Does anything ever come down?

lazy&indebt

Pobby wrote:

Ah,but that`s the only bit of democracy left----the vote.The way I see it is unless a radical party gets to power{fat chance}we will only get more of the same.During Thatchers time ,people crowed about how they could buy a their council houses on the cheap.Well good for them, but many lost them when interest rates soared.Thatcher said that she was going to turn us all into capitalists.Sold off the privatised industries for a song so the general public could buy shares on the cheap and then cash them in for a good profit and then,oh dear,interest rates went through the roof ,15% at one point,homes and businesses reprossessed.Now mrs.t,she of the dodgy son, had the ``economic revolution``.Later on the loverly``Things can only get better`` boy Blair hits the scene----wow! are we gonna rock! It`s the end of boom and bust.

Along with his side kick--Hamish Mac Golden Clown he comes along with his ``economic miracle``,trouble is,it was all based on retail spending.Spending which has got a loada folks in the s h 1 t!Cause when ya house goes up weall feel rich.Yes and folks saw their houses like atm machines.Oh my house has gone up 30k this year----let`s have the new beamer!

Now we have a stupid situation of massive debt in this country,houses which are by and large unaffordable to young people who are forced to go into,often,dodgy accomodation,again often chucked out by the landlord because he has to sell his buy -to - let portfolia else he goes bust.

Some,I am sure have prospered,but many decent working people have or will suffer.

What I am afraid of,is that there is a deliberate policy designed to create an under class.The average working Joe,like me,is feeling a little sick when I talk to people who don`t work,won`t work and are not much worse off than me.Ok,I own my own home which is worth what ever,but I am no richer.I run a very micro business which is doing far worse than it was 2 years ago.I have no debt bar 5k left on the mortgage yet I feel worse off than i did 25 years ago.

The 10`s of thousands commited into a pension will be just a bet better than nothing.Why have I saved,I expect my pension will be worth a little more than the tax credits I could have got.

Anyway,sorry for the rant.I am off to a dark room and taking a little lay down

---

lol!

Hope you are feeling better after your lay down!

My question is, will there ever be that 'radical party'? Will Britain just keep getting worse and worse? Are people like you and I going to get so fed up with it all that we decide, 'if you can't beat them, join them' pack up our jobs and live off the state? Or is emigration the only way out?!!
Another thing I don't understand (forgive me for being naive) is that if you were inpower, and you knew all your citizens hated you and thought your policies were complete crud, wouldn't you try to do something about it? If only to please the majority?

Jim_B_3

I was radical but nobody ever agreed with me, so I gave it up. I wanted to make it impossible to own land, the removal of (almost) all welfare and the introduction of a basic income for all. People's minds exploded with the juxtaposition of 'right' and 'left' views in the same political opinion.

Anyway, I've noticed my rent go down a bit recently. That's cheaper.

MABLE

I bought my first Ferguson Video Star video recorder back in 1980 and cost £600.0. You can now get recorders for about £50.00 and are capable of doing alot more than the machine I had bought.
Also in the 1970's a loaf of bread was about 40p and now you can buy as cheap at 9p.

Anastacia

Interest rates are lower, good if you are borrowing, not so good if lending.

Grocery shopping can be a lot cheaper than it used to be. We thought nothing of spending £100 per week for a family of 4 in 1989 but now I spend around £50 for my own family of 4 (less pre made food & out of season produce).

DVD players for £19.99. Jeans fro £3.

I would think you need to be pretty young not to think most things are cheaper here now, in real terms.
Friends in Greece & Holland come here to shop.
It helps not to drink or smoke as well.

Its just as well they are a lot cheaper as well as you need every penny you earn if you ever want a house or a tank of petrol.

Dan29

Anastacia wrote:

It helps not to drink or smoke as well.

Although I'm sure that when I was 18 (12 years ago) 4 cans of Stella Artois was £4 - which is roughly the price today, even though the cans are bigger :beer:

MrsTinks

Just a point for comparison... Denmark
Small country some years ago the debt of the country was growing so much that we couldn't even pay of the interest the COUNTRY owed to the international bank thingy so the goverment said "let's tighten the belt guys". Income tax: ranges from 45% to a high 64%... yup really... 64%!!! But don't worry the legal minimum wage is £6-7 per hour

Vat is a light 25%.

In 2004 you could buy a lovely new car pretty cheaply in Denmark, infact one of the cheapest European countries to buy one in! Unless you wanna drive it in Denmark. Then it will cost you a cool 180% of the vehicles purchase price to put a license plate on it...

Currently I think Annual Car tax works out at about £250 for your average family saloon. Although no doubt that has goen up too

Yeah we have it hard in the UK

Ok ok I take the point that the public transport in Denmark is really really good (or was... Arriva recently won contracts there for some of the services DUH!) the healthservice isn't too bad. The roads - well they're roads. Food is roughly the same - somethings cheaper, some more expensive.

Property however seems to be generally slightly cheaper... geee bet that makes my parents feel real chuffed

MrsTinks

Oh dear did I forget that you also have to pay £120 for you actual license plate (yeah the 180% tax doesn't cover that - wait this will all get even better... you have to pay TAX on your TAX oh yeah! that car? You buy it for x amount, pay £120 +180% tax and THEN you get your VAT on top of that total... grand huh?