The usual conservative nonsense about scroungers

Frankfurt, Germany, 5/10/10
(originally issued 14/6/10 - updated)
A response to some nonsense issued by some typical conservative idiot who remarked recently that unemployment benefits encourage unemployment:

The first thing that you do is ensure that there are suitable job opportunities for all the people who want to work (and I am not talking about McDonalds-type garbage jobs for people with science degrees for example).

You also ensure that these jobs provide a living wage, avoiding in the process the road to debt and poverty, which are, in my opinion, interrelated.

Then you make sure that the economic fortunes of the population at large are not risked by emphasising speculation and other related forms of gambling, and rather put the emphasis upon intelligence, hard work and product quality. You also end the export of jobs to other parts of the world, purely because the goods can be produced more cheaply (if not as well) there – instead accepting that quality produced locally is more important for the local economy than reliance upon cheap imports.

Then, and only then, do you start pursuing individuals who are exploiting the system by trying to get away with government handouts for doing nothing.  And not the other way round!