One of the fundamental problems with the world today

[Hampus Andersson]

Staggering...

If this doesn´t make you react in any way i bet a doctor would classify you as a vegetable.

...or you are one of the people on "the other side".

 

[William Levesque]

No, I'll tell you the problem:

Mankind, no other.

 

[Craig Stevenson]

hmm, can't really say I see the point of that, what is the alternative, redistribute the worlds wealth so that everyone has exactly the same?

There are things that I see as just plain wrong, paying for Water and Power are the main ones, the 4 major power companies in the UK have increased their profit per customer from £45 to £90 per year and they are allowed to get away with it, I have always been of the belief that utility companies should be run by the state for the benefit of all, not to make obscene profits for their shareholders.

 

[Tom]

No, I'll tell you the problem:

Mankind, no other.

Well, luckily mankind has enough nukes to solve that problem.

 

[mapu13]

lol North Korea surely has a spare one. Got to be lucky it won't crash right after the launch.

No questions asked!

 

[Hampus Andersson]

hmm, can't really say I see the point of that, what is the alternative, redistribute the worlds wealth so that everyone has exactly the same?

One thing to start of with is 100% inherit tax.

Something has to be done, as you can see it´s already absolutely insane and for every year the richer gets richer and the poorer gets poorer.

Imagine this but even more extreme.

You might say well why should the people on the right side give up part of something the people on the left side never was part of it´s creation i.e. wealth.
But on the flipside they were never even given a chance from the start.

 

[Jordi Casademunt]

Okay. So who actually has the power to change this?

Exactly. The small percentage that owns most of the wealth of the world. The ones who benefit the most from the current situation. It won't ever get better. If it changes, it will be to worse.

It's insane, yes. But it isn't something that will be solved peacefully.

 

[Roderick Kennedy]

One thing to start of with is 100% inherit tax.

Something has to be done, as you can see it´s already absolutely insane and for every year the richer gets richer and the poorer gets poorer.

Imagine this but even more extreme.

You might say well why should the people on the right side give up part of something the people on the left side never was part of it´s creation i.e. wealth.
But on the flipside they were never even given a chance from the start.

The rich get rich,and the poor get poorer,suffering in the land,from a song by Jimmy Cliff(always liked this tune,look it up),there is a funeral being held in the UK today,cost,10million gbp,at least we are all in it together,haha.

 

[Hampus Andersson]

Okay. So who actually has the power to change this?

Governments around the world.

Wealth cap would be another thing. Like 100 million dollars.
Any wealth above that is taxed at 100%.

That excess money can be spent on hospitals, charity, education, infrastructure etc.

 

[Craig Stevenson]

All rich people aren't the same, many of them do have a conscience, Bill Gates for example.

The more money that is given to the poorer countries the more their leaders will syphon off into Swiss Bank accounts, even the poorest countries in the world have their Elite sitting at the top. The Political class in Venezuela, Brazil, Zimbabwe, Somalia, North Korea etc aren't poor or starving, many of those countries have had many Hundreds of Billions of Pounds in aid over the years yet they would barely pass for a functioning Industrialised country.

Some of the problems could be solved by War, but even that is likely to fail, we have been in Afghanistan for over a Decade and have spent huge amounts of money on the Military Campaign, lost many good men and women, chucked a sh!t load of aid in there and for all that effort we have barely managed to secure ONE Province, it will be a despot country again by 2015.

As for Mrs Thatcher's funeral today, £8 Million (£2 Million was paid by the Family) is a drop in the ocean, it was a stunning send off for one of the UK's greatest leaders of the last Century.

 

[Hampus Andersson]

All rich people aren't the same, many of them do have a conscience, Bill Gates for example.

He´s doing by himself what i have just proposed. As is someone else that has given away nearly half of their wealth.
So by enforcing that rule it would have no effect to guys like Bill Gates.

The more money that is given to the poorer countries the more their leaders will syphon off into Swiss Bank accounts,

Not if it´s done properly. Like for example what Bill Gates does.
I think he´s mainly into research now but the same model can be applied to other things.
You don´t have to give a check to the President of Kenya and then expect him to distribute that.

even the poorest countries in the world have their Elite sitting at the top. The Political class in Venezuela, Brazil, Zimbabwe, Somalia, North Korea etc aren't poor or starving, many of those countries have had many Hundreds of Billions of Pounds in aid over the years yet they would barely pass for a functioning Industrialised country.

