""if it's tough enough for decent, hard-working kids to get work or get a decent place to live these days, what hope can be made for those who have absolutely no hope? Without hope there are no aspirations, and without aspirations, people will lie in the shit they were born into.""

Ignoring the predictably nonsensical response above, answer me this Will.

If your final sentence be true, how come we still have ANY decent hardworking kids?

It's about the presence or absence of guts, determination to succeed, and a willingness to work to achieve one's aspirations.

Those you refer to as having no hope represent the absence of those qualities. You can't really believe that there are that many kids too stupid to learn......Can you?

It's a gimme everything free world they live in, and when they are told that free lunches have to be worked for, they simply can't be bothered.

They are on just about every street corner, singing the same refrain...."There's no work available!"

I have repeatedly during my life, which includes a couple of recessions and a "winter of discontent", proved that to be absolute bollocks.

There are always jobs to be had, if you are prepared to do them, and they are jobs for which the decent hardworking are over qualified, but, if you threw away your chances of an education and have (through your own indolence) no skills, then you are perfect for the positions.

There are plenty in this country who started out this way and ended up managing directors, but the downside is that you have to be willing to work hard and learn.

Don T.