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The same small handfull of people ...to deal with billions. When i was a kid ...which isn't in real terms that long ago ...there ws no such thing ...no such concept ...as a billionaire. All the numbers have changed ...except theirs.
sorry IT IS the fact that my council have 2'400 £ of my money is proof enough of that you evidently didn't read my posts ? I had a house not fit to be inhabited but was charged council tax on it, the local mp when presented with the problem practically said fuck off.
well they certainly don't seem to mind, and as they want that kind of life they must be "that certain kind of people"
In real terms we're the freest we've ever been. We're not locked up in ships and moved across the world as slaves, we don't have to give our last bit of food to a Feudal master to sell whilst our children starve, we're largely free to do what we want.
The rich are getting richer but in real terms they're dragging most of us along too. If I was born 50 years ago I wouldn't have gone to university, I wouldn't have a law degree, I wouldn't be free to have foreign holidays and a nice house. I'd have gone to the factory, just like my dad did, just like his dad did, and I'd have had a little small life with a little small wife in a little small house.
I live ten miles from Jarrow. I'm a damn sight freer than the people who were marching from there in the 1930s.
But then they always say the best slaves are happy slaves who don't see the fences that hem them in. I could never rule the world but I can get closer than my parents could.
Source
Though I don't see why you shouldn't pay council tax if you've got a house in the area. Sell it if you don't want to pay tax on it and you have no money ffs.
Well I think if you split that down then it comes down to:
a) should they be allowed to spend tax money on themselves
b) should they be able to hide the spending on security grounds
c) are the security concerns fair
A - well, technically we hire them to run the country. I think they do take advantage from what I've read in the press - but then again that's probably part of the job. Consider that most come from very wealthy backgrounds anyway we can't expect them (unfortunately) to take a pledge of poverty. Now that would be something. A political party that said they would not cheat for personal gain, and to prove their commitment, would resign their personal belongings to the needy and wear simple garments, get the bus / taxi to work, etc. But that's more of a dream I think.
B - I think this is fair. The security services do it all the time. We have to bear in mind as much as we want world peace, there are people out there who want to damage the UK and so full disclosure of every public expense is actually not in the public interest because then china will get in a huff we just spend £3bn setting up a ring of spy satellites watching all their nuclear silos... the world is still a cloak and dagger place
C - I think the security concerns in this case aren't valid. Their only security concerns should be of a rampaging mob of angry proletariat because they've paid for a subterrannean 'country club members only' olympic sized swimming pool under number 10 while we're fed the same drivel about 'can't increase spending... salaries cant go up... sorry chaps - its the economy'.
To be honest though, there is a lot of spin on the whole thing. But did anyone really expect an honest politician? There are two types of people who want to become politicians. Those who want to make a difference for others, and those who want to make a difference for themselves (bigging themselves up in the world). Those who are willing to sacrifice their own things unfortunately, find themselves without a hot air balloon flying over london vs. the members of the oxbridge elites incorporated who got their accumulated wealth together to put their mate in to increase their accumulated wealth.
The illusion of a fair and just democracy seems to me these days as just that - an illusion. The choice is puppet A or puppet B.
I'd bet near where your living there are a number of old forgotten grave yards ...forgotten being the criteria.
For a sunny SUbnday morning picnic go to one. Read the stones ...most people wern;'t carted off as slaves and most people wern't starving. The average age over the last 500 yrs has been 75 ...except in heavy industrialised capitalist production profit driven areas.
Seriously ...find some old graveyards as a source of your history ...you'll be surprised. There were of course in history certain eras of not getting beyond forty but ...they are actualy quite rare.
When we talk of times past ...we use the only reference point we have which is today ...which distorts our view of the past.
The battle of hastings ...people north of birmingham were probably ignorant of the fact that the country had been conquered ...for weeks ...then for months it was a rumour that might be proving true ...get to manchester ...they wern't interested for years.
Being freer than ever is in my mind ...a very hard thing to determine.
I don't think you can ever define how free someone is, not from so long ago, but its certainly better than the days of the feudal master and the tithe. It's better than the days of the clearances in most of Sutherland and the far Highlands of Scotland.
I don't think we're free at all- more surveillance, more stealth tax, more control over where we can work and what we can do there. But freedom is subjective. At least we (nominally) get to choose our jailer or move to another prison if we don't like this one.
I quite agree.
So council tax is £5k for your banding then
no its 1000 £ a year
now that I live in it I get a 25 % discount versus when it was empty......
There's never been a golden age and but there's no new Jersusalem around the corner either.
I'm quite happy with my own personal life, I was talking generally. There's still loads of suffering going on.
How many people die of TB in this country? How many of malnutrition? How many are arrested for being homosexual? How many families lack indoor plumbing? How many people own a car?
And this can be replicated across much of the world - there are many more democracies than before, less wars (and those less deadly), less famine, better technology etc,etc
Less famine! Less wars! Less deadly wars! ...Not sure we're on the same planet.
ok I will spell it out for YOU
he was incapable of doing his job ie: crashed the bank ? but HE is getting 700'000 £ does that make sense ? cmon think for two minutes damn it
if i messed my job up I would get the sack and thats that no get set up for life
quite
Just mentioned on the telly that the rock lost one hundred and sixty seven million quid last year ...thats a lot of dosh to loose in twelve months!
But just travelling to spain for a week I've noticed many foodstuffs here are actually 3x - 4x more expensive. Bread is about half the price there, meat is more expensive but I could get by on the abundance of cheese and veg! Especially when it's ridiculously cheap, equivilent of 40 / 50p for fresh in season strawberries.
That's just my experience though. It is all about perspective as Kermit has pointed out - it's better now than it has been - but on the flipside I think the price of food has gone up over the last 12 months quite a bit and just from going on holiday it seems those on the continent are still enjoying low prices. So if the cost of production hasn't significantly increased, why has the cost we pay increased so much... bigger supermarket overheads? Local shops seems to charge top dollar too, £3 for a sandwich, £1-£1.50 for some bread.