Will things ever get easier for the common man?

TruckerT

JayBrun wrote: »

I didn't give up, simply realised it wasn't going to happen and would have caused more problems than it would have solved

Nah, you just got old...

TruckerT

JayBrun

TruckerT wrote: »

Nah, you just got old...

TruckerT

I did get older, hopefully wiser, but I stopped before it engulfed me and those close to me .

Ilya_Ilyich

lvader wrote: »

It amazes me that people think we have it bad now, maybe compared to the credit driven growth last decade. In the seventies my dad worked as a scientist and both my mum and dad has extra part time jobs, but we had a council house, couldn't afford a car and could barely afford a crappy caravan holiday one every couple of years. People on benefits live better than most hard working people in other times.

One of the major issues is inequality. Quality of life is probably improving over time in Britain, yes. However what's coming with it is a rapid increase in inequality; as our national wealth increases more and more of it goes to the wealthy. If we use maximum consumption as a proxy for quality of life then apportioning more wealth to the wealthy (who have a lower marginal propensity to consume) means we're essentially getting less 'bang for our buck' and increasing overall quality of life more slowly than we could be.

Obviously there are multiple sides on the issue. For example there are plenty who would essentially take the stance that as long as quality of life is generally improving at some rate then it doesn't matter that it could be improving much faster - who cares if CEO compensation is up 50% year-on-year or the wealthy avoid billions in taxes, when (as Graham points out) everyone and has brother has an iPhone? Or to continue the Apple theme, who cares if they're sit on billions in cash while their workers are paid pennies for working in sweatshop conditions so bad they have to be locked in to prevent suicides - at least they have jobs!

There's also the stance that it's necessary for this kind of wealth transfer to take place in order for the rich (who are the truly productive) to create employment and wealth in the first place, and if we tried to reduce their share of the wealth we'd end up worse overall. The figures don't seem to back this up (US data as I'm too lazy to find similar for the UK). Further this relies somewhat on high social mobility - if the point of low taxation on the rich is that they're smart and hard-working and create wealth, then our system should make it easy for the productive and hard-working to become rich. But the UK has some of the worst social mobility around - if you're rich it's probably because of the situation you were born into. Why is it necessary then to avoid taxation on people simply because they were born wealthy? This also partly addresses the 'well just work harder/buy some shares/be less lazy' argument - it's becoming more and more difficult to succeed in this way; barriers to entry are increasing and it's in the interest of the wealthy to keep up the idea that it's the fault of the masses that they're benefiting less than they could be, rather than of the rich who're actually accumulating the wealth.

e: I think the age point is an interesting one too - aside from the documented increase in (small-c) conservatism as people age, we're in a situation where those who grew in an age of greater equality and lower barriers to entry have taken advantage of it to accumulate wealth for themselves and are now acting to prevent the youth of today from having the same opportunities.

TruckerT

If it is true that wealth is slipping away from the 'person in the street' to the person in the boardroom, then to what extent is that process assisted by post-grammar-school systems of education?

There was a letter in yesterday's times from somebody who had witnessed a teenager training another teenager in how to operate a till. There was a button to be pressed which would say how much change was due, but if the button would not work, then the till operator would have to guess

Not long ago, in Wetherspoons, it was announced that there was a problem with the tills which meant that customers could only be served if they had the right money. My friend's bill came to £5.13, and he offerred £10.13, but he was turned away, and the beer (already poured) went to waste

How can people like these be expected to compete?

TruckerT

tescobabe69

pfpf wrote: »

everytime we go out and pass "eateries" they are always PACKED, even midweek early afternoons.

nando's, pizza hut, harvester, McD's, F&B etc etc.

how hard can it be?

Dont be silly, all those people eating overpriced rubbish (in the main) and drinking coffee at £2/3 a throw are of course all solicitors/bankers/ etc. those are the places you go to when you have real money.
Next time you see the bloated ones staggering out after their calorie fest, lighting up their fag, be assured they are the capitalist pigs living off the backs of the workers.

sheffield_lad

millions have forgot that hard work earns rewards, these days people want what other people have but will not sacrifice their time to self educate or work harder they just think he's got it I want it too.

All this cup half full life is rubbish is no good either you have to be positive in life and anyone who thinks we can keep the status quo ie , bloated public sector, pensions are sticking their heads in the sand.

Ilya_Ilyich

howee wrote: »

millions have forgot that hard work earns rewards, these days people want what other people have but will not sacrifice their time to self educate or work harder they just think he's got it I want it too.

All this cup half full life is rubbish is no good either you have to be positive in life and anyone who thinks we can keep the status quo ie , bloated public sector, pensions are sticking their heads in the sand.

Got anything non-anecdotal to support this?

Going4TheDream

tescobabe69 wrote: »

Dont be silly, all those people eating overpriced rubbish (in the main) and drinking coffee at £2/3 a throw are of course all solicitors/bankers/ etc. those are the places you go to when you have real money.
Next time you see the bloated ones staggering out after their calorie fest, lighting up their fag, be assured they are the capitalist pigs living off the backs of the workers.

And all the people I see hanging outside Wetherspoons at 09.30 waiting for a beer are unemployed....which all tax payers are funding......


So your point is exacly?

sheffield_lad

Only my own view, I have worked 6 days a week for the last 15yrs, I have only ever had 4 days ill off work since I was 16, I have poured money into sharesaves and spent hours researching shares to put my money into as well as going back to uni in my 30's for a degree after leaving school with nothing.

wymondham

I got fed up with fours years of no wage rise whilst the directors cars got newer and bigger whilst their weeks got shorter ... I'm now self-employed. Just really saying that if you don't like it then only one person can change it - life is too short to get bitter...