The Political Thread

[Recrewt]

Well l done Sharky.  You would have thought that they would be able to process a warrant.  Shocking that they are so quick to use the police threat also.

[The Legendary Shark]

Yes, Recrewt - the bailiff himself seemed flummoxed. He started to say at one point "but I've served hun...(dreds of these things?)" but trailed off. Could it be that he'd never considered the validity of the warrants he's been happily serving for God knows how long? Could he possibly have failed to notice the difference between a signed one and an unsigned one? He genuinely didn't seem to know what to do and even admitted that he saw my point.
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I mean, if I didn't have a point, why did they all go away?

[judda fett]

Just caught up on this, best wishes and positive thoughts to you shark.

[Old Tankie]

So, in essence, Sharkie, they want to evict you because you won't claim housing benefit but you want to stay there, even though you can't afford the rent, although they want to pay the rent for you.  Yep, the world's definitely gone mad!!

[The Legendary Shark]

Not exactly, Tankie, but more or less, yes.
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It is a crazy world sure enough and getting crazier by the minute.

[Old Tankie]

So, what would you do if housing benefit was paid directly to the landlord, would you move out on principle? 

[The Legendary Shark]

If my landlord wishes to get involved in criminal activities then that's something I can't prevent. I can, however, refuse to get involved. If they leave me alone then I'll leave them alone, within reason.
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I have offered the council, and indeed pay regularly, a percentage of the money I honestly earn. If they want to make that up using stolen money (Housing Benefit) that's their own lookout.
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I've lived here for nearly 30 years, in the village where I was bred and raised. No bunch of criminals is going to force me to abandon my home, no matter what seedy little arrangements they make with one another.
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Hey, I'm not asking for sympathy here - I'm well aware that my current circumstances are a direct consequence of my own actions. I'm not asking for understanding, either, because I'm hardly sure I understand what I'm doing myself.
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I don't really know what I'm asking for to be honest - maybe just for people to look over here and see if they can see something worrying or not, something worth thinking about or not.
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Don't worry, I won't be passing 'round the hat or handing out Lawgivers or anything like that!

[JamesC]

Seems ridiculous that they are trying to evict you because one department isn't getting the money from another (essentially).
I've dealt with my own council on far more trivial matters and I find their systems utterly incomprehensible and conscientious, capable council workers seem to be rarer than rocking horse shit (at least where I live).
You have my sympathy and best wishes.

[JayzusB.Christ]

Sharky, you're clearly a man of principle, and I really hope this all works out for you.  I'm wondering, though, why do you consider Housing Benefit stolen money? Though I share quite a few of your anarchist principles, and indeed believe the current political status quo to be utterly fecked and ultimately doomed, I think that at least taxes are being spent on giving homes to those who can't afford them, rather than on, say, illegal wars.  Not saying you're wrong - maybe I'm not well-enough informed.  I suppose I do live in a different country from yours.

EDIT:  By the way, your story isn't boring at all.  On the contrary, it's riveting.  Keep us posted on what happens, and like I say, I really hope you come through it ok

[Hawkmumbler]

I wonder Sharkey, where do you stand on other benefits? As someone who (begrudgingly) applies for JSA I wonder how you would react to a situation like that.

And good for you for call BS on the police threat. Hollow antagonisation is all it is.

[The Legendary Shark]

JBC - the overwhelming majority of money that a government spends is borrowed from the central banking system. The central banking system creates the money lent to governments out of nothing - just by filling in a few cells on a spreadsheet.
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The government then takes this invented money and dishes it out on all sorts of things from bombing people to paying my rent.
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That invented money then needs to be paid back. On top of the original loan, however, interest has been accruing. In essence, the central banking system wants more back than it "lent" - but as the central banks only created the original money and no more there simply doesn't exist the surplus to service the interest.
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Because of this, every penny in taxes paid goes towards servicing this unserviceable debt - because don't forget that all the (official) money in existence was created in the same way.
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This is why taxes continue to rise and cuts continue to increase. It's like lubricating an engine with borrowed oil: for every litre poured in the oil dealer wants 1.01 litres back. For a while you can keep draining a litre and a bit out whilst topping up with litres but eventually you're going to start needing to borrow 1.1 litres and draining 1.025 litres out to pay it back. You have to keep borrowing more and more oil to keep the engine running.
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A consequence of this system is that every penny borrowed gets the world deeper and deeper into this imaginary debt and it's killing us. The world is falling apart under this ludicrous system, it is seriously and actually killing people, and I've had enough.
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I'm as dischuffed as buggery and I'm not going to take it any more.
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[The Legendary Shark]

*1.125 litres.

[Frank]

The bailiff disappears and the council guy comes back to try and 'talk some sense into me'.

They obviously have no idea who they're dealing with. To quote Jello Biafra, hooray for pranks.

[Tiplodocus]

I wish I had your principles.

I take a stand on eating meat and dairy and eggs that most people just look at my blankly as if to say "Why inconvenience yourself?" but I think most people actually think it'd be the right thing to do, they just can't be arsed doing it. In the scheme of things though, it really is a minor impediment.

However standing up against, well, the entire way society is structured, is something that most people just won't be able to get their head rounds. That's from "Life Spugs!".

I see where you are coming from but I just wouldn't have the balls to do it.

Keep safe.

[Professor Bear]

A consequence of this system is that every penny borrowed gets the world deeper and deeper into this imaginary debt and it's killing us. The world is falling apart under this ludicrous system, it is seriously and actually killing people, and I've had enough.
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I'm as dischuffed as buggery and I'm not going to take it any more.

I hold the same views, but I believe that the system will never change, can never truly be fixed or compromised into a working mechanism while geared towards servicing the needs of a small political elite rather than the vast majority of humanity, it can only be destroyed.  A do-over is the best we can hope for and change can only happen by people enabling the inevitable by milking the fuck out of the system so that the sooner everything goes to shit, the sooner we can start building something better.