It genuinely pisses me off that so many Conservatives and Libertarians seem to remain blind to the plight of others until something finally happens to them, or to their family, that forces them to...
It genuinely pisses me off that so many Conservatives and Libertarians seem to remain blind to the plight of others until something finally happens to them, or to their family, that forces them to require government assistance. It's downright sociopathic!
But good on him for finally coming around, I guess... Hopefully now he can do some actual good going forward, instead of continuing his work helping assholes like David Cameron dismantle the social safety net and privatize every public institution in the UK.
I'm not sure about that. I'm not sure I'd call Conservatives and Libertarians sociopathic. After all, I'm related to some of them. My family are solidly conservative in their politics. Meanwhile,...
Exemplary
It genuinely pisses me off that so many Conservatives and Libertarians seem to remain blind to the plight of others until something finally happens to them, or to their family, that forces them to require government assistance. It's downright sociopathic!
I'm not sure about that. I'm not sure I'd call Conservatives and Libertarians sociopathic. After all, I'm related to some of them.
My family are solidly conservative in their politics. Meanwhile, I have very different politics to them. I realised long ago that this comes from my personal experience of being an outcast. That gave me empathy with other societal outsiders, and changed my politics profoundly. I therefore look at my parents and siblings and think, "There but for the grace of years of bullying go I."
Sometimes it takes being on the outside to see what the system is like.
I didn't call all Conservatives and Libertarians sociopathic, only the ones who don't consider the social welfare of others (e.g. austerity measure supporters), until they require similar...
I didn't call all Conservatives and Libertarians sociopathic, only the ones who don't consider the social welfare of others (e.g. austerity measure supporters), until they require similar assistance for themselves... which seems to be a rather common occurrence amongst that demographic. So much so that the "until it happened to me or mine, I didn't realize that (insert progressive social stance) should be supported" story coming from now "reformed" Conservatives/Libertarians is practically a tired cliche at this point.
p.s. My family is also largely Conservative, and staunch Catholics to boot, so I understand their stances and where they stem from... I just have very little respect for said stances, especially the hateful and selfish ones.
I know where you're coming from. But I wouldn't call someone who sincerely believes in the concept of self-help, community donations, and dislikes government interference in what should be...
I know where you're coming from. But I wouldn't call someone who sincerely believes in the concept of self-help, community donations, and dislikes government interference in what should be personal choices, "sociopathic". I might strongly disagree with that point of view, but I don't think the people who hold it are sociopaths. There are sociopathic people who believe that, but not all people who believe that are sociopathic.
Yeah, I'm always divided on these kinds of testimonials. On the one hand I'm happy to see somebody finally realise the value of community and society at large, on the other it's kind of depressing...
Yeah, I'm always divided on these kinds of testimonials. On the one hand I'm happy to see somebody finally realise the value of community and society at large, on the other it's kind of depressing to think that people like this will apparently not be budged to give a damn about the issues of others until their own life is torn apart.
Cygnet Healthcare is a scandal waiting to happen, having just had yet another hospital rated as inadequate -- now at 8 hospitals rated inadequate or requires improvement: https://www.cqc.org.uk/provider/1-102643425
This is years and years and years of terribly abusive "care" provided at great expense to vulnerable people. It has caused immense harm, even death.
Trying to steelman his argument (which is tricky for me because I think he's wrong) -- "the state has an important role to play, but we need to maintain constant vigilance because otherwise they abuse their power and waste our money". That's not an unreasonable position when we see the corporate parent carrying out actions that would see natural parents be prosecuted for abuse. He's not just attacking the state run services either, provision is a complex mish-mash of state-run state-funded care combined with privately-run state-funded care, and he attacks the private providers too.
Obviously, he's missed the bit where his years of attacking state services have starved those services of funding and made it impossible for them to recruit staff or run safe services.
It genuinely pisses me off that so many Conservatives and Libertarians seem to remain blind to the plight of others until something finally happens to them, or to their family, that forces them to require government assistance. It's downright sociopathic!
But good on him for finally coming around, I guess... Hopefully now he can do some actual good going forward, instead of continuing his work helping assholes like David Cameron dismantle the social safety net and privatize every public institution in the UK.
I'm not sure about that. I'm not sure I'd call Conservatives and Libertarians sociopathic. After all, I'm related to some of them.
My family are solidly conservative in their politics. Meanwhile, I have very different politics to them. I realised long ago that this comes from my personal experience of being an outcast. That gave me empathy with other societal outsiders, and changed my politics profoundly. I therefore look at my parents and siblings and think, "There but for the grace of years of bullying go I."
Sometimes it takes being on the outside to see what the system is like.
I didn't call all Conservatives and Libertarians sociopathic, only the ones who don't consider the social welfare of others (e.g. austerity measure supporters), until they require similar assistance for themselves... which seems to be a rather common occurrence amongst that demographic. So much so that the "until it happened to me or mine, I didn't realize that (insert progressive social stance) should be supported" story coming from now "reformed" Conservatives/Libertarians is practically a tired cliche at this point.
p.s. My family is also largely Conservative, and staunch Catholics to boot, so I understand their stances and where they stem from... I just have very little respect for said stances, especially the hateful and selfish ones.
I know where you're coming from. But I wouldn't call someone who sincerely believes in the concept of self-help, community donations, and dislikes government interference in what should be personal choices, "sociopathic". I might strongly disagree with that point of view, but I don't think the people who hold it are sociopaths. There are sociopathic people who believe that, but not all people who believe that are sociopathic.
Sometimes it takes a profound personal experience to open someone's eyes to a different point of view. If I hadn't had the personal experiences I've been through, I would probably have turned out just as racist and libertarian as my brother (some of the things he says and believes disgust me). I would therefore never begrudge anyone the opportunity to learn empathy through experience. I don't care how they make the journey, as long as they get there in the end. And, if something is a cliché, that just means it's common, not necessarily that it's a bad thing.
Yeah, I'm always divided on these kinds of testimonials. On the one hand I'm happy to see somebody finally realise the value of community and society at large, on the other it's kind of depressing to think that people like this will apparently not be budged to give a damn about the issues of others until their own life is torn apart.
There's a lot to criticise when talking about NHS funded care for people with learning disability.
Cornwall: https://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20080609161229/http://www.healthcarecommission.org.uk/_db/_documents/cornwall_investigation_report.pdf
Winterbourne View: https://www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/transforming-commissioning-services.pdf
Southern Health: https://www.england.nhs.uk/south/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2015/12/mazars-rep.pdf
Whorlton Hall: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/health/whorlton-hall-investigation-arrests-abuse-learning-disability-latest-a8928811.html
St Andrew's hospital: https://www.challengingbehaviour.org.uk/cbf-articles/c4dispatches.html
Cygnet Healthcare is a scandal waiting to happen, having just had yet another hospital rated as inadequate -- now at 8 hospitals rated inadequate or requires improvement: https://www.cqc.org.uk/provider/1-102643425
This is years and years and years of terribly abusive "care" provided at great expense to vulnerable people. It has caused immense harm, even death.
Trying to steelman his argument (which is tricky for me because I think he's wrong) -- "the state has an important role to play, but we need to maintain constant vigilance because otherwise they abuse their power and waste our money". That's not an unreasonable position when we see the corporate parent carrying out actions that would see natural parents be prosecuted for abuse. He's not just attacking the state run services either, provision is a complex mish-mash of state-run state-funded care combined with privately-run state-funded care, and he attacks the private providers too.
Obviously, he's missed the bit where his years of attacking state services have starved those services of funding and made it impossible for them to recruit staff or run safe services.