Friday, March 29, 2013

Simon Kuper - Poverty's Poor Show in the Media

I’ve read columns by prisoners and by people with terminal cancer, but I’ve never seen one by someone living on benefits

An actor recently left France after the government tried to raise rich people’s taxes. Gérard Depardieu moved to Belgium (to be near friends, excellent meat and Paris’s airport, he explained), acquired a Russian passport, and made friends with Vladimir Putin. Meanwhile earlier this month an unemployed father became the fourth Bulgarian to burn himself to death since February in despair at poverty. Guess which victim of the economic crisis got more publicity?