For reasons I have never got around to analysing, I have always had a rather short attention span; and nothing serves to support this claim better than the fact that I very rarely read a complete newspaper article. Instead, I scan the headline and the first paragraph or two and that - along with watching the TV news channels - is usually sufficient for me to get the gist of the plot.
So, having established that fact, although I have a notion of what's going on, I can't claim to have a complete grasp of the facts relating to the current shutdown on the other side of the pond. I do, however, have an interesting - and some might say - controversial contribution to offer to the debate.
Here, in the UK, it is generally thought that 'our' Welfare State is the best thing since the invention of sliced bread. So far as I'm concerned, however, it's introduction marked the first stages of this country's demise. Despite the obvious benefits those who conceived the idea had in mind, successive generations have contrived to turn it into cash-cow for the idle indigenous population and a magnet for immigrants.
Although the present government are starting to address the issue, the fact remains that there are people in this country who have never worked in the lives - and more disturbing, have no intention of doing so. Accordingly, although I don't know the full facts of the matter in the USA, I would be wary of introducing any system which encourages the unemployed to remain unemployed at a cost to the public purse.
So, having established that fact, although I have a notion of what's going on, I can't claim to have a complete grasp of the facts relating to the current shutdown on the other side of the pond. I do, however, have an interesting - and some might say - controversial contribution to offer to the debate.
Here, in the UK, it is generally thought that 'our' Welfare State is the best thing since the invention of sliced bread. So far as I'm concerned, however, it's introduction marked the first stages of this country's demise. Despite the obvious benefits those who conceived the idea had in mind, successive generations have contrived to turn it into cash-cow for the idle indigenous population and a magnet for immigrants.
Although the present government are starting to address the issue, the fact remains that there are people in this country who have never worked in the lives - and more disturbing, have no intention of doing so. Accordingly, although I don't know the full facts of the matter in the USA, I would be wary of introducing any system which encourages the unemployed to remain unemployed at a cost to the public purse.
