affinity publisher v2.5 A Satirical Poem - "Food for Thought"

[Archangel]

This is a terse satirical poem critiquing the inhumanity of applying certain political policies and the effects on some of the most vulnerable.

This was created in Affinity Publisher and the graphic created in Affinity Photo using Photo Reactor Player.

8-bit PNG.

 

 

[Archangel]

A softer shadow on the text ...

[Komatös]

The second looks better. But, I'm lost in translation with the word plebs! In the German language, I am shown a lot of suggestions, including the little man, the poor or the rabble.

[PaulEC]

"Plebs" comes from the Roman word plebeian, which referred to the ordinary, working class, citizens. 

[Alfred]

https://www.etymonline.com/word/pleb

https://www.etymonline.com/word/plebeian

It’s perhaps also worth mentioning that DWP (expanded here to ‘Definitively Wicked Policy’) is the standard abbreviation for the UK Government’s Department for Work and Pensions.

[Archangel]

2 hours ago, PaulEC said:

"Plebs" comes from the Roman word plebeian, which referred to the ordinary, working class, citizens. 

A very educated response. @PaulEC Interestingly, it is allegedly what a politician referred to a police officer a few years ago.

2 hours ago, Alfred said:

https://www.etymonline.com/word/pleb

https://www.etymonline.com/word/plebeian

It’s perhaps also worth mentioning that DWP (expanded here to ‘Definitively Wicked Policy’) is the standard abbreviation for the UK Government’s Department for Work and Pensions.

@Alfred Yes, that is true. However, in this case, the policy is the poem's subject rather than the DWP itself.  Although, organisation and policy are linked one does not necessarily lead to them being synonymous. There is danger in any reform of the vulnerable being harmed by the changes, particularly those who suffer from serious mental and neurological health issues. The system is seldom based on kindness and compassion and as such people get caught up in circumstances which can lead to disaster.

Sadly, many have already died in the reforms already made and those cases were, on the whole, hushed up by the government.  There's nothing like bad press to derail a policy and show the dark side of changes made.

That phrase has been playing in my mind for a long long time so I wrote it down.

[William Overington]

11 hours ago, Archangel said:

The system is seldom based on kindness and compassion and as such people get caught up in circumstances which can lead to disaster.

But it does not need to be, it could be kind, empathic and eutopian. It is just policies and attitudes by people who were once new born babies.

William

PS No, that is not a spelling mistake, it is a separate word from the much more well-known one that has a similar, yet different, spelling and a different meaning.

 

[Archangel]

3 hours ago, William Overington said:

But it does not need to be, it could be kind, empathic and eutopian. It is just policies and attitudes by people who were once new born babies.

William

PS No, that is not a spelling mistake, it is a separate word from the much more well-known one that has a similar, yet different, spelling and a different meaning.

 

Very possibly. However, I would argue that building care and compassion into a system will allow for the system's failings and provide a way to mitigate some of the worst disasters and injustices which can occur.

[Archangel]

Web safe PNG ...

[Archangel]

I think this one works best ...

 

[Archangel]

23 hours ago, Komatös said:

The second looks better. But, I'm lost in translation with the word plebs! In the German language, I am shown a lot of suggestions, including the little man, the poor or the rabble.

@KomatösAs has been said "plebs" is short for "plebeians" the lower classes in Roman society. A politician once called a police officer a pleb as a put down implying a superiority of class over him. It is best understood as a reference to the lower classes in society. These are the ones who are more likely to depend on welfare for their survival. The vulnerable within that echelon are seriously dependent on the state's generosity for their continued existence.

Welfare reform (essentially cutting the Social Security bill) has an unfortunate habit of hitting the most vulnerable harder than those who are more capable.

[William Overington]

I know that Welfare covers more situations that a healthy person being out of work, but in relation to unemployment, it seems to me that regardless of which party is in power, they can never decide whether to be kind and help people who are out of work or to be nasty and punish them. So they end up trying to do both simultaneously, For example, sending a standard letter inviting someone to a meeting where they will try to help and advise and so on, then at the end saying that if you cannot show evidence that you are making an effort to look for work that you could lose your benefit.

So a mixed purpose meeting.

William

 

[Archangel]

14 hours ago, William Overington said:

I know that Welfare covers more situations that a healthy person being out of work, but in relation to unemployment, it seems to me that regardless of which party is in power, they can never decide whether to be kind and help people who are out of work or to be nasty and punish them. So they end up trying to do both simultaneously, For example, sending a standard letter inviting someone to a meeting where they will try to help and advise and so on, then at the end saying that if you cannot show evidence that you are making an effort to look for work that you could lose your benefit.

So a mixed purpose meeting.

William

 

Judging the feckless as workshy is problematic. People who avoid working out of terror, due to not being able to deal with the rigours of a working environment could be said to be shying away from work, but they are not workshy in the sense of being lazy. Pressuring such people to apply for jobs is in itself counterproductive. These people need gentle encouragement and real help in dealing with their problems on a day-to-day basis. They suffer daily due to extreme feelings of terror and anxiety. Tarring everybody with the same brush, as many newspapers tend to do, means that authentic welfare claimants get treated the same as those who are seen as malingering. Under such an environment of hatred against welfare claimants, the vulnerable suffer undue distress and "guilt" for being vulnerable.

Political rhetoric poisons the mind of the populace and manipulates good people to think in a particular way, Propaganda and groupthink make individuals desire to fit in with the herd through conformity. In a war of "us" versus "them" we tend to want to be part of the "us" group for a "quiet life" and to avoid being persecuted. This is coercive and evil.

However, reforming welfare will always be a very difficult job and must be done with care and concern for the people that welfare is there to protect.