The Green-Eyed Monster

This is sort of related to the post I did on the upcoming strike by public sector workers.

It involves that thing that has killed millions over the centuries. That thing that causes so much trouble between us. That thing that we can't live without. That thing that if we have too little of, or, paradoxically, too much of, has the power to make us miserable.

Money.

Regular readers of my bloglet will know that I have made and lost a million pounds. I have had a super-abundance of money, and I have been wretchedly poor. I don't recall being spectacularly miserable when I had no money, and when I had a lot of it, I just rolled with it. It is what it is. I was fairly philosophical about it. Ambivalent, even. I enjoyed the ride but when the crash happened, I took stock: I was still alive, my family were okay, I learnt the lessons and moved on. What else could I have done? Curl up in a ball and bawl? Nothing to be gained by that. I found something else to do. I found another way to defur the feline.

Nowadays I am a middle-income earner. Mr Average. Not poor, not rich. Happy enough that I have enough to pay my bills with a little left over each month. Not quite enough to save, and not quite enough to squander.

The point of this post is to ask a simple question:

Are you jealous of those with bulging bank accounts?

Which feeds on to other questions like:

Are you envious of their fancy houses, big cars, foreign holidays, designer clothes and all of their other stuff?

Does it matter what they have? Do you deserve more just because they have more? Should we all earn the same and all have the same stuff? Sounds like communism to me. That system has continually failed. I think only Cuba remains as a true communist state and I can promise you that those at the top (in a land where all are equal) have a damn sight more than the peons. The "leaders" have bigger houses, better cars, bigger bank accounts, better health care. So let's dump that myth. "Prizes for all" never works. The world is unequal. It always has been, and unless we all miraculously transcend the material, it probably always will be unequal. Live with it. The alternative is to whine and moan or worse, try to take it off those who have it.

I don't care what the bloke next door earns. He may well be a tool but he works for what he has. And even if he doesn't, what business is that of mine? None at all, is the right answer.

I think I differ from "true" anarchists in that I don't mind captialism. Let's face reality for a moment: without entrepreneurs who gamble a very great deal of their time, money and energy on new ventures, create wealth, and they create jobs, which feeds the beast known as the economy. In turn, those employees spend their money into the economy and help to sustain other companies, which in turn helps to provide jobs for their employees. So let's lay off Big Business, it isn't all bad. Yes, we can argue about the ethics, and the lack of morality regarding the way those businesses are managed, but the main thing to remember is that they are not inherently bad.

That leads me nicely on to what those "fat cats" earn. The numbers are obscene, but often relative. I read today about a CEO who earns $114 million per year. Before bonuses. I know of entire nations that run on a smaller budget. Dig a little deeper and you discover that the CEO works a 15 hour day in an effort to grow the business, therefore providing yet more jobs to yet more people, and the same guy donates many millions to deserving charities every year. The arguments start when we learn that the same chap banks offshore in an effort to give the state less in taxes. Fair enough, I say. The Lefties will scream that this guy must pay 75% tax while they pay nothing. For the sake of a fluke, "right place, right time", or genuinely hard graft, our hero must now give two thirds of his wages to an inept government, who, in turn, will hand it out to the idle and the feckless?

That is uncool, IMHO.

I happen to know that all taxation is both illegal and unlawful. I have written about it often enough here. Dig around, and you will find the articles, or view the same videos I viewed.

I happen to know that our currency-all currencies, in fact-are fiat. Which is to say they are worthless. They operate like Catholicism, Buddhism, Judaism, Jehova's Witnessism or Islamism. They operate on faith and faith alone. Our notes have no value. No intrinsic value. A twenty pound note has an actual value of around 3p. It is a belief system.  No more and no less.

This piece is not about that. Years ago I got over the jealousy, the envy, the bitterness, the resentment. Some people earn more than others. The world owes you nothing. You make and take what you can. Ideally, you don't hurt anyone else while you are doing that and if you can lay your head down and sleep the night through with a clear conscience, then I wish you well. Sincerely.

There is much chatter in the MSM, on Twitter, and around the blogs about this 50% tax for the rich. I do not think that is fair, no matter how much you earn. 50% is too much. It is a desperate grab by a bunch of idiots in government who don't have the sand to make savage, but necessary cuts. Who don't have the sense to know that they have created and overfed a bloated monster and point blank refuse to trim the fat. Because they lack the courage to do the right thing, our wealthier citizens must be punished. And to what end? What would YOU do if they suddenly said "We are going to help ourselves to half of your earnings. Because we can"? If it was me I'd be looking at foreign properties. I'd be instructing my bank to start moving all my liquid assets to a bank account far, far away. Then I'd be following the money. Literally. I'd be bugging out. And who could blame me/them?

There is nothing (fundamentally) wrong with Big Business, and there is nothing (fundamentally) wrong with high earners. One thing is clear: we need them here, to carry on creating successful businesses so we can have something to do with our time, and earn some coin.

But there is something fundamentally wrong with a government that would take half of their money by force to satisfy the Lefties, with whom, I might add, there is also a fundamental flaw. These freaks we would not miss. Let them move out. Let them go and seek this Utopia where money is hurled at them just because they hold out their hands. Where opportunities are gifted, not sought, earned and worked for.

Grow up. Man up. Realise that the world does not revolve around you. Take responsibility. If you really want more digits in your account, earn them. If what you do does not create enough digits to satisfy your money-lust, do something else that would allow you to do so.

Just don't expect my taxes to pay for your imagined/would-be/wannabe lifestyle. I owe you nothing. I already give too much, so leave me be.

While you're at it, leave the wealthy alone as well. Without them, we'd all be in a mess.

Find that Green-Eyed Monster and slay him.

You'll feel 100% better. I absolutely guarantee it.

CR.