Whaaattt?

"Happy as a pig in mud ?? " Not enough rainfall recently to even wet the ground never mind turning it to mud

 

How do you think the majority of people got the money to put into savings in the first place. It generally wasn't from rich parents or from sitting on their backside doing nothing. They worked hard enough to earn more than was required to scrape by in a hand to mouth existence. They also had what seemed to be the sense at the time, to put money away for the proverbial 'rainy day'. Now it's not just raining, it's a full on monsoon.

 

I'm afraid it's you that is missing the point @redstar. You said Texas was like France using an incredibly simple size comparison. I said that was fatuous and explained why - population, economy, education, achievements, government systems. You have no gone from comparing the entire USA to France using a shopping analogy.

It doesn't compute but I can tell you that shop A will certainly use its preferred management system and shops B, C, D and E will use theirs. To continue that analogy, the shop whose style, stock and customer care policies move with the needs and desires of their customers is the one that will succeed. We've seen it here with big old-fashioned department stores losing their customers to out of town retail parks with lots of shopping offers and/or online shopping but also to small specialist stores.

Using your analogy further where Trump is swooping in from on high, declaring management edicts that are illegal and unconstitutional, offending the suppliers leading to empty shelves and taking no notice of the growing numbers of dissatisfied citizens willing to demonstrate and remonstrate I foresee USA shop going bankrupt and having to close its doors or change the management.

 

@Obelix-Vendée nothing Trump is doing is unconstitutional or illegal. If you enter the country illegal and are a criminal, then you leave the same way.

So proud are we that he pisses off both Democrats and Republican, he is doing what we Americans want him to do.

The shops example by the way was all started on same day, same supplier.

 

It’s very hard to see anything that Trump is doing that isn’t illegal or against the constitution. Maybe he is going to get Alcatraz reopened so that he has somewhere peaceful to be incarcerated when he finally gets jailed.

 

No country is perfect but I prefer to live in a wonderfully diverse one in terms of regional characteristics, culture, history (all this Obelix-Vendée has already pointed out), generally civilised behaviour and, most importantly, good education. I've a fairly wide social spectrum of French friends and can honestly say that the most humble 'peasant' in France would seem to be better informed, better educated and infinitely less bumptious than any American I've ever come across. The population of the 'minuscule' UK encompassed many of those qualities too until it was infected by various Governments' apparent desire for the country to become a satellite State of America. That's when the rot set in in the West and if Trump is achieving anything, it's to alienate everyone on this side of the Atlantic. Well done him. May he concentrate his efforts on internal affairs and keep America's nose out of other countries!

 

@KT53, my point is tax on someone's income from working should not be higher than the tax on passive income. I believe effort should be valued at least as highly as having spare cash in an investment. The wealth gap is huge and growing rapidly. One reason for this is money makes money more easily than working does and the more you have, the greater the disparity grows.

There could be a lower limit, say £50 k. Any investments above that could have their income taxed at the same rate as employment. I suspect 90%+ of the population has less than £50k in liquid assets.

If nothing is done, things will continue to get worse and the pace of this will accelerate. Thinking about ways to improve the situation is good, IMV. Ideas for change have to come from somewhere, and if we sit around waiting for politicians to come up with some, the situation may have gone beyond the point of no return before they even convene a working group. Dither and delay would be in their interests and those of their wealthy backers, of course, but generations to come will really suffer from the pooling of resources (especially housing stock) and wealth with the few.

 

Would it not be more accurate to say"he is doing what the US citizens I interact with want him to do".
I say this because I'm aware of a number of US citizens that would not in any sense agree with the original statement.

 

@ViewAhead Sorry if I misunderstood as I thought you had said " I have no problem with reasonable wealth ( say up to about £100 million ) ". I suppose it's where the line is drawn and how each individual classifies Reasonable and Excessive.
PS I just won £50 on my PB's so I'm well on the way to becoming one of the mega rich

 

I gave up on Premium Bonds as my win rate was so pathetic, @Philippa.

Well done on your £50. You could celebrate with a visit to a GC ... though you might not come home with your windfall intact.

 

I got a hundred this month on pb, still waiting for that million pound phone call.

When it comes I will treat you all to a virtual glass of champagne.

 

Last of the big spenders

War bonds?????

 

I got a £10 block in 1974 which never won anything, though others I bought later did, and in Sept 1997, I won one of the £1,000 prizes. You really need large blocks of 5,000+ consecutive bonds to be in with a decent chance. And if you have the full 50,000, again in largish blocks rather than scattered about, you should get a couple of wins (usually £25) most months statistically. Tax free, too ... currently.


Shhhh! Don't tell Rachel!