Tower Block of Commons (TV show)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HMum5jnriRQ

has to be the best thing ive seen on TV for a while.

any one watch it?

 

Was a very interesting doc. Most of it was based on the premise of "let's laugh at privileged people having to rough it" when it should have been "what can the system do for deprived people".

Having grown up and lived on a council estate most of my life, albeit as a lease holder, it's easy to figure out the causes of the problems typically found on council estates. While some of the problems are caused by the lack of services the majority are caused by the mindset of the people living there. Council estates, whether deliberately or not, are holding pens for the bottom 25%, and when you create ghettos and fill them with like minded people that mindset is reinforced and people become content with having nothing and doing nothing, partly because they have nothing to aspire to. If nobody has anything you have nobody to compete with. That's not to say things can't be improved to give people a better chance, but the battle isn't with the buildings, it's with the mindset of the people.

 

its on again tonight mate. See i was told from a small age not to like any one that comes from a council estate ive always been told thats a place to fear and avoid even now i wont date a girl that comes from such backgrounds. This tv show really lets me look into the life of council flats but im not sure if its a good insight i more feel its a big joke and find it rather funny...

 

The show does trivialise issues. Like when the MPs wife compared heroin addiction to her having a glass of White wine to wind down after a hard days shopping, though I doubt she has ever turned to prostitution or begging to fund her White wine dependency. A lot of good, decent people come from council estates and I still maintain that nothing creates well rounded, capable and confident people better than growing up where people have very little. I wouldnt swap my upbringing for anything and sometimes feel sorry for people raised in a coseted environment. Like that mp, a grown man, who had to lay on the grass for a cry when kids teased him.

Seeing police raids, prostitutes, gang crime, drugs and poverty isn't anything new to most people who grew up where I'm from. The show needs to focus more on the issues rather than making it a show where we can laugh at wealthy people who are out of their depth.