Restrictions and rules of work have plagued us for quite some time in the UK. And I use that word on purpose, plagued. Because I keep coming back to that event as a marker, and a starting point to try and work from, taking it on face value as all true.

“It is the most fatal pandemic recorded in human history, causing the deaths of 75–200 million people, peaking in Europe from 1347 to 1351″

That’s an awful lot of people isn’t it? We must have had quite the population back then to have so many taken out of the general masses, across a whole range of countries too apparently. But what followed after neatly paved the way for many changes and things to occur.

1388 – The Statute of Cambridge was enacted to deal with the labour shortage caused by the plague and it’s fallout. They say we in England lost a third of our population, so it was decided (yes over 30 years later), that a new law was needed to ‘fix wages and restrict the movement of labourers’. Doesn’t entirely sound like a move to help now does it? Beggars were also included in being restricted from free movement, which sort of makes sense, but I see it as the start of the slippery slope we are on again now. Making me think of today’s moves to ‘help’ society improve by imposing laws and restrictions on movement. The 1388 Act decided that if people were allowed to leave their parishes and find higher paid work elsewhere, they would. Funny that, people wanting to get more for their skills in a time when they are greatly needed, shocker. And others deciding they don’t want to pay a decent wage and will instead hold down the workforce, hold back the economy and initiate laws to make them comply. Not so shocking after all, to realise it really is the same shit, different day (or century in this case). And the ones who got to dictate this got to make the profits and control the labour force, the distribution of workers and the ability to earn a decent wage. Sounds mad really doesn’t it? To think they had that much control even back then.

And strangely in that time, the state decided to take ‘responsibility’ for the poor away from any Christian charity, apparently through fear of social disorder (claims a historian), and were able to bring in vagrancy laws which became the origins of state-funded poor relief. Benefits. Before then, it was just down to the Monasteries or hand-outs from people and the community to look after their own and others, and even for quite some time after it seemed to be a group effort. With a change in the law in the 16th century to distinguish between the ones who can work, and the ones who won’t work, the unemployed and the idlers. We know these two groups well, as they are still very much with us today. A blow was then to hit upon the social workings of this country as it was, which I hadn’t quite understood some of the social repercussions that came from it which lead into this subject of work and benefits. Henry VIII and his move against the Catholic Church, which led to the Dissolution of the Monasteries (starting in 1536), also added to the issues, as they say the monasteries provided a fair amount of relief to the poor and in need, as well as direct and indirect employment. So once that was taken out, guess what? Loads more unemployed people, and people who then become state dependents.

1631 – The first workhouse is noted in Abingdon, Oxford. “we have erected within our borough a workhouse to set poorer people to work”. And that idea of a workhouse was to take off, not for a couple of centuries they say, but seems they were here and there and becoming well placed across the country. Apparently there was a large swathe of unemployment after the Napoleonic wars (1815), and they really took off. Although, seems that Britain did rather well out of those wars in all, gaining 20 new colonies between 1793 and 1815. People and the ’employment’ being offered to them constantly being at the whim of the ‘rulers’. Go to war, work over there, no more pay, sent to a colony, given ‘social status‘ to work in your favour or indeed ‘social stigma’ to work against you. You can see how they have had a grip on our lives and opportunities for a while now.

Being called poor houses in Scotland, the term became interchangeable after a while and they meant the same thing. Destitute and having to rely on the state to ‘help you’. But even then as with now, there are those who see it as an opportunity “Some Poor Law authorities hoped to run workhouses at a profit by utilising the free labour of their inmates.” You can see how they then have no incentive to get people out of that situation, and can even be of further profit to funnel people into that system. Like the prison system today, and many of the other ‘here to help or protect’ services that appear to be on offer. And by 1776 there were over 1800 registered with a capacity for 90,000 people.

1739 – The Foundling Hospital. A side point perhaps in this, but a strange name for an institution I thought, given that the word makes me personally think of changelings, as they were known to switch babies and infants in myth and folklore. But this particular place it says,

“The word “hospital” was used in a more general sense than it is in the 21st century, simply indicating the institution’s “hospitality” to those less fortunate. Nevertheless, one of the top priorities of the committee at the Foundling Hospital was children’s health, as they combated smallpox, fevers, consumption, dysentery and even infections from everyday activities like teething that drove up mortality rates and risked epidemics.^[2] With their energies focused on maintaining a disinfected environment, providing simple clothing and fare, the committee paid less attention to and spent less on developing children’s education.”

