Drifterwood
Superior Member
I can't do with multi quotes Dands.
Let me play Devil's advocate. There will always be an elite - let's call them the 1% for sake of argument. If you educate everyone better you just raise the bar in becoming one of the 1%. That's perfectly good meritocracy to my mind, but nothing changes and you still have an elite, only that this elite you presume will be more altruistic or whatever you may hope from them.
To those who say if you don't like paying taxes, move somewhere else, I would say if you don't like people to have the freedom to prosper, move somewhere else.
Regarding something for nothing, can I point out again that only the top 15% of UK taxpayers are nett payers. The 50 to 85% are nett receivers and 50% get everything that you mention for "nothing". I realise that social contribution is not this simple, but I stand by the fact that the more people you have being financially successful in the 15% bracket, IE make it 20%, the more prosperous a country can be. Everyone in that country. The problem for most western economies is that 90% of the 15% are less well off after the recession and because of global economic trends.
Let me play Devil's advocate. There will always be an elite - let's call them the 1% for sake of argument. If you educate everyone better you just raise the bar in becoming one of the 1%. That's perfectly good meritocracy to my mind, but nothing changes and you still have an elite, only that this elite you presume will be more altruistic or whatever you may hope from them.
To those who say if you don't like paying taxes, move somewhere else, I would say if you don't like people to have the freedom to prosper, move somewhere else.
Regarding something for nothing, can I point out again that only the top 15% of UK taxpayers are nett payers. The 50 to 85% are nett receivers and 50% get everything that you mention for "nothing". I realise that social contribution is not this simple, but I stand by the fact that the more people you have being financially successful in the 15% bracket, IE make it 20%, the more prosperous a country can be. Everyone in that country. The problem for most western economies is that 90% of the 15% are less well off after the recession and because of global economic trends.