Post

Call it Stasinomics

Agreed. It's a complete non starter. Just a stupid headline grab.

To be told where to put the trash and prevent an endless makework cycle ofvpaying people to move trash from one street to the other

Who determines whether you have "laboured" enough in the last hour? Is there a number of bags of leaves to be filled after sweeping them up? What if there are no leaves this week?

Right, we're talking about an enormous number of labour hours to be extracted from people who almost by definition are struggling with the labour market and its demands. 150k FTE worth of work so you'd need...10k managers? Minimum?

This is an idea of a wannabe government in waiting, not an actual government. It's goal is not to get people into jobs, it's goal is to get Reform candidates into parliament (ironically). They would have to be wilfully stupid to attempt to implement it once in power, ethics of it notwithstanding.

Build a Workhouse where all the Despicables for the whole area can be relocated and forced to work perhaps crushing bones for fertiliser (yes, it did happen)

I imagine those 3 people would be made to travel to Morpeth, Blythe, even Newcastle to complete it. On virtually non existant public transport, that would lead them to getting sanctioned for lateness or absenteeism, which would then lead to prison as a lesson to others. Daily Mail would be ecstatic

Surely there's some okum they could pick at home? Or mail bags they could sew?

And, obviously, there would be no knock-on effects on employment from having the "workshy" staff libraries.

I'm reminded of Beria trying to shut down The Gulag as soon as Stalin died because the cost of paying the guards made the system unprofitable.

It wouldn't stay passive for long.

Being forced to interact with the DWP even once should already be punishment enough. A hive of scum of villainy.

Bring back the treadmill 🤦

I'll just say, UBI. Even if just because lots of people would be getting something for nothing, and Farage's head would explode.

What baffles me is all this talk about cutting the welfare bill, ok you do that and what are you going to spend all the money from cuts? Servicing the national debt, investment? Into what?

I think it will work… So long as community service consists of doing exactly what Nigel did to get paid his secret £5 million. What was that again? Seems highly effective, we should scale it.

A national folly building service. That seems to be the traditional solution.

...you're probably right.

As a country we're obsessed with the idea that if one person out of 100 is maybe, possibly on the take we should make things as difficult as possible for the 99 no matter how stupid and costly that is to put into practise. Everyone must suffer because of the suspicion around the 1%.