It's not about cost, it's about value. Lots of things cost money, it's what you think they're worth that matters. Personally, I don't mind paying over the odds for public services, for systems you might never need but are priceless when you do. I do mind spending money on war, royalty, expensive government computer failures, reorganisations of the NHS that just hand millions of pounds of taxpayers money to the private sector... I just could go on and on. It's a difference of opinion. It's the difference between people who would pay for things that benefits the whole of society and people who believe in a more market-led, atomised view of the world.
You know, when I was growing up, I always thought society was on a never-ending progression, that things were better for me than for my parents and grandparents, and things would be even better for my kids and my grandkids. Well, that's just not true any more. Many of the decisions to create things that would good for society – the welfare state, the NHS, public services that did not involve you having money to access them, education, libraries, culture, infrastructure – are now deemed to be too expensive, to be linked to the market not to government and its ability to prioritise spending for the common good, to decide what we think is right and good and stump up for it. As a result, our children are on short-term contracts, pay fees for their education, will work til they are in their seventies and face healthcare that they'll have to pay for. They are fatter, unhappier, more insecure, and have dwindling life changes and expectancy. It's about priorities, costs vs value, what you believe in, what you desire, what you are prepared to fight for. That's it. x
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