The world in general is annoying me now

[neonplanet40]

OK there is things which i feel i'd like to rant about!

1) Fuel Costs.

Now, to start, i dont drive and its becuase of the cost of fuel, insurance and tax etc that i dont!

I read that it costs the average diesel car £75 to fill up nowadays. Only £31 of this is fuel costs!!!!!! THE REST IS FUEL TAX. Now this is a complete joke. Gordon brown i HOPE is on the way out because he is doing nothing to help the situation.

I would say they should cut fuel tax costs but given how government is these days they will just raise it elsewhere. Thats another thing i dislike which is my next point. It does however have to come to the point where the average person just cant afford it and then what happens?

2) Governments

Now im not into politics. I done it for A-level- hated it and swapped it for Sociology! But i dont like how shady they are. Everything is cloke and dagger. All the hidden taxes and costs. I wish we could get a government who was straight forward and basically told everyone how it was! Straightforward. At least then people may actually trust them.

However what i dislike the most is how people just take it on a the chin and move on. Costs are spiralling out of control but the people just complain a little and move on. Maybe if the UK as a whole stood together and said NO something might happen? The government is never put under the pressure it needs to make radical changes.

Or maybe in general we just have a weak choice of governments to choose from? I mean what exactly do they do with all our money? Yea they pay for NHS (which im not even going to get into but lets just say it cant cope).

The way i look at the government is that its basically just a huge buisness which spends a little but at the same time is making a huge profit. Where does all the excess money go? Id love to know how much money the government actually has. Id say if it used it all it could completly reform this country and stop it going to the ****s.

3) Everything else

Such as internet! We pay quite a bit for bandwidth all because companys are out to make huge profits such as BT. While it is fast enough, it could be better! Looks at countries such as sweden!

Climate change? Climate bol***s to be honest. The government is trying to go all green but its us that are having to pay for it. I dont remember being asked if i wanted to pay to save the world from China, India and the USA polluting it! I mean why should we pay more when they wont do anything? Or is it just another way for the government to get more money out of us? I think so.

I could honestly go on for days here but ill finish by saying that everything is going to get to the stage where the mojaority of people in the UK cant afford them.

The government is going to cripple the people and the economy will crash. I have no doubt that we are going to the dogs. I dont pretend to be an expert here and maybe what im saying isnt true which is fine but as it is a rant it doesnt have to be. I know when im getting ripped of and that time is now. And i can say for quite sure when i finish my masters and teaching degree i will be leaving the UK.

Anyone got any thoughts or even rants of there own? I look forward to seeing the back end of labour. In fact to be totally honest i think the government should change every turn becuase that way they will actually fight to get into power and try to make us the people happy. Whereas labour has just got too used to being in power and as such no longer feels it needs to earn its way!

(sorry for any typos)

Mark

[j.o.s.h.1408]

what bothers me is fual costs and house prices. do i need to be earning 50k just to get a 2 bedroom house in this place?

[neonplanet40]

Yes sorry i forgot to mention house prices. THat also has to be hit on the head because if no one can afford a house then sooner or later the price has to go down.

[j.o.s.h.1408]

or this county will turn into a place where everyone just rents and not mortgage. Then again the rate of rent is going up too!! might have to live with my parents forever or live in the street in the way in which things are heading now!

[kalniel]

Yes sorry i forgot to mention house prices. THat also has to be hit on the head because if no one can afford a house then sooner or later the price has to go down.

The world doesn't really work like that. What happens is the rich people buy all the houses that the poor people can't afford, then rent them out, increasing their money even more and sucking up all the poor people's.

Yet another fuel price thread eh? Well I'll say the same thing - if you don't want hidden taxes then you should support fuel tax - it's a very simple, very visible tax which you only pay for what you use. If you reduced it then you'll just get more unfair taxes elsewhere, possibly less visible ones too. I don't know why you think the prime minister is doing nothing though.

People most certainly don't take it on the chin - but what would YOU do differently? There's no point just wanting change for changes sake, you have to choose what you would do differently.

The way i look at the government is that its basically just a huge buisness which spends a little but at the same time is making a huge profit

Hello.. reality check please!

Such as internet! We pay quite a bit for bandwidth all because companys are out to make huge profits such as BT.

Hmm... have you seen how much debt BT has? Though yes, I'd hope companies are out to make profits, kind of defeats the point otherwise.

[neonplanet40]

Like i said at the bottom kalniel, it was a rant and alot of it may not be true

But as an average joe when it comes to politics this is the impression i get, Which in itself is not a good thing is it?

[MadduckUK]

Hmm... have you seen how much debt BT has? Though yes, I'd hope companies are out to make profits, kind of defeats the point otherwise.

neonplanet: not a fan of privatization?