Interesting I thought, almost sounds like a strange experimental site doesn’t it? No time to teach them anything, they probably weren’t expected to make it that far. Or maybe I really am just too cynical. Who can say for sure.

1832 – A reform was needed because the poor relief costs were spiralling out of control. An inquiry was launched so they could determine at cost, what they already knew, that the system was being abused, but not by the people running it of course, oh no. It was the able-bodied people apparently seeking help and assistance to find work. They were the ones abusing it they say, leading to guess what? More laws and regulations and rules, so that they could keep their grip on the elderly, infirm and incapable and keep draining taxpayers money for them. Keeping in mind, it is said that there was a few bad harvests starting in 1828 as well as high unemployment within the agriculture sector already due to technological advances, it just so happened that economically there was a greater need for help from able bodied people. But it does seem that rather than temporarily address and help these issues, it is preferred to recognise them, and make permanent laws and changes based upon them but to not actually sort them out. Thereby helping to create the continued issues from them, rather than let them pass. May as well read as 1832 or 2032 as it seems that gravy train has been fixed on its tracks for quite some time and isn’t going to be derailed anytime soon.

As I have said before, if someone is making money from someone else’s misery, then they have no incentive to stop causing misery, and in fact have a great one to keep going. If there was no profit in it, or no money to be made at all from it, then you would very quickly see a change in people’s interest in things. And it’s sad really, that everything does come down to money, time, power and control. Without money, it all falls apart a bit, because you wouldn’t be able to hold people’s lives to ransom. They can only control us all with money, if everything has a price, therefore it became imperative that everything did. Including time. Time is money they used to say (and probably still do). But time should be attributed to your life and passions, not to money as it has been engineered to be. Remember, it’s not usually how much money you make in your life that goes on your gravestone, it’s how long you lived, and what your position in your family was (more often than not). Take note of that on your way through…

(c) MKW Publishing

Children and young people are getting a strange social landscape laid before them for the future. And to be honest, the present is looking pretty busted up, too. For all of us, but young people have less perspective and experience generally to understand it, so how are they going to cope with it all? How are they coping now? How is anyone I guess, because while some may have both experience and perspective in their arsenal, this is a new situation we appear to face, individually and as a collective.

There are so many concerning things occurring, but being given their own rights to make life altering decisions, is a big one. And it may seem silly to link them together, but it all started with trainers. Yes, the shoes. Quite a strange leap if you aren’t sure why. But you may remember in the 90’s, a story from the states hit the UK, about a child who successfully sued his parents for not buying him trendy expensive trainers. The court upheld that claim I believe. And the slippery slope began, in my view. As with most things that have a rather large impact on society they are often a while in the making. The First Fad covers that a little more.

That slope was already well in place though, with social services and authorities already poised to be able to remove children from people’s care if they saw fit to do so. But mostly there had to be a bloody good reason, and if they didn’t have one? They made one up in some cases. But there was a line, which seemed to fall on the side of the parents, allowing them to believe they were in charge of and responsible for their own offspring. Over the years though, little things showing that’s not entirely the case. Compulsory things crept in, where you had to comply to take part or face monetary or legal consequences. Sound familiar? Fines for not making your children go to school, fines if you wanted to take them away in term time. Exclusion if you didn’t play the game. Back in the day when they tried to make school the system of indoctrination it is today, they also had to bully and force people to take part. Then they pushed the ‘social divide’ created by those who attended, and those who did not. Bringing in more rules of attendance, standards, exams, grades and what they considered social achievement.

And it does rather now seem, as though it is becoming obvious that the previous industrial society we had is on the way out. They don’t want motivated, skilled people to take part in society and just go about their lives as before. They appear to want distracted, confused people to be an integral part of the new society. Without the choice to take part, at all. And that choice I speak of has been limited for a while now, and was the happy illusion to make us all think it was just ticking over and chugging along. Well now it’s changing course and speed. Hoping to throw anyone off the train if they are in the way or looking to pull the stop chord. And equally, to plough through anyone who tried to derail it, or remove it from the tracks. A juggernaut now, heading towards either a wall of total destruction, or into a dark narrow tunnel. For the foreseeable future. So, how do we get off that train, or as I said before, derail it or deconstruct it. Letting it lose steam and just rot away.

