The 2015 Popularity Contest (aka UK General Election )

Milk · January 20, 2015

Joey66 said:
Good grief - you will be saying John Bishop is good next!

Nah .....but Stan Boardman on the other hand .....

Joey66 · January 20, 2015

Milk said:
Nah .....but Stan Boardman on the other hand .....

Never taken to the big mouth barman - he is on holiday at the time of the general election anyway just a stupid stunt - he is!

Clint Planet · January 20, 2015

Bruce Wayne said:
Taking a snapshot of something is interesting but not really very useful in understanding things. What causes wealth to be distributed in such a way? How has it changed over the years? What has contributed to that change? What is a desirable level of distribution? How can that be achieved?

What do you care? Seriously, you've said before you know little about inequality so I'm assuming you just don't care about arguably the biggest single issue in world politics right now.

There's a lot of talk about the so called 1%, but very little seems to be said about why things are the way they are, how it's bad, what can be done about it etc.

"The so called 1%" ha ha.

I note that you seem to be blaming the poor for not having answers to their own misfortune, by the way. Nice.

Bruce Wayne · January 20, 2015

If I don't know much about a subject I tend to ask questions. I'm not sure how you can equate that to not caring. Confirmation bias?

Clint Planet · January 20, 2015

Bruce Wayne said:
If I don't know much about a subject I tend to ask questions. I'm not sure how you can equate that to not caring. Confirmation bias?

Posts which contain no acknowledgment that it should be viewed as a serious issue and something we should be outraged about. Comments like "the so called 1%"

You know. That sort of thing.

Bruce Wayne · January 20, 2015

Me being outraged isn't really going to help matters is it? Understanding why it happens, what causes it, what the consequences are, what can be done about it etc. seem more valid questions than why aren't I sat at home foaming at the mouth about it.

Clint Planet · January 20, 2015

Bruce Wayne said:
Me being outraged isn't really going to help matters is it? Understanding why it happens, what causes it, what the consequences are, what can be done about it etc. seem more valid questions than why aren't I sat at home foaming at the mouth about it.

I'm confused though. Have these questions never occurred to you before? I find it incredible that someone with such a keen interest in politics - someone whose line of work demands an interest in politics - can have little or no interest in inequality and claim to know nothing about it.

Bruce Wayne · January 20, 2015

Clint Planet said:
I'm confused though. Have these questions never occurred to you before? I find it incredible that someone with such a keen interest in politics - someone whose line of work demands an interest in politics - can have little or no interest in inequality and claim to know nothing about it.

I've got some ideas on what could possibly be causing it, but it's a rather complex topic. My work is primarily around organisational efficiency, so inequality doesn't come into it a great deal. I'll have to read Piketty's book and report back, I hear that covers the topic reasonably well.

Clint Planet · January 20, 2015

Don't forget the Ragged Trousered Philanthropists and The Road to Wigan Pier. And stay away from that idiot, Ayn Rand.

The Esk · January 20, 2015

The world is looking at wealth distribution through the wrong end of the telescope.

The issue is not the wealth of the wealthiest, it is the poverty of the poorest.

Why do I say that as someone with socialist principles? Most wealth is created initially through commercial success of one form or another. When you start a business you can never guess as to how big it may become, so to a large extent your wealth creation is in the hands of others. It is the markets that determine the size of your success.

However the poor do not have that luxury, and this is where the problem lies. If you are born with nothing, and have no means of creating income (through employment) or wealth (through business) then you will always be poor. Depending upon where you live that means living on benefits in the UK or more commonly throughout the world, subsistence (or below) living with no health care or education for your children.

The focus has to be on income and wealth creation among the poorest and that can only be achieved by taxation or if not politically possible, voluntary giving by the rich.

The wealthy have to invest in the poor, offering education and learning resources which lead to income opportunities for workers and business opportunities for poor entrepreneurs. The fact that they have failed to do so to date, suggests this can only be achieved through taxation and Government and focused NGO participation.

Clint Planet · January 20, 2015

http://www.equalitytrust.org.uk/about-inequality

Bruce Wayne · January 20, 2015

Clint Planet said:
Don't forget the Ragged Trousered Philanthropists and The Road to Wigan Pier. And stay away from that idiot, Ayn Rand.

I've read Wigan Pier, and indeed the likes of Captive State and Silent Takeover. Still far from a cut and shut case or something that's easy to resolve. I'm not sure the questions I posed earlier have an absolute answer (for instance).

On the post @the esk makes above, there have obviously been things like the microfinance movement that appears to have done some outstanding work, but I couldn't tell you if that has made a difference to financial inequality?

I wrote about these guys a few months ago that try and do the kind of thing Esk talks about - https://forcommoncause.org/

Might be worth exploring further. Undoubtedly a good thing, but does it budge inequality? I couldn't say.

Clint Planet · January 21, 2015

You need to watch this, too:

TRAILER

FULL MOVIE

https://archive.org/details/dom-134930-lifedebt

Bruce Wayne · January 21, 2015

rascal · January 21, 2015

Greed is good, I like greed. Selfishness is the foundation on which this great country of ours was built.

The 2015 Popularity Contest (aka UK General Election )

Who will you be voting for?

Tory

Diet Tory (Labour)

Tory Zero (Greens)

Extra Tory with lemon (UKIP)

Lib Dems

Other

Cheese on toast

Milk

Udderly delicious

Joey66

Player Valuation: £150m

Clint Planet

Utter Cad.

Bruce Wayne

Player Valuation: £100m

Clint Planet

Utter Cad.

Bruce Wayne

Player Valuation: £100m

Clint Planet

Utter Cad.

Bruce Wayne

Player Valuation: £100m

Clint Planet

Utter Cad.

The Esk

Player Valuation: £70m

Clint Planet

Utter Cad.

Bruce Wayne

Player Valuation: £100m

Clint Planet

Utter Cad.

Bruce Wayne

Player Valuation: £100m

rascal

Player Valuation: £60m