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The Politics Thread


Barrs Court Red

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Indeed, the "invisible hand" of the market seems mainly to flick the v's at us lot.

Which is probably why modestly renumerated, Somerset-based digital media consultants have to pay 20% of their operating profit in corporation tax, whilst Amazon UK can pay 0.02% of theirs, whilst treating people like virtual slaves in their warehouses.

You may enjoy this article, from well-known Marxist paper The Daily Telegraph:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/men/thinking-man/11109845/Why-arent-the-British-middle-classes-staging-a-revolution.html

Good article. I'm up for a riot.

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Is this true ?

I was lead to believe that something like 60% of the workforce worked at Small & Medium Enterprises ?

17% of businesses in UK are classed as SMEs, i.e. 10-250 employees, while 23% are micro-businesses- less than 10 employees. SMEs employ just under half the people employed, but to be fair if you take the private sector employed population it's significantly higher proportion. But point taken, it's not as big a slice as I implied. I would have to ask how many of those SMEs are reliant on multinationals in their supply change though (in either direction) and I would regard a company with 250 employees as being pretty significant
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I live in a small spacecraft orbiting the earth.

But seriously, all political parties are full of hot air. I really don't think any one party is going to make a radical difference to my life, not at the moment anyway.

perhaps if everyone like yourself who feels this way got involved in the grassroots of a political party you might be able to steadily bring about changes that suit you?

 

apathy. **** it.

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That'll be a few more on the dole then.

 

Or, without being a scaremongering, Mail reading propagandist, it could well be the injection that the economy needs and ensure that a larger proportion of the 'recovery' is actually felt and seen by the 99%.

 

A step in the right direction, but still (by 2020) going to be well short of a Living wage. 

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Or, without being a scaremongering, Mail reading propagandist, it could well be the injection that the economy needs and ensure that a larger proportion of the 'recovery' is actually felt and seen by the 99%.

 

A step in the right direction, but still (by 2020) going to be well short of a Living wage. 

 

Having the guts to stop Scots MP's voting on English issues and allowing the English to have equal rights with Scotland might help as well, but of course the loss of 41 potential MP's votes might be a stumbling block to get his policies through parliament, but his bumbling stance is going to be a big vote loser and England will see he is more interested in power than it's citizens.

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Did someone force you to take the job?

 

Nobody forced me to do anything but unlike many of the modern day young, back in the 1970's most people had a sense of pride in working to provide for their family and took jobs that they normally wouldn't and not just sponge off of the state.

 

Union closed shops were an abuse of human rights even back then, as was the practice of having part of the union levy going to one political party.

 

Does that answer your question?.

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Nobody forced me to do anything but unlike many of the modern day young, back in the 1970's most people had a sense of pride in working to provide for their family and took jobs that they normally wouldn't and not just sponge off of the state.

Union closed shops were an abuse of human rights even back then, as was the practice of having part of the union levy going to one political party.

Does that answer your question?.

Most union 'closed shop' work places back then paid better than the average back then though did they not? Don't get me wrong, I wholeheartedly agree that they are a breach of human rights and a counterproductive arrangement, but it wasn't all bad for those who found themselves within one
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I think the problems unions have today is getting people to attend the meetings, let alone getting them to do as they'd like. While I agree with the principals of unionism, I've generally found the practice of them to be rife with incompetence, a self-serving attitude and a complete disregard for the long- term benefit of their members. Obviously many of the privileges we enjoy in British workplaces are the direct result of union action in the past, but I never see that in workplace today

 

Sad but true.

 

The principle IS a noble one, however the reality is one of short term thinking.  Cadburys in Keynsham springs to mind. 

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I think the problems unions have today is getting people to attend the meetings, let alone getting them to do as they'd like. While I agree with the principals of unionism, I've generally found the practice of them to be rife with incompetence, a self-serving attitude and a complete disregard for the long- term benefit of their members. Obviously many of the privileges we enjoy in British workplaces are the direct result of union action in the past, but I never see that in workplace today

 

I agree, for instance I have never understood why union leaders are entitled to 6 figure wages, they should get the same basic wage as the people they represent + all out of pocket expenses IMO.

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I agree, for instance I have never understood why union leaders are entitled to 6 figure wages, they should get the same basic wage as the people they represent + all out of pocket expenses IMO.

I don't so much have a problem with the wages- they have quite high profile, high pressure jobs. But it really annoys me that (certainly in the case of my union) when I go on strike and lose a days wage, the employees of that union do not. I reckon that if you ask a workforce out on strike , the least you could do is donate a days pay to charity to demonstrate your solidarity
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But it comes down to politics really. You feel state interference is a negative, I feel it's a necessity

That's such an honest comment, and I thank you for it...but can you point to anything where the state does anything well, where it does anything better or more efficiently than the private sector.

The biggest issue we have with state/local authorities in this country is that they are employment schemes for those who wouldn't survive in the public sector.

My wife was a nurse, highly skilled and qualified as an SRN(RGN), RMN and at one stage in her career as a burns and reconstructive surgery sister, which was both hugely traumatic but also rewarding due to the absolute tragedy and personal distress she had to deal with, her last job was in elderly/mentally/infirm, dealing with mostly very disturbed people at the end of their lives.

She packed up two years ago after 35 years due to the politics, bureaucracy and trades union influence which she felt was a danger to both patients and staff.

We have too much state, too much tax and not enough local accountability, I had hoped Scotland would win last week because it would have been a concrete example of a diminishing state and decentralisation.

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