Hi, Dear Readers! It is wonderful to see you as always! I hope you are keeping strong and resolute to recover your stolen money through a tribunal! Can you believe that it has been well over the 28-day period for the mysterious decision maker to respond to my Mandatory Reconsideration Notice? As I have stated before, if these decision makers can't make a decision within the allotted 28-day period then the sanction or sanctions should be overturned, revoked. These freaking idiots must get off on playing with people's lives! Anyhoo... Here's the second installment of the Stupidity Is A Virus Spread by Rightwingers theme... A COMMON MISCONCEPTION To be perfectly honest with you... Well, I am always honest... I have to state that I am a little disappointed with the number of signatures thus far. Yet, at the same time, I am not entirely surprised as I reckon that there is a common misconception regarding those who happen to be claiming Welfare Assistance. Yes, I call it "Welfare Assitance" as the word "Benefits" already imbues the wrong ideas straight off the bat! I have said it once, I will say it again and say it a thousand times if I need to: People don't "benefit" from claiming Welfare Assistance. People stay alive; people are able to live a basic life. Yes, I am grateful to have the support of Welfare Assistance in the form of Universal Credit but I can't say that I "benefit" from it. The life I lead is a pretty mediocre one. I think I must be one of a few who still owns an old cathode ray tube TV. Ssssh! Don't tell anyone... ...it's embarrassing. If I didn't have a good family my life would be shit! In terms of a "lifestyle," I don't think many people in the UK would envy the way I live. Do I want to live this way? The answer is a definite and absolute NO!!! SACRIFICE For the past 6 years, I have lived the life of a monk. Well, kind of... Actually, I am not too sure about how a monk lives, so I ought to tell you how I have lived... I used to go out on dates, like most red-blooded males, and when I got close to a woman that I really liked it would go downhill within a few months. Why? Because women would get fed up with me not having a great income; I wasn't able to take the lady in question out. It got to me when my lady would say something derogatory about her paying the bill yet again. When the last relationship I had ended back in 2011, I decided to take a break from dating and relationships to concentrate on making something of myself by the way of self-employment. That same year, I was on the Back to Work Program that lasted a whole two freaking years! Did I tell you about my experience at the (in)famous Back To Work Program? I have written so many update/blogs that I can't remember all of them. Anyway, I had wanted to go on the New Enterprise Allowance Scheme and was forced on the Back To Work Program. I was keen on becoming self-employed for the reasons I told you in the last update/blog here: https://www.change.org/p/theresa-may-mp-cease-welfare-assistance-sanctions/u/19155587 Basically, if you are over 35 and unemployed you may find it incredibly difficult to find work. I figured that I would be better off making my own work. Fortunately, there was a self-employment option on the Back To Work Program. I was very excited as the person who ran the Self-employment Induction course gave me every reason to believe that my goals would be realized. After the induction, it started to go downhill slowly at first and then it became rapid. Let me try and encapsulate what happened without going into great detail... Okay! Got it! Initially, I was told that my business idea was way too ambitious by the person who took the induction course. After the induction, I then met with the kingpin behind the self-employment initiative who then told me that my idea was possible; it could be done. Then when I was paired up to one of his business advisors, my business was too ambitious again. The business advice that I received could have come from the inside of a bubblegum wrapper. It was clear that I had to rethink my business idea. CH CH CH CHANGES While I was rethinking the business idea I went through about 5 Back To Work Program advisors which were separate from the self-employment initiative. These "advisors" either left (me high and dry) for another job or got fired. I then had another business advisor who was just as bad - if not worse - than the last one. The Back To Work Progam "advisors" were so ineffective that I wondered as to what was the point in employing them in the first place? If any advisor tried to be useful they would get fired or leave. This is a fact! Can you imagine that? I had gone through 5 advisors who couldn't do anything worthwhile - that's the only continuity I had: USELESSNESS! THE WORKING TAX CREDIT SCAM The penny had dropped in 2010 or 11 with regards to the Working Tax Credit Scam. I have been developing my business ideas through trying different approaches and I have been on other self-employment initiatives. In 2010, I worked with a now-defunct self-employment initiative based in Barnet. It took me a long while - the duration of this initiative which I think was about 2 or 3 months - to realize that I was being "groomed" so-to-speak to sign up for Working Tax Credit. But this man did not do anything to show me how to turn my ideas into a business. I didn't even have a business plan! However, the man in Barnet almost made me sign off Job Seekers Allowance to be self-employed. I told my then JCP Enfield advisor that I was thinking of signing off. My former JCP advisor had this to say, "Mr. Gene... If you are not making money with your business