Getting back to the thread...
in 1729 Jonathan Swift published an essay; (A Modest Proposal For preventing the Children of Poor People From being a Burthen to Their Parents or Country, and For making them Beneficial to the Publick if anyone cares to read it).
In it Swift writes that 'A young healthy child well nursed, is, at a year old, a most delicious nourishing and wholesome food, whether stewed, roasted, baked, or boiled; and I make no doubt that it will equally serve in a fricassee, or a ragout.'
I therefore propose that we set up the country's first ARRSE food bank/soup kitchen that way the great unwashed can actual provide their own sustenance rather than relying on government handouts
Job jobbed.
Thank you for your response, although it does have the air of Chianti and Fava Beans to it.
Thinking more about
@halo_jones's original post, one can possibly look far eastwards to a possible solution (although the howls of anger and gnashing of teeth from some quarters will be palpable), I refer to the Chinese social credit system (Wikipedia entry
here). With the pandemic events of the past 12 months in mind, the ability of their autocratic system to not only eradicate all signs of the virus, but also post economic growth whilst the rest of the world flounders should be noted with some admiration. The social credit system extends this further, ensuring positive behaviour is encouraged in its citizenry with a carrot and stick approach. Positive behaviour (paying taxes on time, visiting elderly relatives etc) puts you ahead of the queue for healthcare and other services, negative behaviour (being fined for offences, antisocial behaviour etc) means you are pushed down the list for healthcare and are unable to travel on airlines etc.
I am also left slightly embarrassed when discussing certain aspects of UK society when travelling the Middle East - they look on with disgust at the behaviour and dress sense of our population, along with this "street" patois. It is sometimes hard to justify.
Freedoms we take for granted have been somewhat abused over the years. Do we see some sort of opportunity to change in this brave new world (perhaps someone should write a book about it)?