The government must be so scared of these rich guys (see 'bloody immigrants...') leaving and exposing the UK as a regressive, backwards country. I wonder, if they all left would we still have a 'stronger' economy than Poland? Or would we be exposed for what we are - probably the most poorly managed country in Europe? Plus what would Peter Mandleson do for a holiday?
For a long time we have proudly declared ourselves as a developed, or first world, nation. What does that mean? Well you could argue that it's relative wealth. We have more money than Peru or Namibia so we're better than them.
How?
Is it really just how much money we have? What if it was all concentrated on one person, would that count?
No, that would be stupid, because he could easily leave and then we'd all be poor again. Development implies work and progress over a period of time. So what's developed? Is it just our economy? No, that's at best a side effect of other factors of development: increase in education, aspiration and facilities. Admittedly growth feeds growth though - the more money you have the more you can invest...
What we actually mean by claiming that our country is developed is that the lower standards of living in this country are high relative to the countries we describe as developing or underdeveloped. We would include factors such as the relatively low level of homelessness, universal education and healthcare, public transport and so on. But these things are on the slide. Our homes are sh*t, our schools are sh*t, our hospitals are sh*t - and more to the point there aren't enough of them. The money isn't being put in. We are no longer at the forefront and we're fading fast.
What can we do? Not a great deal, we're gonna slump for a while. What we can do, though, is start taxing our rich more and our poor less, invest wisely and seek help. That last one's a big one. We're very proud, the british. We're so f8cking proud that we've made all our money in the last few years as consultants, and before we were making our money telling people how to spend theirs (give it to us!) we were telling other countries how they should live, who they should worship and who to sell their natural assets to (us!). Well noone's listening to us any more. Noone's buying our bullsh*t so it's time we got off our victorian high horses and went to the IMF and the EU and said 'look, guys, we've ballsed up. We're sorry. We followed those crazy American's and it's buggered us up royally. We're sorry we spurned you for so long, moaning about your attempts to try and rescue us. Please help us.' But then we would be hypocrites, since that's what we're all moaning about the bankers for doing. But if we are willing to let go our pride and ask for help it would be there for us. We've invested a great deal in the EU and IMF and barely taken a thing while other countries have used the money available for worthwhile projects, such as Portugal using IMF money to build quality housing for their poor.
We could also pull out of those two wars we can't really afford to pretend are relevant to us anymore.
For a long time we have proudly declared ourselves as a developed, or first world, nation. What does that mean? Well you could argue that it's relative wealth. We have more money than Peru or Namibia so we're better than them.
How?
Is it really just how much money we have? What if it was all concentrated on one person, would that count?
No, that would be stupid, because he could easily leave and then we'd all be poor again. Development implies work and progress over a period of time. So what's developed? Is it just our economy? No, that's at best a side effect of other factors of development: increase in education, aspiration and facilities. Admittedly growth feeds growth though - the more money you have the more you can invest...
What we actually mean by claiming that our country is developed is that the lower standards of living in this country are high relative to the countries we describe as developing or underdeveloped. We would include factors such as the relatively low level of homelessness, universal education and healthcare, public transport and so on. But these things are on the slide. Our homes are sh*t, our schools are sh*t, our hospitals are sh*t - and more to the point there aren't enough of them. The money isn't being put in. We are no longer at the forefront and we're fading fast.
What can we do? Not a great deal, we're gonna slump for a while. What we can do, though, is start taxing our rich more and our poor less, invest wisely and seek help. That last one's a big one. We're very proud, the british. We're so f8cking proud that we've made all our money in the last few years as consultants, and before we were making our money telling people how to spend theirs (give it to us!) we were telling other countries how they should live, who they should worship and who to sell their natural assets to (us!). Well noone's listening to us any more. Noone's buying our bullsh*t so it's time we got off our victorian high horses and went to the IMF and the EU and said 'look, guys, we've ballsed up. We're sorry. We followed those crazy American's and it's buggered us up royally. We're sorry we spurned you for so long, moaning about your attempts to try and rescue us. Please help us.' But then we would be hypocrites, since that's what we're all moaning about the bankers for doing. But if we are willing to let go our pride and ask for help it would be there for us. We've invested a great deal in the EU and IMF and barely taken a thing while other countries have used the money available for worthwhile projects, such as Portugal using IMF money to build quality housing for their poor.
We could also pull out of those two wars we can't really afford to pretend are relevant to us anymore.
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