Thread: Fixing The UK

Fixing The UK.


Just to clarify the situation I will list the problems and solutions, not in any particular order but as they occur to me. This will show how important each is in my eyes.


1 The cost of living is too high.


This is The Problem. From it stems a whole host of other problems.


There are two ways of dealing with this problem, A is to raise the Bank Of England's interest rates and force a catastrophic collapse in the housing market, making the market chase ever diminishing rents and forcing down the price of all goods and services.


Or B. Bring back proper council housing. You can borrow the money from the banks we now own over a really long period, and set the rents at half the current rates. This will make the banks more stable, and force the private rental market to reduce their rents.


To make this happen you will have to re examine the philosophy that council housing is a bad thing, or just for the disadvantaged. It should be a reward for being a contributing member of society.


Proper council housing would be available for those in employment earning more than £15,000 and less than £25,000 per annum. No more single parents, where the idea they are better of on their own came from I don't know, but it makes more sense to share the responsibility of bringing up a child with the support network of grand parents.


That way the government will not have to pay out a housing subsidy. Also it will encourage people to work rather than depend on state hand outs, and probably reduce early and unwanted pregnancy's, and help reduce casual relationships, making marriage more attractive.


You would have to cancel the 'right to buy discount' and sell at full market price, using the return to build more housing.


Some may object to this on the grounds that it flies in the face of free market economics. I say it fits in perfectly with the market place philosophy. Cooperative groups have often got together to employ market muscle on a scale that would be impossible on their own.


Side effects include a shot in the arm of local economy's, people moving buy furniture and other goods which would help manufacturing and retail. More money moving means more employment, which means a bigger tax take. More people in work means less benefit payments. Balancing the Governments books.


Hi,
Any discussion welcome, any spag checking also welcome.

Surely the real problem is the finite size of the world, we need a new Empire, people and resources to exploit and make us rich again, and anyone whose left has been snapped up by the Americans.

Hi olly,
I'm not sure we could persuade our nation that invading another country is a practical solution to our current problems.
In days gone by when we had cannons and blind predjudice on our side, and all the enemy had was sticks, stones and funny accents to defend themselves with, we might have made a success of stealing everything we could lay our hands on, but thieving will only take you so far. Far better to have a fair exchange and then have some one to deal with again in the future.

I think one of the best things we could do at the moment would be to leave the EU. Its regulations and demands increase by the day, and running the whole thing is an unelected commission, (the EU Parliament is nothing but a reivision chamber). Off the top of my head, some of the financial benefits of leaving would be: A) Rid ourselves of its business strangling regulation, B) No longer have to make payments into it, C)Would be free to make our own trading agreemants, D) Regain control of waters, (fishing), and be free of CAP, E) Would no longer be forbidden from preventing British companies from being bought out/moving abroad, F) EU planned Financial Tax scrapped, G) EU share of VAT rise to 1.3% scrapped.

Oh, and before anyone says it, we would not be thrown out of the EEC as we buy more than we sell with the continent, and as a result they'd only be shooting themselves in the foot if they refused to let us stay in the trading area. As for examples of other European countries doing well outside of the EU, look at Switzerland and Norway, outside of the EU but within the EEC, ranked 2nd and 3rd highest GDP per capita in Europe.

Sorry Bazz, I was feeling a little frivolous, I am not really advocating pillage, though I suppose, thinking about it, it is a point of view some still take seriously, maybe I shouldn't joke. In terms of world history it wasn't long ago that one of Nelson's Captains wrote to another about defending the rights of free Englishmen, and defined them as the right to pursue power, privileged, and position.

The problems are-

1. Everything in shops and online is overpriced (eg Apple have just announced that their iPod, iPhone and iPad apps will be going up in price)
2. The government do not seem to react properly (eg The issue with student fees and the protesters has still not been ended)
3. Prices of petrol are absolutely disgusting (eg according to a reliable source, the price has risen by over 25% since the 1980s)
4. Through no fault of their own, countries are often in devastation, for example Haiti in 2010 and previously the Indian Ocean tsunami in 2004, and we are continually donating money as a nation.

Didn't we recently agree a £500 million donation for education in Pakistan, under the thin veil of it going some way to reducing the extremist tendencies of the current and future generations of children in that country.

Once more, that's 500 MILLION POUNDS

Simple fact, people in western countries need to understand that 1920's/1960's economics is a failure and that their countries economically aren't like it was in the 1960's.
Failing to remove the rose glasses won't change the end result.

