Tuesday 7 August 2012

On living an unconventional lifestyle



One of the great things about this country is that one can follow an eccentric way of life without anybody much minding. You might get the occasional funny look or the odd raised eyebrow, but generally speaking if you want to sit around drinking whiskey all day or not get out of bed until three or four in the afternoon or refuse to send your child to school; nobody will care. Why should they? It is nothing to them if you develop cirrhosis of the liver or end up with an uneducated child. As long as you don’t expect them to pay for the whiskey you consume, most people will be happy for you to get on with it. The problem arises when you wish to pursue an unconventional lifestyle and also expect others to subsidise it. Under those circumstances, some people are apt to get a little ratty about the whole business! Before going any further, I should perhaps remark that at various times in my life I have spent all day drinking whiskey, not risen from my bed until the late afternoon and also refused to send my child to school! I am not censorious about anybody else's way of life.

Every time there is a change in the regulations governing social security, some home educators get cross,  claiming  that it is not fair and that they will be forced to send their children to school as a result of what is happening. In other words, it is felt that they should not only be free to pursue a course of action that many people regard as being very strange, that is to say not sending their children to school, but that other people should pay for them to follow this lifestyle by giving them some of their taxes!

At various times in the past it has been both easier and harder to claim benefits. In the 1930s, it was very difficult. In the 1970s, it was very easy. It is currently fairly easy, but getting harder. There are still people who are indeed drinking whiskey all day and being subsidised by other taxpayers , but this is coming to an end. I am referring of course to those unfortunate folk who suffer from the disability which was once known as dipsomania. The changes taking place have nothing to do with home education and most ordinary people would approve of a situation where parents who do not wish to send their children to state schools should fund the alternative provision out of their own pockets.

I am guessing that as the Universal Credit system comes into operation, this is going to be a great cause of complaint in the coming months and years. It is a complete nonsense. Those who do not wish to avail themselves of the maintained schools in this country are free to reject them. What they are not free to do is call upon the public purse as a matter of right to help pay for any alternative.

29 comments:

  1. Awwww Simon, what did you do that for?

    'Universal Credit System'..that's going to send the Christians and the Conspiracy Theorists nuts and scrabbling for their tin foil helmets.
    They're already waiting for Cthulhu's Dad to devour the Earth in December and should he forget his appointment with us...for Satan to start branding us with barcodes in January 2013.

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  2. Good grief. How many Christians like that do you know? I go to a church of 200 and I don't know anyone who thinks those things. {rolling my eyes}

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    1. A church of 200?
      There are cross eyed pigs on Facebook with more followers than that.

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    2. That'll be none then.

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    3. Oh come on... of course you know Christians that think like that. The Revelations of John is a foundation stone of the Christian faith.
      And don't try and kid us that you've never heard of the A.C.E Curriculum or those that home educate with it.

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    4. Calm down, Mr Angry. You'll do yourself a mischief with all that frothing at the mouth and snarling.

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    5. I'm not angry and never have been...
      merely reflecting back your ignorance and aggression.

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    6. Assuming you are the person who made comment 1, why on earth did you even bring up Christians? You were not reflecting anything back - you started the 'discussion' about Christians and you began it with ignorance and aggression!

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    7. It was all to do with Universal Credit Systems...
      It tends to go like this, barcoding of the human race and enslavement by Satanic forces blah blah blah.
      So many 'Christian Churches' have touted that one around via pamphlets and books, lectures and sermons.

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  3. Wow! to both the blog post and the comment by Anon. at 23.33.

    To the post - actually Simon, what most people are scared of is not being able to put food on the table. Assuming the figures being suggested are true, we are set to lose nearly £1000 a month once they bring it in. My DH made only £250 profit as a self employed worker this year, it will be difficult to manage once it comes into force.

    To the comment - Really? Do you really know Chistians like that? (Or anyone like that?) I am a Christian in a large church and definitely know no-one like that.

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    1. You need to read your Bible....Try Revelations.

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    2. Anyway.... how many in your church?
      We've got someone up there who's part of the faithful 200.