[neonplanet40]

It would seem not

[TheAnimus]

Petrol tax on cars is wounderfully fair and simple, the less economic your car, the more you pay. Fact is those i know who moan about fuel costs are all those who've spent lots of money on their car anyway, and made all sorts of modifications to it to make it look 'better' and perhaps even make it faster. A lot of people simply ignore transport when looking at things like this.

There was a nice illustration on the bbc news site last week which i can't now find

It showed simply that 50 years ago we spent far more money on food (almost one third of house income). Now we spend much much less on food, more on housing etc.

Personally i think the biggest shock will come when we have to start spending more on food!

As for house prices, again theres a shortage in many areas liek London, a credit crunch will bring down prices a little bit, but the problem is it will actually hurt the poorer more i recon. As these people tend to be higher risk in credit, they will find that its MUCH harder to get ANY mortgage at a reasonable rate. So whilst the house might in 18 months time cost only 3 times their basic. They won't be able to get that on a mortage, any more than they could afford it when it was 5 times their basic.

[kalniel]

But as an average joe when it comes to politics this is the impression i get, Which in itself is not a good thing is it?

No, that's a very good point, but it possibly explains why people who come across better to the average joe despite not really having any policies look like they'll do better.

Disaffection with politics is a society problem. The govt. is just something to moan at without really understanding the reasoning or problem - it's the same with science communication as well: the general public impression of science is rarely something positive.

Certainly its a problem both sectors have to look at ways of addressing - the problem with politics is that no-one ever seems to use good communication skills in a positive manner. As soon as you get someone with that talent they just push out spin and ultimately do more to damage political communications. Put that together with the usual disatisfaction with whatever authority is in charge and I think Mr Cameron is going to have govt handed to him on a plate for all the wrong reasons.

[neonplanet40]

Well i dont drive to be fair and always use public transport. I just dont think its fair that we should pay more. In terms of pollution, india the usa and china cause alot more than we do yet we are going all "green" all of a sudden when in all probability we will make very little if any difference to the damage the climate is receiving.

When im at univeristy (finished for summer now) i spend £45 a week on food. Thats 45% of my weekly income. I can see this price slowly rise every month so yes i agree people will feel it when there food costs rocket.

The poorer people are already affected by house prices but i think first time buyers will find it equally as hard unless they want to pay a mortgage till they are 70. Which is a shame. We spend our whole lives in debt. First tuition fee's etc then mortgages.

[neonplanet40]

No, that's a very good point, but it possibly explains why people who come across better to the average joe despite not really having any policies look like they'll do better.

Disaffection with politics is a society problem. The govt. is just something to moan at without really understanding the reasoning or problem - it's the same with science communication as well: the general public impression of science is rarely something positive.

Certainly its a problem both sectors have to look at ways of addressing - the problem with politics is that no-one ever seems to use good communication skills in a positive manner. As soon as you get someone with that talent they just push out spin and ultimately do more to damage political communications. Put that together with the usual disatisfaction with whatever authority is in charge and I think Mr Cameron is going to have govt handed to him on a plate for all the wrong reasons.

Yes kalneil this i agree on. its because of government that we look at it like we do. If they tried to make us understand it without lying etc then yea id be more likely to listen. But they dont.

Look at Hitler, a complete ass but his country loved him especially because he was an excellent speaker. I would say Churchill was the same. People respected him. who respects Gordon Brown? Not many people i can think off.

[kalniel]

Well i dont drive to be fair and always use public transport. I just dont think its fair that we should pay more. In terms of pollution, india the usa and china cause alot more than we do yet we are going all "green" all of a sudden when in all probability we will make very little if any difference to the damage the climate is receiving.

Well we can hide behind the 'I can do anything wrong that I like becuase there will always someone else doing something more wrong' all we like but it's a very poor excuse. Lead by example, persuade others of the merits of what you are doing and assuming that intelligent humans are rational then they'll come around to your view eventually. If you go with the assumption that there's no rationality or intelligence then you might as well get in your nuclear bunker today

The poorer people are already affected by house prices but i think first time buyers will find it equally as hard unless they want to pay a mortgage till they are 70. Which is a shame. We spend our whole lives in debt. First tuition fee's etc then mortgages.

Rich first time buyers get put on the property ladder by their parents. Money begets money.

[j.o.s.h.1408]

yup and you have to be quit rich to be put on the property ladder. most of my mates that are approaching there mid 20's are still living with there parents has its too much cost to rent or get a mortgage. i wonder how many young adults have a mortgage

[Blitzen]

OK there is things which i feel i'd like to rant about!

