someone needs a hug i think
looks to me like he's looking at ed balls with a "don't make me come over there" attitude
In fairness they were all acting like rowdy kids as usual.
Poll: The Budget
- Thread starter No1newts
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looks to me like he's looking at ed balls with a "don't make me come over there" attitude
In fairness they were all acting like rowdy kids as usual.
Not really, you're assuming that the solution to a wealth distribution problem is to move wealth to the bottom of the pile. It could quite easily be apportioned down amongst the middle and top income tiers to enable a healthier overall tax situation.
Hopefully if the government behaves responsibly this could lead to a better health and education system. They could also use some of the money to improve the situation for the hard working but low paid demographic through tax breaks similar to what has been done this time around with the raising of the personal allowance. In theory we could end up with a fairer situation for everyone. This is quite simplistic and probably unrealistic, but I don't want to write an essay on it to illustrate a point.
Having 1% of the population sat on millions (billions?) of pounds of effectively dead money is not helping the economy, nor serving the interests of the general population. This 1% are also likely to be the people with the means to avoid paying lots of tax.
The catch 22 situation is that nothing can be done about this because they will simply leave the country and then the country will miss out on what (relative to their income/wealth) little tax they do pay, which actually amounts to millions (billions?).
these are the folks that have been shafted most over recent years by a long way, well 30-70k range anyway
Soldato
That's what I find frustrating.
I'm lucky enough to be in the comfortable category but can quite clearly see how unbalanced it is to squeeze the people WHO ARE EVEN WORKING (have to make that point) but have nothing to show for it.
I can understand the annoyance at the out of work, or terminally lazy - I understand the hatred is bred from a lack of understand of wider social issues, but I can at least understand why it exists.
But why anybody things it's acceptable that people are working 40+ hours a week & still living in poverty is beyond me - nobody is saying that everybody should be driving high end sports cars, but people who put in 40 hours a week should not be worrying about bills.
Suspended
Wrong. I have no issue with the wealth distribution as it sits currently. There is no problem to resolve in my view.
Who cares? It's helping the 1%. I really couldn't care less about the other 99%, they aren't my problem or responsibility.
But that is the case,the normal person doing normal paid jobs are really struggling when is it going to end,it all comes down to greed and nothing more.
Soldato
Shafted yes, but not necessarily struggling.
You're a pretty sad human being then if you think that hard working but low paid citizens in our country deserve to be struggling to make ends meet when there are fat cats sat on more money than they can spend.
The lazy people and the benefit cheats I can understand you having no sympathy for, but ordinary people having to hold down two jobs or working very long hours and still struggling indicates that there are problems that need addressing. I don't think there is any argument you could make against that.
I could have the same opinion as you if I was that way inclined, as I am comfortable myself and don't have to work all that hard. I still think there is a problem.
Soldato
Because many of the other 99% are the people who fix your expensive car when it breaks, who install your 50" TV, who collect your rubbish, pave your roads and make your meal when you go out for dinner. You should care about them, because without them you wouldn't be in the position you are.
When it makes more financial sense for them to quit their job and claim benefits than it does for them to work 40-50 hours a week, get paid a pittance, and get taxed to death in the process, who's going to do all that for you?
But that is the case,the normal person doing normal paid jobs are really struggling when is it going to end,it all comes down to greed and nothing more.
it often comes down to the greed of the person doing 40hrs a week too, I'm just as responsible here of wanting more things, better things etc which puts pressure on my income, forces me to try harder, find a better job, earn more etc etc.
I often wonder if I wouldn't be happier stripping my life back to basics.
I'll benefit from the 45p top band - but not huge amounts, I think I just clear it at the moment. Still, perhaps as it's not huge wads of cash for me, but I don't care one way or another - I would have been happy with the 50p rate.
I still view tax as pay back for the privileged free/cheap education I got in a first world country with safe streets and a stable upbringing that enabled me to be in the profession I am now. As such, I really don't begrudge it!
I still view tax as pay back for the privileged free/cheap education I got in a first world country with safe streets and a stable upbringing that enabled me to be in the profession I am now. As such, I really don't begrudge it!
Why do people bash top earners so much?
I think it was an Andrew Marr documentary on the national consensus that revealed ~5-10% of the population (top earners) contributed something like 43% to income tax totals.
Jelousy and stereotyping me thinks..
I think it was an Andrew Marr documentary on the national consensus that revealed ~5-10% of the population (top earners) contributed something like 43% to income tax totals.
Jelousy and stereotyping me thinks..
Caporegime
Because you have to live with them? I know some here like to pretend that there's no such thing as society but there is - and it's all around you. I look around me and I see a sick society, one that celebrates ignorance, criminality and celebrity. It disgusts me but rather than pretending that it doesn't exist, or that I can live the rest of my life without interacting with morbidly obese epsilon semi-morons with 28 kids and an inch thick pile of ASBOs, I think something really ought to be done to improve the situation.
Great, the super wealthy elite will get a humongous effective pay rise thanks to today's budget, but next time they get robbed in a Mayfair street for their Cartier watch, or someone throws a brick through their car window, and they wonder why this country is such a dump - they should look in the mirror because they are part of the problem.
Soldato
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It doesn't matter to me, we live in a country whose government cannot afford to appear to be failing its people and the reality is very much that anyone living in this country who is not living on the street is better off than the majority of the rest of the world, many people across the world spend their entire waking day attempting to make ends meet, their homes are their own construction made from the rubbish of the wealthy and they have no social or health care to speak of, if they don't go to work because of illness then they starve to death.
What ever the disparity between incomes is in this country it is nothing compared to the disparity between humanity, I may never own a brand new car, i may never own my own three-bed detached home, I may never make more than 10-15% above minimum wage but the fact that we have a minimum wage means that nobody I know is going to starve due to lack of money, only lack of money management.
I do not begrudge the rich their wealth, i do not begrudge the poor their benefits, I think that everyone should contribute according to their status and that those who contribute nothing should be encouraged quite forcefully to do otherwise (whether they be the lazy unwashed masses on the dole who don't want to work or the fat cats who can afford to pay someone to hide their wealth from the people who made them).
Hence I am nuetral.
What ever the disparity between incomes is in this country it is nothing compared to the disparity between humanity, I may never own a brand new car, i may never own my own three-bed detached home, I may never make more than 10-15% above minimum wage but the fact that we have a minimum wage means that nobody I know is going to starve due to lack of money, only lack of money management.
I do not begrudge the rich their wealth, i do not begrudge the poor their benefits, I think that everyone should contribute according to their status and that those who contribute nothing should be encouraged quite forcefully to do otherwise (whether they be the lazy unwashed masses on the dole who don't want to work or the fat cats who can afford to pay someone to hide their wealth from the people who made them).
Hence I am nuetral.
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Yep it was the Nick Robinson 2 part one.
Soldato
This may be controversial, but I think it stems from the fact the UK is still quite class based and isn't really moving away from 'the days of old' as fast as people would like. My general view is that in countries where there isn't really a class system people seem less bothered about trying to tax the rich and redistribute the wealth.
When people feel they all started from a level playing field they tend to be less bothered about the rich, compared to the UK where the phrase "the rich get richer, and the poor get poorer" is often quoted.
Just my view though.