[Bonged.]

For anyone that doesn't understand why we need to overhaul the welfare state:

http://fora.tv/2010/04/26/Mark_Steyn...ow#fullprogram

Steynamite.

[chefdave]

(Original post by KimKallstrom)
Bingo.

However the Duke of Westminster etc do not approve so it will never happen, even though it'll take the country out the crapper in about one second.

Yep, the Land Value Tax is the economic silver bullet. It'll make housing affordable, redistribute monopolised land and reduce our dependence on dodgy financial products devised by the City. But we'll never adopt it because there are just too many V.I's. At least when the proles were proper peasants they knew who was to blame for the plight: landowners. Nowadays we've allowed neoliberal economiststo bamboozle us into a state of apathy.

I fully intend on taking advantage of the next housing related land bubble. As far as our economy is concerned there's only one game in town.

[Bonged.]

(Original post by chefdave)
Yep, the Land Value Tax is the economic silver bullet. It'll make housing affordable, redistribute currently monopolised land and reduce our dependence on dodgy financial products devised by the City. But we'll never adopt it because there are just too many V.I's. At least when the proles were proper peasants they knew who was to blame for the plight: landowners. Nowadays we've allowed nbeoliberal economics to bamboozle us into a state of apathy.

I fully intend on taking advantage of the next housing related land bubble. As far as our economy is concerned there's only one game in town.

Haha! Too true.

Not just neoliberal economics, social engineering too.

[KimKallstrom]

(Original post by chefdave)
Yep, the Land Value Tax is the economic silver bullet. It'll make housing affordable, redistribute monopolised land and reduce our dependence on dodgy financial products devised by the City. But we'll never adopt it because there are just too many V.I's. At least when the proles were proper peasants they knew who was to blame for the plight: landowners. Nowadays we've allowed neoliberal economiststo bamboozle us into a state of apathy.

I fully intend on taking advantage of the next housing related land bubble. As far as our economy is concerned there's only one game in town.

I know of a couple of people who bought desolate wasteland outside of Croydon for next to nothing because they knew, with Croydon's continued expansion (like all towns), it would one day become much more valuable.

So they sat on it for ten or fifteen years and now it's a massive car park and they're millionaires. The end.

[The Socktor]

I used to have the willingness to reply to threads and posts that were wrong on so many levels...













































































































Then I took an arrow in the knee.

[Kibalchich]

(Original post by Bonged.)
Haha! Too true.

Not just neoliberal economics, social engineering too.

Landowners, business owners - same difference, same boot on the neck of the working class.

[Bonged.]

(Original post by Kibalchich)
Landowners, business owners - same difference, same boot on the neck of the working class.

Are you a marxist?

[Kibalchich]

(Original post by Bonged.)
Are you a marxist?

What do you mean by "Marxist"?

[billydisco]

(Original post by chefdave)
Yes I know, and our reliance on financial trading partly explains why we were hit so badly by the recession. Any country with an economy dependent on banking and finance (Iceland, Ireland, Britain, the U.S et al) is likely to find itself in a heap of trouble when the business cycle (in reality house price cycle) comes to an abrupt halt. A banking based economy isn't something to be proud of, in fact it's a bit of warning signal that things will go Pete Tong in the not to distant future.

Well it's a little hard to do anything but financial services when we cant concentrate on manufacturing because we dont have raw materials and we have a national minimum wage. This automatically makes our goods uncompetitive. Oh, who brought in the national minimum wage?

(Original post by chefdave)
If you're against the benefits culture as I am to be consistent you have to remove 'benefits' for the rich as well as the poor. I totally agree that we should teenage mums leeching off the state, but lets look into the other ways the government wastes our money too.

What benefits do the rich receive from the Government??

[billydisco]

(Original post by original_username)
So "we need to deter living on benefits".

If you ignore the hysteria you would realise that people don't actually want to spend their life on benefits. It is amazing how many people actually think that. The media do a great job of running at least 1 story per week of one family living in an expensive house claiming 30K+ for their 10 kids though.

I only read the first post so don't know if you actually came up with any suggestions rather than just ranting but the tone of the OP means I'm not really intrigued to look.

Well for a start stop voting in left-wing Governments who get the country into £1 trillion of debt and then this money can be put to better use for providing training/education/jobs to those who dont have anything.

Which is what I said in my original post.....

[OU Student]

(Original post by billydisco)

What benefits do the rich receive from the Government??

It would depend on their situation; but non-income based benefits like child benefit (for now) and disability living allowance. For those out of work, they may be entitled to contributions based JSA or employment support allowance. And then there's the non-monetary benefits, such as free prescriptions, etc.

[billydisco]

(Original post by chefdave)
Yep, the Land Value Tax is the economic silver bullet. It'll make housing affordable, redistribute monopolised land and reduce our dependence on dodgy financial products devised by the City. But we'll never adopt it because there are just too many V.I's. At least when the proles were proper peasants they knew who was to blame for the plight: landowners. Nowadays we've allowed neoliberal economiststo bamboozle us into a state of apathy.

I fully intend on taking advantage of the next housing related land bubble. As far as our economy is concerned there's only one game in town.

Why is it any solution from a leftie has to involve "tax"?

Seriously- it's not even funny anymore......

Do you know why lefties have to keep suggesting "tax"? Because tax is a way of preventing nature from running it's course. It's like a handicap in golf, someone is too good a player so you have to try and handicap them. A rich person is successful therefore tax the hell out of them to give to the single mum.....

It doesnt really do much good for a country....

[Bonged.]

(Original post by Kibalchich)
What do you mean by "Marxist"?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marxism

[billydisco]

(Original post by OU Student)
It would depend on their situation; but non-income based benefits like child benefit (for now) and disability living allowance. For those out of work, they may be entitled to contributions based JSA or employment support allowance.

I doubt the rich people either claim them actively or care if they were taken away.....

In other words, I doubt they get on the phone to the benefits office and ensure they receive these benefits once they resign from their £100k job.

[Kibalchich]

(Original post by billydisco)


What benefits do the rich receive from the Government??

All the infrastructure that enabled them to become rich, for a start.

[Kibalchich]

(Original post by Bonged.)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marxism

I'm asking you what you mean. I'm aware of what wikipedia says. Are you asking me if I'm a Marxist-Leninist or if I think Marx's analysis of capitalism was essentially correct? Or something else?

[Kibalchich]

(Original post by Bonged.)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marxism

Here's another IWCA article, see what you make of this one
http://www.iwca.info/?p=10145

[original_username]

(Original post by billydisco)
Well for a start stop voting in left-wing Governments who get the country into £1 trillion of debt and then this money can be put to better use for providing training/education/jobs to those who dont have anything.

Which is what I said in my original post.....

I remember some labour vitriol actually. The ranting and waffling probably took away from what you were trying to say.

You know as well as I do that power in this country will always fluctuate between labour and the tories so that isn't going to happen. What party is governing shouldn't really matter in terms of addressing the problems which have lead to too many people having no choice but to rely on welfare.

[Bonged.]

(Original post by Kibalchich)
I'm asking you what you mean. I'm aware of what wikipedia says. Are you asking me if I'm a Marxist-Leninist or if I think Marx's analysis of capitalism was essentially correct? Or something else?

Marxist-Leninist.

[Bonged.]

(Original post by Kibalchich)
Here's another IWCA article, see what you make of this one
http://www.iwca.info/?p=10145

Good stuff. Don't totally agree though. The "white working class" isn't politically important and their population is declining rapidly. That's why labour isn't interested.