Wednesday 5 January 2011

The Backward Society

As most people already know, the democratically elected parliament voted to allow universities to charge students up to £9000 for attending.
In all 65 MPs voted. This is the result: 28 Lib Dem MPs voted yes
                                                          21 Lib Dem MPs voted no
                                                          8 Lib Dem MPs either abstained or were absent
                                                          6 Conservative MPs voted no
                                                          2 MPs either abstained or were absent
And so those 65 votes changed the course of my life. Now I will be in debt for years unless my parents pay then I pay them back. Im going to be saddled with £27,000 just for tuition for an average of a 3 year course. I dont even know whether the course im going to take is three years long. It could be 7 years long which would leave me with £63,000 debt. Do you really want to leave the younger generations with this much debt, much of which most people would not be able to pay off.
The title of this post is labelled 'The Backward Society' because by raising the fees of university to this high, you are making our society backward. Only the richest and the bravest will be able to attend university. The richest- because they'll be able to afford the fees, and the bravest- because they'll be able to stomach the huge prospect of the fees.
Soon we will have a lack of qualified people in the key professions-health, law, politics and education. Unless we change the law just passed, we will be lagging behind the other truly modern countries in Europe and other truly modern countries further afield such as the USA and some parts of China. Our future lack of skilled workers was aptly described in one popular Facebook group: 'The day Nick Clegg dies because his would-be doctor couldnt afford to go to university.'
So come on Britain! Stop heading back into the dark ages and overturn this stupid law that prevents all but the richest and bravest from going to university and getting the best jobs.
The coalition said that they would lower unemployment from its current high. They might manage it- but the jobs people would be forced into will be low paid, low skilled jobs that will only be able to support themselves. Surely we dont want that for everyone? So lower the cap back to £3000 and let people get back into the higher paid jobs.
Nick Clegg is a liar. Those are the words that many people have said since Clegg said that he would vote in favour of the raise in tuition fees cap just months after he, and other Lib Dem MPs, signed a pact saying that they wouldnt. So how do we know that they wont break more promises? We dont. And so Nick Clegg you have just lost the vote of the entire youth who are able to vote.
The student demonstrations that shook London started out peaceful but were hijacked by violent youths who just wanted a bit of trouble. Thousands and thousands of people of all ages descended onto the capital to protest against the raise in fees. And the demos arent finished yet- there are still more scheduled. So what does this tell us? Dont raise the cost of tuition fees! If thousands, if not millions, of people protesting against the idea of charging us up to £9000 per annum cant change the MPs mind then what can? The result of this vote doesnt show that we have a fair democratic parliament that listens to its people. Listen to us! Please!
MPs, my message to you is listen to us, your people. And lower the cap on tuition fees to £3000 please :-)

Tuesday 4 January 2011

The Paranoia of the 'Modern' Society

Joanna Yeates has been murdered. Nobody knows for sure who did it.
A girl ages 14 was raped at 4pm on the way back from school a couple of months ago.
Another girl was raped in the summer of 2009.
And as a result parents are getting more paranoid that ever. Why? Because several things have happened that have pushed parents to paranoia about the safety of their children. Everyone wants children to be safe, but it is as safe as it was a decade ago. Even if we molly-coddle the children and not let them go out by themselves we will still get people who are raped and murdered because you cant protect everyone. Joanna Yeates was a adult. An adult will not let themselves be molly-coddled. Hell, teenagers wont let themselves be molly-coddled. So there is no way that there will be a complete end of rape etc. There has been no increase or decrease of rape and murder but media coverage has increased the hype. Sure, everyone wants the murderer of Joanna Yeates to be caught. Everyone wants the rapist who raped the girl, 14, to be caught. But by the media increasing the hype means that parents will not give their children the much needed independence that is needed in later life. Otherwise they will be fully reliant on their parents, spouses, partners etc. and we will leave the future generations to be dependants. Do we really want that? The large majority of answers would be no. Why? Because we want the children and teenagers of today to be the independent strong men and women of tomorrow. And speaking as a young teenage girl, I know that we want to have a good life too. And we wont learn through mistakes if you treat us like babies.
There was a recent study done on a family through three generations. They all lived in the same place but the company who did the study wanted to know how far each male was allowed to roam in miles. 
The grandfather was allowed to go pretty much anywhere, about 20/30 miles from the house. 
The dad was allowed to go about 5-8 miles around the house. 
The boy was only allowed to go down the street.
Surely this shows how much more protective we have become since those days when young people were allowed to roam free.
Parents are keeping their children in. They are making sure they are safe from all the rapists, murderers etc who frequently walk around doing at will and wherever. But that does not happen all day everyday as much as parents think. We keep children inside to stop them from getting hurt from brambles etc or sick through another person but then they are just soft. And their immune systems are bad, so the slightest cold or cough they catch when they finally have enough of the forced house-arrest and go out By Themselves- shock, horror!- will completely incapacitate them because they havent had all of the normal coughs and cold and havent built up a strong immune system.
The children of tomorrow will grow soft and dependant unless you adults give us the independence we need!
So I say Do keep them safe, Do keep them happy. But also do keep them independant.