#austerity kills

[stormclouds-chainmail]

Welcome to Tory Britain.

Children raised under UK austerity shorter than European peers, study finds

Average height of boys and girls aged five has slipped due to poor diet and NHS cuts, experts say

"British children who grew up during the years of austerity are shorter than their peers in Bulgaria, Montenegro and Lithuania, a study has found."

"Experts have said a poor national diet and cuts to the NHS are to blame. But they have also pointed out that height is a strong indicator of general living conditions, including illness and infection, stress, poverty and sleep quality."

"GPs in poorer areas of the country have reported a resurgence of Victorian diseases such as rickets and scurvy caused largely, they say, by nutritional deficiencies. NHS data shows that about 700 children a year are admitted to hospital with malnutrition, rickets or scurvy in England."

[rottingviera]

Hating Tories isn’t just an ideological disagreement when you have skin in the game. I spent my teens and became an adult during the 2010s and was a young carer. Tory slashes to NHS funding meant no one bothered when my mum’s agoraphobia prevented her from attending the local mental health hospital for treatment. She really was left at home to rot. I have many friends and family whose circumstances weren’t their fault and Tory austerity made their lives demonstrably worse. So yeah, fuck Tories. It’s personal.

[queerfictionwriter]

I know there’s an excellent chance you’re sick to death of all the politics I’m putting on your dash, but the Canadian federal election is in less than a week, and it’s really goddamn important. It’s important because our country is far from perfect, because Canadian fossil fuels have a massive impact on CO2 emissions and the fight against climate change, because hate crimes against indigenous peoples and Muslims and LGBTQIAAP2S+ people are all on the rise, because our healthcare system has cracks that have turned into canyons and people are falling through, because Conservative-standard cuts to education and healthcare and housing, welfare and disability programs come at the cost of human lives. 

And, in the midst of all of that, we have an opportunity to do something about it. We have the ability to speak with our votes and demand better for ourselves, our futures, our planet. So for the next few days, there’s gonna be a lot of politics here, before it tapers back down to the occasional few posts a week. 

If you’re Canadian, please vote--and please at least consider the NDP and their people-focussed platform before you cast your ballot. If you’re not Canadian, please signal boost--I know Tumblr is very American-centric, but our politics impact you because we’re neighbours, and you never know who among your followers is Canadian, who you might be able to reach. If your mental health isn’t in a place to handle politics and the implications, I understand. But if you can engage, if you can do something, then please do. 

There’s a lot at stake, and every voice helps. 

[dawnofslime]

Not the cuts of a scalpel These are cuts of a butcher's knife Devastating effects On human life Imposed to cure recession Affecting those most poor Society's most vulnerable Cannot take much more A system of repression That cannot be endured Impacting on the weakest This cannot be ignored Austerity kills Austerity kills Austerity kills Austerity kills Survival of the richest Corporations under-taxed Increasing spiral of poverty Society under attack Not the cuts of a scalpel These are cuts of a butcher's knife Devastating effects On human life A shameful crisis of morality As millions live and die in poverty Is this the 21st century? There has to be a better way Austerity kills Austerity

[chriswhodrawsstuff]

The Gravity of disability

I was less rubbish at physics than I was at the other sciences. but like most things at school, I struggled due to undiagnosed autism and didn’t really get it at the time. Doing all those Newtonian equations , I alway got annoyed about the gravitational constant being ten. No one ever really explained how smart Sir Isaac was and that what he was doing was essentially creating equations that would…

View On WordPress

[chriswhodrawsstuff]

Two kinds of crazy

I used to think I was mad for over half of my life. Like many late diagnosed autistic people, I spent decades trying to jam myself into ‘normal’ society and it broke me and I have never really recovered. I’ve had years of therapy, tried all sorts of medication but only managed to knock the hard edges off what I later discovered was a nuerodivergent person trying to fit themselves into a…

View On WordPress

[chriswhodrawsstuff]

It's not your fault!

Perhaps it’s the circles within which I move but I don’t know anyone who isn’t struggling now. Everyone I know is struggling to pay their bills, is being faced with huge repair bills for their cars, are on long waiting lists for the most basic of medical treatments or diagnoses and the idea of owning a home is little more than a fantasy to most people I know. I myself am sick of struggling,…

View On WordPress

[chriswhodrawsstuff]

That sinking feeling

Now I have been told that there are people out there in the world that don’t face everything with a mixture of fear and dread and that they see things like New Year as something to celebrate… How? The best thing about New Year for me is this, there wont be any chance of getting post for two days… That’s it! That’s all I can say about it. I was talking with my brother this morning about whose…

View On WordPress