The Uneven Distribution of wealth in Britain - Page 2

ahwell · 09-09-2006, 09:17 PM

Well i for one am definately worse off than i was ten years ago. Working in the public sector doesent pay that well anyway but the so called pay rises are not even laughable. I personally have taken a pay cut without my consent of course.

Sid · 09-10-2006, 02:59 AM

I thought we were talking about the way the standard of living has increased over the years. You know what I mean; even those on benefits being able to afford to buy DVD's and go out on the piss. A hundred years ago you had to sell your kids into prostitution to make a living. And we complain about getting a pay rise below the rate of inflation.

So if you think you've been hard done by because you think you've not had the perks you think you should have, read some history, it humbles some..... others.....??

The Relic · 09-10-2006, 01:30 PM

With respect Sid, it's you who's missing the point. The fact that such a huge proportion of the country's wealth is concentrated in very few hands means that not only do they accrue the power associated with such wealth but they prevent its value from being available to the classes that generated it in the first place.

Ever wonder why the French State Health Service is so much, ahem, healthier than ours? It's because one of the legacies of their revolutions is that a far greater proportion of the national wealth is in circulation and available for public use. There are concentrations of cash there, but to a far lesser extent than in our class-ridden "me" society. Were our society similarly endowed we wouldn't be talking about the NHS being in crisis and actually sending our overspill to France, and we would be perfectly happy for it to employ vast numbers, as that would help drive the economy.

It's true that we are better off than those in previous centuries, but that's because the ruling elite require our mass consumption to drive their unfair skim-off-all-the-cream economy. The shame is, that it makes people less aware of the benefits of wealth that they should be enjoying, given that it's their graft and expertise produced it in the first place.

ahwell · 09-10-2006, 09:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sid

[color="DarkSlateBlue"]I thought we were talking about the way the standard of living has increased over the years.

I thought i was talking how my standard of living had decreased over the last ten years not over the last one or two hundred years. Why not dip suspected witches again ? Now theres some sport.

Sid · 09-10-2006, 09:33 PM

On 6 March 2003, the employers offered a cumulative 16% pay increase over three years,
linked to modernisation,

So you didn't see any benefit from this inflation busting increase?

ahwell · 09-10-2006, 09:34 PM

Absolutely none.....

Sid · 09-10-2006, 09:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Relic

With respect Sid, it's you who's missing the point. The fact that such a huge proportion of the country's wealth is concentrated in very few hands means that not only do they accrue the power associated with such wealth but they prevent its value from being available to the classes that generated it in the first place.
.

And I was showing that that has always be the way it is and the gap between the richest and the poorest in society has narrowed in as short a period of time as 100 years or so. If you want to think of things in terms of our own short lives that's okay, our children's lives are far more comfortable now than ours were. They have a TV in every room, computer games, computers, and all the gadgets technology has brought.
What do we do of an evening now? Have access to more information than can be taken in in 5 lifetimes never mind one. What access to information or means of entertainment did your parents have?
Going down to the pub of a Saturday night, reading the paper and watching the news, then getting payed a few quid a week and thinking themselves lucky if they could afford a holiday at Butlins.

So if you think in the short term that the amount of money you get has gone down, change the way you think and think in the long term and count your blessings.

I'm not saying there isn't a small minority of people who have the majority of the wealth in this country, I was just saying the gap is narrowing, which it is.
And if you think France is so good why not go and live there?

Sid · 09-10-2006, 09:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ahwell

Absolutely none.....

Good answer!

There's not a lot I can say to that, except, maybe your outgoings have increased beyond what your pay rise will pay for.

ahwell · 09-10-2006, 10:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sid

Good answer!

There's not a lot I can say to that, except, maybe your outgoings have increased beyond what your pay rise will pay for.

Sid I didnt get a pay rise and the modernisation you refer to and the Inflation busting 16% is the reason why. Nothing extra was ever paid in to local authority coffers to pay for a wage increase it was just a paper exercise. What happened is that fire brigade employees who had enhanced pay for over fifteen years service were stripped of it over a period of three years to bring some people with maybe two years in up to the same rate of pay. So in actual fact it didnt cost the rate payer a penny more than they were already paying. It did me. As for modernisation change that to cuts in public service.

Bruv · 09-10-2006, 11:33 PM

I dont understand economics....but I always thought Old money was bad and new money was good.
By this I mean inherited money that lays dormant in property etc. and is not actually working is a waste.....while new money that is generated by entrepenures (SP) that is circulating as wages and spending money helps us all.