We are developing the social individualist meta-context for the future. From the very serious to the extremely frivolous... lets see what is on the mind of the Samizdata people.
Samizdata, derived from Samizdat /n. - a system of clandestine publication of banned literature in the USSR [Russ.,= self-publishing house]
Added later: I see that Paul Marks has made a very pertinent suggestion in the comments,
“As there is no minimum time requirement for the (very large) pension a former Prime Minister gets, I propose that each of us is Prime Minister for a few minutes – and then resigns.
“Creating all the money (from nothing) to fund the pensions would be inflationary – but given the already insane level of government spending…”
Added even later: in the comments, TomJ links to this Parliamentary Briefing Paper that says that the rules on Prime Ministerial pensions were reformed in a boring direction in 2013. Right, that’s me out. I won’t do it now even if they ask nicely.
Steven R – Eton recently fired a teacher for crimes-against-Wokeness (he was a biology teacher who believed biology is real) – but back when Mr Johnson went there (as a scholarship boy – he was “House” not an “Oppidan”) it was a good school.
As there is no minimum time requirement for the (very large) pension a former Prime Minister gets, I propose that each of us is Prime Minister for a few minutes – and then resigns.
Creating all the money (from nothing) to fund the pensions would be inflationary – but given the already insane level of government spending…..
The film is leftist – for example it assumes that Rupert Murdoch guides policy. If only Mr Murdoch (old though he is) did guide policy – instead William “Bill” Gates and other leftist billionaires guide policy. Bill Gates wants ever higher taxes (including on billionaires) world “governance” and-so-on.
Marxism is wrong – the rich are not united as a “class”, they have wildly different opinions. For example, say the two words “Elon Musk” to George Soros – then protect yourself from having your throat ripped out.
Paul’s suggestion is entirely logical and consistent with the ethos of the age of the political class, ‘tutto nello Stato, niente fuori dello Stato…’, and the only consistent objection to it from them would be that it makes the moral and economic bankruptcy of the current system too obvious.
We now have the spectacle of the Conservative front-runners discussing power-sharing, as Saruman thought he would try with Gandalf the White before his staff was broken, but both are not so Mini-me Saurons as Labour gloat and watch, barely holding their patience. What, apart from a grudging and accidental secession from the EU have we got to show for 12 years of Conservative-rule, the Coalition clearly being the same as one-Party rule in all but the allocation of Ministerial limousines?
And we have what to show for that ‘spending’? A class of investment based on lending the government money to be paid back by taxation, and a dreadful fear of upsetting those robbers lest there be a run on the Pound.
Contra the edit, Prime Ministers these days are on a pension linked to their time in office, as per any other Minister. Some people are bandying around a figure of £115k, but that’s not a pension but an upper limit on expenses claimable for public duties.
The Samizdata people are a bunch of sinister and heavily armed globalist illuminati who seek to infect the entire world with the values of personal liberty and several property. Amongst our many crimes is a sense of humour and the intermittent use of British spelling.
We are also a varied group made up of social individualists, classical liberals, whigs, libertarians, extropians, futurists, ‘Porcupines’, Karl Popper fetishists, recovering neo-conservatives, crazed Ayn Rand worshipers, over-caffeinated Virginia Postrel devotees, witty Frédéric Bastiat wannabes, cypherpunks, minarchists, kritarchists and wild-eyed anarcho-capitalists from Britain, North America, Australia and Europe.
All content on this website (including text, photographs, audio files, and any other original works), unless otherwise noted, is licensed under a Creative Commons License. Powered by WordPress & Atahualpa
I’m out of the running. I’m not a rich sociopath who went to Eton.
Steven R – Eton recently fired a teacher for crimes-against-Wokeness (he was a biology teacher who believed biology is real) – but back when Mr Johnson went there (as a scholarship boy – he was “House” not an “Oppidan”) it was a good school.
As there is no minimum time requirement for the (very large) pension a former Prime Minister gets, I propose that each of us is Prime Minister for a few minutes – and then resigns.
Creating all the money (from nothing) to fund the pensions would be inflationary – but given the already insane level of government spending…..
The film is leftist – for example it assumes that Rupert Murdoch guides policy. If only Mr Murdoch (old though he is) did guide policy – instead William “Bill” Gates and other leftist billionaires guide policy. Bill Gates wants ever higher taxes (including on billionaires) world “governance” and-so-on.
Marxism is wrong – the rich are not united as a “class”, they have wildly different opinions. For example, say the two words “Elon Musk” to George Soros – then protect yourself from having your throat ripped out.
The satirical material coming from our political class has increased exponential.
Paul Marks, I have added a mention of your excellent suggestion of 3:57pm to the main post – NS
Paul’s suggestion is entirely logical and consistent with the ethos of the age of the political class, ‘tutto nello Stato, niente fuori dello Stato…’, and the only consistent objection to it from them would be that it makes the moral and economic bankruptcy of the current system too obvious.
We now have the spectacle of the Conservative front-runners discussing power-sharing, as Saruman thought he would try with Gandalf the White before his staff was broken, but both are not so Mini-me Saurons as Labour gloat and watch, barely holding their patience. What, apart from a grudging and accidental secession from the EU have we got to show for 12 years of Conservative-rule, the Coalition clearly being the same as one-Party rule in all but the allocation of Ministerial limousines?
A national debt of £2,365.4 billion at the end of Quarter 1 (Jan to Mar) 2022, equivalent to 99.6% of gross domestic product (GDP).
Whereas in 2010, around the time that Labour left office, the national debt was a mere £902,000,000,000 or around 60% of GDP.
And we have what to show for that ‘spending’? A class of investment based on lending the government money to be paid back by taxation, and a dreadful fear of upsetting those robbers lest there be a run on the Pound.
Contra the edit, Prime Ministers these days are on a pension linked to their time in office, as per any other Minister. Some people are bandying around a figure of £115k, but that’s not a pension but an upper limit on expenses claimable for public duties.
Sounds like a job even Joe Biden could do. Hmmm…Does it involve a lot of sleeping?
Not to be sniffed at.
Natalie – thank you.
Mr Ed – I have decided to give up commenting on British politics for a bit.
The recent comments by Tobius Ellwood M.P. (once a brave soldier of the Crown – and now something rather different) are too much, even for me.
I need a break from thinking about British politics – it is just so grim.