AIBU to want a party to "take on the rich and powerful"

[BlueJuniper94]

AIBU to want a party to "take on the rich and powerful" but without all the woke stuff? I don't really like that term but you know what I mean. Why doesn't this seem to be an option

We had a party that took on the rich and powerful and those that couldn’t afford to move abroad ended up paying a basic tax of around 1/3 of our salary + NI

That's because you're using the word incorrectly, so the tripe is yours

What would you not have in your life or any of our lives if there was no 'rich and powerful'

Apart from the chips on people's shoulders

"The populace enjoy voting for parties that don't have their best interests at heart"

They don't get that though. They aspire to be the rich & powerful so think if inheritance tax is increased etc it may hit them in the future. They see themselves as more like the billionaires then the those on benefits.

Many people are drawn to the Labour Party, even though it is filled with millionaires and billionaires who ironically never share their wealth with their supporters.

The same pattern can be seen with millionaire YouTubers, TikTokers, digital influencers, and celebrities who talk about social inequality but don't sacrifice their wealth to support their followers. They preach endlessly but hold onto their riches and fail to genuinely support those who trust them.

It’s amusing how popular YouTubers, TikTokers, and other influencers advocate for taking wealth from the rich while they themselves grow wealthier, amassing fortunes by misleading their loyal audiences.

I can't for the life of me find out how many Labour millionaire/billionaire MPs there are. Could you link to your source please?

Economic redistribution without the 'liberal BS' sounds like Stalinism to be honest! Economic redistribution WITH the 'liberal BS' sounds more like democratic socialism, and yes, we could do witha bit more of that at the moment.

What a childish post! I’m not sure if I should bother to engage but…

Improving corporate responsibility, accountability, and ensuring sufficient contributions to services will make the UK work better. Companies benefit a lot from quality road and rail networks, an efficient grid, high speed internet, educated workforce, etc etc.

Amazon paid no corporation tax at all in 2022 and 2023, against sales of £24 billion and £27 billion. And even though some corporation tax is was paid in the 2024 tax year, there is no transparency around how much of the profits are shunted into their loss making subsidiaries abroad. Transparency should be a given for large corporations.

On the one hand you could argue we must stay beholden to the finance sector etc because we can’t afford to lose the tax revenue it generates.

On the other hand the very same system drives profits above all else and disproportionately benefits a tiny minority.

Part of the reason public services are struggling and taxes have risen is the growth in the wealth divide, the reduction of social mobility and the growth in poverty.

The same system that is generating tax revenue is also contributing to the increase in those who can no longer reliably afford housing, food, utilities etc despite being in employment (and so have to rely more on the state).

Quite simply it is increasingly difficult to earn a living wage due to the cost of living. Reducing the tax rates a bit won’t really help people or public services whereas say, capping rents at max a fifth of the average income, might. No party has so far been willing to overhaul the rental market.

There are things that could be done - tax residential property owned by corporate/investment vehicles effectively; tax property owners who let multiple properties effectively; tax property investors on global asset wealth etc.

Right now we have a system that is increasingly benefiting the wealthy minority. You have to ask yourself whether this country can afford to continue to be the favourite tax efficient investment vehicle for that minority.

It's hard not to like the "idea" of a more equal society, but the fact is the rich and powerful got that way because they (or their ancestors) had the intelligence, drive, skills foresight, ambition and motivation to make that happen.

And we still need everything they achive to happen, or there'd be no money to share out. If there was no financial reward for doing it, would they all still achieve at the same level?

I do think levelling the playing field with inheritance tax makes sense, and I'm someone who'd be affected by that, both on my parent's estate and on mine.

But also I don't think anyone who proposed that re inheritance tax would win, so it would all be a bit pointless.

Pfft

I think you’d have to be rich and powerful yourself if you wanted to ‘take on’ the rich and powerful. You’d certainly not make any impact if you were poor and powerless.

Democratic socialism sounds ideal! But is not compatible with the liberal BS I'm referring to. The radical social agenda which has been forced down everyone's throats by extra democratic means is the very antithesis of democracy.

There's more of us than there are of them... workers of the world unite 😃

Sadly though, you are right. Power centres are too diffuse now. There is no Bastille to storm

But we used to be producers - of wool and steel and pottery as well as coal and tin - world-class

We used to produce oil and refine it here but the do gooder lefties decided it’s better to buy it from Saudi and Iran and ship it here

And when we were producers, the mill owners were the rich and powerful....

What do gooder lefties? Thatcher closed down industry and embraced globalisation in the 80s.

Surely this is what George Galloway has been pushing for yonks now. Looks like the latest iteration is the Workers Party of Britain.

Your word salad makes no sense. Tax is paid on profits at 25%. It’s as simple as that. What does transparency has to do it. Are you saying there was fraud?

The problem is at the moment we are getting poorer as a country. There isn't enough money and it means hard choices to get us back on track.

But any changes are met with resistance. If we keep on having a huge (and growing) proportion of the population not working due to mental health, we will become a poorer and poorer country.

Some younger people in particular seem to completely lack any grit at all, any challenge is characterised as a mental health crisis, the normal ups and downs of life are too much to cope with. I do really worry that the impact of covid & screens & social media have collided to complete fuck up the development of a whole cohort.

And even though some corporation tax is was paid in the 2024 tax year, there is no transparency around how much of the profits are shunted into their loss making subsidiaries abroad. Transparency should be a given for large corporations

Not sure you know much about corporate tax. There are internationally agreed rules that can often require a corporate to "shunt profit into their loss making subsidiaries abroad" and these days there's actually a lot of transparency. If a company isn't making profits, it does not pay income tax. Thats not unfair.

Being ‘told’ what and how to think. About trans, religion, immigration, politics etc etc. the ‘bring kind’ nonsense being spouted by the least kind people imaginable. Woke stuff is insufferable.

Why assume that someone who has a different opinion to you is stupid?

I own my own company with 120 staff. I know how tax works, I have paid a lot over the years (and willingly!). I will not be engaging with corporate tax law on a Friday night 😂

You don't think the rich and powerful having all the wealth and power is a sign of social inequality/injustice? Then why on earth do you think they need to be taken on if you're happy with the status quo? Or is that just another brain fart?