Cost of living crisis.

[kenny]

7 minutes ago, yorkie1999 said:

I bet that's more to do with people who would have normaly saved their money for a mortgage, first time buyers etc, knowing that they can't afford one anyway, so they live with their parents and spend their money going out.

I suspect the spend per head is reducing too. We still eat out when we want, but you may look at the pricing and choose cheaper items on the menu.  Go for beers but have a couple less than you would have.

 

I suspect that while you are right people are carrying on but being more considerate of their finances than they may have previously.

[kenny]

Raw gas prices have returned to 2014 levels now.

 

This is not reflected in my energy bills....

[Lako42]

My last monthly bill was £65 

 

 

[Spudulike]

Rocket and feather and the government are doing nothing to stop it. 

 

Diesel wholesale prices now less than petrol but suppliers are keeping the cost artificially high to squeeze the maximum profit. 'suppose someone's got to pay for the bubbly at the shareholders Christmas party. 

[ozleicester]

Just a reminder, the reason for inflation is down to PROFITS.. not wages etc.

https://australiainstitute.org.au/post/profits-causing-inflation-in-australia-not-wages-european-central-bank-abs-data-reveal/

[Tommy G]

44 minutes ago, ozleicester said:

Just a reminder, the reason for inflation is down to PROFITS.. not wages etc.

https://australiainstitute.org.au/post/profits-causing-inflation-in-australia-not-wages-european-central-bank-abs-data-reveal/

I presume you want the world to operate on a basis where business profits are capped, or break even only ? 

[ozleicester]

16 minutes ago, Tommy G said:

I presume you want the world to operate on a basis where business profits are capped, or break even only ? 

I want profits to be fed back to workers and society instead of into shareholders pockets
I want employers to stop exploiting workers 

I want profits taxed at a much higher rate
I want essential services to not be profit based
I want companies to stop causing inflation by an incessant grab for growth and profits to feed the ego's and pockets of the ruling class.
I want millions of people not to be forced into unemployemnt just so a CFO can draw another upward line on their graph

I want a more fair society where those with money dont get to make even more just because they had it to start with. Buying shares does not mean youve "earnt" anything, youve just traded on the suffering and exploitation of others. 

 

[ozleicester]

On 17/05/2023 at 15:33, kenny said:

Raw gas prices have returned to 2014 levels now.

 

This is not reflected in my energy bills....

 

On 17/05/2023 at 16:38, Lako42 said:

My last monthly bill was £65 

 

 

 

On 17/05/2023 at 18:31, Spudulike said:

Rocket and feather and the government are doing nothing to stop it. 

 

Diesel wholesale prices now less than petrol but suppliers are keeping the cost artificially high to squeeze the maximum profit. 'suppose someone's got to pay for the bubbly at the shareholders Christmas party. 

All going to profits for the corporations, thereby into the pockets and bank accounts of the wealthy

[leicsmac]

Increasing income and wealth disparity, both in the UK and elsewhere, is a matter of record.

 

What might be done about that and how effective it could be is a debate, but the fact itself is not. As well as the fact that something needs to be done.

Edited 19 May 2023 by leicsmac

[fox_up_north]

Since the 80s the rich have gotten richer and the poor have gotten poorer (or the services they rely on, which are paid for by the rich, have got worse).

 

Most people would probably accept billionaires swimming in money, if it meant they could afford somewhere to live and to feed their kids. 

[dsr-burnley]

3 hours ago, ozleicester said:

I want profits to be fed back to workers and society instead of into shareholders pockets
I want employers to stop exploiting workers 

I want profits taxed at a much higher rate
I want essential services to not be profit based
I want companies to stop causing inflation by an incessant grab for growth and profits to feed the ego's and pockets of the ruling class.
I want millions of people not to be forced into unemployemnt just so a CFO can draw another upward line on their graph

I want a more fair society where those with money dont get to make even more just because they had it to start with. Buying shares does not mean youve "earnt" anything, youve just traded on the suffering and exploitation of others. 

 

Do you want people who make profits in business to shut those businesses down?

[Greg2607]

I'm all for a "fairer society".  I absolutely think that we should be doing more to support those in need.  But at the same time, wealth disparity and people being obscenely rich is not a new thing. 

 

look at Rockefeller.  He is widely considered to be the richest american of all time. he was living in the 1800's. 

 

or the rothschild family. 

 

all of these became super rich on the back of building companies that made profits. huge profits. 

 

but they did also happen to create jobs and keep people employed. 

 

I don't think the solution is as easy as "tax the profits more"....  it's a systemic failure of capatalism that it is entirely built on growth continuing ad infinitum. one of the major ways of doing this is keeping labour costs under control. 

 

is it "fair"?? no.   if you REALLY wanted to, could you set up a company and try to build your own wealth to "exploit" the system? absolutely. 

