Metal Reviews

My point, that is why I disagree with myself on various things because there are all different sceaniros.

My main point is: Inheritance tax is double or triple taxing money that was already taxed before, therefore it is not really fair.

I know people will come back and say "Yeah but they are rich". So what, it is their money.

it was taxed the first time when it was earned, but the inheritance tax affects the heir and not the person who first earned it. in that sense it's only being taxed once... per person.

In the time it takes to read a will the children of a wealthy dead person are potentially going to be handed a sum of money greater than somebody on low wages will earn in several years. And yet, who works harder- a nurse or the MD of a successfull business? I'd venture to say that nurses frequently work longer hours, and not only that but they do it in infinitely harsher conditions. And most importantly they do it for the benefit of other people, instead of a group of shareholders. But the gap in wages between them is massive, and actually it's getting bigger and bigger even under a purpotedly labour government here in the UK. In a situation like this the word "fair" is practically meaningless.

If you are a Socialist that thinking is fine. I am not though. I am not rich, but I don't believe I am owed something because some spoiled brat inheriated 5 million dollars and I have to work my ass off just to pay my rent and car payment. Hey that is life and the way it goes.

Somebody and some point worked their ass off for that money, maybe 100 or 200 years ago and it kept growing, but the fact is, it is there money and not ours. I don't think the rich should be penalized (yeah, I know it is an oxymoron) because we don't make as much as they do.

Bill Gates, you think he owes anyone anything? He worked his ass of to make Microsoft what it is today. The founder of Intel? They were all just like us at one point.

I don't know if you are wealthy or not but if you were I am sure you would have a diff opinion on this. If you are and still think this way more power to you then, but it should be up to you what to do with your money besides normal Gov taxing.

I am middle class, so I guess I am pretty wealthy compared to a lot of people. (I mean my family is, I personally have only had low paid jobs.) If you think there is hypocrisy here, I don't know... maybe there is maybe there isn't but I can't help my backgound. My parents are definitely both socialists (in the labour sense, not the lenin sense) despite being in a high tax bracket. And as I've mentioned before, it was only after I started paying all my own bills and earning all my own money that I began to believe this strongly in a high-taxation system.

I know rich people work their asses off, but I also know that poor people often do as well. The fact is, there should never have been this situation where there is such a gap between two groups of people that BOTH work hard- especially when it's those on low paid jobs that are the more important to society's wellbeing. Ideally I want to see much, much higher wages for the poor. It's such a common argument that our benefits system is a disincentive to work. I can tell you most people don't choose to be on the dole because it gives them so much money- they are on the dole because employers pay such a pitifully small amount to people trying to work in hideous jobs. Until something serious is done to change that, then redistributive taxing is the only method of redress we have- even though it is only cosmetic.

I like Bill Gates and I think he deserves to be a rich man. However, I don't think anybody except Superman deserves to earn $1000000 every five minutes (or whatever he gets). I'm afraid I have to disagree with you: There are plenty of people that earn a vast amount more money than they actually deserve.

It's the distance between the rich and poor that worries me. The rich get richer, the poor get poorer, until they snap and there's a revolution. The rich can afford to be taxed, caring more about their sensibility than the future of the country as a whole is ridiculous.

That is cool. I can see your point.

It is pretty freaky we might be the only two people on earth who like and respect Bill Gates. lol

Although on your Employers thing, depending on the industry, especially if it manufacturing and things like that, the reason they can't afford to pay is because places like China have both the manpower and the low wages to produce mass amounts and Employers and companies in general can't afford to have anything made locally.

Friends of mine in Singapore maybe 2 or 3 years ago in the Semiconductor Industry (which I work in) were bitching about all of their shit going to China and no jobs, new customers in the region anymore. I am like man, you are preaching to the choir, you all did that to the US like 10 years ago and now it is just happening to you because another viable market opened up. I am like you will survive, just like the US did. Singapore is back to normal now and everyone is happy and most people just set up sales/distrubution offices in China and got back on with it. The world changes, but modern nations will change with it and always be able to produce and create jobs no matter where the cheap labor markets are for manufacturing.

