Re: Austerity?

Did you know that today is the 57th anniversary of the cessation of tea rationing? Yes, rationing continued well into the late fifties and sixties. Austerity? Give me a break.

Re: Austerity?

I know its all a complete farce.

Labour routinely level up poverty

Re: Austerity?

I grew up in the years after the end of WWII, I was told about austerity and remember furniture at that time being called 'utility furniture'. Also I can just about remember rationing. Sweets for some reason I do actually remember being rationed. My father was in the services as he was 'called up'. We had three meals a day, nothing special but they were 'three square meals' as they were called in those days. However, we didn't starve, despite not having anything like the quantity and variety available today.

Most of us youngsters in those days were of a 'wiry' build and were reasonably healthy and resilient despite the rationing. There were also noticeably very few 'obese' people around at that time, probably due to rationing.

Re: Austerity?

I don't know what country you live in, but here in the UK all rationing ended on 4 July 1954 Not late fifties and sixties.

It makes no sense to compare today's austerity with the hardships of yesteryear. Food banks and people living on the streets is a scandal in such a wealthy nation.

Re: Austerity?

People become poor for all sorts of reasons. A lot of people become poor because of reckless spending on credit cards etc, you can't blame this on the government.

Food banks are a charity and people that use them only do so in the short term. Reckless spending always comes to the same conclusion.

Same as people on the street - you need to separate those who are voluntarily homeless with those who are not. There is a guy in our town who has been housed a couple of times but prefers living on the streets. Others have serious issues such as alcoholism and drug abuse - just giving them a home will not solve their problems, they need to be supervised and helped to overcome the addiction, given the choice between drugs, alcohol or a home, their priority would be to feed their addiction.

Re: Austerity?

Petrol Rationing was back in place during the 1956/7 Suez Crisis.

Re: Austerity?

Same for me. Except that I was born in 1936 and went through the war personally.

It's annoying when people keep saying that we're always harping back to the war, in our arguments.

Some don't understand how much we can learn from history.

Re: Austerity?

Not forgetting that there was almost petrol rationing much later than that, during the oil crisis in 1973. See link below:

https://www.1900s.org.uk/1940s50s-petrol-rationing.htm

Re: Austerity?

Do remember at least up to the late fifties that petrol was rationed and the early sixties