I suggest that you do not sign off..." Then it hit me! BANG!!! I was being scammed! The rather strange man of this Barnet based self-employment initiative was complimenting me how a man would compliment a woman during a dinner date or something in order to get something in return. All our meetings were like dates... This guy didn't show me how my ideas could be monetized but he was complimenting my work like crazy! I thought to myself, 'Dude, I am a grown ass man! I don't give a shit for your compliments! It's nice, but I want to know how I can monetize what I was doing.' He would finish our dates (yuck) with extolling the virtues of Working Tax Credit! He almost had me signing up for it! Gosh! Fast forward to me on the Back to Work Program with my second "business advisor," "Ah, you ready to go on Wokking Tax Credit?" Yes, this spelling is done that way on purpose as I am trying to affect an African accent. This woman was like a Terminator - human form but cold hard machine delivery! Check this out... At that stage, I had... 01. No business plan as the initial idea proved to be too troublesome. It's like because people perceive me as "black" then it must be that my business must be in the beauty or food industries. 02. I had not formulated a new business model to base a business plan on or, at the very least, to discuss the possibilities with where the business could go. NOTHING! I tried to continue working with my second "business advisor" but I noticed that her primary and only concern was me signing for Working Tax Credit. I couldn't believe what the hell was going on... Nobody working in the capacity of a "business advisor" on the Back To Work Program actually gave a shit about my business! On the day that I decided to part from my second "business advisor," a mature woman came out of the room that was used as a makeshift office and had this to say, "Bloody hell! I just wanted to see if I could start a business and I was asked if I am bloody ready to go on Working Tax Credit!" I am paraphrasing but that is the gist of what she said. The one thing that I haven't forgotten is the incredulous look on her face as she came out of that room with that so-called "business advisor". I know that I am not the only one who was being scammed. In case you haven't guessed the purpose of the above text, it is to show you that something very peculiar was and is going on. Think about it... AREN'T YOU SUSPICIOUS? Think about it... Don't you see that these "government initiatives" to get people back into work and self-employment aren't what they seem? If you are working your ass off and paying your taxes, aren't you concerned that your taxes is being wasted in these so-called initiatives to get people back into work??? The media portrays people like me as a "scrounger" and as someone who is content to "live on benefits" when this is not true at all. Sure, there are people who have worked out ways in which to cheat the Welfare System but you will get people who will work out ways to cheat just about any institution that pays out. C'mon, you must have read or watched the news regarding people deliberately throwing themselves off a motorcycle to feign that they have been a victim of an accident, no? Okay, how about people stomping on their car break for no apparent reason other than for the driver behind to crash into the back. The person who stomped on his or her break then feigns whiplash and gets a big insurance payout. Anyway, the point I am making is that the people who cheat the Welfare System are a minority. However, the DWP?JCP/Universal Credit institutions are cheating people, who like me, are desperately looking to cease claiming Welfare Assistance through getting a job or self-employment. Aren't you concerned? Do you really believe that I should be treated like a waste of space because I have not been able to find a job even though I apply to about 25 jobs per day? Do you honestly believe that my life should be disrupted through these systematic consecutive sanctions that have no logical reasoning behind them? I have bank charges through bounced direct debits, I have to call up my energy supplier to let them know that I can't pay the next monthly installment which is bloody ironic because these assholes at the DWP/JCP/Universal Credit want me to apply for jobs every day using the Internet that is accessed through a broadband service which runs off electricity that has to be paid for. STUPIDITY IN THE EXTREME Don't you see that sanctioning people like me only prolongs unemployment and creates problems such as incurring debt which can lead to a County Court Judgement which can prevent people from getting certain types of jobs! It can prevent people from getting credit for items like a much needed mobile phone contract if that is the best means to be reached by prospective employers. Oh, speaking of which, my phone is cut off because I haven't been able to pay the bill. I can't call an employer back and it looks like I am being rude or not bothered if I were to be offered a vacancy. There is simply no justification for sanctioning people who are already on skid row! The thought process behind this illogical system of sanctions is insanity! HEY, YOU! TAX PAYER! Why don't you audit the DWP/JCP/Universal Credit/Tax Credits Office to see where your taxes are going? Audit how efficient the system is! On your day off work just go to your local JCP and ask the workers and clientele if sanctioning Welfare Assistance works. I can save you the trouble and tell you right now that it does not work. The DWP/JCP/Work Coach (Coax) is so inefficient, ineffective that you could do the