Hi Christoph,
At 00:37 15/07/01 +0200, you wrote:
>Keith Hudson wrote:
>> In view of my recent (and ongoing experience) with the NHS (National Health
>> Service) (taking 10 months to diagnose and treat early-stage prostate
>> cancer), an FW subscriber has suggested to me that I write a short essay on
>> the organisation.
>>
>> I'm not able to do this at present because of lack of time. All I would say
>> at this stage is that, like Education, Prisons, Social Services*,
>> Agriculture and Transport -- all heavily centralised -- the NHS is now at
>> the point of total collapse with no well-defined policies whatsoever.
(CR)
>What solution do you suggest ?
The same solution as that proposed by Frank Field, the previous Welfare
Reform Minister I quoted, who was sacked for saying it in 1988, and the
same solution that Tony Blair (the Prime Minister who sacked him) is now
having to adopt -- decentralisation and deconstruction of masssive
bureaucracies.
(KH)
>> *To divert, I'll mention that two of the most poignant problems of modern
>> times -- child prostitution** and wife battering -- each involving scores
>> of thousands of individuals at any one time
(CR)
>These are ultimately effects of the "free trade" policy that you have been
>advocating on this list for years. Now that the sh-t hits the fan, you
>complain about the Social Services' "inability".
The previous era of free trade in labour in the mid-1800s onwards until WWI
when 50 million of Europe's poor and oppressed emigrated to America,
Australia, Canada and so on was an altogether stimulating economic
development, particularly to America. Note, however, that these immigrants
had no welfare benefits when they arrived so that immigrants had to work
hard as soon as they set foot in their new lands.
Today, there are two factors which are entirely different. Firstly, we now
have welfare benefits in America and Europe which are relatively enormous
compared with wages and benefits in the immigrants' country of origin. Most
immigrants are still fleeing from poverty but not necessarily from
oppression. Secondly, the recipient countries don't have the wide-open
spaces and opportunities as 150 years ago, and their own indigenous poor
come under pressure for housing and jobs from most typical immigrants.
If we had no welfare state I would unhesitatingly say that free trade in
labour would be beneficial. As it is, it makes several million indigenous
people overly dependent on the welfare state and also at the same time
fuels social strife in the poor areas of our cities. In England in the last
few months we are now beginning to experience riots and burnings in the
streets that are characteristic of Northern Ireland.
(KH)
>> **And enlarging this subject just a little further, and on which more
>> reliable figures are available, out of an estimated 500,000+ prostitutes in
>> the country there are about 70,000 who are totally enslaved by mafia gangs
>> which illegally import girls from poverty-struck central European countries
>> on a variety of pretexts and then trap them permanently by threatening to
>> kill members of their families back home. Yet again, this is another area
>> which government policy and the police totally ignore, even though the
>> location of these sorts of brothels are fully known.
(CR)
>Now you suddenly call for trade barriers. Tss tss...
I'm saying that the mafia are evil influences in society.
(CR)
>P.S.: You didn't reply to my questions on "Corporate Democracy"... No
answers
> left?
I must have overlooked these, but I have nothing new to say on this matter.
There will always be crooks in business but, generally, corporations are
becoming increasingly transparent to shareholders, pensioners, the media,
regulators, etc, etc. For want of a better term, that's democracy.
Keith Hudson
___________________________________________________________________
Keith Hudson, General Editor, Calus <http://www.calus.org>
6 Upper Camden Place, Bath BA1 5HX, England
Tel: +44 1225 312622; Fax: +44 1225 447727;
mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
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