living on nothing programme

basil01_2

For The Benefit of Mr Parris.

http://www.itv.com/ClassicTVshows/documentary/WorldinAction.html

Strange I watched this the other night and thought mmmmmm.......... enough to put you off the Tory party for life. Filmed in the early 80's.

Ben84

I didn't see the programme, but I was confused by the title. Living on nothing is impossible. Everybody must consume things to live, water, food, and after that we require quite a lot more for our needs if we're to exist in reasonable health and be happy.

Why would anyone think that no money means nothing. Everything comes from somewhere and costs something, even if it's paid by someone else or we take cost to mean something non-financial. Free firewood has a cost in trees for example.

geordie_joe

sunshine38 wrote: »

Hi All

Just wanted to add my twopenneth, if that's ok?

Why is it called "Living without money" if it then goes on to follow how he gets a job? Is it an unpaid job and he gets board out of it .

I think it's propaganda to show that if you are homeless, and do the right things you can turn your life around in a couple of weeks.

We don't know what the job is, but from the preview he looks as if he is working. Well he's wearing "white work clothing and carrying something round a workplace" I call that a job.

Don't know where he is staying either, but the clip showed a house that many people would describe as a palace compared to where they live.

rubytwilight

basil01 wrote: »

For The Benefit of Mr Parris.

http://www.itv.com/ClassicTVshows/documentary/WorldinAction.html

Strange I watched this the other night and thought mmmmmm.......... enough to put you off the Tory party for life. Filmed in the early 80's.

Oooh, I need to watch this again, saw it as a child. I have recollections of him suggesting offerings such as pilchard pie (sorry if its anyones fave) and still remember my mum yelling at the tv when he cadged free drinks off the locals.


I have also recollections that the Tories were indicating that benefit payments were too high and if this had been "achieveable" they were considering implementing cuts in the payment rate.
Dont remember any payment increase when he couldn't do it!

competitionscafe

23rdspiral wrote: »

yeah, they kinda misrepresented "couch surfing" didnt they?

its more of a 'free holiday' exchange website. you need somewhere to kip in one town, in exchange for being nice and offering a spot on your couch in return to someone else... kind of a big karma experiment. i dont know anyone, perhaps sadly, perhaps not, who would offer their couch to a genuine homeless person. unless they had really good feedback, by which time they'd be a 'fulltime' couch surfer anyway!

"Reality" TV at it's 'best. :rolleyes:

I am a member of couchsurfing and most people would not host someone without references who had just joined minutes earlier! It would take him more than 15 minutes to register and fill in his profile, then do a couch search and send out request emails. He would then have to wait for replies from the people he emailed and then reply to them (if they said yes) to accept and get directions.

People who host couchsurfers usually host backpackers or other people who are travelling not homeless people or reality TV presenters - wonder what he said in his couch request as when he met his hosts he said he wass filming his own personal diary.

Conveniently 'finding' the bike in almost perfectly condition at the recycling centre was a bit suspicious too! :rolleyes:

There was a wife swap (repeat? think it was on More4?) a day or two ago that covered the freeganism thing in more detail - they never found any clothes but did find lots of food. I think if we all saw what supermarkets throw away we would be horrified!

raphanius

i thought the programme was extremely jingoistic. the message loud and clear that anyone can work their way into and out of the gutter by their own efforts whether good or bad. he gave a thumbs up for squatting which i found strange and as usual met the old dear who collects coppers, the freegan and the forager...seen it all before. in my line of work i meet real homeless people, former captains of industry who suffered nervous breakdowns and wind up on the streets. try telling them to look on the brightside. btw its minus 6 degrees on the streets tonight. anyone for reclaimed dalek cake?

Desperate_Housewife_2-2

I know it was staged but I enjoyed this programme and will watch the follow up on Friday. I thought the guy who gave up the rat race and took up camper van life and freeganism was great. I love rummaging in rubbish so would take to freeganism like a duck to water (if I could only get over those pesky 6ft fences!)

I expect we will see more of these types of programmes now with the credit crunch but I do enjoy them and it gets all the OS thing out in the open with people talking about money saving etc.

I agree that we got the 'sanitised' version and would have enjoyed more info from people who actually survive on the streets.

[Deleted User]

I think it was staged very badly and at no time was he really going to go hungry or cold . If they want to do something to help prople then get some of the members of this site on t,v, and let them show folk how to live within their means and you don't have to go sleeping and a squatting to do it .many people on this site like me feel slightly patronised by this middle class twerp and he "I can do without money and eat a biscuit off the street" yes he can but his camera isn't far away from him and neither is a handy camera man to dig him out of trouble. Strange how he just happens to find a usuable bike to ride and a tranny radio complete with batteries.We all manage very well with what we have on here and help each other out with tips and hints

competitionscafe

Desperate_Housewife wrote: »

I thought the guy who gave up the rat race and took up camper van life and freeganism was great.

That bit was quite interesting - I would have preferred to watch a half-hour programme just about him.

[Deleted User]

competitionscafe wrote: »

That bit was quite interesting - I would have preferred to watch a half-hour programme just about him.

Yeah I def' agree he was the only remotely 'authentic' part of the show. Finding a chocolate hob nob in the street that didn't have a foot print or dog poop on it... a coincidence my foot!!!

The whole show was propoganda to prepare / convince the thousands who will sadly loose their jobs this year that they can 'live' relativley well (compared to homeless/pennyless people). Which is a complete fallacy!!!

The programme makers should be ashamed of themselves
What were they trying to 'prove'?

I used to work with street-homeless people and rough-sleepers. The most difficult aspects of 'real' homelessness is the ongoing, grinding depression that goes with having nothing, dealing with the stigma and loneliness, the dangers of being so vulnerable esp' at night, doing things that compromise your dignity for money or food and above all grieving for the life you once had or could have had in different circumstances. This programme could not show this in 2 episodes. And the presenter was a right twit!

Sorry for the ranty, long post but programme made me sooooo angry.:mad: