Rabble Rant, Benefits Street

You've seen reality telly now here's reality. You've seen Benefits street and now you know everything about people on the dole, they're lazy addicts, they use their brains to go shoplifting and everything they say is a moan. Oh sorry, you're on benefits and you're nothing like that, really but I saw that on the box, it must be true

Well here's reality, people on the dole are sucking the country dry and enjoying themselves while us decent, hardworking people pay for these layabouts. 

Well let's look at the maths from another source, it's only fair. According  to Guardian figures we don't spend much on these people, on fact only 4.9 billion, that sounds like a fortune but it's those good for nothing, slipper loving tea swilling pensioners manage to cost the country 74 Billion, how much Tetley’s can anyone drink? Look at them watching Dave in the afternoon, making underpaid girls make their sarnies, disgusting. Well no, nobody wants to see people starve, do they?

And look at those underpaid people you make sarnies for those scabbing pensioners. Look at getting up for work, taking our taxes, yes that may be you because of you if take tax credits. You cost more than the residents on benefits street, as a group you cost the country 29.9 billion. Now think about that the next time you go shopping, that's hard working peoples cash you're spending, make sure none of that money goes in the pub or god forbid a big telly or a family trip to a festival.

You landlords aren't much better, how dare you rent your houses to single mums and disabled people, hardworking people graft for that, yes housing benefits cost this country 16.9 billion, now that goes to landlords, not people wanting their next can of beer and packet of fags. Now many skint people pay some of their rent leaving the skint even poorer, put on top bedroom tax and some people are starving.

So here's the reality, reality TV can be as false and made up as any other telly. Yes Benefits Street is entertaining, but so was channel four drama Shameless, it's the same show with actors they don't have to pay, in fact if they did pay these people had money they wouldn't make quite such good telly. This is made to make you watch next week not to help these people. 

As soon as the TV crew met social victim Fungi they should have seen many of these people are sick, addicted, and depressed they should had taken their cameras home and called out a team of social workers. What stopped them doing that? Because they were so happy they found a bunch of people who with a bit of editing fulfill every nasty stereotype the media has come out with, and they knew people would talk about it everywhere and feel some self-righteous anger that would make them feel better about their lives, they can blame the poor for their problems.

And how did Fungi end up spending our hard earned cash on drugs and beer, he's off his face while the rest of us our working our fingers to the bone. Well drug addiction has always been popular but got worse in another time when the Tories ruled Britannia the 1980 when the North took a battering. This leaves people unemployed with nothing better to do and with a past like Fungi's it's no shock he can't get a job. Yes it's wrong that he spends his dole money on beer and drugs but Dee it’s trying to stop him, but this man needs help not benefit cuts.

So talk to a doley, plenty volunteer at St Sidwells Community, think of the lovely people you know who simply can't find a job. Come to a Rabble community dinner and meet people, don’t trust the telly, trust reality.

TV is not a window on the world it's edited high lights, or in Benefits Street real low lights. . Dee was a lovely woman who showed common sense and compassion in a difficult situation, she was disappointed by the finished show.  Dee told the media it was supposed to be about community spirit but "they turned a positive into a negative"   believe her, not Shameless with cheaper actors and a TV show that is after viewing figures.