to be fed up of hearing 'I've worked hard for my money'

[newbluesofa]

Lots of chat on MN recently about taxes on high earners. So heard lots of 'we have this money because we work bloody hard for it' and honestly I'm sick of it and think the people who say it are selfish.

Nurses work incredibly hard, long shifts, difficult job. Carers provide absolutely essential service, again shift work, difficult hours, difficult job. Teachers provide essential work, I know multiple teachers and they all devote evenings, weekends, school holidays to the detriment of their own families. All of these jobs also have huge emotional tolls. So 'I've worked hard for my money' means nothing to me, because a lot of people work a lot harder for a lot less.

Were you any good at IB, because there's clearly a correlation between effort and compensation. It may not be a perfect correlation, buy it's certainly positive.

If you’re normal people to whom that’s a significant amount of money, I guess the 10 years abroad and working every hour and missing children’s events isn’t worth it after all. Maybe strive for a better work-life balance, earn a bit less, and best of all (apparently) reduce your tax bill.

When people say they’ve worked hard for their money it doesn’t mean they think others haven’t.

but higher earners are constantly being looked down on/ seen as being in wrong for being higher earners without an appreciation of them having worked for it .

also lots of teachers and nurses have worked their way up and gained promotions and are higher earners too

But most billionaires don’t have billions in cash. They have it invested in companies that employ others, pay taxes and probably make/develop the products and services we want.

Now people aren't allowed to have a pool or multiple holidays? What a horrible world you want to create, where everyone has a shitty life. Hard pass.

I'm a person without any power to impose a wealth cap.

But I would absolutely be in favor of one, and your argument that "it's theirs" hasn't made me question my stance at all.

I wonder as well how many of these people who feel jealous and annoyed by people on benefits (most are actually in work) were helped through uni by money from parents or have inheritance, or were gifted a deposit. They would never admit to being benefit recipients themselves, just came from a different place.

Then feel quite free to give yours up.

I don't want billionaires to have so much power, deciding what to "invest" in (because it's not good for the planet or for regular people). Billionaires add nothing of value to society, and trickle down economics are proven to not work.

I absolutely agree with you. Lots of people at various different pay scales work hard for their money. Having waited tables myself as a student I can tell you it was a lot harder than my current well paid office job.

This attitude , that you deserve to be well off . just ignores the inequality that has grown so much over the last 20 years,

Global wealth has doubled over the last 25 years or so. The average global chief executive pay increased by half while average workers’ pay rose by less than 1 per cent

Voluntary benevolent gifts from family are not remotely related to forcing taxpayers at point of law to support the objectionable lifestyle choices of complete strangers.

I think the entire idea that people should have to work hard for money is nonsense. People should get to live rewarding and meaningful lives - if they can do this then most will automatically 'work hard' of their own volition. Humans with good mental wellbeing are naturally hard working. The problem is living in such an unjust society where so many people don't get to flourish, and 'hard work' is exploited to enrich a few men at the top. There's no benefit to this - it's a hangover from Protestantism and the Industrial Revolution. If one has any morals at all it is painful to live in such an unfair society and see others with less, which leads to the need to justify what one has in terms of 'hard work'.

No one has money just because they 'worked hard'. They live in a society with a functioning economy and opportunities, they are physically and mentally well enough to work, they got the opportunity to do something that matched their skills that happened to pay well, etc etc.

You must not live in london. The median price for a house in a nice part of West london is 800k to 1.8 million. How much do you think you need to make to afford that mortgage? 40k is an entry level salary for many professional jobs, it's really not that much and quite sad that people think it's a lot in the UK, esp considering the extortionate taxes and COL.

My DM worked hard all her life in minimum wage, menial jobs. From leaving school, up to retirement. Yes, she claimed some benefits. Yes, she lived in a council house. But she did shit (yet essential) jobs for very little money.

So the big house / posh car / multiple holiday brigade can fuck right off with their unwillingness to pay more tax. Mum needed the benefits she got. And her standard of living was still low.

Of course they're allowed to have them. But they shouldn't begrudge paying more tax to support those at the bottom of the scale.

The problem is that those billionaires have forced such devices on all of us without asking and made it impossible to live modern life without them. If you can think of a way for me to access my bank account or the QR codes that are now required for me to travel without my devices then I'm all ears.

I like to call my mum who lives abroad instead of writing letters.

Exactly!!!! Thank you!!

I think the higher earners will be ok

We could do that before the internet!

No not exactly at all. The top 1% have increased their wealth by 2655 times as much as the bottom half has over the last 25 years. Because the entire tax and economic system benefits them. The billionaires are not benefiting us. It’s laughable that people think just 3000 people (that’s the number of billionaires) are worth 16% of GDP and this is somehow beneficial to the world. They mostly inherited their wealth as well.

It’s not at all. It’s far too unequal.

Having waited tables myself as a student I can tell you it was a lot harder than my current well paid office job
If well paid office jobs are easier, then what is anyone complaining? If the next waitress feels she should be paid more for her hard work, she is free to apply to that well paid office job just like you did. Easy peasy!

Your post made me feel better - it's always good to know there are people who see these things are complex

Are we only talking billionaires here? What's the bracket of salary that makes ot OK to say you've worked hard to get it and fair to say tou don't want to pay more taxes? Mainly, what's the top acceptable income? £500k? 100K? 50K?

Are you serious?