I was driven to think about the absurd situation that most single people have in life regarding working. Most of us agree that we work out of a sheer need and desire for a better lifestyle. It’s a very good reason actually, born out of a need to have more things that make our lives more comfortable and tolerable.
However, ever since I can remember (1985 to be precise, when I left school) I was confronted by the thought that claiming benefits brought with it far more rewards than work could. In hindsight I was earning £35 per week, for which the average bed-sit rent was around £30 - £40 per week at the time. The dole was around £19 per week for under 18’s and if I were renting would have received full housing benefit to cover this cost on top. Earning £35 per week I would have had to pay 65 pence in every £1 I earned above £19 towards my rent. Therefore I would have had to pay £10.40 towards my rent leaving me with £24.60 of my then earnings to spend on as I pleased. A wapping £5.60 better off per week than being on the dole. I know, this was 1985, when a fiver bought a whole evening out on a Saturday night, but still, even my pea-sized brain at 16 had worked out, that working was indeed a waste of time. Fortunately, though I dabbled with unemployment for a year or so, I quickly became bored and decided work was perhaps a better way of improving my lot in the long run.
Now to the current situation, take an average earnings for
someone in London, say between £28,000 - £30,000. If you are one of
these people stuck in this wage bracket, you are no doubt the ones
suffering the most. Why, you may ask? Well at current rates a salary of
£30,000 is taxed at a rate of £7985.12 a year and at £28,000 a year at
£7325.24. This includes National Insurance payments as well, bless
them! If you don’t believe me, please check the figures out yourself, as the link directs you
.
Of course there is Council Tax to consider as well, which if we assume
them to be in band A (the cheapest) with a single person discount the
current charge is anywhere between £850 - £1,000 per year in most
London boroughs. I’m not even gonna go near sales tax, currently riding
at 17.5%, a nice little skim on our regular purchases, but kind of
abstract all the same, just the way these thieving cartels (govts) like
it of course.
In all this we see a continual drain on our monthly incomes from a filthy lying scum that produces nothing accept thievery upon the masses. As some great soul tunes best described us performed in the 60’s & 70’s, we are nothing but ‘money makers’ for these lazy arses (govt). Now of course one must juxtapose this against Tax Credits, an infamous method for which govt encourages parenthood. Tax Credits are undoubtedly the most difficult benefit to work out. Indeed it is variable depending on your own individual circumstances. Believe me when I say it took me a fair while to put these into some kind of financial perspective that the layman could understand. Let me first explain that you can claim a Tax Credit (with children mind) on as much as £58,000 per year, as much as £66,000 per year if the poor blighter is under one years old. Who in God’s name would consider asking for benefits earning £66,000 per year? With the current inflation rates and the knowledge I’ve gleamed thus far, I would definitely consider it now mind.
And this is what I mean. One would have hoped that having reached £66,000 per year gross earnings that you wouldn’t need to go cap in hand to the govt for a few extra crumbs. But given a govt that recognises a need to explain its very existence, a few crumbs may indeed provide them with sufficient justification. Given that on those earnings you would be paying £21,460.92 per year in tax and national insurance I would say a few crumbs were indeed wanting. So what do us wage earners decide given this financial conundrum we are faced with? We decide to have fewer kids at an older age. Decisions to marry or cohabit tend to be based on financial need alone, forgetting our personal needs and responsibilities towards these important relationships, particularly to that of children. Those of us that have worked hard and given ourselves beyond average earnings are punished with higher taxes to feed the so called poor, for whom do nothing and achieve very little and on the whole contribute nil to the rest of the world in the form of production. They tend to learn little or nothing about getting along with people, because there is no net gain for them in fostering good relationships with people, because there entitlement (benefits) give them all they require. Welfare is a cancer that eats away at people’s hopes and dreams and provides zilch to a person’s happiness and well-being.
On the flip side there are those, who are working themselves to death, so that they can provide a good life for themselves and their families, who are forced to work longer hours including the wife or Mother of their children. This means they must leave their children in childcare, often with individuals they haven’t had much opportunity to talk with and make a good judgement as to their character. It’s appalling that a couple earning £33,000 each per year are forced to hand over £8975.72 each per year in taxes. These are most definitely the net losers within our system. They will have to pay proportionately far more in taxes than they will ever receive in benefits and will be thanked all the less for it. They are told of course that they are wealthy and enjoying a life that is beyond the reach of the average person. However, since when did someone who has worked hard deserve to have a proportion of their income given to a couple who have no intention of improving their lives through their own labour? The moral distinction is clear, them that work hard are punished and them that sit around are rewarded for their ineptness and rewarded further by producing yet more children. Whereas a couple earning £33,000 per year each are expected to swallow the cost whole, of every child they produce thereafter. Which family is more likely to make the positive choice to bare more offspring in your opinion?
