France General Discussion II: Living under Marxism

[Leftbehind]

A flat tax is a perfectly moral tax to adopt, as if all are equal (again a touchstone of the left) surely they should be equal in tax as well.

Well all isn't equal - not in the least - and so your equal taxation doesn't remotely apply in our disgustingly unequal societies. Thankfully we have progressive taxation to readdress that to varying degrees.

Your criticisms of trickle down as wiping out all the gains of growth is absurd. In 2012, most people have a far higher standard of living than they did in 1972, this supposed 'golden era' of social solidarity and progress.

Where is your evidence for that? In Britain we've seen the acceptance of significant levels of unemployment, alongside the disappearance of pensions, affordable homing, regulated rents, decent - and rising - wages, affordable and subsidised transport and higher education (with the need for both having risen exponentially). That's the tangible stuff. Other important losses are the belief you'll be bringing up your children into a better future, you're guaranteed a job if you look for one, the belief that if you work hard enough throughout your life you're entitled to a comfortable retirement and that workers have enough strength that you don't have to accept every one of the bosses demands.

[Leftbehind]

To answer your first point, what exactly have the rich done wrong in order to merit losing 75% of their income, in order to simply give it to the poor, who may or may not be deserving people.

What exactly have rich people done to deserve multiples of what the average worker collects? The state would be a better judge of who and what is deserving than the bastardised market we have now, and can distribute the money accordingly (or use it for infrastructure and in doing so create jobs).

Your second point, correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think unemployment has passed 12% in the UK since the 1930's. A significant level of unemployment is something like 25-30% out of work. The current unemployment rate is 7.9% I think.

As has already been intimated, your definition of significant unemployment is just absurd but at least accurately reflects how low the ambitions your model sets itself.

People have had this belief for most of the period between the early 80's and 2008. This loss of belief that your children would have a better future was widespread in the 1970's, in fact so was the belief that western society was on the edge of collapse. Again your belief that people should be 'guaranteed a job if you look for one' is only one that can be achieved by the government taking control and micromanaging the economy.

There was a shake in the belief in response to the 70's oil crisis but neither the austerity nor the unemployment caused compare to todays conditions (and you had a strong labour movement and more belief in the political process to counteract that). No, today's outlook is far more bleak and rightly so.

The rest of your response seems to come from a bizarre belief that government intervention is a self-evident evil and as such it does to point out the record of the post-war settlement ("fantasy economics") includes interventionist policies with the implication it therefore can't be done. As someone who completely rejects that discredited belief I've nothing to respond to.

[Leftbehind]

I think the UK government could match that.

Also interested in a municipal 2014 write up.

[Leftbehind]

So that minister was tax dodging all along? What a f'ing scumbag. Hollande should just jail him for decades in retaliation.

[Leftbehind]

I reckon the only way Hollande can salvage something from this is by appearing determined to see him banged up for a long time.

[Leftbehind]

When was the last voting intention poll released?

[Leftbehind]

Yeah, that municipal poll isn't very helpful. From a British perspective it's quite strange that there are no polls mid-term.

[Leftbehind]

Well that makes me like PS a bit more. Just a bit.

[Leftbehind]

It's difficult to understand someone becoming so desperate over an issue that barely effects his life.

[Leftbehind]

Was the man in question one of those Catholics (I could easily believe it if it weren't for the 'sinful' suicide)?

[Leftbehind]

Furthermore, as disgustingly racist (and downright retarded and illegal) the Oberst-Gruppenführer's comments are, they're quite popular with the wider electorate (and a lot of mayors, who have problems with the resettlement of Romas) and only a fairly small niche circle of bobos and far-leftists actually take issue with his comments (according to a poll, only 21% condemn his comments). Tellingly, the most common response to Duflot's comments (even on Le Monde.fr, not even talking about Le Figaro here) seems to be the usual "why are the greenies annoying us"/"who does she think she is"/"why hasn't she been fired yet".

Ugh. Is there a more effective way to cement a belief than letting it go unopposed/forming a consensus? The long succession of 'tough on benefits' Labour ministers has worked wonders for public perceptions about both Labour and benefit receivers(!).

[Leftbehind]

Who would you be you standing for?

[Leftbehind]

How are they able to push it through? Their votes outweigh yours? Sounds disastrous.

[Leftbehind]

In other news, I've been purged from my party. More about this tomorrow if I can get some sleep in the mean time...

related to the common lists with PS...or?