I'm an immigrant, from a former colony, so the issue is touchy for me. We also came to your aid, by the way, WW2 and WW1 but as our country descended into a hell-hole dictatorship with the help of the DPRK and Mr Putin's older pals nobody came to save us.
Having had to work very hard without relying on the benefits system at all, I nevertheless find the whole discussion exceedingly mean spirited and unfair because in my industry at least, it's the immigrants who work their arses off while the locals go home at 5pm sharp, make complaints about how this or that bit of work is "not their responsibility" and go complaining to the boss about how "quantity of effort is not as important as quality" whilst pointing in my direction It's all rather like the third world country I left.
I feel a sense of being out of control - nothing I could do would allow me to be treated fairly because it's just who I am that counts.
I did also get a chance to work in Germany and I'm so glad that, given I was paying insurance the whole time to one government or the other, I could still get healthcare on the one critical occasion that I needed it. I was made unemployed too and didn't look for handouts but I am so glad that I could have done from someone - given the years of contributions that I have already made to one government or the other.
So I hope this explains my sarcastic comments and I apologise if they were unkind. I hope you have a merry Christmas.
Last edited by t43562; 24th Dec 2014 at 17:12.
Reason: expand.