What actually happens in the labour market is frequently the exact opposite of what capitalists/right-wing economists have always predicted. Instead of companies competing for staff by offering them the best working conditions and wage packages/ pensions schemes etc, we see them collaborating to push down and deprioritise those things. Fortunately we had a PM in the 80s that was good enough to destroy trade union power so there is now effectively no way for the employed to stand collectively against their employer and demand better treatment.

And now Cameron wants to repeal the Human Rights Act...

I'm going to repeal Cameron's human rights if he doesn't shut up.

I notice the last 2 Daily Mail headlines have been shameless kraut-bashing

http://www.mailwatch.co.uk/

Someone should tell them that it's not Germany's fault we're being fucked over by private water companies... it's because of someone they were telling us all to vote for in the 80s :x

Woot, lots of Thatcher anger today from me.

Third world labour is pretty much always cheaper when it can be used. Most domestic labour jobs exist because they would be difficult to do elsewhere--perhaps because it requires a high level of expertise, local resources, good communication, or whatever.

In reality, increasing wages and working conditions for our low-paid workers would change very little, if anything (in regards to job loss). Most of the people in that earning bracket do not work labour jobs anyway, especially not exportable ones. The threat isn't as most rightwing economists claim.

Increasing wages, benefits, and working conditions, by your logic, leee, still allows people to recieve "what they earn" (since you believe that what a person is given and what they earn run parallel--a rather faulty notion, but anyhow). Tax redistribution does result in a lot of "lost money"--that is, money doesn't always go where it is needed. Still, it's better than ignoring the problem and I would support higher taxation for this sake. However, as already detailed, I think we need to increase employees' wages, benefits, and working conditions as well. These rightwing economists and businessmen are bluffing; it's another strategy to increase profits really.

It is all a catch 22, that is why it seems like I am aruging with myself, because there is so many points where yes it is a good idea and no it isn't a good idea.

You all make valid points, just full blown socialist redestribution of wealth isn't the answer.

The country from which this very post is made (Denmark) is not a member of the monetary union. Am I a part of the 'European nation' then?

You can't make a general statement about the European unemployment from statistics of rural areas of Southern Italy and Poland and certainly not Bulgaria which is not a EU country.. If I wanted to discuss USA unemployment I wouldn't drag out specific numbers from the rural parts of Mississippi.. Or Paraguay for that matter.. Statistics are not made to prove your point. They are made to be sensibly interpreted.


On the subject of environmental policies USA is the single largest emitter of CO2 in the world (both per capita and overall). With that title comes a fucking responsibility. I'm not trying to bash your beloved country, but please, be sensible and don't point fingers. You shouldn't throw rocks when you live in a glass house.


And please stop the "omg. 17 year olds posting from their mothers basement that have never seen the world"-crap as you should know very well by now, that it is not the case.

Dude, get over it, I was fucking with you.

O RLY?

leee that's really miserably poor. Face it, you got your head kicked in, metaphorically speaking.

Do you honestly think, that I was really basing unemployment figures on Bulgaria and the Southern tip of Italy?

As for the 17 year old with no clue, yeah, it doesn't take much to quote stats from the 'net, but at least you all do research.

Europe is becoming a one world "nation". Nations that don't join will prob be left out. I think of Eurpope as a single place with lots of different states.......lol, when you get right down to it, you can see as much difference in cultures going between states in the US or China as you can going through countries in Europe. Uk excluded.

Gay people shouldn't be allowed to vote because they're an emotionally unstable bunch of fags.

-oMfg Kat's fashcist-

hell yeah. fuck gays in the ass. :shock:

No, I honestly thought you were struggling in an argument you started and were clutching at straws

Come on man, I am not that bad. If you point out facts that say in general unemployment was worse in the US for a certain period then Europe and I was wrong then so be it.