Interesting sociology here. Kind of the opposite of lifestyles of the rich and famous. I at one time wondered if something should be done about it, but, considering that the homeless/poor people need self respect, state programs that support them are probably a waste of time.
They need to muddle through on their own, and come up with their own solution on an individual basis. Dependency breeds its own contempt.
Sounds like tripe. He was in the army - that's the state. The state sent him to Afghanistan to fix the place, only it broke him, and now the state is supposed to wash it's hands of him?
I don't think you engender loyalty like that, and when you start moaning that the military is too small to do what you want it to do think of Nobby and how he was betrayed.
In fact you could say that Nobby was a dole officer for Afghanistan. These days the Afghans tend to come over on boats to make their claim, but back then they sent people like Nobby over there to push big crateloads of dole out the back of Hercules transport planes for various warlords and development orgs. And they didn't even have to fill out a job search diary! Talk about dependence on the British state!
Or let's put it this way - when you get burgled are you going to go bleating to the state or pull yourself up by your own bootstraps and employ your own private police? And then there's civil war - if it kicks off, and you're not very hard, are you going to fork out for mercenaries or wait for Nobby to re-enlist and do it for you on the cheap? I don't think Nobby can re-enlist. How much did it cost to train Nobby?
Excellent, so let's take the anthropology a bit further - the drugs that Nobby and our girl are limited to - as contrasted with the wide range of addiction and trauma interrupting potions that our government hates but anthropologists love - Ibogaine, ayahuasca, psilocybin & etc.
Now Nobby, although being ex-military and theoretically the backbone of law and order, doesn't really care for the taboos imposed on him by his social superiors, there's a stark disunity between elders and warriors.
Chris Parry, also ex-military and notionally also the backbone of social order and obedience, has managed to work wonders in that gap between warriors and elders, and managed to get out into a wondrous anthropology land, whereas Nobby is stuck on a council estate.
Great piece. Hoping to get more of these.
Interesting sociology here. Kind of the opposite of lifestyles of the rich and famous. I at one time wondered if something should be done about it, but, considering that the homeless/poor people need self respect, state programs that support them are probably a waste of time.
They need to muddle through on their own, and come up with their own solution on an individual basis. Dependency breeds its own contempt.
Sounds like tripe. He was in the army - that's the state. The state sent him to Afghanistan to fix the place, only it broke him, and now the state is supposed to wash it's hands of him?
I don't think you engender loyalty like that, and when you start moaning that the military is too small to do what you want it to do think of Nobby and how he was betrayed.
When I had a twitter account I noticed that some of the right wing activists made a big point of helping homeless veterans.
In fact you could say that Nobby was a dole officer for Afghanistan. These days the Afghans tend to come over on boats to make their claim, but back then they sent people like Nobby over there to push big crateloads of dole out the back of Hercules transport planes for various warlords and development orgs. And they didn't even have to fill out a job search diary! Talk about dependence on the British state!
Or let's put it this way - when you get burgled are you going to go bleating to the state or pull yourself up by your own bootstraps and employ your own private police? And then there's civil war - if it kicks off, and you're not very hard, are you going to fork out for mercenaries or wait for Nobby to re-enlist and do it for you on the cheap? I don't think Nobby can re-enlist. How much did it cost to train Nobby?
strangely captivating, i could live on in this world for a few more hours.
Glad you enjoyed it, there's more like this coming
Excellent, so let's take the anthropology a bit further - the drugs that Nobby and our girl are limited to - as contrasted with the wide range of addiction and trauma interrupting potions that our government hates but anthropologists love - Ibogaine, ayahuasca, psilocybin & etc.
Now Nobby, although being ex-military and theoretically the backbone of law and order, doesn't really care for the taboos imposed on him by his social superiors, there's a stark disunity between elders and warriors.
Chris Parry, also ex-military and notionally also the backbone of social order and obedience, has managed to work wonders in that gap between warriors and elders, and managed to get out into a wondrous anthropology land, whereas Nobby is stuck on a council estate.