And that´s the whole problem here. Obviously the system doesn´t work as you even described it yourself.
People still live in sheds up on a mountain while down the street people live in skylines.

Some of the problems could be solved by War, but even that is likely to fail, we have been in Afghanistan for over a Decade and have spent huge amounts of money on the Military Campaign, lost many good men and women, chucked a sh!t load of aid in there and for all that effort we have barely managed to secure ONE Province, it will be a despot country again by 2015.

Not sure how war can solve anything. Looking at Vietnam, Irak and now Afghanistan i´d say it haven´t solved a got damn thing.
Hell if you look at Irak today it´s just as bad as during the war.

As for Mrs Thatcher's funeral today, £8 Million (£2 Million was paid by the Family) is a drop in the ocean, it was a stunning send off for one of the UK's greatest leaders of the last Century.

8 million pounds for a funeral. Yea....welcome to the twilight zone.
7 million of your tax payer money could have been spent on kids in hospitals.
But better to bury one person instead i guess.

-
We could end poverty today as well. Yet we choose not to.
Every man for himself type of mentality. Ridiculous if you ask me.

 

[Craig Stevenson]

Sorry mate but you are talking about Utopia which doesn't and never will exist.

The US National Debt is currently $16,808,998,604,552, if you taxed everyone with a fortune of $100M+ it wouldn't clear this debt let alone end Poverty. Don't forget as well that the 100% Tax can only be a one off Tax, once you have taken 100% of everything over $100M in year one there will be very little to take in year 2, 3 etc, so you better build your Utopia in year one or you are well and truly screwed.

The UK National Debt is currently £1,185,109,840,500 and that is gonna jump a lot when it's time to start paying for Blair's PFI Fantasy Projects. People in the UK have been complaining about the 50p tax rate reduction to 45p as being unfair but actually it's forecast that it will bring in MORE tax revenue as people are less likely to avoid paying it. If you were to bring in your 100% Tax rate there would be a flood of companies moving to the Cayman Islands with the resulting LOSS of Tax revenue.

The UK overseas Aid Budget is around £11.3 Bn which would go a long way to house the homeless, feed the poor, build a Hospital or provide essential Cancer and other Meds in the UK. India alone received around £681 Million over the last 3 years despite being one of the worlds fastest growing economies, at least that money will now be phased out by 2015

Although the figure for Mrs Thatcher's Funeral is quoted at £8M (£10M) much of that is money that has already been spent or allocated, for example to pay the Police and Military on duty so there is actually very little that could have been used to treat kids in hospital.

 

[Omer Said]

Islamic rule "zakat" might be a nice solution.
It was began to be practised in early 600s. Then in 720s, there were no poor to given zakat in Medina.

 

[Craig Stevenson]

man you like to live dangerously Omer

 

[Craig Stevenson]

Personally I would rather people feared Prison than the wrath of God for none payment of Taxes, he doesn't really exist so fear of Damnation is not really a reason to pay ones Taxes or Zakat or Jizyah (which BTW means something completely different where I cum from).

 

[Hampus Andersson]

Not a bad idea that zakat although it comes with a little bit of....let´s say...."baggage"
If we strip away all that and just take the concept i think it´s a good idea.

Another thing you can do is with that 100% tax above a certain amount is to give out a base salary to the poorest people in that particular country.
Say if you make less then X then you are qualified for this base salary.

That way there´s food on the table, kids got clothes and you the parent can start focusing on either educating yourself or look for a proper job without the pressure of worrying about if the kids will eat today or not.

There are many ways of solving poverty as we know it, we just need to change the mass-consciousness of the worlds population.

 

[Omer Said]

man you like to live dangerously Omer

I'm really serious tough. It's not just a system which helps the poor, also boosts the overall ecomony with the circulation of money.

And to think that an illiterate shepherd invented it, in those times, in the middle of a desert, is amazing. One wonders where he got that idea