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Barbienomics or Why Britain Should Make Less
Comments
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What proportion of FTSE 100 Ceos were privately educated. I believe it is over 80%.
The biggest decline in independently educated people was among FTSE 100 chief executives: in 1987, 70 per cent were from private schools; by 2007 this figure had dropped to 54 per cent.
http://www.suttontrust.com/news/news/the-educational-backgrounds-of-500-leading-figures/Not saying it is impossible to make it from humble beginnings, just that it is not exactly a level playing field if you wish to do it legally.
And yet, most of the top 50 richest businessmen/women in the World were born into middle class or poverty.
We live in the most meritocratic times in history.
Sure, a good education can help, as can access to capital, but time after time people prove that great things can be done from very humble beginnings.“The great enemy of the truth is very often not the lie – deliberate, contrived, and dishonest – but the myth, persistent, persuasive, and unrealistic.
Belief in myths allows the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought.”
-- President John F. Kennedy”0 -
Some even made their money legitimately :eek:
One of the reasons the few do make it is they have nothing to lose in the first place, so why not go for it. Others are gamblers and sometimes gambles pay off.
Don't dispute that some of them also worked very hard.
What a lot of them will have is the wish to exploit consumers, workers, commercial situations etc. to maximise gain. Too much I and me rather than we and us.
Jobs certainly cynically exploited consumers IMO but then he gave them what they thought they wanted. Others will say he was a breathe of fresh air."If you act like an illiterate man, your learning will never stop... Being uneducated, you have no fear of the future.".....
"big business is parasitic, like a mosquito, whereas I prefer the lighter touch, like that of a butterfly. "A butterfly can suck honey from the flower without damaging it," "Arunachalam Muruganantham0 -
Here's what society needs
Good care facilities for the vulnerable; - basicalaly us when we're getting on in years.
Good secure schools with a staff to pupil ratio that will meet students needs.
Leisure facilities where people can pass time. Doesn't have to be sports.
Transport efficient enough so you don't feel you need to use the car.
Good and varied affordable food and drink
Speedy efficent medical care.
A society policed well enough so we can be secure and safe.
Higher education that's flexible, affordable and available at a distance.
Good social housing we can afford and a strong renatal sector to compete with the owner-occupier sector.
I think I agree but tell me how long it will be before the haves in our society have a different agenda.
For example, do the underlass they are happily allowing to be created really need to be educated? Is allowing the poor to live long enough to use the care facilities something to be encouraged or will they ration healthcare based on ability to pay? Is it necessary to provide safe and secure areas apart from in the areas the haves live. Maybe London could become an area designated for the haves, the uneducated culturally unaware could be exiled to other areas and bused in to meet their needs?
Thirty years ago I would have thought this absurd, now I think its only unlikely.Few people are capable of expressing with equanimity opinions which differ from the prejudices of their social environment. Most people are incapable of forming such opinions.0 -
grizzly1911 wrote: »One of the reasons the few do make it is they have nothing to lose in the first place, so why not go for it. Others are gamblers and sometimes gambles pay off.
Don't dispute that some of them also worked very hard.
What a lot of them will have is the wish to exploit consumers, workers, commercial situations etc. to maximise gain. Too much I and me rather than we and us.
Jobs certainly cynically exploited consumers IMO but then he gave them what they thought they wanted. Others will say he was a breathe of fresh air.
Agreed. I can respect someone who invents something and makes a lot of money from the idea. But some entrepreneurs succeed by forming companies that go bust which they then buy up the assets and form new companies and could not care less who suffers from their immoral actions.Few people are capable of expressing with equanimity opinions which differ from the prejudices of their social environment. Most people are incapable of forming such opinions.0 -
The fancy trainers, pricey phone packages, byzantine financial products,chelsea tractors and updated gaming machines we seem to be pouring our efforts into are pretty much a distraction. They should be a minor part of the economy we can indulge in when we've sorted the important stuff.
One payoff would be we could all have more time to spend with our loved ones and less feeling of regrets at funerals
Just think of the resources we are wasting producing the stuff too. resources that will be needed in the future.
Heard on the R4 yesterday a commentator saying one of the biggest regrets, from a survey from driven bosses, was not spending time with their kids."If you act like an illiterate man, your learning will never stop... Being uneducated, you have no fear of the future.".....
