[Politics] Are baby boomers taxed enough?

[Uh_huh_him]

One possible option for young people, or indeed anyone struggling to make ends meet, is to move. I am sure that many people in the past have realised that they cannot realistically afford to live in one of the most expensive areas in the country and would perhaps look for alternatives before calling the situation hopeless. No, it is not ideal, but it is a plausible option for many.

So we shouldn't have young people living in the South of England?

 

[Bombardier]

Young people are working just as hard, but with a lot lot less to show for it, or even nothing at all.

Boomers are so in denial about the whole situation. Of course you want to enjoy your retirement, the fruits of your labour... but at least have a little bit of sympathy for the young who will never get to experience such things.

At the same time, you can only squeeze young people so hard before something gives. There really needs to be a democratic solution to this, and the wealthy boomers will have to give up some of their wealth.

Crawl back under your stone!

 

[Uh_huh_him]

Moving up north with my first marriage enabled me to get our first home after living in a council house for six years. We couldn't afford to live in Sussex. This was in the 'golden years' of the 70s.

It's all very teenager 'It's not fair', isn't it?

Well comparing the issue affecting an entire generation of the population, to your situation from 50 years ago is more ridiculous, isn't it?

My mum and dad bought their first house in 1968 in Worthing.
They had just had their second child and just one small income.
Why couldn't you afford to?
Spending all your money in coffee bars I expect..

We can all play that game.

 

[mikeyjh]

The results of this poll are indicative of why young people are in this hopeless mess.

Simply, the boomers vote, and will never give up their undeserved acquired wealth if they can help it.

The pitchforks are coming though. It's worth finding a solution democratically before things start to get ugly.

You appear to be living in cloud cuckoo land - Most 'boomers' as you refer to them are very normal people with not much but they get by. Of course, there are plenty that are doing well living comfortably and enjoying the fruits of their labour, I am certain that some are not deserved of that but this isn't confinded to that age group.

My mother (a boomer) worked her socks off until she was 60 something, living in a little terraced house, running a little car, going on the occasional holiday to such exotic paradises as Tenerife, then she retired, got dementia and died.

My father in law lives on his own having lost his wife who worked as a cleaner a few years ago in another little terrace, still does odd jobs at 78 to get a bit of pocket money and gets by with his 18 year old car though I'm not sure how!

It may sound like a sob story but it's just normal, absolutely normal life for millions of people. I don't know if you live in some sort of middle class bubble but you really really have to understand that ageism is not the answer to your woes.

 

[The Clamp]

Moving up north with my first marriage enabled me to get our first home after living in a council house for six years. We couldn't afford to live in Sussex. This was in the 'golden years' of the 70s.

It's all very teenager 'It's not fair', isn't it?

It does come across that way, yes.

I concede that young people have challenged these days. They also have new industries, much more understanding educators and employers. Many more workers rights. They are really well looked after in the workplace.

Mu generation had its own set of problems. The heady days of the 90’s with work perks and companies displaying “Investor In People plaques (remember those?) were coming to a grinding halt. Wages were slowing down. You were doing well if you were earning over £3 ph.

When I moved to Brighton I was on £6.5k a year.
So many of us got stuck in retail or service industries. Earning peanuts.

And the generation before me had financial troubles to contend with.

Righto, I’m off to work. I’ll be on patrol until 4am. I feel so lucky and privileged

 

[portlock seagull]

When my Dad needed a hip replacement in his 70s his consultant told him it was probably as a result of all the running he did as a young man, also he did a lot of walking for work in his 50s, he was stiil the same wieght as he'd been in his mid-twenties, 12½ stone. Lots of blokes I know who have needed knee replacments because they played rugby or football so maybe just stick to walking.

Thing I don’t like about where we’re going is behemoth private companies playing god with who received treatment, what’s excluded and included etc. Any such decision making, in the hands of profit motivated plutocrats, can only end badly for the vast majority.

Yes we all have a responsibility to take care of ourselves as best we can, but boy are we at the thin edge of a wedge currently. And united we stand, divided we’re conquered etc. I can only see ‘conquered’ as the FT result sadly, as we head towards injury time. Everyone is being encouraged to blame another group, what about if-wry is rampant, all of course stoked by those purporting to have our best interests in hand. As Sir Jacob Astley said at the end of our Civil War: “You have done your work, boys, and may go play……until you will fall out among yourselves”

IMO, naturally!

