Polygamy Brings in Bigger UK Welfare Check

1. Jerse
   February 3rd, 2008 at 7:11 pm

   Damn! That's awesome!

2. A.Non.E.Mous
   February 3rd, 2008 at 7:22 pm

   Wow! Why the heck would Britain want to promote immigration by men who are not only polygamists, but also unable to support themselves? Laziness and cultural incompatibility...welcome to the new Britain.

3. avraamov
   February 3rd, 2008 at 7:34 pm

   just to put this in context - the 'daily mail' is, by and large, a small minded and mean spirited right wing publication, and these types of stories are its stock in trade. i don't necessarily doubt the accuracy of the story, but the theme of foreigners plundering the great british coffers by exploiting the benefits system is a particular favourite. add to that the extra lurid dimension of polygamy...as someone (i forget who) once memorably said of the mail: "you can practically hear the sound of lips pursing the length and breadth of middle england."

4. anathema
   February 3rd, 2008 at 8:05 pm

   If the story is accurate, who cares where it comes from?

5. su.wei
   February 3rd, 2008 at 8:19 pm

   this seems like a disaster waiting to happen...what an easy was to exploit the system. it seems so strange to me that they could receive benefits even though the UK doesnt condone polygamy

6. Rocky
   February 3rd, 2008 at 8:32 pm

   The story is just the symptom of the larger overwhelming tolerance of other cultures to the point where England is smothering its own culture. Mathematics will tell you that polygamy is little more than a system of treating women as chattel. When the gender balance gets a little skewed because all the gals are married to a smaller percentage of men, what are the bachelors going to do with their spare time?

   It's obvious that the argument that the women are not submitting to this system of marriage out of any financial security--the husband is on welfare. Don't become so tolerant that what is left of England is virtually identical to Dar es Salaam.

7. Adam Stanhope
   February 3rd, 2008 at 10:41 pm

   Oh, please, Rocky.

8. Barbwire
   February 3rd, 2008 at 11:23 pm

   I do not understand why people emigrate to a land where the customs are so different and then expect that country to adapt to them. Even less do I understand the receiving country's condoning customs so antithethical to its own values. Even less, subsidizing those antithetical values.

9. G
   February 4th, 2008 at 1:22 am

   The Hildale, Utah Mormons come to mind. You know, the really fanatical socially isolated community with the apartment complex homes...the size of which is just unbelievable.

   I read about how young boys get the boot for being "competition" with the young girls. I shudder at the thought of that place even existing.

   But I briefly lived in places where stranger things have happened and promptly moved soon after hearing about it, so I can believe it. But I just can't stomach it.

10. LordCaes
    February 4th, 2008 at 3:18 am

    The UK is a tolerant place by and large and most people feel that individuals are able to make up their own mind on how they live, many going further in wanting very little government interference in their lifestyle, even though many particularly in the North like to be known as socialists.

    Although this seems a needless drain on public money to satisfy a tiny minority, I think I prefer to live in a country that supports people whoever they are and what practices they have, so long as it doesn't involve harm to others.

    A case could be made though for the harm it might be doing to the women involved, but not ever having a harem I don't know that they think. Anyone here ever been in one?

    Some people in America, it seems to me, need to think a little about how their country was founded and those enlightened principles before wanting to get rid of people that think differently to the mainstream.

11. avraamov
    February 4th, 2008 at 6:33 am

    anathema:

    i agree with you about the accuracy thing. however, an overwhelming majority of posts sourced from the british press (not the bbc) on neatorama seem to be coming from the daily mail. there's the small truth, ie, the basic facts of the story, and there's the 'weather', which is influenced by the press who's distribution is national. outside of the large population centres in the u.k where most muslim societies congregate, you will almost never see a traditionally dressed muslim woman (as illustrated in this article), let alone a harem. however the daily mail's readership (like my mum for example) are spread pretty broadly accross the country, rural, urban or otherwise. this puts the fear of the 'other' into places where it frankly doesn't belong. if jews were being written about in the same way as musilms are right now in the u.k, there would quite rightly be an outcry...as i mentioned i was adding a bit of context to that post. i freely admit that i'm anti daily-mail, but i think that i'm calling this one correctly. :]

12. Sid Morrison
    February 4th, 2008 at 9:45 am

    I love how avraamov (while acknowleding the basic veracity!) openly condemns the story because it was published in the Daily Mail! Who cares where the story was published, as long as it is accurate? What a dodge!

13. ted
    February 4th, 2008 at 10:14 am

    Well, it does compare with other stories about Muslims that take advantage of people's xenophobia in order to sell papers.

    Whether it's accurate or not... are there polygamists in the UK?

    The suggestion that polygamy doesn't cause harm is odd. The same could be said for incestuous families - they're not causing any harm to others.

14. the statist
    February 4th, 2008 at 11:31 am

    polygammy should be legal, it is the welfare state that is the problem.

15. L
    February 4th, 2008 at 2:00 pm

    So if British men travel to countries where polygamy is legal and marry a bunch of women, they can legally claim more benefits when they go back home?

    Sounds like a dole disaster waiting to happen...

16. Persephone
    February 4th, 2008 at 8:08 pm

    The problem with polygamy is that in the countries and cultures where it is practiced, the women do not have a choice. I don't have a problem with individuals choosing multiple partners, as long as the partners are adults, and children are not abused or forced into a certain belief or life. Unfortunately, that is not the case.

    The polygamists here in the U.S. regularly rely on welfare to support their families. Sexual abuse, incest, statutory rape, mental and physical abuse, murder and abandonment are part of the life of these polygamist communities.

    As "G" mentioned, the boys are often dumped in cities, or simply disappear (there's a lot of empty desert there), at around age 14, as they are competition. There girls are usually married off at that age.

    Again, if consenting adults choose to live a non-monogamous relationship, I don't have a problem, but I don't want to have to support your lifestyle, and I certainly am not going to support one that's illegal.

17. Woman
    February 5th, 2008 at 11:07 am

    Adam Stanhope Says:
    February 3rd, 2008 at 10:41 pm
    Oh, please, Rocky.

    You obviously haven't been to England lately.

18. cooties
    February 8th, 2008 at 4:16 pm

    This is now being investigated in Ontario:

    http://torontosun.com/News/TorontoAndGTA/2008/02/08/4834588-sun.html

    (the only online source; it was on 2 radio stations this morning)

19. Chrissy
    October 23rd, 2008 at 5:45 pm

    I'm late on this, but its one of the worst outrages I've ever heard about. Why are people who are illegal, obviously irresponsible, unable to support themselves and unwilling to obey the laws of England allowed in when I, who am of English descent, college educated and able to support myself and willing to obey the laws, denyed the right to live in the UK?????

20. GarethSIm
    December 21st, 2008 at 2:07 pm

    In response to many especially L - There seems to be an overwhelming skeptisism over the welfare system in this country. To an extent I agree, howeverm there is obviously safeguards put in to place to prevent abuse of such laws. If the man is domicile of a country where polygamy is not accepted then it will not be recognised within the UK. THis is more relevant to immigration and those marrying abroad and THEN moving to this country.

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