Well it’s Friday for me and it’s my last day before joining a new team at work on Thursday. My working life is going to dramatically change. In many ways I’m taking a backward step but I’m going to look on it as a new opportunity.
I’ve had a very tough couple of years and it’s not easy when times are hard but I always try and count my blessings. It’s not as important as family, friends and health but one of the things I always remind myself is just how disgustingly wealthy I am. When I say this to people who know me they laugh. My wage is slightly below the UK average. I don’t live in a mansion; I live in a 2 bed terrace. I don’t drive a sports car; I drive a 10 year old Astra. Despite all this I am actually very very rich:
• The average person in India has to survive on less than $2 per day. In Africa it’s less than $1 per day. The average global annual income is thought to be about $5300 (£3385).
• I live in my own house and I have central heating, running water, electricity and piped gas. Many in people in the world will never have these things.
• I’ve got televisions, DVD players, an iPhone and a laptop.
• I can take holidays abroad and stay in nice hotels.
• I can afford to buy foods that are a luxury and a treat. Many people buy food to survive.
I know wealth is relevant to the society we live in but when I look at the facts I’m very lucky, in a financial sense, to have been born in one of the richest nations on Earth.
As we are one of the richest nations on Earth surely we can afford to provide a first class socialised health service, free education, decent residential care for our elderly and all the other things that make a society civilised.
Maybe, we could do even more!
If every country in the world stopped spending money on weapons to kill each other with we could afford to educate every child on the planet, provide a decent level of healthcare for everyone and still have enough money left to develop new types of energy so we can end our destructive reliance on Oil.
Monday, 29 November 2010
Sunday, 28 November 2010
Christmas Shopping
I know this is unusual but I saw an interesting item on Sky News yesterday. It was about the first big Saturday for Christmas shopping. The guy from Sky was at a department store reporting on how the current financial situation is impacting sales. He was interviewing the manager of the store (a funny looking orange coloured woman) who explained that sales of lower priced products were poor, but the sales of high end items like Champagne, expensive jewellery and luxury food items were doing very well indeed.
What further proof is needed that we are not all in this together? The recession, banking crises and subsequent government cuts are having a far heavier impact on low and middle income families than the high earners.
According to Sky News the average person earning average wages expects to spend £490 on presents and entertainment this Christmas, down from £548 in 2009. There are so many people living in fear of losing their jobs over the next 12 months that they are terrified of spending cash and even more scared of using credit cards.
So while Nick, George, Dave and all their upper class and rich banking friends enjoy an opulent Christmas the rest of us will have to try and do it on the cheap.
At least the young people in our society are waking up and fighting back. The students are setting the example and it’s high time the rest of us followed their lead.
What further proof is needed that we are not all in this together? The recession, banking crises and subsequent government cuts are having a far heavier impact on low and middle income families than the high earners.
According to Sky News the average person earning average wages expects to spend £490 on presents and entertainment this Christmas, down from £548 in 2009. There are so many people living in fear of losing their jobs over the next 12 months that they are terrified of spending cash and even more scared of using credit cards.
So while Nick, George, Dave and all their upper class and rich banking friends enjoy an opulent Christmas the rest of us will have to try and do it on the cheap.
At least the young people in our society are waking up and fighting back. The students are setting the example and it’s high time the rest of us followed their lead.
Friday, 26 November 2010
New Job
I’ve managed to get a new roll at work and it’s on my current grade. I’m pleased even though it’s not exactly the sort of roll I wanted. I must confess that I’m a little bit nervous. It’s always a bit frightening starting a new job with new people.
After what the banks have done to the economy I’m just happy to have a job. The thought of being unemployed, even with a redundancy payment, was terrifying. Cameron and Osborne have announced cuts which are so severe that an estimated 1.5m people across both the public and private sector are going to lose their jobs. My heart goes out to all those people facing a very uncertain future.
After what the banks have done to the economy I’m just happy to have a job. The thought of being unemployed, even with a redundancy payment, was terrifying. Cameron and Osborne have announced cuts which are so severe that an estimated 1.5m people across both the public and private sector are going to lose their jobs. My heart goes out to all those people facing a very uncertain future.
Wednesday, 24 November 2010
Student Demonstrations
I don’t condone the violence but I can understand it. The whole principle of education being a right not a privilege is at risk. All 3 of the main political parties are in favour of charging for university education but education should be free of charge. It should be paid for through taxation.
