Ask the proles what they think and they will invariably give the “wrong” answer.
As the rich get richer, why don’t British people care about inequality?
Thus whines Simon Tilford. Perhaps because equality is a myth and everyone outside of the Guardian is sufficiently mature to realise this? We are individuals. We are not equal and never will be.
But Britons remain remarkably sanguine about wealth inequality. Only 15% “agree strongly” that ordinary people do not get their fair share of the national wealth – despite wealth inequality being twice as high as that of income.
Because outside of the 15% people realise that they are entitled to what they earn. We are not entitled to a share of the national wealth – that is simply communism in a different guise. I will never be wealthy. And, apart from the occasional exceptional year, never have been particularly well off. I do not want other people to have money stolen from them to top up my income. I don’t need it. I get by on what I have and that is what I have earned, which is precisely how it should be. It bothers me not one whit that some people are billionaires. So what?
The richest 10% own nearly half of British wealth, and the bottom 50% own less than 10%.
So?
Yet British voters remain strongly opposed to the policies that might narrow the wealth gap. Almost three-fifths of British voters think that inheritance taxes are “unfair” – a higher level of opposition than for any other tax.
Because they are unfair. Inheritance tax is a nasty, spiteful tax designed to reduce the landed gentry to penury and it succeeded. It is pure evil. Now as is usual, it has worked its way down to the middle classes and the middle classes do not like it – having spent their lives working to better themselves, they want to be able to leave a nest-egg for their children and the state wants to take that away. Fuck off already. This money has already been taxed. And that is why the ordinary Briton does not like it, for they can see it for the politics of envy and spite that it is.
And taxes on property – that other great pillar of British wealth inequality – fare just as badly in the court of public opinion.
Again, ordinary people can see just how insidious this is. Property may be “wealth”. However, it is not a liquid asset and taxing it makes no provision for ability to pay. And using it as a means of forcing people to downsize is an obvious attempt at social engineering and nationalising people’s houses through taxation and is repugnant to most ordinary people. Any tax that cannot be comfortably paid out of current income and therefore take into account affordability is inherently immoral.
This is the paradox of inequality in Britain: the wealth that is most unearned is the most politically protected. Parents and property remain the best predictors of life chances…
So? That’s life. Get over it.
…but all the best policy tools for correcting this injustice remain off the table.
It’s not an injustice. It never was. We all make our own way in the world and if, by our efforts, we can make life a little better for those who follow, it’s no one else’s business. This is not an injustice and there is nothing wrong with it. Reasonable people can see this. The Guardian cannot because it is so warped and twisted with its politics of spite and envy. It’s nice to see them get a dose of reality for once. They are the ones out of step here.
The best that we can say about taxation is that it is a necessary evil if we want basic infrastructure, a judicial system and defence, for example. It should never be used for manipulation of the populace, which is why re-distributive taxation is an abhorrence. Once again, the Guardian sees a problem where there is none.
Luckily, we don’t ever read any stuff from the guardian, as it’s always been an awful leftie rag, mainly supported by the BBC.
So comments such as above don’t ring no bells in the Scrobs household – you make your bed and then lie in it…
Lefties always encourage victims, never leaders or winners.
And they only encourage losers so they can steal from them too, or use their plight to steal from someone else, anyone else, everyone else.
Guardianistas are the most sticky fingered people on the planet.
The Grauniad lives in a Marxist world where we are all equal apparently. I have no issue with equality of opportunity, but as ever you can lead a horse to water but can’t force it to drink. We are all different, all have unique talents and failures. It is what makes us human, and the Left as ever always fall over this same stumbling block – humanity.
“Men do not having the same capabilities, if they are free, they will not be equal, and if they are equal, then they are not free.”
Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
The sooner The Grauniad finally goes bust the better.
I seem to remember a few years ago they only had 10 years of wealth left before they went bust. Presumably they are waiting for a Labour government to refill their coffers with job vacancies and the other paid for through tax garbage that The Grauniad thinks matters.
What is the end state of this process of wealth concentration? Just asking.
I’ve never heard anything so preposterous in my entire life Rolf. You should be ashamed of yourself.
You say it best, when you say nothing at all.
Perhaps I can help. Think of all wealth as a constant cycle of creation and deconstruction. Wealth is not static, in order to maintain it money (the means of creation) must flow, must be put to use or it is worthless. Wealth ‘concentration’ may therefore be thought of as a purely temporary state of affairs. There is no ‘end state’.
Marxists do not question that sharing out wealth is an inherent good and a primary goal of the tax system. Most others, however, myself included, consider that taking money out of the pockets of those who have earned it and giving it to those who haven’t in the name of evening out wealth is fundamentally unfair. I don’t have a problem with providing a safety net for those who are unable to provide for themselves, but this should only be at a level that ensures people are not living in poverty, not enjoying the lifestyles of those who earn the money. Those in work should live off what they earn and not expect handouts from those who earn more than they do.
Excellent post, LR, once again proving that you’re a much better writer than I. My first impulse is to reach for the C word.
This is the ‘wealth pie’ myth… that there is a fixed amount and if A has more it is because B has less. Thus we need ‘fair’ and ‘honest’ people to slice the pie and dole it out equally… and they get a skim off the top for their trouble.
Unearned wealth? That would be the wealth created by wealth creators and plundered by Government to hand out as bribes in exchange for votes.
National wealth. All the UK’s wealth created during the 19th Century was destroyed by WWI. So by 1918 there must have been wealth equality.
So whence today’s wealth and how did inequality set in?
I find the 15% figure quite encouraging, although he didn’t give a figure for those who slightly agree. I thought that it would be really interesting if we could colonise another planet with a few million families who are all provided with an identical house and an identical supply of basic necessities to start them off. Given a free market economy, how long would it take for huge inequalities to develop? Once these inequalities emerge, how is it unfair when everyone had the same start?
It’s called Earth eg:
UK vs Africa
USA vs Mexico vs Brazil/Argentina vs Venezuela
India vs Pakistan
South Korea vs DRNK and Taiwan vs China
The knowledge and tools are available, the will is lacking.
Property taxes are also unfair because they are continual. Make a thousand pounds and you may pay a one-off income tax, spend it and you might pay a one-off VAT. Spend it on a house and because it is in view someone will want to tax you on it. Leave that ‘wealth’ anywhere else and it is ignored until you pop your cloggs.
You’re quite right LR, most people ar eunbothered by inequality per se.
What gets their goat is unfairness.
And they’re smart enough to realise that the more state intervention the less fairness gets a lookin.