"big business is parasitic, like a mosquito, whereas I prefer the lighter touch, like that of a butterfly. "A butterfly can suck honey from the flower without damaging it," "Arunachalam Muruganantham0 -
http://www.smh.com.au/business/barbienomics-the-reality-of-manufacturing-20110831-1jl6y.html
So do you want 40% or 4% of the value added?
yeah, but, well, it's not as simple as that is it.
take Dyson vacuum cleaners as an example. they're pretty much all 'made' overseas. this doesn't matter so much.
the R&D and whatnot takes place here & and the [rather modest, since we're not talking about a mega-company here] profits mostly end up back in the UK. but none of this would be true if the company hadn't started off with a british guy knocking stuff up in his shed.
whilst the people protesting against chinese imports are indeed wrong, it'd be even more wrong to kid oneself that a country can prosper through its population borrowing progressively bigger amounts of money in order to buy houses from each other. that's just a pyramid scheme. exporting financial services & whatnot is fine, but just borrowing is, well,...FACT.0 -
grizzly1911 wrote: »Just think of the resources we are wasting producing the stuff too. resources that will be needed in the future.
Heard on the R4 yesterday a commentator saying one of the biggest regrets, from a survey from driven bosses, was not spending time with their kids.the_flying_pig wrote: »whilst the people protesting against chinese imports are indeed wrong, it'd be even more wrong to kid oneself that a country can prosper through its population borrowing progressively bigger amounts of money in order to buy houses from each other. that's just a pyramid scheme. exporting financial services & whatnot is fine, but just borrowing is, well,...
We're being encouraged to overconsume in a world that can't support it.
I'm neither a communist nor an envirnmentalist but I can spot a mile off that we're in an usustainable situation that could collapse at any time.
I've got kids and maybe one day they'll have kids and I'd like to pass on a world worth living in to them.
There is no honour to be had in not knowing a thing that can be known - Danny Baker0 -
I wonder how much it would increase the price of a Dyson if it was made in the UK? They already cost 2 or 3 times their competition.the_flying_pig wrote: »yeah, but, well, it's not as simple as that is it.
take Dyson vacuum cleaners as an example. they're pretty much all 'made' overseas. this doesn't matter so much.
the R&D and whatnot takes place here & and the [rather modest, since we're not talking about a mega-company here] profits mostly end up back in the UK. but none of this would be true if the company hadn't started off with a british guy knocking stuff up in his shed.
whilst the people protesting against chinese imports are indeed wrong, it'd be even more wrong to kid oneself that a country can prosper through its population borrowing progressively bigger amounts of money in order to buy houses from each other. that's just a pyramid scheme. exporting financial services & whatnot is fine, but just borrowing is, well,...0 -
I wonder how much it would increase the price of a Dyson if it was made in the UK? They already cost 2 or 3 times their competition.
I have owned three dysons. I actually liked them a lot. Most recent one is perhaps three years old and still had an aluminium extending wand. It is powerful and cleans better than a few others we have had..
Brought one for MIL about a year later and the build quality had gone down markedly really cheap plastic and feel, including the wand.
My belief is that it is probably priced at twice what it should be I really can't believe their R&D is that high these days apart from away to extract even more profit out of it."If you act like an illiterate man, your learning will never stop... Being uneducated, you have no fear of the future.".....
"big business is parasitic, like a mosquito, whereas I prefer the lighter touch, like that of a butterfly. "A butterfly can suck honey from the flower without damaging it," "Arunachalam Muruganantham0 -
We're being encouraged to overconsume in a world that can't support it.
I'm neither a communist nor an envirnmentalist but I can spot a mile off that we're in an usustainable situation that could collapse at any time.
I've got kids and maybe one day they'll have kids and I'd like to pass on a world worth living in to them.
Me too, I wonder if it is an age thing? Probably is in my case.:("If you act like an illiterate man, your learning will never stop... Being uneducated, you have no fear of the future.".....
"big business is parasitic, like a mosquito, whereas I prefer the lighter touch, like that of a butterfly. "A butterfly can suck honey from the flower without damaging it," "Arunachalam Muruganantham0
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