No work. No money. End of story.

ttbn, the 1.9 million on an a 'Aged Pension', "No work. No money. End of story." terrible idea.

Hi Paul,

Gosh, that's clever, it must have put Ttbn right back in his place. Equating pensioners with able-bodied unemployed - a master-stroke !

Perhaps to clarify, it's possible that when anybody talks about the unemployed, particularly those who have been unemployed for ten or twenty years, or longer, and are still more or less able-bodied, they may be suggesting, like Lenin did, that "He who does not work, neither shall he eat." Even Lenin probably meant 'able-bodied' people who didn't want to work, not pensioners.

I'm certainly not suggesting that our government should apply the same remedies to unemployment as Lenin did, something much more gentle than execution may also work, such as compulsory training (i.e. you get paid if you're doing a training course) or some form of National Service. As I understand it, most Marxist/socialist systems require people to work and deliver rather stern punishments for skivers and malingerers, as class enemies. That seems to be going a bit far, I'm sure you'd agree.

But clearly, there have to be pathways for unemployed to re-join society through the dignity of labour; at least the remnant-Marxist in me seems to say so. It's not necessarily right-wing to expect people to work: after all, one complaint against the upper classes is that they loaf around, live off their assets and exploit brutally the labour of others. I don't think anybody (except of course pensioners, the disabled, mothers, etc.) should live off the labour of others. We should all contribute to our livelihoods if and while we can.

Cheers,

Joe

Paul, sorry for the late reply, but many work for the dole recipients struggle to get out of bed and when they do go where placed are often next to useless. I guess thats one reason they are not working hey.

You would think that for the additional $200 per week they receive, just to turn up, they could at least do that.

On that note ive employed four of them. Three duds and one with real promise, if not for the dole bludging partner that just cant get her head around why he has to go to work. Go figure.

Hasbeen still has the best idea thus far, a tent and three cans of beans a day. They will find work then.

Work for the Dole was never intended as a magical gateway to employment and has been a failure.

It was a politically motivated punitive scheme designed to sate the "righteous anger" of taxpaying voters who hate to see somebody getting something they are not entitled to. (That's what we call the Tall Poppy Syndrome but it works at every level in Australian society - from the rich to the struggling poor, we all hate free handouts).

University Studies have shown that as well as not providing employment advantages, it can actually disadvantage people because it can prevent them from seeking employment while involved in the scheme.

Examples such as painting rocks on the side of the road or being told to unravel a large bundle of cable simply don't add to your skill level or employability.

There must be better ways of spending the $646 million it costs to run the scheme.

Butch, given your general attitude you display towards workers on this forum I am not surprised you as a small time member of the employer class would have problems with workers. Them being nothing more than a necessary evil in your eyes. Go figure.

rache, $646 million, Money Bags Malcolm could direct that towards his mates at the Big Banks so they can put up a better defence at the Banking RC, they're not doing too well down there at the moment.