Another pernicious thing is regarding the area of social housing, otherwise known as Council housing or housing associations. On the whole the social sector of rentals is filled to brimming with the entitled, only some 8% of tenants are working full time and claiming no benefits at all. For the most part, these cheap subsidised rents have no effect on the incomes of the entitled. The only possible positive effect that these cheaper rents provide the tax payer is less tax being spent on housing benefit payments. Who gains from this of course? Govt does. Whilst the general tax payer swallows the cost of market value rents, the inept wallow in cheap housing, for which the govt gladly spends less of our money to waste on other pursuits. These cheaper rents would be an enormous boost to the productive, almost as good as a 30% drop in taxes. But no, social housing is there to provide a cheap housing stock for govt to give to the inept who will never climb out of their malaise, thus keeping govt costs down as much as possible.
I am not saying of course that all people that find themselves on welfare at some point in life are all inept. Of course, many people find that their career and earning potential dries up significantly at certain times in their lives. This is every more reason that when those who are at their most productive should be given the opportunity to save their earnings in perpetuity. Then, when they are in need, they can draw upon that rich vein of resource they were able to amass during their most productive years. Instead they are left to fend upon the arbitrary nature of govt generosity and how much they feel these individuals are entitled too at any given time. In the long run govt considers their value to be the same as that of someone claiming entitlements throughout their lives. Only those rich enough (the super rich) can easily disguise their resources so as to hold on to them better and not be left with bugger all when the less productive times arrive.
A fine singer that died recently... Issac Hayes was amongst its finest.. Apart from his brain dead Scientology nonsense... His voice was legendary, for which the world of music will be eternally grateful...
The latest stupidity regarding health and safety laws has emerged once again, as seen here in the Daily Mail. After saving a schoolgirl from a near drowning, the boat was immediately confiscated and impounded by health and safety executives. The reason being, was that the boat had required a hull inspection by a health & safety expert so as to pass it as fit for service.
Apparently there has been a serious breach of regulations and the incident and crew are now being investigated. One can only imagine the concern these crew-members and their families must be feeling right now, as this rather arbitrary organisation set up by government has got some rather sharp teeth.
Like much with government regulation we are for the most part blissfully unaware of how we may one day fall foul of it. There are rules for just about anything these days. It’s a surprise that we actually get through the day without breaking some of them in complete ignorance. However, this case clearly illustrates the inability of government to make a rational and indeed moral judgment correctly. If one is to break down the concerns regarding the danger this boat posed to anyone, there are perhaps 3 distinct areas we have to consider.
1 – The crew voluntarily decided to risk their own lives.
Not one of them was forced to go out on that boat, they decided on their own volition (something govt could consider when it points guns at people all the time).
2 - The only boat available was some 25 minutes away.
Which held the obvious risk of getting to this girl too late.
3 - The crew had paid to fix it and were only awaiting a clearence certificate.
With their great experience of boats they would have been left in no doubt that the risk was minimal at best.
Given all these circumstances one can safely assume that the crew made a valued and reasoned judgement to go and rescue this girl. They even asked for permission, for which transmission was lost (thank God).
Now I am sure that these guys will be ok, particular since they have the Daily Panic behind them (Daily Mail). These guys are unlikely to face any real recriminations for their actions, as the press would likely cause a stink stronger than Gordon Browns pants. However, this is not really my concern, my real concern is the one where anyone could find themselves in by complete accident. A story of perhaps lesser virtue may not have the benefits of press protection and could lead to the imprisonment, fining or lost reputation that this putrid organisation can and does inflict on any individual and entity it deems fit to remonstrate against.
The latest news regarding the inflation rate of 4.4% for the month of July is yet more evidence of Gordon Browns thievery since the debacle surrounding the Northern Rock bank bail out. Indeed more evidence of the govt pumping the money supply harder to provide the financial industry with a bigger cushion regarding the lending of money. These asinine robbers are now asking all employers to hold off the increasing of people’s wages as a means to holding this figure down further.
What infuriates me in all this is the govt gladly overspends in the good times and in the bad expects everyone else to swallow the bitter pill instead. Never has there been a more clearer need to throw the state system into the garbage than at this time. Never would they consider slashing tax to give the economy a boost like no other. Oh no, they cause the mess and they compound it yet further by inflicting inflation on us. These economic cycles are always filthy with grubby govt interference and the best of the financial industry know it. But will they admit it? Of course not, that would be career suicide wouldn’t it. No these economic arguments are left to a few fringe radicals from the Mises institute to complain and bluster about. And who has heard of them? A handful of economists and of course people who have worked out how these thieving cartels (govt’s) work. Apart from that, buggar all frankly.
