Wealth inequality is the biggest threat to political stability

[OrNo]

Reading this article it struck me how for the last 15 years it's been cuts after cuts after cuts to public services until they are now faced with cutting the unthinkable.

https://www.leicestermercury.co.uk/news/leicester-news/school-transport-set-end-leicester-9954534

Yet there's still money in the world, it's just concentrated in the hands of the few and the vast majority are poorer now than ever. The cost of living is completely ruining people's lives and food banks are now a necessity so people can eat. Warm banks have been created so people don't die from hypothermia.

The distribution of wealth and wealth inequality is scandalous. Not meaning to make this political but it's hard to stomach US million and billionaires making and influencing global decision making that disproportionately affects the already marginalised and poor. Or wealthy Reform characters blaming the immigrants instead of the rich. Millionaire Rishi couldn't understand the lived experience of people suffering the cost of living crisis. I can't pretend wealthy Keir knows hardship but at least he's raising the national minimum wage and charging businesses for NI increases rather than workers.

But it all feels wrong. Wealth inequality is forcing millions of people to live malnourished, cold and hopeless lives, lashing out at those trying to do their best with very little but also rightly determined to get what they are entitled to. It's dog eat dog where everyone's fighting with everyone else for the scraps that are left.

Tell me wealth inequality isn't the biggest threat to political stability.

SEN hasn’t been cut though

https://www.theguardian.com/education/2024/oct/24/special-educational-needs-bill-england-10bn-school-council-funding

And our welfare state is costing £280 billion a year - only half of this goes on pensions.

We’re actually spending a lot on benefits, the NHS, SEN etc but it doesn’t seem to be getting us anywhere?

Housing policy is creating a lot of the issues. We don't need more private housing. What we need is well designed, sustainable social housing of all types and sizes, within a well planned public realm, properly supported by infrastructure.

Free people from having to pay rent at market rate supported by benefits and allow them to live in inexpensive to run, sustainable modern housing at below market rent which frees up cash flow to enable a decent standard of living. Existing private housing currently rented out can be freed up for purchase, creating movement within the market.

Fund it with institutional investors who need long term, stable returns on their investments. Support it with CICs which can provide employment and apprenticeships for ongoing estate/portfolio maintenance to ensure social housing remains fit for purpose, whilst serving the local community.

Not meaning to make this political

op but the title is ‘Wealth inequality is the biggest threat to political stability’.

Good point. I meant I'm not throwing shade at any one political party. More just society as a whole. Some say Labour brought us to the brink of austerity and Conservatives imposed austerity so not blaming one political party for the political instability. Does that make more sense?

housing costs has fucked a lot up. I would rather higher wealth taxes vs income but people don't want that. A more unequal society is a more dangerous one imo.

Absolutely. More and more wealth being created but ending up in increasingly fewer people's pockets. I'm not sure it matters which government are running the country, I don't think they are truly in control.

There has always been wealth inequality, the big nobs have always been in charge and lining their pockets, and the peasants have always been revolting.

No change there then.

So long people feel that some in society need to be supported regardless while the middle classes pay for them. Of course you only have the very wealthy left. Basically the middle class has been eroded and the poor is still poor.
Why do you dismiss the immigration numbers as not being part of the problem? No one stop anybody from making money btw. Check that many new rich people these days are self made in different industries, While some others do not even try anything but state benefits. For generations.

I find the British people naive and do not really think beyond the emergency measures that were taken post war and now came to be a lifestyle choice. Why some people from poorer countries and poor themselves come here and make it while British people do not?

IMO, the lack of social housing and how this has impacted housing costs is the biggest factor in wealth inequality.

Solving the housing issue in this country is going to help more than taxing a few billionaires, who’ll just up sticks to Dubai.

Absolutely - a country where people feel they have nothing to lose is a dangerous place. So much wealth goes untaxed in the UK while wages and the value of working is eroded - most houses earn more in a year than the people who live in them. Meanwhile at every turn we're being fleeced by energy companies, water companies, landlords, supermarkets. We have billionaires while a third of children are growing up in poverty. The country's on the bones of its arse after years of tory asset stripping. Instead of more fucking runways, nuclear power stations and public private partnerships (dear god!), Labour should be taking bold steps to protect the environment, address inequality, housing, health and education, support innovation, SMEs and workers, and tax all the wealth that never sees a tax return.

The economist Gary Stevenson has been discussing this issue a lot.

I think if we build social housing and stop right to buy, it would help balance things out.

We need a wealth tax now. It's ridiculous that we even still have an aristocracy in this country, they can at least pay their share.
Half the land in England is owned by 1% of the population!

Highly recommend the Fairness Foundation on all this https://fairnessfoundation.com/

It’s a big problem. Worst scenario is civil war if it isn’t tackled properly.

Absolutely this.

Although I don't have a strong opinion on whether there should also be more private housing. But very, very clearly we need more well-designed, sustainable social or rent-controlled housing at affordable prices, to break this toxic situation created by high housing costs.

Half the land in England is owned by 1% of the population!

@dreamingbohemian do you think there should be a limit on how much land one family can own? If so, what should this limit be?

The vast majority of that land is used for farming.

Do we really want it to be sold to greedy developers? We would lose swathes of greenfield land, lower our food production and therefore need to import more increasing our carbon footprint, elevate our flooding risk, destroy yet more animal habitats, and the odds are the housing wouldn’t even be affordable or in places people want to live.

A wealth tax would produce a similar result if it hit people who are land rich but cash poor (as the saying goes - I know they’re not ‘poor’). The land would need to be sold, and would most likely be bought by developers or very wealthy non-UK nationals who want to develop it to their own ends.

ImAChangeling · Today 00:41
It’s a big problem. Worst scenario is civil war if it isn’t tackled properly.

If civil war broke out, I wonder who would fund both sides? Maybe George Soros would fund the poor and Elon Musk would fund the rich.
However most rich would upsticks and flee. Obviously they couldn’t take land and houses but they could transfer money and take jewellery - though maybe revolutionaries would guard airports in an updated Flight to Varennes.

Thank you. I will look into him.