 

[The Clamp]

So we shouldn't have young people living in the South of England?

Well not if they can’t afford to. There’s plenty of wealthy young people left in Sussex and Surrey, I wouldn’t worry about that.

 

[portlock seagull]

I never married. I was with someone for almost ten years but we never tied the knot.

Anyway, there was a period of about 5 years in our early thirties where all our friends were getting married.

This sort of arms-race ensued as people vied to be bigger and better than the last.

With no thought to the cost to the guests. Stag do’s, gifts, outfits, meals, etc.

They were mostly fun but Jiminy Cricket! I think we totted up that we’d spent circa 10k on other people’s weddings over the 5 years.

Luckily someone broke the race with a registry office wedding and a disco afterward. It was great.

Jeez, yes, I remember it got silly indeed.

A friend of mine was invited to go to a stag do in Thailand no less. He couldn’t afford. His mate lambasted him for not going FFS!! Really gave him shit for. And as you say, this was far from extreme, for a solid 5 years the wedding season was littered with such occasions in my life that several very nearly clashed and 3 weddings on the trot each weekend was not unknown. Hellishly expensive time and some less than wider lensed people to placate!

 

[Uh_huh_him]

Well not if they can’t afford to. There’s plenty of wealthy young people left in Sussex and Surrey, I wouldn’t worry about that.

It seems everyone has been taking the wrong meds today.

Moving away to where housing is cheaper, is not the answer to the economic challenges facing the young generation.
The number of people needing to move to these cheaper areas will far outstrip the available properties.
I assume you understand what will happen next?

 

[Blues Guitarist]

You boomers are so deluded and selfish. Just because you're doing alright...

As a boomer, I worked very hard, invested well (some of the time), paid 18% interest on my first mortgage (sometimes my mortgage payment was more than my take home pay), often went without stuff and saved rather than spending. I’m doing alright because over many decades I worked very hard and made good decisions.

Please explain why I, as a hard working boomer, am being deluded and selfish.

 

[Uh_huh_him]

Oh how we mocked this old gammon for massively missing the point of the troubles of our time.

 

[Worried Man Blues]

In '77 I left beautiful Sussex to move to East Croydon for work reasons, don't tell me I haven't suffered First job £1,500 pa rolling in it!

 

[BN9 BHA]

If you say you’re a boomer these days you will get thrown in prison.

 

[Westdene Seagull]

It's nobodys fault... it's just the way things have panned out.

Boomers were lucky to be born when they were - but that ship has sailed. Low or average earning young people will never experience such wealth, or anything close... or anything at all - unless they are 'lucky' enough to receive a huge inheritance, as macabre as that reality is.

It's a big problem. Possibly the biggest problem, up there with climate change. It's a ticking timb bomb.

Obviously we should take these things incredibly seriously. "Don't spend your days bemoaning" - what do you suggest to do instead? You boomers are so deluded and selfish. Just because you're doing alright...

If it's not the "boomers" ( hate that word - only pricks use it ) then why are you suggesting they are taxed more ?

 

[A mex eyecan]

I remember you being a great admirer of North Korea. I have read a story about someone who was born in North Korea, in prison. His mother was put in prison because his father objected to the political regime. The whole family were interned.
As his mother was already pregnant, he was born in prison. He grew up in prison because if you are a child of a prisoner, that's where you stay.
He was working in the fields around the compound growing vegetables, and thought about what it would be like outside. Eventually he did escape the guards and made it to South Korea.
He was totally disorientated by the change in culture and couldn't cope with it at first, but gradually with a lot of help, he did start living a 'normal' life Equal distribution of wealth in communist countries is a myth.
In China, the ordinary people are not even allowed to vote.

for lords sake don’t try and bring doubt over the Commo perfect ideal wonderland. You will give someone the right hump.
Tis true though Commo ideal of everyone being equal is nothing more than a myth. But of course those sitting at their top table are only ever rewarded the same as the poor bugger on his knees in a field aren’t they?

 

[A mex eyecan]

Personally, I would say that once an organisation’s wealth allows them to lobby governments utilising a mixture of lobbyists, lawyers, PR firms and manipulation of online content they’re too large.