This doesn’t necessarily mean that there would have to be huge rises in income tax. If the government forced big business to pay the billions of pounds of corporate tax that is owed to the British people there would be more than enough to keep education free. There would also be plenty left to reduce the severity of the cuts needed to bail us out of the mess the banks have caused.
This doesn’t necessarily mean that there would have to be huge rises in income tax. If the government forced big business to pay the billions of pounds of corporate tax that is owed to the British people there would be more than enough to keep education free. There would also be plenty left to reduce the severity of the cuts needed to bail us out of the mess the banks have caused.
Monday, 22 November 2010
Dangerous Driving
I was driving to work this morning when a car came flying past at high speed overtaking me and the car in front of me. The driver then tried to overtake the next car but had to bail at the last minute as a bus was coming the other way. He had to break hard so I had to hit the breaks as did the car behind me and so on.
As soon as there was a space he overtook the car. Further up the road I found myself behind him again and watched as he went through a set of lights just after they had turned red. A little further on in my journey I hit some traffic and noticed that the same car was a little further down the road. He was back to his old trick of overtaking and in the process of doing so nearly hit a car coming the other way. He was causing chaos and people were breaking and beeping their horns at him.
Well it turned out that this moron works in the same building as me. He nearly killed himself and other roads users and all it achieved was getting him to work 2mins quicker than if he had driven more sensibly. I know he only saved 2mins because he had just finished parking his car as I arrived at the entrance barrier.
I parked my car and then walked over and told him exactly what I thought of his driving. I would never resort to violence but I’m a big bloke and he looked more than a little concerned that he was about to find himself at the business end of my right fist. He is a typical example of a kid who is cocky and ‘hard as nails’ when driving his car but then whimpers like a frightened little boy when standing toe to toe with someone older and bigger. I honestly thought he was going to start crying.
If I see him driving like that again I’m going to take a note of his number plate and then report him to the Police.
As soon as there was a space he overtook the car. Further up the road I found myself behind him again and watched as he went through a set of lights just after they had turned red. A little further on in my journey I hit some traffic and noticed that the same car was a little further down the road. He was back to his old trick of overtaking and in the process of doing so nearly hit a car coming the other way. He was causing chaos and people were breaking and beeping their horns at him.
Well it turned out that this moron works in the same building as me. He nearly killed himself and other roads users and all it achieved was getting him to work 2mins quicker than if he had driven more sensibly. I know he only saved 2mins because he had just finished parking his car as I arrived at the entrance barrier.
I parked my car and then walked over and told him exactly what I thought of his driving. I would never resort to violence but I’m a big bloke and he looked more than a little concerned that he was about to find himself at the business end of my right fist. He is a typical example of a kid who is cocky and ‘hard as nails’ when driving his car but then whimpers like a frightened little boy when standing toe to toe with someone older and bigger. I honestly thought he was going to start crying.
If I see him driving like that again I’m going to take a note of his number plate and then report him to the Police.
The Celtic Tiger
The Celtic Tiger has turned into a Celtic kitten. Over the last 3 years The Irish economy has imploded. The growth in the boom years was based on the property market but this has subsequently collapsed. Property prices in Ireland have fallen by around 50%. This has left the Irish banks with a problem as they lent huge sums to property developers and to the public in the form of unaffordable mortgages. As a result of this the banks needed a bail out by the Irish government of £39bn. This has subsequently resulted in an Irish budget deficit equal to 32% of its GDP.
So why has the UK agreed to ‘loan’ Ireland £7bn at a time that our economy is a mess and we are making huge cuts to our public services?
RBS has loaned £53bn to Northern Ireland. As RBS is a semi-nationalised bank the loan is insured by UK tax payers. If the economy of the Republic of Ireland goes under it’ll end up costing the UK a lot more than the £7bn we’re ‘loaning’ them. This is all due to the fact that the Northern Ireland economy is so heavily reliant on trade with the Republic.
So we are bailing out badly run banks using tax payer’s money at the expense of public services again. This time it isn’t even our own banks! I don’t want us to ‘loan’ Ireland more money than the entire amount Osborne wants to save by destroying the benefits system but we haven’t got much choice. We can’t afford to let Ireland go under but we can’t afford to save it either.
