Do we need Public Service Cuts?

[mintogrubb.livejournal.com]

In the Uk, we call CEOs 'Company Directors' - but the fact is , they still earn far more than the people at the bottom of the pay scale. i forget where i read it, to be honest, but I'm pretty sure that they used to earn about 20- 30 times as much as the people on the bottom a few decades back - but now in the UK, they earn almost 100 times as much as the poorest workers do.

the rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer. The problems happen when people like 'Fred the shred' take out loads of midddle layer people and pocket the difference. It isn't that the organisation got better, it's just that the workload for middle layer managers increased, and there was less payout on wages and salaries.

And for this, Fred gives himself a bonus.

now the Cameron government is in on the act. The "Big Society" simply means that one guy gets paid a few grand a year to mow the grass on the village playing field. the government fire him and get some other guy to do it on a voluntary basis, and the other guy goes on Welfare.

So, instead of paying a bit of income tax, he is now picking up taxpayers money instead - but the government is still saving money on one side of the balance sheet and not telling us the rest.

What ought to be happening is a big investment to keep people in work - useful, community based services instead of the arms industry, for sure, but paid employment trumps a welfare payout, right?

And this could be afforded if we closed the tax loopholes. The fact is that if you live in the UK, you can simply sign everything over to your wife, have yourself be paid a salary by a limited company that she owns, and stuff all the excess money into an off shore tax haven, where it collects minimum taxes and you can pick it up and take it with you when you choose to retire. I kid you not, this really happens.

A system whereby CEOs could only earn 10 times what their lowest paid worker earns would handle the wealth distribution problem better than taxing the rich directly- yes, let the bankers have a hundred grand in salaries and a big bonus besides - so long as the workers who make it happen share the wealth and get at least 10% of what the fat cats earn.

And why not close the tax loopholes too? Rather than closing schools and hospitals that serve the whole community, we should be closing tax loopholes that only serve the very rich. rather than putting people out of work, we should be putting our house in order and having a more equal pay scale, with less of a gap between the top and bottom earners in our society.

We are not all in this together - some of us are going first class and the rest of us are travelling in steerage.

Comments

Cute cherrypick, dude.

[squidb0i.livejournal.com]

We're not talking about hypothetical designed as flawed transactions like a million dollar pencil.

We're talking about the guy that turns his labor and skills and equipment into money that happens to have been originally taken in as taxes, and whether or not that man turned a profit, thereby generating wealth.

And we can clearly see that he did, given that you use a variation on the same transaction as your own positive example with the chair. Whether or not that money was originally ZOMG TAXES or not does not determine this. Whether there was a profit does. Basic capitalism.

"When the government spends on my behalf it's ignoring whether that's actually in my best interest."

Yeah, wow, it's almost like you're in some big group with a bunch of other people and we all have to pay in for our share and to compromise sometimes. Shit, someone should come up with a name for that. *implied facepalm*


"Indeed, there are plenty of examples of government giving money to a privileged few at the expense of the many."

I return to the 'user intent' argument so universally applicable, from firearms to cars to screwdrivers: the ability to use a tool for ill does not determine its inherent morality, nor does it outweigh quantifiable good done with same.

Now if you'll excuse me, I have to finish up doing my business taxes.
Any responses will likely be delayed until my posterior heals some from my visit to H+R Block.

Re: Economies are not closed systems, little mercantilist.

[foolsguinea.livejournal.com]

You're assuming that you can judge your best interest yourself.

Well. Your countrymen figured out that there are things the government can do more efficiently than a bunch of individuals--yes, more efficiently--and passed laws to do so.

Their judgment is probably as good as your own.