Diageo is a great example of an organisation that has too much power in its chosen sector. I would far rather see Guinness cut loose and run under its own control, than have one giant organisation controlling countless drinks brands under one umbrella.

I don’t have any knowledge regarding Morrisons history, but to my mind they’re a business that have a specific purpose and function in a market with plenty of competition, I personally don’t see an immediate need for that business to be broken up.

However, I would like to think that such decisions would be being made by well-briefed civil servants with an eye on sectors where competition is not working as it should.

At present the trend is for businesses to be sucked up into a megacorp’s portfolio of brands and companies that the public recognise. This in turn means that much of the wealth created by those businesses is being distributed among an ever smaller group of beneficiaries.

My preference would be to see that trend being reversed.

So by excluding the likes of Morrisons being broken up you‘re already making exceptions to the rules.
And do you really really believe that well briefed civil servants would be as entrepreneurial as people who set up businesses and grow them successfully?

 

[Colonel Mustard]

Obviously we should take these things incredibly seriously. "Don't spend your days bemoaning" - what do you suggest to do instead? You boomers are so deluded and selfish. Just because you're doing alright...

Apart from me, you must be the most annoying person on here.

What do I suggest you do instead of moaning? Make a f*cking plan. Do it now. Get a piece of A4 paper. Landscape. On the left, jot down where you are now and why you're miserable. On the right hand side make a few notes on where you aspire to be. Then in the middle, start planning how you get from where you are now to where you want to be. Work out what you need to research more, what you can do right now, what the pros and cons of the various actions needed might be, including the sacrifices required. Continue on more paper. End up with draft 1 of a detailed plan and a timetable. Then follow the plan, reviewing and revising it at regular intervals. That's how it's done.

Instead of splashing your self pity on a football forum, take control of your own life NOW. Because (*spoiler alert*) no one else, not even a Labour government or whoever else you're hoping will save you from those beastly old people, is going to do it for you.

Wimpy w*ankers drive me fookin' nuts. Nuts, I tell l you.

 

[Thunder Bolt]

Well comparing the issue affecting an entire generation of the population, to your situation from 50 years ago is more ridiculous, isn't it?

My mum and dad bought their first house in 1968 in Worthing.
They had just had their second child and just one small income.
Why couldn't you afford to?
Spending all your money in coffee bars I expect..

We can all play that game.

We had both just come out of the Navy, so employment record not satisfactory to building societies.
Coffee bars were so early 60s.

 

[portlock seagull]

Young people are working just as hard, but with a lot lot less to show for it, or even nothing at all.

Boomers are so in denial about the whole situation. Of course you want to enjoy your retirement, the fruits of your labour... but at least have a little bit of sympathy for the young who will never get to experience such things.

At the same time, you can only squeeze young people so hard before something gives. There really needs to be a democratic solution to this, and the wealthy boomers will have to give up some of their wealth.

…to add some petrol to the fire, as you’ve got it nicely roaring, some of the mass of contributory factor is obviously cost of land here, and global competition/market we’re all now in. Far more people in this country: if the Boomers didn’t give birth, then you’d literally have nothing to moan about! And if leftie liberal ‘millennials’ (cuh!) hadn’t wanted a border less state then perhaps there be less ‘competition?’ Careful what you wish for and all that Anyway, it’s clearly the Romans that started it, so we should sue Italy. Remember, it’s always someone else’s fault. And they can blame it on the Carthaginians, Libya’s got loads of oil still and clearly should be paying global reparations instead of sending economic refugees in little boats ‘over here’, the bloody liberty…And wot bout those Persians? They’re rowing in their thousands to our shores right now. Didn’t they come before Hannibal? And and and…who else can we blame here? China, yes China! Surely there’s too many of them too, hogging all those resources, opening restaurants (we all enjoy) and eating up our oceans with their panache for seafood?! Bare faced cheek of it all!

The alternative is of course to try and see the world for what it is and try not to get sucked into such rabbit holes. Because it’s an utter waste of time. Bit like this thread really, entertaining as it may be

I give this thread until 6pm before it’s transferred to binfest where it should probably be in all honesty. Mission then accomplished eh, Mustafa?!!!

 

[portlock seagull]

Wimpy w*ankers drive me fookin' nuts.

Quite like a Bender myself. And a Quarter Pounder. Certainly better than McDonalds IMO.