This is just another example in a long line of Capitalist created economic disasters. Our democracy has yet again been hijacked by a small group of highly influential bankers. They have a power over their fellow men and women that few governments have yet they are unelected and unrepresentative.
We need a voice again. It’s time for people to stand up and demand some self control over their own economic futures. The economy should be run by the people for the people.
So why has the UK agreed to ‘loan’ Ireland £7bn at a time that our economy is a mess and we are making huge cuts to our public services?
RBS has loaned £53bn to Northern Ireland. As RBS is a semi-nationalised bank the loan is insured by UK tax payers. If the economy of the Republic of Ireland goes under it’ll end up costing the UK a lot more than the £7bn we’re ‘loaning’ them. This is all due to the fact that the Northern Ireland economy is so heavily reliant on trade with the Republic.
So we are bailing out badly run banks using tax payer’s money at the expense of public services again. This time it isn’t even our own banks! I don’t want us to ‘loan’ Ireland more money than the entire amount Osborne wants to save by destroying the benefits system but we haven’t got much choice. We can’t afford to let Ireland go under but we can’t afford to save it either.
This is just another example in a long line of Capitalist created economic disasters. Our democracy has yet again been hijacked by a small group of highly influential bankers. They have a power over their fellow men and women that few governments have yet they are unelected and unrepresentative.
We need a voice again. It’s time for people to stand up and demand some self control over their own economic futures. The economy should be run by the people for the people.
Sunday, 21 November 2010
Elmander & Coyle
Johan Elmander came to Bolton at a cost somewhere in the region of £10m. He is Bolton’s most expensive ever signing. We all had high hopes that we had purchased a player who could score 15 – 20 goals a season.
Well things didn’t work out for Elmander and he struggled to score goals. He looked unhappy, he had no confidence and seemed to be a complete waste if money. Suddenly this season he has regained his confidence, he is playing with a smile on his face and he is scoring some wonderful goals. At the time of writing he is the joint top scorer in the Premier league.
When Owen Coyle took over as Bolton manager he inherited a record signing who was a flop but he has used his man management skills to turn Elmander from Zero to Hero. The difference to the dark days of the Megson era is palpable. Elmander himself has criticised Megson’s style of management. He said, “It doesn’t help to stare and scream at me. I got tired the more of it I heard. Owen Coyle is a great coach, who I really enjoy working with. As soon as he came to the club I started to play well, even though the goals didn’t come right away.” Well the goals are coming now and I for one owe Elmander an apology. After witnessing his performances under Megson I just presumed he was a bad signing who would never make it in the Premier League. Happily, I have been proved wrong.
Owen Coyle has completely changed the way Bolton play. He has turned a team of long ball strugglers into one which plays exciting attacking football. The atmosphere at the Reebok has improved 100% and the feel good factor has returned.
Thank God for Owen Coyle!
Well things didn’t work out for Elmander and he struggled to score goals. He looked unhappy, he had no confidence and seemed to be a complete waste if money. Suddenly this season he has regained his confidence, he is playing with a smile on his face and he is scoring some wonderful goals. At the time of writing he is the joint top scorer in the Premier league.
When Owen Coyle took over as Bolton manager he inherited a record signing who was a flop but he has used his man management skills to turn Elmander from Zero to Hero. The difference to the dark days of the Megson era is palpable. Elmander himself has criticised Megson’s style of management. He said, “It doesn’t help to stare and scream at me. I got tired the more of it I heard. Owen Coyle is a great coach, who I really enjoy working with. As soon as he came to the club I started to play well, even though the goals didn’t come right away.” Well the goals are coming now and I for one owe Elmander an apology. After witnessing his performances under Megson I just presumed he was a bad signing who would never make it in the Premier League. Happily, I have been proved wrong.
Owen Coyle has completely changed the way Bolton play. He has turned a team of long ball strugglers into one which plays exciting attacking football. The atmosphere at the Reebok has improved 100% and the feel good factor has returned.
Thank God for Owen Coyle!
Never had it so good
It’s been a difficult month for me. The team I was on at work was disbanded and we were offered voluntary redundancy. The redundancy package wasn’t as much as I had hoped for so I have decided to stay and I’m looking for a new role. The company have protected my wages for 6 months but if I can’t find anything on my current pay grade I’m facing a massive pay cut. I’m keeping my fingers crossed because I’ve got a mortgage to pay.
