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Politics, politics, politics (so long and thanks for all the fish)

The phone thing annoys me, I’m a tight arse so I’m not spending £30 a month on my cell plan, mainly because I can afford to drop a grand every couple of years on a phone outright and only have to pay for service, but, in the modern world, you cannot function without an internet connected smartphone, and without any money down that’s the cost of entry.
 
Baleforce said:
The phone thing annoys me, I’m a tight arse so I’m not spending £30 a month on my cell plan, mainly because I can afford to drop a grand every couple of years on a phone outright and only have to pay for service, but, in the modern world, you cannot function without an internet connected smartphone, and without any money down that’s the cost of entry.
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You can buy a refurbed smartphone from Giffgaff for £20. A contract from them is £6 per month.
 
scaramanga said:
https://www.giffgaff.com/mobile-phones/alcatel/alcatel-pixi-3-refurbished/like-new

£20, does everything required.

I wouldn't use one but given the choice between a Z Fold2 and feeding my kids, I'd reluctantly feed my kids.
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do giffgaff have you on commission or something?

yeah, you can buy a POS that might have a functioning web browser and run some 4 year old apps, but you need to have internet access to get to that store, I should imagine most of the demographic in question get their first internet device from a high street store.

Also, I doubt it’s ever as stark as phone or food, poverty is death by a thousand cuts, the system is stacked against the poor at every step, it’s a privilege to not appreciate or understand it.
 
Baleforce said:
do giffgaff have you on commission or something?

yeah, you can buy a POS that might have a functioning web browser and run some 4 year old apps, but you need to have internet access to get to that store, I should imagine most of the demographic in question get their first internet device from a high street store.

Also, I doubt it’s ever as stark as phone or food, poverty is death by a thousand cuts, the system is stacked against the poor at every step, it’s a privilege to not appreciate or understand it.
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I deal with cases where I am advising people to scrap their big phone contract to ensure that they have enough money to feed their household
 
JerusalemMan said:
I deal with cases where I am advising people to scrap their big phone contract to ensure that they have enough money to feed their household
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Ok, wow, I stand corrected.

I’d assumed poverty was a combination of rising rent/food/utility costs, a failing education system and an increasing number of zero hour contract jobs. Silly me, it’s just a phone contract.
 
Baleforce said:
do giffgaff have you on commission or something?

yeah, you can buy a POS that might have a functioning web browser and run some 4 year old apps, but you need to have internet access to get to that store, I should imagine most of the demographic in question get their first internet device from a high street store.

Also, I doubt it’s ever as stark as phone or food, poverty is death by a thousand cuts, the system is stacked against the poor at every step, it’s a privilege to not appreciate or understand it.
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They're the only budget phone people I know of - sure there's plenty around though.

I think that in order to assume this doesn't go on (or doesn't go on much) requires a massive underestimate of just how stupid the general public is.
 
Baleforce said:
Ok, wow, I stand corrected.

I’d assumed poverty was a combination of rising rent/food/utility costs, a failing education system and an increasing number of zero hour contract jobs. Silly me, it’s just a phone contract.
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I'm sure it's very funny for you to wilfully misunderstand someone to make a facile point about such a serious thing.

But for some people, suddenly dealing with a severe income shock, individual items that they think are necessary or high priorities suddenly no longer become such. Part of my role is to assist with the adaptation to a new set of circumstances and carefully advise them about changes to make and the path to take. They are often floundering in a new and unfamiliar situation with very little help or experience.

People with a longer-term existence in the lower income brackets tend not to have such disproportionately high cost items, and their poverty is indeed more typically rooted in the costs of living and nature of their income and prospects around them.
 
JerusalemMan said:
I'm sure it's very funny for you to wilfully misunderstand someone to make a facile point about such a serious thing.

But for some people, suddenly dealing with a severe income shock, individual items that they think are necessary or high priorities suddenly no longer become such. Part of my role is to assist with the adaptation to a new set of circumstances and carefully advise them about changes to make and the path to take. They are often floundering in a new and unfamiliar situation with very little help or experience.

People with a longer-term existence in the lower income brackets tend not to have such disproportionately high cost items, and their poverty is indeed more typically rooted in the costs of living and nature of their income and prospects around them.
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I completely get that, but it's my point that has been missed. Internet connectivity is not a luxury, it is now as essential as habitation and sustenance, society runs online, £30 a month, for what is many peoples primary computing platform, is not something that should be used to beat struggling people over the head with and used as judgement of their ability as parents, internet access is how you order groceries, how you pay your bills, how you interact with your bank, your kid's school and pretty much every single other transaction you are involved in.

The accusation in the "flow chart" I was referencing, is that a market rate cellular plan was in the same envelope as a crack habit, and I think thats wrong.
 
Interesting to see that Labour have moved to suspend Corbyn straight away. Starmer clearly wants to show he's not more of the same.
 
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