economic situation is dire

[chrisp65]

I'm not privileged - says VT moderator illuminati.

 

 

 

I prefer the Independent, but the Guardian is free in Waitrose, it's a middle class dilemma I tells ya.

[Xann]

I get a dozen anti establishment articles from various sources on my FB every day.

Many are unsolicited from dubious sources, a few are well researched from well respected academics or intellectuals.

With a job and a (sorry excuse of a) Iife, I haven't the time to delve into the validity of all the outrage on the screen.

 

That article will have been scrutinised for errors or outright lies, it's also up to date.

 

The increase in the grants for land put aside for grousing is a policy that needs more attention.

Somewhere in the Condem thread I linked an article from a well healed journo that had picked up on this interesting bit of legislation earlier.

He thought (as many of us would), that under the current measures we suffer in the interests of austerity, this was a bit odd.

 

Questions were asked of the relevant governmental department.

He was used to being avoided, sold half truths or under the Labour government, spin.

What he wasn't expecting, and this was the first administration to do this, was to be completely ignored.

 

I'm glad this matter hasn't been forgotten, which would suit our current legislators down to the ground.

[MakemineVanilla]

 

The Guardian's sermons from the privileged children of the political elite leave me cold these days.

 

Monbiot enjoyed every privilege that a son of two Tories was heir to; went to posh fee-paying school, got a job with the BBC because of the people his parents knew, and then got a job at the Guardian for exactly the same reasons - middle-class social capital.

 

A path most working class people would think unfair and an insult to the idea of a meritocracy.

 

Once he'd secured his place in the same privileged class as his parents he decided he was a socialist and a Green.

 

So when these people call for revolution, I react the exact same way as I do when spoilt posh women who got their jobs through nepotism, write their daily drivel complaining about the glass-ceiling.

 

His whining is emotive and his rhetoric of envy is impressive but he is definitely not one us and never will be - he's just a posh boy on a permanent 'gep yah'.

So the only people able to display a social conscience without it being written off are those who have never benefitted from any sort of privilege?

If so, it would appear to me that the pool from which valid political opinion may be drawn is evaporating inexorably and at quite a rate, too.

p.s. 'Meritocracy' - yurgh.

 

 

I wouldn't put it that way, I would say that he shouldn't be confused with an advocate for the victims of austerity or a socialist.

 

He just wants the tools of socialism - state control - to force his Green solutions on the rest of us.

 

The article is just a litany of political despair meant to persuade Labour voters to vote for the Green Party; something which would probably guarantee to put the Tories back in to implement their austerity-max.

 

I was surprised that people were so eager to defend him, because the main criticism of the present government is not their lack of Green policies (notoriously abandoned) but their indifference to inequality and their attack on the poor.

 

Monbiot's political aspirations are overwhelmingly Green and his vision is a million miles away from the concerns of the unemployed or under-employed.

 

And it was he, who used the word 'meritocracy' in his article, to criticise the privileged, which considering his own privilege, was a bit rich coming from him, I thought.

[blandy]

I was surprised that people were so eager to defend him, because the main criticism of the present government is not their lack of Green policies (notoriously abandoned) but their indifference to inequality and their attack on the poor...... his vision is a million miles away from the concerns of the unemployed or under-employed.

 I think only that snowy (and myself) said his background doesn't either invalidate his views or disqualify him from holding them or voicing them. The point being that we feel it's not George monbiot that is the topic of discussion, but the content of what he wrote.

 

Personally I think the biggest failing of this government is that they are a shower of words removed. That and their incompetence...oh and their arrogance....and their willfull ignorance....and their deception and duplicity - I absolutely loathe them. They are the worst government of my lifetime, by an absolute mile. Their contempt for the environment and for expert scientific advice and information is symbolic of their utter word removed-tishness.

[snowychap]

I wouldn't put it that way...

In which case criticize what he wrote, question the integrity of his opinions and, even, point out where his background may cause x or y to be the case but that wasn't what you said originally.