ISW,
I hear what you are saying, but there are some good points in the EU. Being part of a larger gang helps fend off the creeps who like bankrupting countries just for a few more billion quid. A club with rules that insist members have to be civilized, and so will you have to be if you want to join it sets a higher moral standard of governmental behaviour.
As a member of this club we are entitled to help shape and formulate international cooperation. Only trouble we are rubbish at it. And whether we remain members or secede, we will still have all the same old problems. How about fixing the holes before we rearrange the deck chairs?

Hi Olly,
One thing history teaches us is making enemies is easy, fighting them for ever more is not.

Hi Bip,
1 Too many people have their hands in the deal that bring nothing of value to it. Making money has become the point, not making stuff

2 The government is trying to use system that has already proven a failure, and all they can think of doing is do it again only harder.

3 It would be a simple thing to change the relationship we have with oil. Just redirect government subsidies from nuclear energy into making every house hold a net exporter of energy. Transport could be converted to run on hydrogen.

4 The sum of money we spend on helping others is minuscule compared to the vast sums we give to the banking sector.

It is time we started using the free market rather than letting the financial buccaneers twist it to their own aims.

Hi BB,
I have no idea what the hell we are doing over in Pakistan, but I'm sure that it would make more sense to work at raising their governments morals rather than buying them off.

Hi Rustgold,
I think that those glasses are not just restricted to the west. There is a change coming and it wont be pleasant. All we can do is listen to the pebbles and start doing something to protect ourselves from the landslide.

Bazz - what do you propose we do with all the single mothers then? Where do you suggest they live? What if a couple breaks up? Does that then mean that neither parent would be entitled to council housing based on the fact they have become single parents?

Bring back Margaret Thatcher.

Ok, in a real economy (one not micromanaged by a nanny state), individuals, groups and nations produce goods and services that others want.
Calling Adam Smith, come in, over.
The UK used to have the corner on the distribution of key goods. In the old days it was tea and rum. Those pesky Americans upset the apple cart & cut into their distribution network. The Brits adapted by importing raw materials, then selling the manufactured goods (value added). Once again, other nations undercut England first on price, then on quality. Now, it would be insanity to compete against any of the Asian tigers, especially China.

What to do? PLAY YOUR STRENGTHS. Other nations are still sending their kids to your schools. Why? Your schools are good. Parlay that. For example, a server farm takes skilled labour to set up and staff. It requires little in the way of volatile supplies (ie petrol) and the ROI is huge. No brainier to me.

Or you can go toe-to toe with China. Or learn from Sun Tzu. Your call.

As someone who has recently had reason to travel by rail from the south of England to the north of scotland many times, I noticed out of the train windows that so much areas of country have been built on - to make these matchboxed like housing estates in huge areas. I think - we'll never get this countryside back: once gone to the building sites, it's gone forever.

I think that, in a hundred years (although I'll be dead), if you wanna go on a nature trail, your biggest hurdle will be housing avoidance.

The solution is to stop living on an island with an ever-expanding population and dwindling natural resources.

Colonize and exploit space, be it real or cyber. Controlling much of the financial sector is a good start, now you have to take it to the next level. Soon, a population willing to work for a pittance will be your major strength!

Hi Amber,
nice to meet you, please be aware this is just me being awkward and asking the unasked questions, and tap dancing in a minefield for the answers.

what do you propose we do with all the single mothers then?

The question is why do single mothers wish to struggle on their own? Would they not be better off with their parents?
And if their parents are unacceptable then sheltered housing would be more practical than sticking them in a sink estate surrounded by the barbarism that comes with the social decay that we suffer from.

Hi Winston,
Pleased to meet you.

Most governments cant get their heads round the fact that a service sector needs an industry to service, otherwise you are making money by magic.

There is always someone out there who will undercut you, so you have to think up stuff faster than them and used the location to your advantage. It takes time and costs money to ship goods, if you provide them locally you can be faster and have a price advantage over transport.

The other thing is the 'ransom strip mentality' we suffer from. So many steps in the chain from raw materials to the purchasing of the goods have got unneeded hands in the pot, they bring nothing of value to the deal. Sometimes they just add complexity and cost just for the hell of it. Find a way to force them out and you get a much better chance at competing with less democratic countries.

Hi Spidy,
Great to have you drop by.

Round here there has been so many new housing estates it has become a nightmare on roads that were not up to the traffic of twenty years ago. In fact I wonder why there is a housing shortage.

Hi Capulet,
I have seen you round somewhere, but forget where. The population problem was going to be next on my list. However I will give you my idea now and argue about it later. Put contraceptives in all alcohol and tobacco products.

Put contraceptives in all alcohol and tobacco products.

Genius. And tell them smoking and drinking is good for the soul. Fewer dirty chavs playing in the gutters of filthy estates, and the government make millions more in tax, and it solves the pensions crisis because all the thickies who take this advice will die of nicotine poisoning or cirrhosis.