Wealth

Former Member · January 2002

What are peoples thoughts on the fact that so few people have so much of our country's wealth?

Former Member · January 2002

i used to campaign for the whole 'drop the debt' thing but im losing faith, cos i dont think it will ever be dropped.
it makes me feel awful knowing that some people cant even drink clean water or get an education, one day i hope to take a gap year and work in russia to teach kids english or summin'

Former Member · January 2002

My opinion is this. We live in a society run by greed and the only way to survive is to be more greedy. This has the result of increasing the rich poor divide, It wont be long before we start to segragate rich from the poor, we already have a two teir health system and school system.
People out of work are being used as cheap labour instead of being encouraged to find paying work. I can go

Former Member · January 2002

Originally posted by go_away:
<STRONG>i used to campaign for the whole 'drop the debt' thing but im losing faith, cos i dont think it will ever be dropped.
it makes me feel awful knowing that some people cant even drink clean water or get an education, one day i hope to take a gap year and work in russia to teach kids english or summin'</STRONG>

It's not that it won't be dropped. Britain has been leading the way in releasing developing nations from the burden of debt. The only stumbling block is that the IMF/governments will not allow debts to be written off if the developing country cannot prove that the money saved will be spent on its poor. A lot of countries crippled by debt also suffer from a lot of corruption both in central government and locally. If debts are written off without question then it is likely that extra money will not go where it is supposed to.

Get more info here: HM Treasury report: Debt
Also: Drop the Debt

As for this country, I think we have always had huge differences in the incomes of the rich and poor. There's nothing new there.

Former Member · January 2002

If people work hard and earn there wealth then they should be allowed to keep it. Granted we don't all start on an even footing, but it is possible to make it from a poor background like alan sugar for example, the trouble is society is becoming to lazy and people wait for wealth to come to them. You need luck and the whole scenario isn't fair, but if person a works hard through school, college and uni and get a good job they deserve it, why should they pay out to ensure the class clowns who did nothing line there pockets ? a bit right wing i know, disturbing eh ? but thats the way it should be.

Former Member · January 2002

FREEDOM IS KNOWLEDGE OF ONE'S NECESSITY!

The problem is we WANT WANT WANT and forget about what we really NEED NEED NEED>

There are people in the world spending £20,000 on a T-shirt while others would just like clean drinking water.
It's disgusting that some people think it's acceptable to spend this amount of money on clothing when others are living in such poverty.

...but if they can live with it then I guess it's up to them.

Former Member · January 2002

We've been doing about this in social policy.
The idea of a "need" has changed over the years. If you asked your great grandfather what he needed, he would have said very little. As time goes on, and perceptions change we find ourselves needing more. This is not a fault of our own, but the conditions we find ourselves living in, and the socialisation processes we go through from birth. From being exposed to mass media advertising to being told by a school playmate that "this toy is REALLY cool, you need to get it!". We discussed what people really needed, and found that we needed:
Food, water, house with at least 1 bedroom, indoor toilet, bath/shower, education, toys for children, clothing and a telephone

If you compare that list to one made just 30 years ago you will find that many things have changed. As long as we are exposed to "need statements" from external sources we will continue in our pursuit of wealth in order to aquire the things we think we need.

Former Member · January 2002

Originally posted by eb:
<STRONG>If people work hard and earn there wealth then they should be allowed to keep it. Granted we don't all start on an even footing, but it is possible to make it from a poor background like alan sugar for example, the trouble is society is becoming to lazy and people wait for wealth to come to them. You need luck and the whole scenario isn't fair, but if person a works hard through school, college and uni and get a good job they deserve it, why should they pay out to ensure the class clowns who did nothing line there pockets ? a bit right wing i know, disturbing eh ? but thats the way it should be.</STRONG>

I quite agree. I worked my ass off to get into University, I'm still hard at it now I'm here and I will continue to work hard in the future to fulfil my ambitions. Socialism is a cop-out for people who can't be bothered to even try to get rich. However, I do feel rich countries have a responsibility to poor ones, where going to school is not an option. Rich celebrities like Posh & Becks shoulod give a lot more to charity instead of splashing out on themselves. When you have the big house and expensive car
then you can afford to spend some money on charity or even take a pay cut. There's wealty and then there's disgustingly rich.

Former Member · January 2002

It's all about conspicuous consumption; if they have it and you can get it...consume it because life is good and that is just perfect.

EU had it, US has it...and life is good!

Want to get some...go get it, otherwise lay up and take the dole that you deserve and remember the Darwin Rules!

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Wealth

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