One of the things I hate about Facebook is just how easy it is to post or repost things that strike us as funny or significant at  a moment in time, without actually getting our brains in gear and appreciating the full impact of the thing that we have felt so important that we decide to repost it.

Where my family are concerned, I have always tried to be fairly laid back, not unnecessarily rock the boat and to avoid getting into arguments about differences of opinions. Some of my family are definitely over-sensitive and departure from the safe path of non-involvement is to be avoided in the interests of family harmony.

Then today, one of my relatives reposted a loaded article comparing the punishments meted out to anyone who crossed the borders into North Korea or Iran with the cushy welcome given to immigrants here.

I would be the first to admit that we don’t always get it right, and that people do often take advantage of our benefits system. I have both received benefits and worked for the DWP looking after people’s claims for help, and have been staggered at times by the way that people expect to be able to take advantage.

That said, today I felt I have to draw a line in the sand, if only to say, “Hang on, do you really think that, do you not see where that argument’s taking you? Have you got your brain in gear?”

For all the defects in our systems and way of life, living here is vastly preferable to living in North Korea or Iran, where personal freedoms and human life can be very cheap.

I hope my relative understands what I want him to seriously think about when he reads my post…”So Fred, would you really take your wife and children and live in North Korea or Iran…you’re a better man than I!”