Poverty in UK

A brief, but none the less interesting article from LSE which demonstrates inequality.

blogs.lse.ac.uk

To grasp the extent of inequality, look at the relatively well-off

When it comes to gauging their relative income, people’s subjective perceptions are rarely in line with reality. Drawing on their new book, Gerry Mitchell and Marcos González Hernando set out why t…
blogs.lse.ac.uk blogs.lse.ac.uk

The thing that stands out is people always talk about the top 10% or even 5% in the UK. Yet even if you are in the top 3% (£104k) your income is still closer to the median of £26k than what it is to that of the top 1% and even at that salary, depending where you live in the UK, you may still be far from comfortable.
 
Tuearts right boot said:
or you could spend your life complaining and banging on about how bad things are.
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Or you could campaign for a system that distributes wealth a little more evenly and rewards hard work in all its forms, rather than allowing those who aquire a degree of wealth (by whatever means) to then build that wealth exponentially by allowing them to exploite a system which is currently geared very much in their favour.

It was a system that seemed to work well enough for around 50 years post ww2.
 
Its not the poverty that boothers me as much, its this aamericanisaation of the UK. Money is everything, less charity more greed, along with the justification from the greediest or smuggiest of us that everyoone has the same chance which is clearly bollocks. I was still coping with an allcoholic mum at 16, m8s I have had it even worse with drug addict parents, its the start in life that we get that defines us the most and if its good then you;re ok. Though some would tell you its alll about their own achievements, not the head start some of us get.
 
Gorton_Tubster said:
Its not the poverty that boothers me as much, its this aamericanisaation of the UK. Money is everything, less charity more greed, along with the justification from the greediest or smuggiest of us that everyoone has the same chance which is clearly bollocks. I was still coping with an allcoholic mum at 16, m8s I have had it even worse with drug addict parents, its the start in life that we get that defines us the most and if its good then you;re ok. Though some would tell you its alll about their own achievements, not the head start some of us get.
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You make a good point re upbringing, the most important thing for any child to be successful is not wealth but to have a stable homelife. Without that its one hell of an uphill struggle.
 
Tuearts right boot said:
or you could spend your life complaining and banging on about how bad things are.
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I think the post in question is pointing out some facts about structural change that have taken place in this country that has made it much more inequitable. Whether or not that is legitimate cause for complaint I suppose depends on what your vision for the country is.

Most societies tend to either the highly individualistic or very collectivist but Britain's modern history till recently has been this weird hybrid you don't see that much. In my view this broadly stood us in good stead and in many ways was a cause to be grateful for the luck of being British; but we have sleepwalked into a form of individualism that is shafting many people for the benefit of the few.

My small business took an investment risk on doing something innovative to grow but is struggling at the moment; but what's interesting is the number of people who have said to me why didn't you just pile the money into property and buy to lets it's a much safer bet? When I say I didn't want to because I think it exacerbates the housing problem they look at me like I'm a nutter. My sister in law genuinely can't fathom why I didn't just do the same as her and her husband and I think feels a bit sorry for me being feeble minded.

Unless your view is I'm only interested in my immediate family and screw everyone else (no law against it but short sighted in my view) then it's entirely legitimate to call out the road we are going down as a country cause it's just making us a more brutal, nastier place and people. I suspect that sounds naive but I don't give a fuck because I'm sick of the implied narrative that 'that's how it is' when everyday I see loads of people who don't think like that and are up for helping each other and giving a toss about their neighbour. It's only 'how it is' because a small proportion of people need to ram that narrative down our throat to try and protect their interests.

Sorry for randomly using your post for a bit of a rant !
 
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metalblue said:
Who would be their landlord otherwise? Probably a corporation or pension fund.
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Who would have bought it rather than having been awarded it by royal decree or an Enclosure Act. Quite a difference to the previous owner and the local economy.
 
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metalblue said:
If you’re being serious, what is your value proposition for local authorities owning all this farming and parkland? Ie how would we, the taxpayers, benefit?

Or is it just to appease some sort of sense of injustice you feel that the aristocracy own huge swaths of this country?
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Well local authorities already do own farmland. How do other taxpayers benefit from a small percentage of the population having access to social housing?

They owned more until they started selling it off to manage dwindling budgets.

Why is it any different from any other other commercial investment e.g. commercial property in offices and shopping centres?
 
metalblue said:
If you’re being serious, what is your value proposition for local authorities owning all this farming and parkland? Ie how would we, the taxpayers, benefit?

Or is it just to appease some sort of sense of injustice you feel that the aristocracy own huge swaths of this country?
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How do we, the taxpayers, benefit from the current system?
 
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