 

the vast majority of people don't want to take that risk though. Virtually every business of any size or scale started on the kitchen table somewhere. 

 

 

[orangecity23]

1 hour ago, Greg2607 said:

I'm all for a "fairer society".  I absolutely think that we should be doing more to support those in need.  But at the same time, wealth disparity and people being obscenely rich is not a new thing. 

 

look at Rockefeller.  He is widely considered to be the richest american of all time. he was living in the 1800's. 

 

or the rothschild family. 

 

all of these became super rich on the back of building companies that made profits. huge profits. 

 

but they did also happen to create jobs and keep people employed. 

 

I don't think the solution is as easy as "tax the profits more"....  it's a systemic failure of capatalism that it is entirely built on growth continuing ad infinitum. one of the major ways of doing this is keeping labour costs under control. 

 

is it "fair"?? no.   if you REALLY wanted to, could you set up a company and try to build your own wealth to "exploit" the system? absolutely. 

 

the vast majority of people don't want to take that risk though. Virtually every business of any size or scale started on the kitchen table somewhere. 

 

 

Rockefeller is a bit of a bad counter example to this point though - he got rich from founding Standard Oil, and was the motivation behind the US government creating anti trust legislation, as they found he was operating an illegal monopoly that used various underhand tactics to run competitors out of business (and thus making many people unemployed).

 

[Thefox81]

3 hours ago, Greg2607 said:

I'm all for a "fairer society".  I absolutely think that we should be doing more to support those in need.  But at the same time, wealth disparity and people being obscenely rich is not a new thing. 

 

look at Rockefeller.  He is widely considered to be the richest american of all time. he was living in the 1800's. 

 

or the rothschild family. 

 

all of these became super rich on the back of building companies that made profits. huge profits. 

 

but they did also happen to create jobs and keep people employed. 

 

I don't think the solution is as easy as "tax the profits more"....  it's a systemic failure of capatalism that it is entirely built on growth continuing ad infinitum. one of the major ways of doing this is keeping labour costs under control. 

 

is it "fair"?? no.   if you REALLY wanted to, could you set up a company and try to build your own wealth to "exploit" the system? absolutely. 

 

the vast majority of people don't want to take that risk though. Virtually every business of any size or scale started on the kitchen table somewhere. 

 

 

Probably Rockefeller is not the best example to use considering how he dealt with competitors

[Greg2607]

I was using it more of an example that wealth inequality isn't a new thing. 

 

It wasn't a commentary on their philanthropic nature.

[leicsmac]

5 minutes ago, Greg2607 said:

I was using it more of an example that wealth inequality isn't a new thing. 

 

It wasn't a commentary on their philanthropic nature.

Certainly it isn't.

 

But perhaps it is time it becomes an old thing.

[ozleicester]

Slavery was pretty popular

[leicsmac]

2 minutes ago, ozleicester said:

Slavery was pretty popular

In the interests of pedantry here...

 

It's pretty difficult to tell how popular slavery was way back when, simply because the powerful people who did like slavery didn't require the consent (manufactured or otherwise) of the people who might have had a problem with it.

[ozleicester]

12 minutes ago, leicsmac said:

In the interests of pedantry here...

 

It's pretty difficult to tell how popular slavery was way back when, simply because the powerful people who did like slavery didn't require the consent (manufactured or otherwise) of the people who might have had a problem with it.

in the interest of pedantry... i said "pretty" popular and im "pretty" sure it was popular with those exploiting them.

Edit, more importantly it is a reference to things being acceptable in the past, doesnt mean they should be acceptable now

Edited 19 May 2023 by ozleicester

[leicsmac]

4 minutes ago, ozleicester said:

in the interest of pedantry... i said "pretty" popular and im "pretty" sure it was popular with those exploiting them.

Touche, my friend.

[Daggers]

As a fan of pedantry, a round of applause to you two pedants. 

[Daggers]

It’s impossible to work out what is and isn’t satire these days

 

 

[Steve_Guppy_Left_Foot]

Is that satire or is the bloke just a compete and utter moron? Like we never imported from anywhere else while in the EU. 

[leicsmac]

Poe's Law working as intended.

[RobHawk]

9 hours ago, Tommy G said:

I presume you want the world to operate on a basis where business profits are capped, or break even only ? 

I just had a email from nationwide to say they are sharing their profits with their members and therefore in June I'll be getting £100. 

 

Imagine a world where this could be the model, and not a pleasant surprise. 

 

It doesn't mean profits are made, and I'm sure not all of nationwide profits are going back to members, but a cap on shareholder profits, an allowance for investments and the rest being diverted back to customers. 

 

Profit isn't bad, but the insane amounts of profit some companies make, and the fact that they then get distributed to those who are already in the top 1% means that inequality continues to grow at the expense of the other 99%. it's immoral and completely unfair.