'Rich Privilege'

SiD the Turtle

SiD the Turtle

SiD the Turtle

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A rant off the back of some of the comments in this thread: http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18653649.

I live in greater London. I have a decent job, a flat with a mortgage on it, a car and a big TV. Am I rich? No. Am I privileged? No!

My dad grew up in a Commonwealth county where the family home was a tin shack. Only the boys went to school. He came to the UK in the 70s to study engineering but soon after he arrived his dad died so he had to find more money quickly to support his younger brothers and sisters so he retrained in the NHS. My mum grew up on an council estate in Kent and left school as young as was allowed with no qualifications to speak of.

When I was born they both worked every hour in the day doing several jobs to pay for me. They taught me about working hard and studying and I went through school, got decent grades and then a decent degree and a fairly well paying job.

I'm probably biased but my family is a great example of what you can accomplish if you actually put the effort in. It's only thanks to my parents that I had the home-life to concentrate on school, get decent grades and to be honest, help fund my mortgage. My kids will be better off because of what my parents did and what I am doing.

So why the bloody hell does the '99%' and the Labour government feel that I should be penalised for working hard? Why do they give off the impression that people who have enough money to pay taxes and inherit parental homes are super rich bankers that need to be punished with more taxes?

Rant over.
 
Because that's what the good cop side of the UK good cop/bad cop political landscape says. If you don't hand over everything you earn to distribute to the rest of the country, you are a bad person. Sorry.
 
I have to agree. While you may earn more than some, it's not fair that you get penalized what so ever.

Actually, it's one reason I'm not fussed about earning more than £40k as I don't want to sie in that higher bracket!

Just because they can't get their finances in order, doesn't mean they should be allowed to take it from those who are doing well!
 
People will come up with a million and one excuses but;

Don't take education for granted, study hard. Apply yourself in the world of work and ou will be rewarded.

Don't like your life? Do something about it.

It's simples.
 
Moses said:
Who gave your parents jobs? Who supported your mother and her family on her council estate? Who paid for your education (at every level)? Etc, etc.
Click to expand...

The net gain taxpayers?

Although this is off the back of that thread it still falls within that threads scope unless I'm missing something.
 
SiD the Turtle said:
So why the bloody hell does the '99%' and the Labour government feel that I should be penalised for working hard? Why do they give off the impression that people who have enough money to pay taxes and inherit parental homes are super rich bankers that need to be punished with more taxes?

Rant over.
Click to expand...

How is inheriting your parents wealth classed as "working hard"?

Let children earn thier own wealth.
 
snips86x said:
Actually, it's one reason I'm not fussed about earning more than £40k as I don't want to sie in that higher bracket!
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I hope you're aware that income tax is calculated on what you earn above that grade, not on your whole income.

E.g. 50k pay
everything below 40k is taxed at X%
the 10k above 40k is taxed at Y%
 
amigafan2003 said:
How is inheriting your parents wealth classed as "working hard"?

Let children earn thier own wealth.
Click to expand...

Might as well take it all when someone dies then, am I right?

No one can use anyone elses money ever!!!!

We can start by rolling this out to those who have never worked a day in their lives and are on benefits. Let them earn their own money.
 
Because it has to be someone else fault. It couldn't possibly be theirs or their parents fault.
And this democracy is based on populist opinion, which is never a good thing.

Like most things it's easier to focus on others, than yourself.

In the UK anyone can have a great education and get a great job. Finances don't stand I. the way. Education is free, then theirs loans that you don't actually pay back.
 
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I posted this in the other thread, but I think it's relevant here too.

drakioned said:
So... this is a bit of a pointless debate (although when are they not on GD...) as people'll always be defending their own personal circumstances. If you have an expensive house or two, you'll always argue for less taxes, people ought to work hard for their stuff, etc, etc.

If you are renting and seeing 1/2 your paycheck going to somebody who bought their house 20 years ago for £10,000, then you're probably going to side on the inheritance/death tax as a way to fund the NHS, schools, etc.

One point of view that I think isn't really considered very often by the wealthier side of the debate is a broader view of society/earning/ownership. It's very well to say that me and my family worked hard in the past earned X so now we own Y.

But ownership is a social construct... i.e. we have a concept of ownership because enough people agree to abide by some rules that state that Y is yours and the majority of people will not try take it from you.

The people who own the most should have the most interest in keeping the system intact as they have the most to benefit from it. If you end up with a society with a great deal of inequality, sooner or later, people will opt out and then your "ownership" won't mean much.
Click to expand...
 
drakioned said:
I posted this in the other thread, but I think it's relevant here too.
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Well not always, I'm not rich and am very unlikely to be. But that doesn't mean I think the rich should be taxed because people can't take responsibility.
I'm also renting and see no issue with buy to right.
Because it's not an iddue with rich people. It's an issue with government policy. Which means houses are silly expensive and hard to build.
 
amigafan2003 said:
How is inheriting your parents wealth classed as "working hard"?

Let children earn thier own wealth.
Click to expand...

Parents have earned that money, and they can do what they damned well want with it. Including distributing it to their kids to ensure they have a better chance of success in the world.
 
Moses said:
I don't think it's quite that simple. I was talking to my older brother at Christmas and he was talking about just how lucky he was - he's now a civil servant down in London, on good money, etc, etc, but if he hadn't got a break with a company down there a handful of years ago he could easily be stuck back home in the south west working fairly depressing jobs. He applied himself and got a good degree + a masters + did an interesting range of stuff outside of study, but without that first opportunity it could have been very different. He sees equally competent peers from different times in his life who have missed out on such an opportunity, as he sees it.

Obviously working hard will make it more likely you'll be rewarded, but it's not a given.
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Luck does play a part, and can boost you up through the salary brackets.

But I am of a strong mind that if you study hard and work hard you will be able to own your own house, have a car, go on holidays, have nice things, do nice things.

Yes it might not be a 8 bedroom mansion or a Ferrari. Might not be 2 weeks to he Dominican every year or a skiing holiday every year...

But with effort you can be completely independant and have/do nice things, to a point where you will not be sitting there screaming 'TAX THE RICH MORE, MORE I TELL YOU' thinking it will make your life magically better that the state is taking more money from the high earners.

If I hit the prettiest girl in England with an iron in the face it doesn't make all the ugly ones prettier.
 
mid_gen said:
Because that's what the good cop side of the UK good cop/bad cop political landscape says. If you don't hand over everything you earn to distribute to the rest of the country, you are a bad person. Sorry.
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So because I'm good with money and even though I am rather generous to friends family give to charity or someone in need just because I'm wise enough to not spend it all and add to my savings every month instead of blowing the lot I'm a bad person? There's something seriously wrong here!
 
The Dread Pirate said:
So because I'm good with money and even though I am rather generous to friends family give to charity or someone in need just because I'm wise enough to not spend it all and add to my savings every month instead of blowing the lot I'm a bad person? There's something seriously wrong here!
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Its funny, because everything you write literally reads rich privilege. You think your amazing and critics are calling you 'a bad person'.

edit: I thought you were the OP, but its the same tone applies. 'I worked hard'. Maybe, you still had the right connections and the right time and the right circumstances to take you to where you are today. The only difference between yourself and another equally capable but less successful individual is random chance.
 
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Glaucus said:
Because it has to be someone else fault. It couldn't possibly be there's or their parents fault.
And this democracy is based on populist opinion, which is never a good thing.

Like most things it's easier to focus on others, than yourself.

In the UK anyone can have a great education and get a great job. Finances don't stand I. the way. Education is free, then theirs loans that you don't actually pay back.
Click to expand...

When I'm President For Life, you will be Minister For Truth.
 
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