Wasn't sure wether to write about this or not, but I found it very interesting. Maybe some of you will too....
Yesterday I was fortunate enough that my daughter had sufficient time in her busy social diary to have a day out with 'Dad'. These days are a God-send to me & my sanity; there's nothing like pissing around like a big kid to relieve the stresses of modern life!.
Anyway, whilst taking a well earned 'Fruit Shoot' break in between jumping on a giant trampoline & riding horses around a lake, I heard one of the most fancinating conversations/stories......
Basically, there was a mixed race South African woman talking to (what I found out to be) her black brother-in-law, who was also South African. She was expressing concern about her (white South African) husband's decision to move the family back to South Africa. It turns out that She and her Husband moved to the UK 10 years ago when he qualified as a GP. He got a position in a local practice and after several years of hard work when they had a house & enough money to support a family, they had a few kids. They fully intended to stay in this country and raise thier children, but her husband became increasingly frustrated in his job & life in the UK.
First of all he was pissed off with all the ridiculous targets that were set by the (Labour) Govt. He felt that his job was more about how many patients he could get through the doors, rather than the quality of care that they were given. Next there was the changes to the GP's contracts - I didn't quite understand the changes exactly, but apparently it meant that some GPs could now get paid for doing less and there was something about 'Out of hours care' being contracted out to 'useless' organisations??.... anyway, her husband didn't like the changes. Then there were issues that upset her husband that didn't directly affect his job, but pissed him off all the same. Immigration, for example. He was angry that seemingly so many people were coming into the country and going straight onto benefits & not doing anything in return; when they both first moved to the UK they didn't claim any benefits & got all thier possessions through thier own hard work & obviously we (the British) got something back in a much needed Doctor. Then the recession seems to have been the last straw. Obviously being a Doctor, he's on a good wage & so he's convinced he's going to get clobbered by higher taxes etc by the new coalition Govt. There's alot more, but to cut a long story short, the husband now wants to move back to South Africa.
The brother-in-law brought up a (what I thought to be obvious) point about crime in South Africa. Apparently where this doctor and his wife are originally from is alot safer now. It seems the husband's plan is to open up his own practice in the more affluent part of town. Apparently the cost of living versus the money they could earn would mean they could have a very combfortable middle-class lifestyle. By the lady's own admission, they would be financially better off in South Africa, but she doesn't want to go.
Why?......
Because of 'affirmative action'.
In her own words "If you're black you get everything handed to you on a plate. College & University places are all set aside and paid for, for blacks. Wether you are smart or good at anything or not, if you're black - you're in."
I was absolutely gobsmacked when she said this, especially as it was to her 'blacker than black' brother-in-law. But guess what?..... HE AGREED!!.......
"I know" he said "It's getting stupid. When I went to college it was paid for, but that's because I passed the tests/exams & actually had a chance of getting something out of it at the end. Now, you don't have to pass any exams or anything. If you're black & poor they will put you in to make up the numbers, to be able to say 'look 60% of our students are poor black children', it's insulting".
The lady then went on to say that she was concerned that her children being nearly white, would be disadvantaged now in South Africa. Because so many places in education are handed over to the black children, there are very few left for the rest, which means if you're not black you need to be top of the class to have a chance of getting one of the now limited places in school. She was concerned that her children were going to have to work 10 times harder to pass their exams, whilst watching 'black children' just sail through, just because they were black.
Her brother-in-law responded with this:
"Exactly. And what will the non-black children think of all the black children who they see being handed places for nothing, when they are having to work so hard. They will grow up resenting & maybe even hating them. They are literally creating a new generation of potential racists through 'affirmative action'...... the complete opposite of what 'affirmative action is supposed to be about".
I was then called away to go horse riding around a lake so didn't get to hear the rest, but I think the last comment says it all really......
