The Big Lie

Yes it's very big innit?

Part 1 (vague)

I can't believe it.

It's all a lie.

You lied to me.

You all did.

They said I could achieve, they said.

They said I could be successful in life, they said.

I said that I could be anything, and they never disputed.

They said I could escape from this hell of my life, and earn a better one, they said.

It's a lies!

I'm at the crossroads of life.

My blanket of security is gone.

I'm at the stage where I have to do something with my life.

Before in the past, I could do nothing with my life.

I have responsibilities.

And expectations.

And I have to live up to them.

And fly as a kite, and not sink with the shoal of fish.

They said I could do it.

They said anyone could do it.

And now I'm finally doing it.

It all means virtually nothing.

I can't quit, or I'll have nothing.

If I carry on, I'll have nothing for years before I succeed.

It's just ridiculous really.

They never told me that this, was the system I was living in.

They told me that only this is important.

And that if I do it, I can succeed.

That all I have to do is do the long thing.

But today, that means nothing nowadays.

I once lived under a false sense of hope.

A fabrication of the truth.

They lied.

Part 2 (personal)

They told me all I have to do is get a degree.

And I can get a graduate job when I leave.

For people here nowadays, that takes 5-8 years.

Now the fees have been unfairly tripled, someone justify the £90,000.

We're all here, because we want to get somewhere in life.

In Coventry University, there must be 10,000 of us.

That's around 3,333 graduates a year trying to get somewhere in life.

With that number increasing each year, that's not possible.

It's like the gene pool, we're all in the graduate pool.

The people on my course, they're after my jobs.

The people I walk past, they're after my money.

I need a miracle, and a way to beat the system.

Degrees are becoming worthless.

I was lucky to be born in 1992.

The year after I left school.

They got rid of GCSE coursework.

They made exams harder.

So less people would get through.

It worked to some extent.

But still every year more kids pass. Kids get smarter.

Why do that, because we need people like cleaners.

Checkout assistants and secretaries.

To make the world go round.

They are the foundation of our society.

And then what happens?

A new government gets elected 2 years ago.

The Conservatives hooked up with the Liberal Democrats.

The old government Labour, didn't stand a chance.

The Conservatives only care about the middle class.

I'm not being represented by the government.

They're making the rich and poor divide bigger.

Because they don't believe in social mobility, and they believe in a capitalist society.

They want the poor to stay how they are.

Labour is the reason why I'm in university.

They are the reason I got paid to go sixth form (college).

The Conservatives are ending that, and have froze income support (benefits) for another 15 years. It's supposed to go up each year with inflation.

The condem government cut my money from £2800 every months.

Now it's £1800 every 3 months.

How am I meant to live off that?

Someone explain that to me.

When people get bullied.

What do they say?

"Don't worry about them. Just get your education. Show that you're better than them, with your mortgage and good job, and show that you're better than them. They're not important."

To truly believe, which they do, that having good memories is not particularly important, to make us into a strong happy person, so we can utilise what we've gained in the future. 

VAT Rise

Student grant cut

Course price increases

More job candidates

Less jobs

I really want to get a job.

But I wonder if getting an unskilled job, is the only career path I can have.

Author's Note

I come from a poverty stricken background. I'm not even working class, I'm lower class.

Reviews

[Marie Harrison]

I say create your own job. You make more money running your own business usually. It's more gratifying too. Sometimes you just have to get out of the box to have a decent life or achieve your personal dreams. I love they list of complaits you bring up. Valid points in my opinion. Sharp poem.