During his spending review speech in Parliament George Osborne stood at the dispatch box and accused people of getting into more debt than they can afford. He thinks people should learn to live within their means. Well I did borrow within my needs and got a mortgage based my current wages. I now face a 20% pay cut so, like thousands of others, I’m in danger of having my ‘means’ taken away from me.
The banks have spent the last 15 years lending vast amounts of money to businesses which had virtually no chance of ever making enough money to repay the loans. They have lent money to people looking to buy homes in a vastly overpriced property market. Overpriced due to the 100%+ mortgages the banks were offering people in the first place.
I would just like to say to Mr Osborne that the banks must take some responsibility. Many of the people who have taken these huge mortgages are young couples who did so because they needed a home. A large number of them now face losing their job due to the cuts and the economic disaster caused by the very same banks that landed them in unmanageable debt.
During the same period the credit card companies (owned by the same banks) were constantly increasing card credit limits. Many people will say that just because the credit is available you aren’t forced to use it. If the fridge stops working, the car breaks down, the kids need new clothes etc. but you’ve no money it’s very difficult not to use a credit card.
Most of us live in the real world not the wealthy Tory bubble. We haven’t all got rich parents to bail us out when times are hard. Unlike Mr Osborne most of us aren’t the heir to a baronetcy or have a personal fortune of at least £4m. Unlike David and Samantha Cameron most of us don’t have a combined wealth of over £30m and parents that own half of Yorkshire. These people don’t know what it’s like to make ends meet, to live on minimum wage or to face losing their home when made redundant. Even Nick Clegg comes from a rich family of Bankers (his father is chairman of United Trust Bank, and is a trustee of The Daiwa Anglo-Japanese Foundation).
When they tell us we are all in this together they are lying. They have not introduced any huge changes to the banking system, they haven’t forced corporations to pay the £40billion owed in unpaid taxes, they haven’t dealt with the ‘non-dom’ tax status of people like Lord Ashcroft and they are still hitting the poorest people hardest.
The new Tory party is just as bad as the old Tory party. They steal from the poor and look after their own kind.
“Never had it so good”, don’t make me laugh!!
During his spending review speech in Parliament George Osborne stood at the dispatch box and accused people of getting into more debt than they can afford. He thinks people should learn to live within their means. Well I did borrow within my needs and got a mortgage based my current wages. I now face a 20% pay cut so, like thousands of others, I’m in danger of having my ‘means’ taken away from me.
The banks have spent the last 15 years lending vast amounts of money to businesses which had virtually no chance of ever making enough money to repay the loans. They have lent money to people looking to buy homes in a vastly overpriced property market. Overpriced due to the 100%+ mortgages the banks were offering people in the first place.
I would just like to say to Mr Osborne that the banks must take some responsibility. Many of the people who have taken these huge mortgages are young couples who did so because they needed a home. A large number of them now face losing their job due to the cuts and the economic disaster caused by the very same banks that landed them in unmanageable debt.
During the same period the credit card companies (owned by the same banks) were constantly increasing card credit limits. Many people will say that just because the credit is available you aren’t forced to use it. If the fridge stops working, the car breaks down, the kids need new clothes etc. but you’ve no money it’s very difficult not to use a credit card.
Most of us live in the real world not the wealthy Tory bubble. We haven’t all got rich parents to bail us out when times are hard. Unlike Mr Osborne most of us aren’t the heir to a baronetcy or have a personal fortune of at least £4m. Unlike David and Samantha Cameron most of us don’t have a combined wealth of over £30m and parents that own half of Yorkshire. These people don’t know what it’s like to make ends meet, to live on minimum wage or to face losing their home when made redundant. Even Nick Clegg comes from a rich family of Bankers (his father is chairman of United Trust Bank, and is a trustee of The Daiwa Anglo-Japanese Foundation).
When they tell us we are all in this together they are lying. They have not introduced any huge changes to the banking system, they haven’t forced corporations to pay the £40billion owed in unpaid taxes, they haven’t dealt with the ‘non-dom’ tax status of people like Lord Ashcroft and they are still hitting the poorest people hardest.
The new Tory party is just as bad as the old Tory party. They steal from the poor and look after their own kind.
“Never had it so good”, don’t make me laugh!!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)