I said fairly recently, probably more than once, that I couldn’t understand why so many Americans are being reluctant to endorse a more comprehensive health care programme. Especially when I think of how the British, European and Greek health services have been lifesavers for us recently. Perhaps an article in one of last week’s newspapers gives the answer. In the UK the figures for Benefit payments 2010/2011 have amounted to £8.7 billion! What for? Well, the answer doesn’t just border on farce, it IS farce. Back Pain took £720million. Okay so a bad back can be extremely painful although it is one of those things so difficult to diagnose that skivers can too easily get away with it.

Unspecified pain took £254.3million, severe stress £215million (don’t we all suffer from stress at times?) Sleep disorders £3.8million. But now comes the truly hilarious bit – alcoholism, drug abuse, malaise and fatigue, dizziness, headaches, migraines, haemorrhoids take up the rest.

“Gee, doctor, I do feel so unwell today. I haven’t had a drink. I’m suffering real fatigue, I’m dizzy, I’ve got such a headache and my farmer Giles are plying up something awful. You wouldn’t credit it.”

It’s no wonder the pharmaceutical companies are rolling in profit.

The Social Security and benefits system is definitely a two-edged sword. A number of school headmasters have said that many children at the age of five arrive at school not knowing their name, do not even know they have a name, and it is all down to poor parenting. Other than shouting at them these parents evidently have no communication with their offspring. One woman said of her son ‘He doesn’t speak to me so I don’t speak to him.’ So much for happy families. Some children don’t know what to do with a crayon other than stab it at someone. One head states the damage is done by the age of three and white working-class children are most affected. Government figures show almost twenty percent of children aged five – more than a hundred thousand – fail to meet the expected level of speech for their age. Part of this is put down to the benefit culture where parents don’t work, have maybe never worked, and have no intention of working as long as they can live comfortably on the amount of money the system is prepared to dole out. All the hot air from the government about getting people back to work is just that –hot air.

So apart from lacking in basic skills for a five year old, what else could possibly be wrong with these kids? Overall statistics for 2009/2010 show the level of violence in primary schools is high with children aged four and under suspended 1210 times and expelled 20 times.

Then what happens when these kids get older? Almost 900 children are suspended from school every day for physically attacking or verbally abusing teachers and classmates.

And after that? These kids who have never known a stable and loving home, a safe environment, or discipline of any kind, take to the gangs and the stabbing crayon becomes a stabbing knife, they are much too quick to use and boast about.

Who would be a teacher?

Or like 16 year old Joshua Davies who for a dare took his girl-friend into the woods and, having failed in his attempt to strangle her, killed her by hitting her repeatedly over the head with a rock. He was then able to boast about it to his “friends” on Facebook, twitter, or what have you. What a larf hey? And you don’t want to tell me the world is going to hell in a hand basket?