I just had a bit of a surreal night with family.
Went to my aunties tae have a drink, a blether and put tunes on. My cousins were there too.
I heard one cousin on the phone getting someone to drop him off more beer and he mentioned his name and told him to pop in for a cuppa. Well it was only a guy who ive not seen for a long time. Its been many years since I was a witness against him in the High Court for slashing a lad off the face with a Stanley blade.
I was only about 17. He had been searching in a pals kitchen for her Monday book, (child benefit) and another lad there told him to stop raking through her kitchen drawers and telling him he couldn't steal her Monday book. So he slashed this lad right down the cheek with a Stanley. I was in the kitchen and seen it all. Blood everywhere. Shouting and carnage. People piling out the flat before the police and ambulance arrived, wanting nowt to do with it.
Witnesses were intimidated, I was told by a pal that she had been asked to batter me. Instead, she came and told me. It was a scary time. I didnt go out much during the time between the incident and the court.
The 1st day of court his mates turned up but after that they were nowhere to be seen. Perhaps they were told to stay away I dont know.
Is that difficult to hear? Ye see violence happens in schemes. There's been worse than this too. Much worse and I've grown up seeing it, hearing about it, knowing it. Violence happens where there's mental health problems, addictions, stress, worry, trauma, no hope and no opportunities.
Well this guy is now a broken man. He came in with beers for my cousin, made his own Latte while we all had drinks, and he washed his cup when he finished. He stayed for an hour and had a blether. He was polite and quiet spoken.
He told us of a life in care, institutions and secure units. He told us how a bigger and badder guy took advantage of him. He's done some really bad shit. But bad shit was done to him from birth. Told us how he recently took a course in Reading and writing, but he struggles to remember everything because he's on pregabalin and God knows what else. (Hes also 60, and teaching a 60 year old to read and write is a whole different ball game).
Tonight I felt a bit understanding and I felt sad for another wasted life and for the lives he wasted. It's society that's the main problem though. Not the people. The way our society functions is down to the people we elect. It's down to policies written and passed into law by those who wish to condition the middle classes to see us as the problem.
Its down to working groups who make a fortune out of poverty so why fucking fix it?
Its down to Politicians who give more of a fuck about their wage and party loyalty than the people they represent.
Its down to the corruption within the main parties.
The egos and agendas drive the corruption as they turn a blind eye to protect themselves and play the dark arts. Staying silent to corruption to use against people to empower themselves later.
Its the attention seekers needing validation through accolades and likes on social media.
Its the control freaks who manipulate and bullshit people into their way of thinking.
We need local independent candidates from all walks of life who know the issues in their communities, who see life as it is not how they're told to by parties. The people who live there and take a personal interest in their communities and toons as that's where they live and where their friends community and faimly bide. Where their communities and their neighbours are their priority.
Including folk like the man I seen again tonight after aw those years. He was fucked over and failed anaw. From the minute he was born into chaos as a result of poverty. Society produces fucked up and failed folk.
Where's the opportunities?
Where's the mental health help?
Where's the basic food and warmth.
Where's the help with addictions to get folk into recovery instead of medicated till they die?
These folk get a script chucked at them because that's the easiest and cheapest option. Look at the court rolls, same names all the time.
The courts and prison system doesn't work. Doesn't rehabilitate. Punishing folk who have been punished their whole lives and again no opportunity to escape it.
Are we gonna keep taking this nonsense when its not our fault?
I keep on pointing out that if poverty was easy to escape then it wouldn't be multi generational. I keep saying it affects us all. I keep saying we are kept in the gutter and made to feel the shame in the situations we find so hard to get out of. I keep telling you who the really bad guys are and its not the ones with fuckall, who spend half their life in pain, and often face an early death.
I keep telling you that we are a product of our circumstance and bad shit, and when that bad shit happens when you're wee then its almost impossible to come back from.
Our Governments are elected to protect us all. So how come the most vulnerable never get a fucking look in? There's been too many deaths. Way too many. And that just creates more grief and trauma for the adults and the bairns in the family.
We have a wee greet when we see dogs with their ribs poking out, begging for scraps. When its humans we see begging we turn in the other direction so we don't have to look at them, and we blame them for their own desperation.
Aye.
What chance have ye got eh?
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