So, social networking. It’s not really something you can escape in 21st century society. I have a facebook account, it’s useful for keeping in touch with people, sharing photographs, news and support, and for organising your social life. But it can be quite toxic.
Working with young people as I do, I often see the drama and stress that is created by Facebook use and misuse, and the obsessions that spring up around it.
That aside, though, I wanted to talk about a more insidious use of the site.
People who post and repost inflammatory comments/petitions/photographs (delete as applicable).
I would hazard a guess that half the people who repost this sort of stuff either haven’t read it properly, haven’t thought about it properly or simply don’t understand what they are posting and the consequences.
There is a real problem in this country. People talk about benefit scroungers, they talk about “foreigners” coming over here and taking our jobs and money, they talk about people sitting on their arses enjoying a cushy life while we pay our taxes. There is a huge focus in the media and in society in general on these so-called “scroungers”, which feeds stereotypes, misunderstanding and hatred. And I see it on Facebook too. And I tend to press Delete.
I know it is easy to take what you read in the papers and on the Internet at face value, but this is a dangerous falsehood. I struggle to understand the hidden agenda of a paper like the Daily Mail – why would they actively want to make things worse for people? I guess it sells papers but it frightens me – but I am able to look beyond this and look for facts. Some people take the easy route and simply believe the hyperbole. Then they splash it all over Facebook and make themselves look ignorant.
Yes, there was £1billion in benefit fraud last year in the UK. This is not a lot of money in the grand scheme of things. But there was also £4billion of unclaimed benefits, that people were entitled to and did not have. And there were over £30billion losses due to tax evasion. Not to mention the huge, vast majority of people claiming benefits are not fraudsters, but they seem to find themselves tarred with the brush for having the temerity to claim, nonetheless.
Why do people focus on the poorest and most vulnerable members of our society when they want to direct blame or rabble rouse? Why is it that the rich can rip us off but get away scot free? Why are MPs and peers convicted of crimes then go back to their jobs? Why didn’t Vodafone pay their £6billion tax bill?
And why do people feel the need to post misinformation on Facebook about benefit scroungers and drum up such personal bile when there are surely better targets.
Most of us in this country are being screwed over by the rich, not by the poor, yet it’s the poor that we seem to want to take up metaphorical arms against.
Maybe if we all focused our anger at the people who might deserve it more, and we acted on it, we wouldn’t be rumbling along in the mess we are in now.
What say you?
Here, here!!
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