down there.

I hired a bloke to work in the store (dispatch? I don't know the 
American term - the place where the truckers come in to pick up the 
finished product) when I was working in a small manufacturing firm in 
Sydney yonks ago. He'd been unemployed about 18 months. He was single, 
no dependents. The job paid about A$250 a week more than his benefits. 
The social security office were pretty good, and he was well matched to 
the job. 8 days after his first payday he came into the office asking if 
he could use the phone to call social security. "Sure, but why?" I 
asked. "They cut off my benefits!"

-- 
Non gratum anus rodentum