Philip Alston is the UN’s special rapporteur on poverty and he’s been running around the UK preparing a report. Another way of describing the same set of actions is that Alston has been looking for justifications for his propaganda. And, of course, he has found them.
But it’s worth looking at those justifications:
[perfectpullquote align=”full” bordertop=”false” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]In 2017, 1.5 million people experienced destitution, meaning they had less than £10 a day after housing costs,[/perfectpullquote]That £10 a day, that’s around $5,000 a year. Which puts you into the top 25% of all global incomes:
Yes, that is after we adjust for how prices change across geography. And note, that’s just that £10 after housing costs. Add housing back in and you’ll be in an even higher portion. Add in free health care, free education and so on and higher yet again.
Calling the lifestyle better than that of 75% of humanity “destitution” isn’t all that helpful really.
Or, as we might – and should – put it Alston’s report is the purest colei*.
*Gibbon.
Two of my children have just bought homes around London. `
That makes them worse than destitute – it puts them at the bottom of the list of the poorest people in the world, since they now have debts of several hundred thousand. There are not many people in the world who owe that much – basically, it’s only the Western Europeans and Yanks who are just starting on the housing ladder….
Set someone up to investigate whether or not there is problem then that someone can be relied upon to report that there is, that vast funds must be allocated to address it, and that he needs more staff.
And the most important question for any consultant charged with producing a report for a client is: “What would you like the conclusion to be?”
Living in a country with a GDP per capita of 3.5k USD, which in many ways is rich in culture, social cohesion and vibrant family structures and where there is only a tiny amount of real poverty (usually destitute alcoholics) one can only feel utter disdain for the likes of Alston. If memory serves he is remunerated with 1/4 of a million dollars per annum, plus a generous per diem, not bad for what really is disconnected virtue signalling on steroids.