There have been so many tricks and traps of society, going back some time. Various hoops to jump through, incentives and punishments, intruding into every part of our lives eventually. Until we find ourselves here, where the illusionary incentives and rewards just went down, and the perceived punishments just went up. And for adults perhaps, who have seen through the charade, the levels of compliance isn’t quite what was expected and they are harder to push now, or to threaten, or to control. So, the attention turns very much to the younger generations, and to try and separate them from anyone who might actually have their best interests at heart. For real, not for profit. If all the older lot had fallen in line, then the expectation of pressure would come from parents first, authorities second, as it used to when the old system worked on a basic level. Peer pressure has worked wonders in the past for there to be social pressure heaped on people, by their own. And don’t get me wrong, I actually believe a bit of peer pressure can be used for good and as a helpful lesson to people while they grow and gather experience throughout their life. But not when that pressure really isn’t from your peers or anyone who you respect. It comes from a far more detached motive and isn’t about teaching you any kind of life lesson, it’s more about making you get in line.

And this is what I would like young people of today to consider. Motive. To really think through and try to understand the reasoning behind someone or something showing an interest, whether it be an interest in your mind, body or soul. Even if that interested party is the government or branches of it. Because while it might seem nice in the short-term, to have someone appear interested in your inner most thoughts and future happiness, or to have someone try and tell you what is good for you. It is important to look behind that, go behind that nice feeling or validation for a moment and analyse it. Because as harsh as it is, the reality is that most authorative departments don’t actually care. You are a target and a statistic, so they can be given money. That’s it. Giving a young person independence is great, but they aren’t really doing that are they? They are trying to sever an attachment of responsibility between parent and child (which I accept isn’t there for all in the first place). And appear to place that responsibility solely with the child or young person but while creating a chord of attachment between the young person and the government. Knowing in many cases the pressure is actually too great and will go wrong as they don’t understand the implications and won’t for some time. Set up to fail, like lots of people have been. And it takes us just a little bit further down that slippery slope…

(c) K Wicks

You hear talk of previous times gone by, of catastrophe and disaster bringing people together to help each other and thy neighbour in times of need. It seems a long-lost fairy tale given how people treat each other on the street on a day-to-day basis.

The ‘war like spirit’ they talk off in this country at least. During and after. But did it last? Clearly not, because it seems that once the event or drama has passed, people just drift away from each other again and back to their own lives. Changed in a way, but not enough to change the way we are. It has even been mentioned after a hurricane in the states that everyone did come together in the aftermath, but it quickly dissipates away and that feeling of being able to help each other and achieve something is lost. Some people have even said ‘we need a good revolution to bring everyone together’, which I found odd that we would need tragedy or disaster to sit up and take note. It always takes a tragedy they say.

Because even though lots of people may have seen it coming, and even talked about the likelihood or probability of it occurring, it’s not until it happens that people act. Or talk about it further, to say how they saw it coming and wasn’t it obvious? So not really odd after all then, quite predictable in fact. That people are more inclined to recognise a developing hazard or threat, will then discuss it at length and identify how it will occur, and how it could actually be averted. And then? They sit back and allow the situation or event to unfold, watching it, almost saying as it happens ‘I knew that was going to happen’, with a strange sense of smugness about being able to see it coming. Infuriating. The whole point and purpose of being able to plan ahead and be able to strategise and understand sequences of actions and events, is to use it to avert such things, in my opinion. Not be entranced by the process, and sit waiting for a result to prove our ego correct. That’s what children do, to learn and understand if their thought processes are correct, try and test the theory. Sometimes with painful consequences, both physically and emotionally. But some it seems do like to see the full drama unfold, or play out, and have no intention of avoiding anything.

So, what of that spirit they talk of? The one after the shit has hit the fan, and recovery is in process. Yes, it seems as a collective we have that one. But I wonder if we have the capacity for another type of spirit, the one that also gets talked of now and again, more as myth though, and with the spirit always being crushed conveniently or thwarted so the catastrophe plays out. However, could it be that we are also able to pull together before the dam bursts, or before the bridge collapses? I wonder…

(c) K Wicks