Offers that can't be refused

The latest evidence of a cutback in social services and care of the elderly was announced this week. What is laughingly described as a ‘live at home scheme’ for North Douglas pensioners (see http://www.manxradio.com/newsread.aspx?id=52196 for more) is an additional insult to older people from self-seeking superstitious nitwits, in that yet again government has collaborated with churches to further screw up the lives of folk who cannot defend themselves, but must still pay to be insulted.
The loon in charge claims…“the idea is to offer support with friendly faces in the community, and anybody who would like to get involved will be made very welcome”.
“It is not, they are not, and they will not be”, would be my response to that pile of old cobblers, based on evidence from elsewhere.
For example, a couple of years ago a friend of mine in his nineties moved back to England after several happy decades here in the North of the island. Being non-religious, he had little choice when his wife’s Alzheimer's became more severe and he had no local relative to help.
Both the ‘official’ social support workers and the 'third sector' (i.e. Christian fundamentalist) charities in his area pointedly ignored his plight. No surprise there as (a) my friend was an eloquent critic of local Christocentric cranks and (b) some of those cranks were and are bigwigs in both social services and church-based charitable drains on the public purse.
Down south, the situation is even worse. So bad, in fact, that an evangelical inside source not only confirmed half-joking complaints I had heard from the relative of one victim as typical, but suggested the real situation is far worse. This is worrying as a Southern scheme controlled by some pretty obnoxious Baptist freeloaders is now being rolled out elsewhere.
The story told by the relative of one housebound geriatric was of youngish bible-bashers charming their way into the house with the story that her name was on a list of vulnerable pensioners they had been ‘asked’ to ‘help’ by ‘someone from social services’. After one visit which was some sort of ‘appraisal’ (at which they drank the old girl’s tea and ate her biscuits but gave no help) they returned to ‘invite’ her to a church event as a way to ‘get her out of the house’. It then started to be suggested that it would be ‘unfortunate’ if the old girl did not go along or let them into the house to ‘check’ and one day she was, for example, to fall on the floor and nobody could hear her cries for help.
After a relative heard this she quite bluntly warned these pondlife to stay away or face police action, pointing out to them in the process that they were worse than the Krays because (a) the Krays picked on people their own size and had more respect for the elderly and (b) solved practical problems – permanently - in return for protection money.
An inside source, who is an evangelical and candidly admits his early public sector career opening and subsequent rise through the ranks is due to church contacts, not only confirmed that the story was credible but that he knew of church meetings at which this and similar strategies to drain public funds and gain government influence were discussed. Church-goers in public sector jobs in particular have been asked to tip the church leaders off to possible future openings and told that, in return, senior government figures would ‘intervene’ when promotion prospects or regrading came up.
So Jesus saves yet again, it seems, but only because the rent and other office expenses, utility bills and pensions of his thuggish little helpers are being met from our taxes.