Citizen's Allowance

O.K. we're only just beginning the approach towards general elections and I'm already sick of the rhetoric.  As far as I'm concerned, having lived through one over long Labour administration and the Conservative administrations either side of it, they are both as bad as each other, the Lib Dems aren't much better and they are all talking a load of self-serving, self-glorifying, selfish crap.


There I said it.


UKIP is not much better, these days.  Their manifesto has done nothing to convince me that they are going to help this country out, if anything they are walking very close to becoming fascists, which kind of makes me uncomfortable as I'm a disabled and the last lot of fascists that got into power in Europe used disabled people as lab rats and fire wood (i.e. Hitler's lot).


The only ones that have garnered my interest and held it have been the Green Party, the only party that so far will not be having a spot at the leaders' debate, despite having a chair in the Houses of Parliament for four years.


One the fact that they are being excluded by the old boys network says to me that they may be something outside of it.


Two their idea of a Citizen's Allowance.


A Citizen's Allowance would replace all of the current benefits and be payable to everybody who has a UK birth certificate.  That would automatically stop benefit tourism and simplify our benefit system, removing a load of paperwork (less trees being cut down) and possibly even speeding it up as it would be paid automatically.


That's right, the Citizen's Allowance would be automatically paid to everybody who has a UK birth certificate, paid to their parents first until they reach sixteen, after that reverting to their bank account.  It would pay for the basics - rent, food and utility bills.  If you want more than that - things such as pets, smoking, alcohol and clothes from the expensive shops - you'd have to go out and work for it.


That would immediately remove the fear of homelessness, enable people to make the basic ends meet, encourage self employment where local jobs are short (because you wouldn't have to worry about some means tested benefit taking away all of your money the moment you try to help yourself) and possibly even create a society were people can work with the talents they have to fulfil their true potential instead of being squeezed into a mould they don't fit because they 'have to get a job'.


I don't know about you but that last one sounds like an autistic heaven to me.  To be able to work on my art and my stories without the worry of the state pulling the rug out from under my feet.  To be free to work on my talents, my God given gifts, yes, that would be a bed of roses.  You may think I'm being overly optimistic but I don't mean that it wouldn't involve a lot of hard graft, every rose has it's thorns.


Personally I think the idea has merit and seeing as the Big Three don't want the Green Party talking about it on the media, that rather says to me that the Big Three are worried that it could work over any of their ideas and see this country have a long administration by the Green Party.


Would that really be a bad thing?