It is surprising to learn that a Labour government in Britain set up special re-education camps for the unemployed, designed to bring redemption through hard, physical work
A fascinating and historically revealing article Simon as is often the case. It was all new to me. I would actually like to see those claiming benefits to be made to work for their taxpayer funded handout. I think it would be good for them and earn them self respect and the mutual respect of those funding them. If there's such a housing shortage in our country let's get them working at renovating the old buildings and making them liveable again, even for themselves to live in.
I'm inclined to agree that it would be no bad thing for people to work for benefits. There are plenty of dull and repetitive tasks which could be undertaken, things which councils claim they cannot currently afford to do.
Apparently Canada had work camps for unemployed men in the 1930s. I read about it in a book written by Pierre Berton - a famous TV, newsprint, radio personality & author in the 1960s & 1970s in Toronto. I recall the men were allowed to leave but because the camps where in such desolate areas one would starve trying to get away & certainly face hardship once they did get to an urban centre.
I am impressed how quickly you have been able to put this article together - a fascinating read. It's amazing for me to think that my father - who was born in 1918 - went to one of these camps or 'dole school' as he called it and he did talk about this to me when I was a young lad. Many thanks.
I am sure you still work very hard on your articles and videos and writing in a professional style based on solid research is a rare skill - I am back at work today for my three day a week 'none job'. I do spent much of the rest of my time reading all sort of things - you are definitely top of my list. PS there is a theme for an article, if you have not done it already - none jobs
> This unspoken assumption, that the unemployed have a tendency to get used to a life on benefits and to stop looking for another job, is still a fairly common one today in certain official circles.
I agree we have a benefits culture these days and work does not necessarily pay - but I am pretty sure the same could not be said of the people who attended these camps in the 1930s.
“Arbeit macht frei” is a very dark (ie German) joke or taunt that references Communist doctrine. It has nothing to do with the book by Diefenbach but you are of course correct that the attitude of self improvement by work was quite common. In fact, I did encounter similar sentiments from parents of drug addicts during my time as a drill sergeant (we still had the draft and some would slip through the physical).
The taunt is about the work, an inversion of the Hegelian “Geistesarbeit”, that you had to do to become free of your bourgeois nature and turn into a good Communist.
As to the camps being similar this is simply incorrect. Dachau wasn’t a marquee death camp like Auschwitz but plenty of people were murdered there and many more were physically broken. Think a waterhose pumping 10 gallons into your intestines. After the torture these inmates were released back into their communities (socialists, unions, protestants, catholics and so on) and served as a gruesome example of what would happen to opponents of the regime.
A fascinating and historically revealing article Simon as is often the case. It was all new to me. I would actually like to see those claiming benefits to be made to work for their taxpayer funded handout. I think it would be good for them and earn them self respect and the mutual respect of those funding them. If there's such a housing shortage in our country let's get them working at renovating the old buildings and making them liveable again, even for themselves to live in.
I'm inclined to agree that it would be no bad thing for people to work for benefits. There are plenty of dull and repetitive tasks which could be undertaken, things which councils claim they cannot currently afford to do.
What happens when most jobs are automated or taken over by AI?
Good point Sean but that needs to be controlled methinks. Strange and interesting times ahead in the next two generations.
Apparently Canada had work camps for unemployed men in the 1930s. I read about it in a book written by Pierre Berton - a famous TV, newsprint, radio personality & author in the 1960s & 1970s in Toronto. I recall the men were allowed to leave but because the camps where in such desolate areas one would starve trying to get away & certainly face hardship once they did get to an urban centre.
I am impressed how quickly you have been able to put this article together - a fascinating read. It's amazing for me to think that my father - who was born in 1918 - went to one of these camps or 'dole school' as he called it and he did talk about this to me when I was a young lad. Many thanks.
Old people tend to have too much time on their hands for writing about obscure subjects like this! It's because we don't have proper jobs any more...
I am sure you still work very hard on your articles and videos and writing in a professional style based on solid research is a rare skill - I am back at work today for my three day a week 'none job'. I do spent much of the rest of my time reading all sort of things - you are definitely top of my list. PS there is a theme for an article, if you have not done it already - none jobs
If once i start writing about non-jobs, i shall never finish! The list today is endless.
> This unspoken assumption, that the unemployed have a tendency to get used to a life on benefits and to stop looking for another job, is still a fairly common one today in certain official circles.
Because it is true.
I agree we have a benefits culture these days and work does not necessarily pay - but I am pretty sure the same could not be said of the people who attended these camps in the 1930s.
“Arbeit macht frei” is a very dark (ie German) joke or taunt that references Communist doctrine. It has nothing to do with the book by Diefenbach but you are of course correct that the attitude of self improvement by work was quite common. In fact, I did encounter similar sentiments from parents of drug addicts during my time as a drill sergeant (we still had the draft and some would slip through the physical).
The taunt is about the work, an inversion of the Hegelian “Geistesarbeit”, that you had to do to become free of your bourgeois nature and turn into a good Communist.
As to the camps being similar this is simply incorrect. Dachau wasn’t a marquee death camp like Auschwitz but plenty of people were murdered there and many more were physically broken. Think a waterhose pumping 10 gallons into your intestines. After the torture these inmates were released back into their communities (socialists, unions, protestants, catholics and so on) and served as a gruesome example of what would happen to opponents of the regime.