Of course having been state educated the general populace these days can barely read and their only financial knowledge is limited to how big their overdraft is with the bank. In true govt fashion they blame global economics for the downturn. Indeed global, because all govts are at it, but they blame each other of course. Clever that.
Of course their pornographic waste is left for us the slaves to pick up, whilst they drive around in their chauffeured Jaguars and sip Chardonnay with heads of state pretending to be clever. Insisting that their non productive arses will indeed find answers some sunny day. Of course sunny days only arrive once the free market gets driven by some new productivity savings. I believe Windows 95 was the reason for the last economic recovery.
Frankly I’ve found the answer, and that’s to lock them all up in a cage (politicians) and dangle them in the middle of the ocean above shark infested waters and drop them in one at a time. The rest of the world could get along in blissful harmony, whilst the sharks get a fatty if not chewy treat.
Looking on the latest military conflict to hit the news in South Ossetia, a small region of Georgia on the southern borders of Russia. Yet again we see the gargantuan misuse of a state military, bought and paid for, off the backs of individual hard labour. One can only imagine the death and carnage that is going on over there. The systematic use of sophisticated modern weaponry still leaves us gaping into a pit of contemporary human barbarity and despair.
Almost predictably, corny expressions of unease regarding this war are emanating from the west. President Bush has demanded that the Russians go no further than South Ossetia in an almost tacit acceptance of the violence inflicted thus far. It’s at these times that governments show their true colours behind their rhetoric. The west of course is only concerned with the oil pipeline that links Azerbaijan to Europe. As a result Russia sees this part of its old territory as an important pawn in its ever growing power regarding the worlds future energy resources. So the west sits on the fence and throws light criticism at the Russians as a means to shrouding their true position on the matter.
Of course the images we see above
are far worse than we would ever see in Iraq or Afghanistan and are liberally
displayed throughout most western newspapers. This is Russia after all, for
whom the western press is free to condemn and criticise at will. The cursed hypocrisy
of the west is as virulent to see as at any other time before. They use
politics as a means to hoodwinking their relevant populaces into believing
their stories through vague gestures and sound bites. Now I also include the
Georgians in this duplicity, as they are hardly without blood on their hands.
As liberal as the west has been in its coverage of Russian aggression, it has
shown scant regard to Georgia’s mister minors.
'LET FREEDOM REIGN'
As a result of all this I was left imagining a world free of conflict and unnecessary violence. ‘I have a dream’, a phrase that was used by the late Martin Luther King, was steeped in imagery. That imagery was of a future where oppression would no longer be the norm and that freedom would at last reign. Of course, as most modern anarchists, we always have our doubts regarding the eventual shift in the zeitgeist and no more so than when we see these behemoth governments acting in such a wantonly destructive manner, such as we see in this conflict. Our gut tells us, ‘how on earth do we stop these enormous bullies?’ How and when as individuals do we ever see the moment when we can stand up to these tormentors and face them head on in a fair and equal manner?
Stefan Molyneux wrote a wonderful blog recently regarding the safety of a free state society. It may not answer all the questions regarding personal defence, but it’s by far the broadest and most in depth challenge to the assertion that only a state can protect us militarily. It did of course allow me to dream of a society free of the tyranny of state control and coercion. A place in which voluntaryists would roam with complete protection from any force that felt a need to attack them. A world in which freedom would indeed reign and that culpability would be placed upon the individual or entity that committed any act of violence against them.
An overwhelming sense
of sadness fills me now, not just for the poor innocent lives being destroyed
through this current conflict. Indeed I feel a sadness that grows from my yearning for such
a society, for which I am sure I'm unlikely to experience within my
lifetime. However I am quite sure it is a vision of a future, whether near or
far, that will at some dawn be seen as the only possible future worth having.
An interesting blog by the devils kitchen recently regarding the divide and rule method used by our present govt… About the ONLY thing that is efficient about govt is the way it can so efficiently deflect all negativity onto something or someone else… They do this with such erudite precision that it is almost seemingly magical… However, if the only thing that keeps govt’s in power is the use of myth, then myths ye shall receive…
Govts understand only too well the myths and prejudices people hold and they use them as cunningly as they can to avoid any culpability… As long as people have enemies other than govt itself, they are hands free to throw their weight about as they please… perhaps the most hardest hit of all are the middle classes.. They are the largest taxpayers by far, for who receive the least handouts or tax breaks… They are indeed the more likely to be fined for speeding or parking illegally… Are more likely to pay fines in general for fear of losing their jobs… They work the longest hours… Their partners have to work and pay for child care in full… And they are the least likely to complain…
The socialist has always considered the middle classes as the parasites that enjoy far too much of the good life. Govts have continually hit them the hardest as they are such a soft target for whom complaints are rare… they are good little slaves that take their slapping with a sense of dignity unseen in any other groups throughout society...
