Nowadays

We live in very selfish times, and that selfishness goes right to the heart of the government. It's values are selfish ones, and its actions endorse the view that selfishness is the 'right way'. This is also a time of callousness. The homeless, the poor, the disabled, the mentally ill, the most vulnerable in society, are all looked upon as pariahs and are treated accordingly. It is a time of shameless and unrestrained Victorian morality. It is the morality of the 1834 poor laws, which were enacted during Victoria's reign. The very same underclass was punished in those days, just as it is being punished now. The morality was that if people didn't prosper, or couldn't manage at all, then it was their own fault. That is also the morality of the present day. The disabled were required to do whatever hard work they were physically capable of. Nowadays the severely disabled are required to prove that they are incapable of work. The mentally unwell were confined to institutions. That doesn't happen anymore, as having fewer institutions is a cheaper option. The present administration goes one step further by under-funding mental health provision, with the net result that it is inaccessible to many of those who need it. But it does save money. The Victorians who implemented and supported the system called themselves Christians. So does the present administration. That is progress indeed.

The picture is of the Oxford Union Workhouse, where one of my direct ancestors went to die.