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New Boiler? Bloody Nightmare


If there’s one thing that Brexit and now Trump has shown me, it’s this:

The system is broken.

Somehow, somewhere along the way, something has broken and now we have pockets of crazy popping up all over the place.

When are we going to face up to it and start talking about it, like grown up people?When are we all going to take a long hard look at the society we have built and acknowledge that something has gone wrong, somewhere?

And instead of arguing about where and whose fault it was, how about we just start again, not from what we want in society, but what we need?

How about we get a new boiler?

Let’s say the UK is a house and the boiler keeps breaking down. We keep getting different plumbers come in and look at the boiler, they present us with the options and their quotations on how much it’s going to cost us and wait for us to call them to come and sort it out.

Both quotations say sort of the same thing, both want to tinker around a bit and see if they can sort the problem. For whatever reason, probably because we don’t want to hear it, neither of them are actually prepared to tell us the bad news – we need a new boiler.

We can tinker around with what we have, we can keep giving it emergency treatment, we can keep throwing good money after bad.

But why?

Why don’t we see for ourselves that we should just get a new one?

Every time the plumber arrives, s/he’s in a bigger and better car, occasionally we have enough and get a new plumber, but again, his/her cars also get bigger and better with each visit. We’re now having to get the bus to work every day, because we had to sell the car to pay the plumber and yet...

We’re still not putting two and two together.

We’re not saying to ourselves,

“Why don’t we just get a brand new, completely different boiler?”

Why are we not saying this?

Because everyone knows what a bloody nightmare getting a new boiler can be! Don’t we?

I saw a programme on TV where a guy is going around selling new boilers, just to get into your house, where he kills you and steals all your money.

I read a story in the paper, that happened just down the road, exactly like that. You read it didn’t you, Mary? Just down the road it was.

Would you look at that! A new study, out coincidentally this week when we’re all collectively wondering if we should get a new boiler, says that getting a new boiler is one of the worst things we could do, if we want to stay alive!

Well I never! There’s a poll out today that says 60% of everyone in the house think we should patch up the old boiler.

Shall we call the plumber?

Oh no, s/he’s on holiday in Panama

How about, for once, we stop arguing about how we’re going to patch up the old boiler and start thinking about what we want in a new boiler? Maybe we don’t even need a boiler, maybe there’s a new system or a better system of making the whole house comfortable?

What if we find a heating system that’s best for the whole house, not just the upstairs. They’re always warm up there, because heat rises, they have no idea how cold it gets in the basement.

Why don’t we just explain to them, show them, MAKE them understand just how cold and lonely it can get down in the basement. Then they’ll join in, because it’s the right thing to do. They’re not evil, they just don’t understand.

Let’s start with the basic needs of everyone in society?

Food, Warmth and Shelter

Let’s just start there.

Those that have too much can give a little more for once, those who have been paying for too long can get something back and those who have nothing, can, at least, gain some dignity as well as a roof over their heads a warm room and food in their bellies.

The first person who mentions profit, should be stripped of everything and left to sit in a park all day and night to think about how vile a person they must be, to want to profit out of the BASIC needs of a human being.

Let’s just start there, eh?

Then maybe let’s look at letting the NHS keep us well.

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