Re: Housing : Thu Dec 05, 2013 11:05 am  

Mintball wrote:

:FRUSRATED:

??

Re: Housing : Thu Dec 05, 2013 12:22 pm  

BobbyD wrote:

10 years ago we had foodbanks. Before that I remember my Gran getting tins of "meat" (among other stuff) given to her, which she lovingly gave to us, which we lovingly gave to the dogs. (There didn't seem to be any sort of requirement needs taken into account, more, "You're a pensioner, have this")
Before that I remember the Harvest Festival at church where people donated food which was doled out to the community.
I suppose in an ideal world we wouldn't have foodbanks, but then we wouldn't have "Children in Need", the RSPCA etc etc. perhaps the Trussell Trust should find it's own equivalent of a one eyed bear or get people to sit in a bath of beans for a day every 12 months.

Exactly. There has always been, and will always be an Income Gap. "Rich as Croesus" was a popular expression from 500 BC Greece.There are those individuals who inherit fortunes or create wealth and provide employment, and there is a great rump of people happy to turn up daily and get paid for their labours. It matters not a jot to most people, that there are people in the City earning 7 figure bonuses, apart from a wish that they themselves were bright enough to have such a job. Envy, is a perfectly natural emotion, but when that becomes your raison d'etre, then you are never going to be a happy chappy, wherever you are on the social/financial scale.

The only people still whinging in Political terms about the unfairness of life, are those misguided enough in their youth to hitch their star to Communism, and 20 years after its collapse, have not come to terms with it. In amongst that sullen band will be a few old Socialists, who hark back to their glory days of Scargill and his like, and miss the destructive negative ability they once had to hold society to ransom. But not their Union member funded perks of course....expect to pay the going rent on a London flat?.... How Dare You Sir!

We are still a fairly affluent country, we spend many millions on aid abroad, are amongst the first to respond in any disasters, and if there are foodbanks being provided in the UK for those people who need them, then surely that simply underlines that we live in a caring society?

Christ, even Coddy has a new van!

Re: Housing : Thu Dec 05, 2013 1:15 pm  

BobbyD wrote:

??

In effect, you say that: 'Oh well, it's always been like that and always will be', in which case, why try to improve the lot of one's fellow citizens?

Given who has agreed with your post, perhaps that tells you something.

Re: Housing : Thu Dec 05, 2013 1:25 pm  

rumpelstiltskin wrote:

Exactly. There has always been, and will always be an Income Gap. "Rich as Croesus" was a popular expression from 500 BC Greece.There are those individuals who inherit fortunes or create wealth and provide employment, and there is a great rump of people happy to turn up daily and get paid for their labours. It matters not a jot to most people, that there are people in the City earning 7 figure bonuses, apart from a wish that they themselves were bright enough to have such a job. Envy, is a perfectly natural emotion, but when that becomes your raison d'etre, then you are never going to be a happy chappy, wherever you are on the social/financial scale.

The only people still whinging in Political terms about the unfairness of life, are those misguided enough in their youth to hitch their star to Communism, and 20 years after its collapse, have not come to terms with it. In amongst that sullen band will be a few old Socialists, who hark back to their glory days of Scargill and his like, and miss the destructive negative ability they once had to hold society to ransom. But not their Union member funded perks of course....expect to pay the going rent on a London flat?.... How Dare You Sir!

We are still a fairly affluent country, we spend many millions on aid abroad, are amongst the first to respond in any disasters, and if there are foodbanks being provided in the UK for those people who need them, then surely that simply underlines that we live in a caring society?

Christ, even Coddy has a new van!

Excellent post.

There seem to be a lot of negative posters on these forums. The types that will always focus on the negatives in even the most positive stories. Very sad.

Re: Housing : Thu Dec 05, 2013 2:36 pm  

Ajw71 wrote:

Excellent post.

There seem to be a lot of negative posters on these forums. The types that will always focus on the negatives in even the most positive stories. Very sad.

Got any answers to all the questions you've been asked?

Oh look – already run away again.

Re: Housing : Thu Dec 05, 2013 5:57 pm  

Mintball wrote: There's plenty of money to invest. Just not in housing. Mintball - you are all for lessons in simple economics. As Mrs Merkel pointed out last year Europe has 7% of the world's population, 25% of global GDP and 50% of global social spending. Some questions for you: What do you think will happen if that state of affairs is not addressed? Do you think it's fair that we have so much of the cake when others have so little? Do you really think that the global cake will expand to c.7 times its current level in the short-term so that we can justify that level of spending based on your concept of what's fair?

Mintball wrote: There's plenty of money to invest. Just not in housing. Mintball - you are all for lessons in simple economics. As Mrs Merkel pointed out last year Europe has 7% of the world's population, 25% of global GDP and 50% of global social spending. Some questions for you: What do you think will happen if that state of affairs is not addressed? Do you think it's fair that we have so much of the cake when others have so little? Do you really think that the global cake will expand to c.7 times its current level in the short-term so that we can justify that level of spending based on your concept of what's fair?

Re: Housing : Thu Dec 05, 2013 7:35 pm  

Come on Dally – you can do better than that.

If you really believe what you imply here, then you'll obviously object to a very small minority of the UK population having so much of the nation's wealth.

Re: Housing : Thu Dec 05, 2013 9:33 pm  

Mintball wrote:

Come on Dally – you can do better than that.

If you really believe what you imply here, then you'll obviously object to a very small minority of the UK population having so much of the nation's wealth.

Come on Mintball - that was poor. As you well know, I was implicitly referring to you obsession with inequality. So, if you object to it you'll be happy for the UK and the rest of Europe to have a much smaller share of the cake.

Re: Housing : Thu Dec 05, 2013 11:39 pm  

Dally wrote:

Come on Mintball - that was poor. As you well know, I was implicitly referring to you obsession with inequality. So, if you object to it you'll be happy for the UK and the rest of Europe to have a much smaller share of the cake.

You first need to define "social spending"

Re: Housing : Fri Dec 06, 2013 6:40 am  

Dally wrote:

Come on Mintball - that was poor. As you well know, I was implicitly referring to you obsession with inequality. So, if you object to it you'll be happy for the UK and the rest of Europe to have a much smaller share of the cake.

There's no "obsession".

And you're another one who dodges the main questions. Since there is evidence that the greater the income gap the worse the social outcomes for ALL, what do you think should be done about it, or would you prefer to do nothing and simply be able to continue whinging about the said social outcomes whenever news stories about them arise?

The bulk of the world's wealth is concentrated in a relatively few hands. That's shouldn't be a cause for celebration.

It should not be beyond the whit of man to build more sustainable economies across the world.

The only reason we cannot at present 'feed the world' is, at core, greed, short-termism and downright fucknuttery.

It would take some attitude changes, but it doesn't mean a "smaller share" of some imaginary cake – with shares divvied out by whom? The banks and financial institutions that are a large part of the problem?