I am blessed with the ability and desire to work and I have always been glad to dedicate myself to that activity ever since I got my first part-time jobs when I was about fifteen years of age. I have been doubly blessed by being self-empoyed for the past thirty years or so, so I am my own boss. I continue to work long hours and if the Lord will spare me I shall continue as long as I am able. It keeps me out of trouble (mainly) and puts food on the table.
Over the years I have met men of all ages in the UK who have mainly relied on the benefits system to eke out an existence. I think they get into a kind of mental trap because sometimes a low paying job involving forty or more hours of hard graft yields only slightly more than they can receive by chilling out all day at the expense of the state or by dong some low paid activity off the cards that is, they would say, more satisflying than a low paying manual job, so the incentive is not perceived to be high.
This is not something I have seen in Italy, because there is no benefit system there, or certainly nothing comparable to the relatively generous system in the UK. If a man prefers not to work in Italy he must rely on his family to support him - there are a few fellows in that position I suppose but it seems to be fairly uncommon.
Some people simply cannot work for a variety of reasons and that is a great misfortune so it is good that they are supported by charitable means, but those who could do a job but choose not to are now, it seems, more likely to be subjected to mandatory Covid related nonsense on pain of having their benefits withheld. This kind of cooercion will almost certainly be used against all claimants, the elective and the obligated, indifferently, but I suppose it is fair to say that the elective unemployed have perhaps done foolishly to willingly place their welfare so completely in the hands of the state.
I understand that we are all ultimately in the hands of the State, which can coerce the people unjustly through taxation, access to utilities, and the food chain, but in this suboptimal scenario I, like most of my brethren, have always valued the maximum level of independence I have been able to achieve, because he who pays the piper does indeed call the tune and I prefer to choose my own soundtrack, as long as I am able.
Over the years I have met men of all ages in the UK who have mainly relied on the benefits system to eke out an existence. I think they get into a kind of mental trap because sometimes a low paying job involving forty or more hours of hard graft yields only slightly more than they can receive by chilling out all day at the expense of the state or by dong some low paid activity off the cards that is, they would say, more satisflying than a low paying manual job, so the incentive is not perceived to be high.
This is not something I have seen in Italy, because there is no benefit system there, or certainly nothing comparable to the relatively generous system in the UK. If a man prefers not to work in Italy he must rely on his family to support him - there are a few fellows in that position I suppose but it seems to be fairly uncommon.
Some people simply cannot work for a variety of reasons and that is a great misfortune so it is good that they are supported by charitable means, but those who could do a job but choose not to are now, it seems, more likely to be subjected to mandatory Covid related nonsense on pain of having their benefits withheld. This kind of cooercion will almost certainly be used against all claimants, the elective and the obligated, indifferently, but I suppose it is fair to say that the elective unemployed have perhaps done foolishly to willingly place their welfare so completely in the hands of the state.
I understand that we are all ultimately in the hands of the State, which can coerce the people unjustly through taxation, access to utilities, and the food chain, but in this suboptimal scenario I, like most of my brethren, have always valued the maximum level of independence I have been able to achieve, because he who pays the piper does indeed call the tune and I prefer to choose my own soundtrack, as long as I am able.
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