job better yourself! As a taxpayer, you should be demanding answers from the DWP/JCP/Universal Credit/Tax Credits Office: WHAT THE HELL ARE THEY DOING???? Speaking for myself, in order for me to find work I have to go against the stupidity presented to me by the DWP/JCP/Work Coax as it does against what normal people do to find work in this modern age. TAKING CONTROL Look, the DWP/JCP/Work Coax tell the clientele to conduct ineffective job searches by applying to ANYTHING!!! Hey! This is not a depression era whereby one has to take any job that one can get. No! Correct me if I am wrong! This is 21st Century Britain and the way unemployed people are treated is abhorrent! My former work coax, Tricky Vicky posed a question to me, "If there was no Welfare System, you'd have to take any job to survive," the bittersweet irony is that I wouldn't be sat in front of this woman having to entertain this idea if there was no Welfare System. This is what freaking pisses me off! I have to entertain someone talking down to me that calls herself a "work coach" who has no clue about me, my skills, my goals and my ability to attain these goals. What's more is that she's unwilling to listen to anything that I have to say to advance myself because she does not appear to have the intelligence to understand what I am saying anyway! I have told her what it is that I need to do to get myself a job as a Vegan Chef/Cook and that gets translated as, "You could be working in customer services taking inbound calls. Why aren't you applying for these jobs?" Me: First of all, I have NEVER worked in customer services before in my life and that's not for the want of trying. I have tried in the past to get such work. Tricky Vicky: But you are an intelligent well-spoken man; you have transferable skills that you can use in customer services. Me: So, you think that my skills as a Graphic & Multimedia Designer can transfer into customer services? Tricky Vicky: How old are you? Me: F**k off you ignorant bitch! That's what I wanted to say... Instead... It's not about age, it's about experience and enthusiasm. Besides, my CV is geared towards IT, Graphic & Multimedia Design and Social Media Marketing. I would need to think about altering my CV. Tricky Vicky: OK! Do a CV for customer services and hospitality and email it to me... At this point, I gave up because I don't know how I am going to do a CV aimed at customer services when I have never worked in that field. Add to the fact that I have no interest in customer services whatsoever! Why should? I had already told Tricky Vicky that I am going to be a Vegan Chef/Cook and she did not seem to be taking that seriously. As you know, I asked for a new work coax and sent in a formal 15 A4 page complaint against my former work coax. And although my new work coax is very nice and helpful, she's not understanding what it is that I need to do to land my job as a Vegan Chef. I know my destiny and that entails being a Vegan Chef/Cook. However, the bloody sanctions are preventing me from concentrating on what it is that I need to do to get this dream job! You know when you know... You get that burning sensation in the solar plexus region... I just know that I am going to be a Vegan Chef/Cook soon! At some point soon, I will have to stop this nonsense of applying to 25 jobs per day, work on my Vegan Chef/Cook presentation predominately and finish it as soon as possible! The idea is to send this presentation to all the Vegan eateries that I have located in London and get the job! As a Multimedia Designer and Social Media Marketing Executive, I know about presentation. I can't get away with creating a CV for the purpose of being a Vegan Chef/Cook because I do not have enough work experience. But I do have experience as someone who cooks Vegan meals every day! CONCLUSION Please! I urge you not to fall for the media's portrayal of people having to claim Welfare Assistance. I, for one, resent it. Why? Haven't you being paying attention? OK... Here's a short and succinct encapsulation:- 01. I have tried to be self-employed because it is hard to find an employer once you have passed the age of 35. The Tax Credits Office destroyed by business and then lied about it. 02. I had to sign up to Universal Credit or get evicted from my home. I have tried to work with an impossible, tricky work coach - Tricky Vicky who let me down when it came to the self-employed option known as the New Enterprise Allowance Scheme (NEA). Tricky Vicky wasn't able to support me as her knowledge of the NEA was rather lacking, to say the least. 03. The DWP/JCP/Work Coax/Universal Credit institutions are actually getting in my way! I originally planned to land myself a job in March of this year but it looks like I will have to extend this goal to the end April. Instead of working towards getting my dream job as a Vegan Chef/Cook, I am now looking to recover my stolen legal entitlement to Welfare Assistance. I am in a spot of financial trouble and I NEED that money back! ANGER If you want to take your anger out on people then how about those that I have talked about? That's right, the clowns in the DWP/JCP/Universal Credit/Tax Credits Office! How about the insane politicians who give their multi-billionaire chums a tax break? How about politicians who hide their money in offshore accounts? How about the bankers who caused the recent financial depressions? How about the politicians who are destroying the NHS? You don't know what you have lost until you or a loved one needs hospital treatment stat! Taking your anger out on people like me is cowardly and supremely unintelligent! Thank you for reading!