Here is an email I have just received. I copy it here because sometimes I sense that people think that mine are 'ivory-tower' views. I have left off the name of the sender in case he/she wishes to remain anonymous.
Dear Sir,I commute 3 hours a day to my job in London, as a NHS dentist in a
deprived area. In this most boring time I usually crave a good reading. Your book "The Welfare State We're In" accompanied me on my daily commute for the past week.I am extremely disappointed with it because I paid £12.99 for it and I believed that it would keep me company for 2-3 weeks. However, its
content was so rich and irresistible that sadly it only lasted me for a week! I practically devoured it.Your book was not exactly an eye-opener for me, as I had reached pretty much the same conclusions through the almost daily contact I have with the welfare state. I was amazed however by the strength and clarity of your argument and by all the evidence you've mustered to support it.
It saddens me to think that I considered myself a socialist before I
started working and it only took 3 years working in the coalface with
the welfare zombies to bring about a complete reversal of my beliefs. I have spoken with colleagues that shared the same beliefs and everyone has undergone a similar transition. You are very right to say that most middle- and upper-class people do not understand the real extent of the problem because they don't come in close contact with the welfare state.Keep up the excellent work.
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Regards,
Posted by James Bartholomew • Indexed in NHS • Reviews
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I underwent a similar transition myself. From being a self-declared Blairite from 1994 to around 1998, my doubts about welfare, and government intervention generally began to increase rapidly once I had left University and increasingly came into contact with the real world. Encounters with healthy adults on sickness benefits, feckless women and their dowry of infamy, decent folk plagued by sink-estate yobs changed my mind thoroughly and permanently over the course of a few years. Since then I have deepened my understanding courtesy of Bartholomew, Murray, Dalrymple, Tocqueville and others. That so many are still in denial is a constant frustration, but their numbers do appear to be dwindling. I hope James Bartholomew can produce a follow up to his work or a revised edition in a few years. We need to keep a studious eye on events.
Posted by: cybn at October 13, 2009 08:07 PM