High earners to pay for their children state schools

[Verycold]

www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-25798659

Although, obviously, it is incredibly entitled not to want to work in a sweat shop that could fall on your head at any minute.

And, of course, if Englishmen had been happy with their lot, we wouldn't have had an Empire, we wouldn't have wars which are really about oil and other natural resources, we wouldn't have had slavery... we would have got on with making the most of what we have, rather than casting around for where we can nick something better elsewhere through brute force.

Indeed. It's there in the Bible - we had it all in the Garden of Eden, a nice myth and then we could not be content with what we had do we had to go after the things that do us no good (and they had to add a bit of anti woman stuff in there too blaming Eve for the fall of man of course).

Capitalism is built on greed and jealousy - people don't just take what they need, they crave more than the next person, or want what the next person has, even if it is only an ox.

There comes a point where it is not jealousy to point out that you are being treated badly by your paymasters.

Great riposte to Seldon in the Guardian...

www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/jan/26/education-fees-state-schools-evil-idea

lifted from today's Observer ...correction.

LauraBridges

From my experience, people are happy with their lives until they see how the other half lives. So you might find a tribe in a hard to reach area somewhere in this world that is happy to live the way they live until they come across people who seemingly have it better than them or have something they want. You'll find that happening far back into history... that's why all the wars, invading other countries, colonialism, etc.

And re. God... watching Blood Diamond right now, and can't help but quote Leonardo di Caprio's character. In some areas of the world, people may agree with him: God left this place a while ago.

It depends SnowBells ...you can witness the empty headed hedonism that some people pursue (think Hollywood Wives) ....and not be envious at all...there is a lot to be said with being content with your lot ...as long as you are relatively comfortable...even the very wealthy be eaten up by envy because someone else has superyacht and they do not....there is no end to it once you go down that road.

nibs777

Of course, that would be great. But there's something to be said about that attitude going slightly against human nature. We wouldn't have had the history we had, if everyone followed such rules like a monk...

Also, the argument that LauraBridges had was being happy even in a Georgian society... I would argue that the majority was not comfortable during that time.

History is littered with stories of happy, content tribes being invaded by obnoxious, vicious, greedy invaders... I think the majority actually would rather like a quiet, peaceable life, but these vicious types will keep breeding, telling everyone they are superior and making a nice mess of it all.

I already pay for state schools

Through my taxes

yes that point has been made over and over in this thread but others seem to ignore it ....Seldon being one of them in his report....as per the Observer riposte...if you are asking people with over 80k in income to pay for state and then use three -quarters of that money to pay for other schools than the state school they have their children in, it's just another tax ...but one simply based on utilizing state education already paid for with higher contributions by higher tax payers ...a state education which is free to all in all other Western countries I can think of...what will they means test next ...walking on the beach, taxing dog ownership?

Definitely. Dog ownership must be taxed. Quite right, too. And bring back the window tax, I say.

If parents with children in better performing state schools should pay more, perhaps parents with children in poorly performing state schools should get a refund. One could even argue that it should be on a child by child basis - if your child does not make expected progress, you should get a refund. . That could then make even more of a mockery of government statistics, as desperate, concerted moves are then made by schools AND government to fudge the figures.

I think you will find the "Mansion Tax" is a Window tax in effect.....

Similarly I saw that some council or other was issuing Blue Badges to those over a certain weight- an idea no doubt put forward by the local association of takeaways...

No, no, no. The mansion tax is a different tax. One could quite conceivably have both a mansion tax AND a window tax.

a sightseeing tax also for every historic or shiny building you look at on a day trip to London...why should you get that for free even if you don't go inside...I ask you?

Absolutely. In fact, that could be an interesting twist on the window tax - you get taxed for looking into as well as out of windows... It could vastly increase the number of people walking and cycling to work. Although, maybe there should also be a pavement tax?...

yes, why not,...dammit...get taxed once generally in PAYE and then taxed specifically for every use ....sounds like the fairest and most efficient way to bring down the deficit ...if you haven't got your walking on the pavement licence disc displayed on our person you should be liable for a hefty fine...can't see why any reasonable person should object ....after all you are contributing to the wear and tear of said pavement

If difference between peoples does not matter then people tend to be happier. However if you covet your neighbour's ox or house or car therein rarely lies the path to happiness. Similarly you can be very content i a hut in the wilds, in fact more content than in a City because you have the things that cheer people up - moving around all day in the forest, lots of sunshine, fresh water and unadulterated food. The rich pay a lot of money to have in a sense what the very poorest on this planet in jungles etc enjoy.

you can't really be content in a hut in the wild because someone owns the wild and won't let you live there....at least in this country...and there's the small matter of council tax on your hut ....and whether you had planning permission ..and heat, electricity and fresh water to pay for....

Capitalism demands that we should be discontented with what we currently have and seek more, better, different...

Capitalism demands that we should be discontented with what we currently have and seek more, better, different...
indeed, but in my case at the moment the suffix to each of those is "yoga"