Work makes you Free?

Working hard can be the way to escape poverty, or can it? Just getting a job can seem almost impossible. Even then, with everything costing more, can the "working poor" escape poverty through work? At the moment, the numbers don't seem to add up. This must make a big difference to people's lives, hopes, expectations and attitudes, working hard just to tread water, or with a sinking feeling.

"A huge problem for the working poor"
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-24565000

British Gas is to increase prices for domestic customers by 8.4% on gas and 10.4% increase on electricity from 23 November. The company said it "understands the frustration" of prices rising faster than incomes.

Indeed -! I agree with those that say 'switch'. It may not be much of a saving but at least BG will feel the anger through a massive drop in income. The truth behind your comments lies beyond the present governments abilities to rectify. Britain and the rest of Europe are going through a long and bitter decline as the ramifications of living beyond means shakes itself out. It will level at a place lower than that of 2008 and the populations will, by then, have adjusted to a leaner mode of living. The fight for world markets and a slower increase of living standards than previously will be the peoples lot. T'is the way of evolution and nothing, certainly not governments, can avoid that. Which doesn't mean to say that a fairer society cannot exist within our countries - that is something all governments can, with the will, bring about. 

Giving British Gas the boot seems worthwhile in itself, not my favorite company, with their call center arrangements. Giving telephone operators scripts of misinformation which cannot be deviated from does not endear them to customers. Every 'switch' has it's reasons, but the bigger picture of continually switching from one supplier to another, for gas, electric, broadband, telephone, or banking is an aspect of modern life we could do without. It makes running a household like running a business, with an endless merry go round of one company after the other playing catch up and overtake between themselves. Something of a charade, with the general public having their strings yanked like puppets while the real deals go on between executives of huge corporations on huge salaries.

It's a 'Market'. All markets rely on customers who 'want'/ 'need' their products. The scarcer the product the higher the cost to the consumer. All you can hope to do is to try and find an alternative or change your life-style to suit a different arrangement. Such may not be possible. The choice is yours. Are you a 'fracker'?
Choices - life's full of them.

Not everyone feels they have a lot of choices. The social and economic situation at the moment is called the 'cost of living crisis', it's really the UK version of what is happening in much of Europe.

Then they are wrong. They do. It's called putting one foot in front of the other and making changes. It may be frightening, it may be uncomfortable but it is the only way forward. Everyone can, if they wish, change things for a better future. Not everyone will succeed but the majority will. The secret ingredient is - that you 'try'.