The irony is that many of the middle classes these days have been so indoctrinated by state education that they themselves believe they are undeserving and should indeed pay their tax graciously... People like Tony Robins a filthy state whore that demands us to give even more as a means to ridding ourselves from selfishness only compound this stupidity... Of course pricks like him have no need to rely on the states capriciousness... He can afford to send his children to private school and avoid his income being halved by the state... But that’s another blog of course...
The middle class are the most productive by a whole, but they are truly shat upon at a great height, even made to feel guilty about their few indulgencies.. I look forward to the day the middle class rise up and say NO MORE!!..
If only?...
I was brought up in a christian household, for which many years this voodoo was fausted on me until my mid to late teens. It rarely ever made sense to me and even though for a brief period between 15 & 17 in which I fully embraced this myth I believe it was merely a survival mechnism until such time as I was able to leave the parental home.
my biggest concern with religion is its primary ownership of all that is moral and ethical. As a result my ethics were owned by my parents and religion of course. In other words I mean, in my mind, they OWNED morality. I was of course completely unaware of this for many years. Of course morality neither belongs to me, them or anyone for that matter.
As secularists or perhaps more accurately as agnostics, we give religion a distinct amount of breadth and authority when it comes to morality. In fact I would say that for most people whom religion is not an important part of their lives, would indeed equate religion with morality. They would even feel that religion plays an important part in the world at dampening down what in their minds could otherwise be outright immorality by the masses. Unfortunately for the most part agnostics are completely unaware of the contradictions that exist within religious texts, these include many hypocrisies within them as well. Religion has a history of brutality that has used violence as a means to controlling their subjects. Even Kings, Queens and governments rarely dared to criticise them, for fear of vicious retribution. Of course this has to a large extent changed in these more modern times, with the exception of Muslim countries for which retrograde religiosity is regretfully the current flavour.
We have of course secularism and rational thought to thank for the modern day western peaceful Christian demeanour. However religion is still viewed as the purveyor of all that is moral and as a result stultifies the growth of the human mind and experience. This is why the debating of Christians is generally a categoric disaster for them that use the scientfic method. Once you remove the agnostic view that possesses no answers, thus providing the Christian with an easy escape route, the debate becomes decidely rocky. Using empirical evidence to erode their mythologies, they will soon flounder and inevitably either close down the debate immediately, or, they become extremely angry. There is a third reaction of course, that of them completely agreeing with you. However this is most rare, having invested so much time and resources into such a myth, they are unlikely to change their view without a struggle.
As banal as these religious beliefs may appear to you and me, they do indeed influence the next generation negatively. If we allow our thoughts to be possessed by any mythology, rather than the evidence of science, how are we to ever know the truth? Nihilism is I’m sure a reaction to mythology, religion being a major part of that for most people, even for agnostics. Nihilism allows us to have no belief in anything because religion makes no sense in reality and offers no tangible morality. We thus become moral relativists, which in reality is a state of confusion for which there is no right or wrong, thus allowing the more extreme of mystics to have moral authority above us. This is why I feel strongly that good, honest, reciprocal and voluntary relationships with people are fundamental to our wellbeing.
Ahh.. The god forsaken hole that was my education...
Ron Pauls video back in May on Youtube sums up the quite illusionary vision that people have about this man... The facale idea that Paul is fortelling a future run by the constitution, free of big government is laughable frankly... I understand peoples desire for a change, but the reality is that Paul has become a millionaire out of this debacle... He does not care about real freedom and is taking clear advantage of people that are more intelligent han this toss pot will ever give them credit for...
understand that NO politician will bring freedom to your life... Only you will...
Recent Comments
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xelent said:
[this is good]Paleo,Thank you for well crafted response and indeed the many resources that you left for myself and others to peruse... read more
on How freedom will work.... -
Paleo said:
I think a requisite to have a meaningful discussion is a common language between the participants. That is, everyone must... read more
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xelent said:
Lauren,Thank you for getting back in touch... Much regards... read more
on How freedom will work.... -
Lauren said:
We're happy to see you using the Amazon book conduit! It looks like you have some really nice recommendations here... read more
on How freedom will work....
It seems like a short step from nihilism to existentialism, nihilism stating that life is absurd (has no meaning), existentialism... read more
on The Religion of Nihilism