what pisses me off is you talk about my people like that, but reality is that you don't know our side of the story.
I just want to say I have sympathy for both sides. just look at the bigger picture before you insult people you know nothing about.
For the sake of balance and a degree of "solidarnosk" with the grafters of this world, I accept that some of my comments could be construed as lacking understanding. Point taken, but not entirely.
As for knowing "our side of the story" I don't think you could get much wider of the mark, because I do. In fact, I am in a fairly unique position, in that I have worked at the bottom of the ladder, educated myself, went to uni, qualified, worked my way up to senior management and now....wait for it....drive a truck because I got fed up with companies closing or going bust, and I like trucks.
If I were to work myself to an early grave, I could pull £30,000 a year, but as it is, I manage about £25,000 a year, plus a bit of music, a bit of writing and other odd bits here and there. (I've also written a novel, as yet unpublished....but working on it).
The interesting thing is, anyone can drive a truck if they can raise about £1,000 to get the licence.
The problems always occur at the bottom end of the jobs market, and I absolutely accept that many, many people can never aspire to anything better. There is no sin in that, and yes, there has to be a safety net for people in that situation.
I also accept that there are unscrupulous employers and agencies who will exploit migrant workers and pay them nothing more than minimum wage, and often less, quite illegally. Elsewhere, I have mentioned this problem, and warned people about it. The fact is, there IS a minimum wage, which should apply equally across the board, and there should NOT be the situation in which a Polish worker can undercut an English worker, but it happens, as we know.
However, going back to the "yob culture" thing, there is no doubt in my mind that there is a benefit culture in the UK, and it is most exploited by quite a substantial number of addicted, aimless or criminal classes....sometimes all three at the same time. I know some of the next generation....kids around 14 and 15, who are just like the adults with whom they live or come into contact.
Sadly, many of these youths approach the workplace with criminal records as long as their arm, and no employer will take the risk of employing them; knowing that they would probably be off to jail a few weeks after being set on to work. Apart from that, what employer would want kids with a drug habit, when they are surrounded by dangerous machinery or other risks? Would you want to leave your belongings lying around, knowing that the kid they've just set on is a well known thief with a record?
That is the nature of the problem, and whilst I accept that I may have generalised, I think it would be difficult to disprove.
I'm quite sure there are some especially horrible Polish people, but fortunately, I have yet to bump into them in the workplace.
The whole of Europe has a labour-market problem and an unemployment problem, but the UK fares better tha most, possibly because of an aggressive pursuit of business regeneration and a generous benefits system which enables us to have a flexible work-force.
This is very much the twin result of communist collapse on the one hand, where full-employment was always the aim, and on the other, the side effect to globalisation, as industry drifts towards the Far East and India; making it much more difficult for workers to find ordinary jobs outisde the retail or warehousing sectors.
Lastly, I would admit that I was being a little provocative, but that was my attempt to redress the lurid nonsense uttered by Mr UK, which seemed to be almost drawn from the utterances of the BNP extreme-right wing.