First time round was about Monbiot not being 'one of us', writing off his opinions as him being on a perennial 'gep yah' and so on.

I wasn't defending Monbiot - I was criticizing your post.

[CarewsEyebrowDesigner]

I generally agree with what Monbiot says, although mostly on the environment. His background may have informed his beliefs but that's simply unavoidable. To hold it against someone is a bit unfair - it's what they say and do with their lives what matters e.g. Tony Benn v the current Eton crowd.

[tonyh29]

Drugs and prostitution now included in the GDP figures ... finally the North East starts to contributes to Britain

[ender4]

Drugs and prostitution now included in the GDP figures ... finally the North East starts to contributes to Britain

 

 

the first step towards legalising them?

 

second step is to start taxing them.

[tonyh29]

 

Drugs and prostitution now included in the GDP figures ... finally the North East starts to contributes to Britain

 

 

the first step towards legalising them?

 

second step is to start taxing them.

 

 

legalised Northerners  .. nah it will never take off 

[CarewsEyebrowDesigner]

It's about time they legalised both.

[peterms]

Retrospectively, in George Osborne's case.

[snowychap]

Phones 4u goes in to administration.

 

link

Phones 4u went into administration on Sunday night, putting 5,596 jobs at risk after the retailer said it would not open its doors on Monday.

The closure of the retail chain that made the entrepreneur John Caudwell a multimillionaire comes after mobile network EE decided to stop selling through Phones 4u.

Disaster struck when Vodafone withdrew its business a fortnight ago. O2 had stopped selling through the retailer earlier this year and Three some time before that.

With only EE left to represent, Phones 4u's ability to offer customers choice by comparing prices across operators disappeared, and its final supplier is understood to have dealt the death blow on Friday after talks last week.

Phones 4u's private equity owner, BC Partners, said it would appoint PwC as administrators for its 720 outlets, including 550 stores, on Monday. BC acquired the chain in 2011 in a €770m (£610m) deal, but the highly leveraged business is currently saddled with debts of £635m.

Phones 4u will update its staff at meetings in store and at its headquarters on Monday, and BC insisted: "Employees will continue to be paid until further notice."

...more on link

[lapal_fan]

We need to start building things we can sell to other countries

 

We pay workers 50p to make something, the gov sells that thing to a country for £1.50p, we have a happy workforce earning corn, the gov is making money, and the country buying stuff from us is happy because they like the stuff they're buying.

 

Running a country is easy man, let me have a go

[TrentVilla]

No surprise regarding phones4u, they were reselling other peoples products and those people have basically started selling more directly via their own outlets.

 

Not an uncommon situation with new products before the companies have their own route to market.

[Ads]

Indeed, apparently EE now have 520 of their own stores, compared to 720 Phones4U which made up 10% of their sales.

[Morley_crosses_to_Withe]

Six years today since Lehman went under. The administration of it is still running, too. PWC must be thanking their lucky stars.

[Nabby]

Indeed, apparently EE now have 520 of their own stores, compared to 720 Phones4U which made up 10% of their sales.

 

 

It is pretty mad just how many mobile phones shops there are these days , especially as now you get tied into a 2 year deal , it surprises me they still get enough customers to keep the floor space.

 

Personally I haven't brought a phone in a shop for over 10 years.I always go direct with the network online or though an online store.

[Xela]

Always sad when people lose their jobs but the last time I went into a P4U, it was staffed by pushy and arrogant people, trying to force you into a deal there and then. Majority of them bedecked in shiny suits, brown shoes and fancy haircuts. I always found them the worst of the independents. 

 

Like others have said, makes no sense when the best deals are through the network direct. Wonder how long before CPW go?

[MakemineVanilla]

Good article by Ha-Joon Chang in today's Guardian.

 

His political opinions might not be shared by everyone but the numbers he includes provide an excellent starting point for debunking much of the Tory narrative.

[Xann]