As @redstar claims I am misinformed about rape victims and abortion here are some links: 13-year-old rape victim has baby amid confusion over state's abortion ban and Girl, 13, gives birth after she was raped and denied abortion in Mississippi It's inhuman!
This country also has a moral decline with women on benefits with 6 or more kids have the income and benefits of a person earning 70K. I also read that these unmarried women are looking to pay men for breeding to increase their family for more benefits.
@waterbut You might like to listen to the first 7-8 minutes of More or Less - Can you get £71,000 on benefits? - BBC Sounds For a discussion of the nuances of this claim by the Centre for Social Justice ( they are not comparing apples with apples), also this might be worth a look at Lies, Damned Lies and the Telegraph – Benefits in the Future Do you have a source for this information?
@Selleri that was certainly a good try and deserves an honourable mention. However I had in mind Sheffield Forgemasters to celebrate 250-year anniversary
Thanks for that link and info on benefits @NigelJ. Have to confess I haven't trusted the Telegraph since moving to Belgium in 1991 and understanding more about how the EU really works. There's a lot more to it than their headlines about UK sausage and chocolate not being real and cucumbers and bananas having to be straight.
This quote pretty much sums my views on economic and social progress and care: The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much; it is whether we provide enough for those who have too little." —FDR, 1937
It's great that Sheffield (my birthplace) still has some of its steel industry. The present-day Forgemasters is the result of many mergers. acquisitions etc and some of the former sites will have fallen by the wayside, but nice to see that they are recognising their history.
T'is a fair point - however, the current methods of demonising those who have a bit more is not helping, certainly in the UK, as those with the money to do so simply move to more financially friendly countries. Indeed, such as the tax levels here currently, even those who don't have more than average are bailing out - I recently lost a member of staff, recruited in less than a year ago, moved his entire family here and then realised that after earning a good salary, by the time he paid all the various taxes and rent etc, he was left with the grand total of nothing, so he has left the country and gone to Saudi.
I agree with that statement, my only issue is the way we provide enough for those that have too little. Surely benefits cannot be the way to go, there has to be a system whereby a fair days work gets a fair days pay, and that pay is enough for people to live on and have a bit to spare. Its mostly the cost of living that has got out of hand, how you sort that out I dont know, and I dont think anyone else does either, we are just open to world forces these days which we have no control over. A start would be the cost of housing, but nobody wants to really tackle that one, build more houses is not the answer.
The tax system needs to change so that the normal working folk - blue and white collar - are not taxed out of existence. Tax loopholes need to be closed, tax levels simplified and the very rich should pay more towards the costs of providing the relative safety, privacy, cultural variety they seek and that means education, housing and health care for all with no postcode lotteries. The rich won't all leave. Despite opposition from billionaires, Massachusetts introduced an additional levy on income over $1m in 2022. The money raised went to supplement spending on education and infrastructure. Three years on, what are the effects of the millionaire tax? The evidence is that Fair Share revenue has exceeded expectations: it’s repaired bridges, funded bus routes, hired teachers, and made community college and school meals available to all. There has been no significant outmigration of the wealthy. In fact, the number of millionaires by net worth has increased by over 30%, and the outward tide of non-rich, young workers has slowed. Do Millionaire Surtaxes Lead to Millionaire Exodus? Imagine what such a levy could do for the UK.
Trouble is, the UK economy is such that enough have already left... I read earlier that even not the mega rich ones pay on average £75k in tax, where every dingy arrival that ends up on benefits costs £44k, so in theory even one out one in we are £119k worse off.
I did imply that that the lower and middle tax levels need to be adressed and made fairer @Fat Controller and brain drains can work two ways - make a workplace or country attractive and the skills will come back. Given the costs of housing and transport i the UK pay levels count too. These look low to me: Skilled Worker visa: temporary shortage list A French lab technician would expect a range of 39 to 56k€ per annum.
