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A Pretentious Little Gutrot - Life and recession.

  • 23-02-2010 12:25pm
    #1
    CDfm
    Closed Accounts Posts: 20,649 ✭✭✭✭


    Going into the supermarket last Friday Morning there was a booze sale. 6 bottles of wine for 24 euro. Cans of Stella a euro etc. Whisky a tenner.

    Last year on a trip to the North it struck me that the UK dole benefits were low because they have a cheap food and booze policy.Wonder if Ireland is doing the same. Anaesthetize the masses.

    Mary Coughlan yesterday on the News saying she hopes our young people wont have to emigrate. I dont listen to the news cos its all bad and in work I need to be positive.

    Then last night between 9 and 10 I got a call saying a business associate of one of my friends topped himself and had been very depressed after Xmas. No apparent problems. The same worries as the rest of us.

    Watched the Winter Olympics curling with the girlfriend - I support blondes and the British Women needed my support. The Danish Women could have lined out in the scrum for Ireland.

    So I pick up the phone today and call a few friends just to see if they are ok given the news etc.

    It all reminded me of the last recession.

    Oh well must get on and do some work.


Comments

  • #2
    Emme
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 4,055 ✭✭✭Emme


    CDfm wrote: »
    Last year on a trip to the North it struck me that the UK dole benefits were low because they have a cheap food and booze policy.Wonder if Ireland is doing the same. Anaesthetize the masses.

    You could have a point. Booze and fags weren't hit very hard in the last few budgets. Regardless of this the govt get revenue back on every euro spent on booze and fags, so when the masses buy their anaesthesia they're putting money back into the pockets of the government. Save the country or subjugate the masses?


  • #3
    seamus
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 68,317 ✭✭✭✭seamus


    CDfm wrote: »
    Going into the supermarket last Friday Morning there was a booze sale. 6 bottles of wine for 24 euro. Cans of Stella a euro etc. Whisky a tenner.

    Last year on a trip to the North it struck me that the UK dole benefits were low because they have a cheap food and booze policy.Wonder if Ireland is doing the same. Anaesthetize the masses.
    Emme wrote: »
    You could have a point. Booze and fags weren't hit very hard in the last few budgets. Regardless of this the govt get revenue back on every euro spent on booze and fags, so when the masses buy their anaesthesia they're putting money back into the pockets of the government. Save the country or subjugate the masses?
    I think you're probably reading a bit too much into it. The working class represent the highest dole claimants and the lowest voter turnout. So there's little fear of "upsetting" them, because they won't do anything about it anyway. The main problem is that for the working class, it's booze and fags at any cost. So if the booze and fags are priced out of their reach they will go for illegal sources, which creates problems for the government on a number of fronts. If they really wanted to "anaesthesise the masses", they would have much looser controls on narcotics and much cheaper over-the-counter prescriptions for valium and the like.
    Then last night between 9 and 10 I got a call saying a business associate of one of my friends topped himself and had been very depressed after Xmas. No apparent problems. The same worries as the rest of us.
    It can be very hard to know on the surface if someone has emotional problems. Many people who go through with suicide are very good at hiding their problems from the rest of the world. You just never know what state of mind someone is in.
    Some people can end up in situations which would just stress the rest of us out, but coupled with possible mental/emotional difficulties and other strains of life, the situation can become the metaphorical straw. So while it looks like the death was sudden, in reality it's something that was building up over a long time.

    Suicide is an unfortunate fact of life that we will never be entirely rid of. Being alive is hard.

    I know the OP was intended more as a rant, but no harm to chew the cud...


  • #4
    CDfm
    Closed Accounts Posts: 20,649 ✭✭✭✭CDfm


    I didnt mean it as a rant more of an observation. that the current recession is similar to the last.

    People who can cope do and those who cant are in trouble.There are lots of people i wouldnt swap my life with today.


  • #5
    humberklog
    Moderators, Music Moderators Posts: 10,580 Mod ✭✭✭✭humberklog


    Oh this recession's much better then the previous one(s). The last one I worked, studied, emigrated, worked, emigrated, worked and studied through. I'm done studying and as for emigration, while tempting, isn't on the cards so I get to do exactly what I want. Best recession ever.

    Oh and the booze is cheaper than ever and Headshops have driven the price of street stuff right down too. Happy out.


  • #6
    amacachi
    Closed Accounts Posts: 23,316 ✭✭✭✭amacachi


    seamus wrote: »
    The main problem is that for the working class, it's booze and fags at any cost. So if the booze and fags are priced out of their reach they will go for illegal sources, which creates problems for the government on a number of fronts.
    How much must one earn before not being working class? Are you above that threshold?


    Back to the OP, falls in food and alcohol prices are almost guaranteed given the economic circumstances. Just as increases in the UK will happen over the next few years thanks to their retarded idea of "PRINT MORE MONIES!ONE!!!".
    Also, other than single, childless people and pensioners their benefits are just as generous as ours, they're just hidden under different names and applications.
    And anyone I know of who killed themselves in the last number of years it had nothing to do with money, before or after the downturn started.


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