Jarndyce of Fair Vote Watch raises this, by Chris of Stumbling and Mumbling. He has a reasonably fair point. Jarndyce's own suggestions are here. I haven't given it much thought, but, a few quick things for starters:
Get rid of our totally bloody ridiculous allegedly independent nuclear deterent. Who are we deterring? No-one, since we're only going to nuke with the Americans permission, which means nuking much the same things as the Americans, and the Americans have plenty of their own nukes - enough to destroy the planet several times over, or something equally absolutely f*cking terrifying - so I don't think they'll be desperately needing ours any time soon. Even if we are deterring anyone, is it worth billions of pounds? No. Get rid of it.
In good, old-fashioned Labour style, like Tony - this one, not that one - said, 'destroy every f*cking grammar school in the country'. And the private schools too, for good measure. All selection condemns those it excludes to going secondary moderns and educational research indicates that good pupils improve the performance of the less able without suffering themselves, so large numbers gain and no-one loses.
Stop providing financial incentives for the middle-class to win in a battle for credentials by dint by greater resources by increasing support for the poorest and charging the wealthiest the full economic cost of university tuition fees. Also, create scholarships for the genuinely academically able, regardless of income, so as to make it clear that the point of going to university should not just be to acquire a qualification that gets you one step further up the ladder at initial recruitment, but to expand your mind.
Increase rates of income tax on the very wealthy, while fining any who leave in order to avoid paying as much tax through confiscation of assets. They are violating a moral duty to ensure that all have enough to live a decent life, and as such, are criminal in exactly the same as anyone else who deprives others of the means to a decent life. The same applies to corporations. Use the excess to decrease marginal tax-rates on the poor.
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5 comments:
Aren't you tying moral duties to the community to a political system with the power to tax? Surely, that sits a bit oddly with your position that our political loyalties are primarily contingent and involve no special obligations to fellow citizens above humanity in general. By the British state confiscating the rich defectors' assets, aren't you claiming them for 'our people'?
All selection condemns those it excludes to going secondary moderns and educational research indicates that good pupils improve the performance of the less able without suffering themselves, so large numbers gain and no-one loses.
Link? Source?
Do grow up. Sir Humphrey pointed out years ago that the point of the nukes is to deter the French.
Blimpish,
I only meant it in terms of genuine tax exiles - those who leave in order to avoid paying tax - which isn't clear at all. Sorry. I'll revise it in a minute.
Pearsall,
forgotten. Will try and get round to having a look.
Thanks. I'm curious because I've read precisely the opposite assertion before.
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