      There are darts clubs bigger than that.

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  4. The problem is when people read some extreme article on the internet about the beliefs of some odd sect in the US calling themselves Christian, but not fitting the commonly agreed description, they consider themselves knowledgeable enough to post daft comments like the first one above.

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    1. Even dafter are the are the home educators that use the curriculae designed by some odd sect in the U.S that call themselves Christian.
      Do you use the A.C.E Curriculum?

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  5. "Those who do not wish to avail themselves of the maintained schools in this country are free to reject them. What they are not free to do is call upon the public purse as a matter of right to help pay for any alternative."

    Agreed. I have said much the same about state help for home educators taking GCSEs, but I think you disagree with me on that issue?

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  6. Your comments indicate that you take yourselves a little bit toooo seriously.

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    1. The last resort of the ignorant and ill-informed, 'I was only joking. Can't you take a joke?'

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    2. Awww...looks like I offended your Taliban mentality.

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    3. You Jesus fans eh....I don't hold out much hope for the gay and transgendered vicars ever being promoted to bishops. Not with the likes of you in the pew.

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    4. So, how long have you been following Yahweh Sabaoth?

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    5. Going to church proves you have a Taliban mentality? Oh dear. Better attack Simon too then. Oh wait. You never do that, do you?

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    6. I notice that you never answered the question about Yahweh Sabaoth the god of war, and resorted to yet another of your diversion tactics.
      But, to answer your question...
      Yes, going to church proves that you have a Taliban mentality, that you're prone to believing state propaganda, fascist philosophies and a personal propensity to follow the herd.
      It's pretty obvious that you're totally ignorant of the history of Christianity and that your comprehension skills are rudimentary.

      'The Lord is a man of war, Yahweh is his name.' Exodus 15:3
      The Bible describes many fascist principles, surely you've recognised those passages in the Bible that go into great detail regarding racial purity. Then there are the historical records of the acts of genocide.

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    7. It is interesting, isn't it, How this anon only ever attacks Simon's commenters, not Simon. You do have to wonder why that is.

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    8. But they are attacking churchgoers so they are attacking Simon.

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  7. "Those who do not wish to avail themselves of the maintained schools in this country are free to reject them. What they are not free to do is call upon the public purse as a matter of right to help pay for any alternative."

    Simon, I hate to say this but the above remark makes you sound like Mike Fortune-Wood.

    "Maintained schools" are increasingly taking on a very varied hue, what with Academies, parent-led Free Schools etc. all benefitting from the public purse.

    In the same way home education is likely to become increasingly diverse, with many of us availing ourselves of various kinds of state assistance, from approved funding to flexi-schooling, though there will always be a place for the touching dinosaurs of yesteryear such as Mike FW and yourself who wish to go it completely alone.

    The "public purse" contains your money and mine and we are entitled to call upon it (within reason) for a benefit such as child education which is both public and private.

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  8. So if you'd fallen on hard times and had to call on the public purse while your daughter was still being home educated you'd gladly have sent her to school?

    Just checking.

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  9. the ignorance in these comments sections is ASTOUNDING !! For the previous commenter, you may need to look into a branch of literature called "Wisdom Literature". A lot of the Bible is metaphorical, some is allegory, prophetic, literal, and quoting books such as Deuteronomy or Exodus out of cultural context only makes you look the fool !! To the author of this blog, Simon. I have a hard time understanding your motives for this blog. I happened upon it while looking for information on the new legislation being introduced in Wales, and it seems I've stumbled on some form of hate vortex !! I feel you're doing a great disservice to the home educating community. I mean no offense.

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  10. Seriously, I don't understand why every post seems to leads to fighting over Christianity?!

    Anyway. This seems to be saying that it should be the case that only wealthy people have the option to home educate. Only someone who is fortunate enough to earn enough not to claim state benefits should have the option to home educate their children.

    Maybe what needs to be addressed is that a large percentage of the employer's in this country are subsidised by the government in the form of benefits, which means that they do not have to pay a living wage to their employees.

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  11. Something I've been wondering recently, how much does the tax payer pay for each school place?

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