Iron Bru › Forums › Blast Furnace › Same old same old › Reply To: Same old same old
And where does the reference to ‘minorities’ fit in? When I tried to phone nobody knew that I was an Afro Caribbean lesbian.)
An Afro-Caribbean lesbian! Hilarious, Justiron, how very droll of you!
Fact is, you’ve a lot in common. If you’re elderly and / or a pensioner, as far as banks are concerned or pretty much any other public or private organisation, statistically you are part of a minority. A different one to hers, but a minority, nevertheless.
Plus, the bank knows that most retired folk are neither wealthy nor earn an income, so they won’t make much money out of you, unless you own and decide to re-mortgage/release equity on your house (assuming you own one).
Moreover, elderly customers are more likely to remain loyal to their bank, no matter what. So if you’re not happy with banking services, what do they care? Why should they?
I mean, they know very well that many just dodder in, tie up the cashier’s time because they want to chat, before withdrawing a pension or something insignificant, and can’t manage the technology too well. So why should the bank bother about them?
This sort of belief – that all organisations should operate like private ones, aiming for profits at all cost, and prioritising shareholder value over the public need, especially the needs of minorities, really accelerated in the 1980s under Thatcher. De-nationalisation was part of this, hence my comment.
The idea was that the market would deliver efficiency and satisfaction, because if you weren’t happy, you could just take your custom elsewhere. But the reality is that you often can’t, or won’t, or if you do, it’s the same old story.
But you’re right about other parties, Labour included, now having to wrestle with the same issue – the growing recognition among the public that the private sector has been ripping us off for years and ignoring social need, and reform is badly needed.
So, remember, as a member of a minority you actually have more in common with your black Sapphic sister than you first thought.
