Lies, damn lies and propaganda

Annobel - good for you for exposing this. I get fed up to the back teeth with people who regurgitate this kind of rubbish at me because I teach English to immigrants. Unfortunately people are so credulous they believe this stuff without bothering to check where their 'facts' have come from. The people I teach are all hard working entrepreneurs who have started small businesses or are working long hours in low paid jobs. One (Romanian) woman I know, who left her abusive husband, struggles to raise her two children on her wage as a hotel chambermaid, but was horrified when it was suggested that she would be financially better off if she stayed at home and claimed benefits.

I meant to say rich people avoid income tax.

Rob, I got the same email a year or two ago. I knew it was bovine excrement, so I asked my MP to find out where it came from. He knew all about it, and had all the real facts handy, including that it came from Canada originally. I forwarded his reply to the friend who sent it to me, and she was really grateful.

Gmajen I love your phrase 'the law of unintended consequences'. I'm definitely going to use it. Thank you.

Regarding tax avoidance: rich people avoid it by managing to have their income defined as anything but - income. I'm afraid the loathsome GST (VAT in the UK) is the best way of ensuring everyone pays.

Listening to Radio 4 this am ( as always) I heard that the government are suffering yet another OMG moment as a result of their policy on tax avoidance. I feel SO old. This Government reminds me of teenagers. They rush into things with great enthusiasm and then are astonished when the law of unintended consequences takes effect. Am I alone in wishing we could be led by experienced politicians with some life skills -( personally I'd prefer them to lean to the left but anyone with a sane approach and wisdom would do)

Other good sites are urbanmyths.com and snopes.com

I like this Hoax-Slayer website - have added it my favourites list - it will come in handy. I get so fed up with the scare myths and urban legends that get circulated.

Rob, thank you so much for this link. I have sent it to the friend who sent the pernicious email. I am not sure I will ever think of her as a friend again if she was willing to believe it in the first place. Oddly enough she herself originally came from Turkey!

Info here:
www.hoax-slayer.com/uk-pensioners-asylum-seekers-protest.shtml

That crap has been doing the rounds here in Oz too. I looked it up on a couple of urban legends websites and apparently it started in Canada in the early 2000's, then went to the USA, then to the UK and Australia. You have to wonder why people feel the need to spread all these rumours and outright lies.

Often the main reason an immigrant doesnt work is because the government wont let them.

A friend of mine, a highly qualified academic, here quite legally and doing important research for the Home Office decided to take his driving test, which he passed, his paperwork was passed to the immigration department who then told him he was here illegally and therefore could not work. Although his employer knew he was here legally he had to suspend him. For six months he lived in poverty, he had to leave his flat because he couldnt afford the rent. He was sofa surfing and in debt to everybody. Six months later, the immigration department finally discovered that they had made a mistake, he was here legally and could resume his research. No apologies for the distress, worry or loss of home and income, and certainly no compensation.

Excellent - thank you Annobel. Far from being spongers, many asylum seekers generate their own jobs, do an immense amount of supportive work amongst their local communities, and take poorly paid work that has been on offer in job centres and ignored by other British job seekers. I always struggle to marry the two views about the stereotypical asian shopkeeper whose shop is open all day every day, and the allegation that they are benefit spongers. They can't be both!

If you want to know actual facts that people like the authors of that email - and some tabloids - choose to ignore, this web site explodes some myths:
www.naar.org.uk/resources/PDFs/ASYLUMfact%20sheet.pdf