I was reading something the other day which was about the sort of stuff that Geo was taking about - the welfare state and immigrants. The reason the welfare state works is that, even if you pay your taxes and NI your whole life, but never get ill or infirm or have to claim any benefits, you don't mind paying because a) you could have needed it and, importantly, b) if it's not being used to help you, it's being used to help someone just like you.
Now, in a mostly homogenous society (like, for example, the Nordic countries) this works very well, as virtually everyone is just like everyone else. And, indeed, the Nordic countries are well known for their high levels of taxation and social programmes.
In a country like the United States (which was, and continues to be, built upon immigrants), the welfare state is far less widespread. It is much more of a 'if you can't help yourself then tough' kind of society. As a result, the general population doesn't feel the same resentment towards people who are not like them because they don't feel as if they are funding them as taxation is lower.
Now consider this country. Reknowned throughout the world for its welfare state. A system which was born out of the aftermath of WW2, when everyone had been through the most terrible experience together. There wasn't a person in the country who hadn't been affected by the war - there was a tremendous sense of brotherhood in the population, even towards people you didn't know. Therefore the welfare state worked OK for the reasons outlined in my first paragraph.
The problem recently is that the welfare state is failing (mostly because of the rising number of pensioners and the fact that the ill now require expensive medical treatment, rather than just dying off like they used to). It's falling apart. People who have spent their whole lives 'paying into the system' are realising that they're not going to get helped in their old age. They see people like Geo's friend who are abandoned by the state. And yet when they open the newspapers, what do they read? HIV+ Africans coming into the country purely to get free treatment. Islamic preachers, who spent their lives railing against British culture, getting money through the benefits system.
Whilst these types of cases are (in monetary terms) very, very small (to the point of insignificance), they stick in the mind when someone feels as though the welfare state is letting them down. They see that the money is not being spent on 'people like us' but on 'others', who haven't made any contribution to the system. That's where the resentment comes from.
As Flushy said, most of the money taken 'dishonestly' from the system is by lazy, feckless Brits. But they're not the ones that make the pages of the Sun and the Daily Mail.
bloody hell this really hurts /./.
I AGREE WITH YOU .,.,.,
there i said it.,.,.,
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