1) Fuel Costs.

Now, to start, i dont drive and its becuase of the cost of fuel, insurance and tax etc that i dont!

I read that it costs the average diesel car £75 to fill up nowadays. Only £31 of this is fuel costs!!!!!! THE REST IS FUEL TAX. Now this is a complete joke. Gordon brown i HOPE is on the way out because he is doing nothing to help the situation.

I would say they should cut fuel tax costs but given how government is these days they will just raise it elsewhere. Thats another thing i dislike which is my next point. It does however have to come to the point where the average person just cant afford it and then what happens?

2) Governments

Now im not into politics. I done it for A-level- hated it and swapped it for Sociology! But i dont like how shady they are. Everything is cloke and dagger. All the hidden taxes and costs. I wish we could get a government who was straight forward and basically told everyone how it was! Straightforward. At least then people may actually trust them.

However what i dislike the most is how people just take it on a the chin and move on. Costs are spiralling out of control but the people just complain a little and move on. Maybe if the UK as a whole stood together and said NO something might happen? The government is never put under the pressure it needs to make radical changes.

Or maybe in general we just have a weak choice of governments to choose from? I mean what exactly do they do with all our money? Yea they pay for NHS (which im not even going to get into but lets just say it cant cope).

The way i look at the government is that its basically just a huge buisness which spends a little but at the same time is making a huge profit. Where does all the excess money go? Id love to know how much money the government actually has. Id say if it used it all it could completly reform this country and stop it going to the ****s.

3) Everything else

Such as internet! We pay quite a bit for bandwidth all because companys are out to make huge profits such as BT. While it is fast enough, it could be better! Looks at countries such as sweden!

Climate change? Climate bol***s to be honest. The government is trying to go all green but its us that are having to pay for it. I dont remember being asked if i wanted to pay to save the world from China, India and the USA polluting it! I mean why should we pay more when they wont do anything? Or is it just another way for the government to get more money out of us? I think so.

I could honestly go on for days here but ill finish by saying that everything is going to get to the stage where the mojaority of people in the UK cant afford them.

The government is going to cripple the people and the economy will crash. I have no doubt that we are going to the dogs. I dont pretend to be an expert here and maybe what im saying isnt true which is fine but as it is a rant it doesnt have to be. I know when im getting ripped of and that time is now. And i can say for quite sure when i finish my masters and teaching degree i will be leaving the UK.

Anyone got any thoughts or even rants of there own? I look forward to seeing the back end of labour. In fact to be totally honest i think the government should change every turn becuase that way they will actually fight to get into power and try to make us the people happy. Whereas labour has just got too used to being in power and as such no longer feels it needs to earn its way!

(sorry for any typos)

Mark

Lots of good points.
What i do notice though is the Labour slant you are using.

I guess you are in your late teens or early 20's. If thats the caase then you wouldnt remember the DARK days of Thatcher and muppet Major.

That is the comparison and things, as far as i am concerened are certainly no worse now than they were then.

Petrol tax on cars is wounderfully fair and simple, the less economic your car, the more you pay. Fact is those i know who moan about fuel costs are all those who've spent lots of money on their car anyway, and made all sorts of modifications to it to make it look 'better' and perhaps even make it faster. A lot of people simply ignore transport when looking at things like this.

There was a nice illustration on the bbc news site last week which i can't now find

It showed simply that 50 years ago we spent far more money on food (almost one third of house income). Now we spend much much less on food, more on housing etc.

Personally i think the biggest shock will come when we have to start spending more on food!

As for house prices, again theres a shortage in many areas liek London, a credit crunch will bring down prices a little bit, but the problem is it will actually hurt the poorer more i recon. As these people tend to be higher risk in credit, they will find that its MUCH harder to get ANY mortgage at a reasonable rate. So whilst the house might in 18 months time cost only 3 times their basic. They won't be able to get that on a mortage, any more than they could afford it when it was 5 times their basic.

Let me start by taking a DEEP BREATH.......... I agree with you

The car costs vs fuel you mentioned was spot on aswell.
Living within your means is a MASSIVE part of this. If you drive a big or high performance car then you definitely should be paying more. Its not up to people with smaller cars to subsidise you.

If you can afford a bigger/faster car then you shoud be able to afford to fuel it. If you cant then you are living beyond your means.

[neonplanet40]

I can assure you that me being a roman catholic from Northern Ireland i have plenty of reasons not to like the thacther era but thats a different story.

What i dislike about labour is the fact that Labour have got too used to being in government and in my mind are no longer actually working to stay there. They have in my mind become complacent. I think a new government would rock things up a bit.

And yes im 22