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The latest Badenoch-ism

Wordsmith

Part of Kemi Badenoch’s justification for the Tories’ suggested £36 billion welfare cuts is:

millions of people can and do contribute to our economy to their families to their communities even when they face serious challenges. Double amputees run marathons. People who are housebound do wonderful creative work from home. People with autism run some of the biggest tech companies in the world. [Emphasis mine]

. . . and people with half a brain cell run major political parties.

Parents

  • Quite!

    It's great that some people can do these things, but they are exceptions, not the norm. It was always one of the things that slightly annoyed me about Stephen Hawking, not only was he an exceptional person in his own right, but he had other exceptional people around him, I wonder how many people didn't get half the stuff he had that enabled him to live so fully? He was also lucky that his brilliant work was in his mind. DOn't get me wrong I'm not havcing a go at the late Professor, but using him as an example.

    I wonder how many of the '..millions of people [who] can and do contribute...' have people who support them?

    How many have multiple disabilities?

    How many people make a living out of '..creative work from home.' when they'e housebound? There's a lot who are able bodied who can't make a living in creative industries?

    Elon Musk is a genius, whether we agree with him or like his products, that what he is, most of us aren't. Bill Gates, might be autistic, he thinks he probably is, he was lucky in that he got into a new, emerging industry right at the start, understood what it was about and how to use it and create products.

    It would be great to live in a world where everyone is encouraged, supported and educated to be the best they can be, but being exceptional is not something you can punish people into being, by making their lives even more difficult.

  • in reply to TheCatWoman
    TheCatWoman said:
    not only was he an exceptional person in his own right, but he had other exceptional people around him

    A charitable foundation in the USA paid a large sum every year for his round the clock nursing care at work and home, he and his wife were fully aware that if they had only been able to use NHS he would have been put in a care home and not been able to continue his work, as NHS simply could not fund the home care he needed to stay employed. They could only fund fully residential care for him.

    Before this he relied on his wife and on graduate/PhD students of his acting as live in carers.

    en.wikipedia.org/.../Stephen_Hawking

  • in reply to owl_enthusiast

    Thats the sort of thing I mean, how many of us could have that level of charitable funding and from another country?

  • in reply to Phased

    Well I know I couldn't, being one of the hundreds of people who tried reading it and never got past the first 100 pages or so.

    But, I do so agree with your general point, theres so much wasted talent out there, many are never given a chance to even find out if they're really good at anything at all and so often if they are then circumstances don't allow that talent to develop, let alone thrive.

    Its not just about benefits but a cultural attitiude, anti-intellectual, increasingly anti the arts, despite the arts and creative industries being one of our countries largest internationally and contributing huge amounts of tax.

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  • in reply to Phased

    Well I know I couldn't, being one of the hundreds of people who tried reading it and never got past the first 100 pages or so.

    But, I do so agree with your general point, theres so much wasted talent out there, many are never given a chance to even find out if they're really good at anything at all and so often if they are then circumstances don't allow that talent to develop, let alone thrive.

    Its not just about benefits but a cultural attitiude, anti-intellectual, increasingly anti the arts, despite the arts and creative industries being one of our countries largest internationally and contributing huge amounts of tax.

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