This is what happens when you break unions and destroy the social safety net

[Nikki Stone1]

What happens in Britain happens here. We're on the same path.



A new report has revealed UK citizens have the lowest quality of life in the whole of Europe, due to long working hours, lower holiday entitlement, and high living costs – even though they enjoy the highest net household income, an average £35,730, which is more than £10,000 higher than the European average.

According to the uSwitch.com European Quality of Life survey, people in the UK have a lower life expectancy than those in France, Germany, Spain, Sweden and the Netherlands.

This could be attributed to the fact that the UK has the lowest spend on healthcare and education. In addition, UK citizens have to pay more than the European average for fuel, food, alcohol and cigarettes.

Ann Robinson, Director of Consumer Policy at uSwitch.com, said: “There is more to good living than money and this report shows why so many Brits are giving up on the UK and heading to France and Spain. We earn substantially more than our European neighbours, but this level of income is needed just to keep a roof over our heads, food on the table and our homes warm.”

http://news.icm.ac.uk/business/uk-has-lowest-quality-of-life-in-europe/4064/

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

1. The fallout from Reagan/Thatcher.

[Nikki Stone1]

2. And their good friend Milton Friedman

The greatest evil ever done to people....and it is getting worse here.

[malaise]

3. Thatcher adored Friedman

and Hayek. I find it amazing that both the iron lady and Reagan ended up with dementia. Thatcher is now unable to understand the mess she created.

[FreakinDJ]

5. Milton Friedman had have been an abused child

to hate society in general (working class) as much as he did

[Nikki Stone1]

7. Here's something on Friedman's background:

Friedman was born on July 31, 1912, in Brooklyn, New York, to recent Jewish immigrants from Beregszász in Hungary (now Berehove, part of Ukraine) both of whom worked as dry goods merchants. Shortly after Milton's birth, the family relocated to Rahway, New Jersey. A gifted student, Friedman graduated from Rahway High School in 1928, shortly before his 16th birthday.<9>

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milton_Friedman

I remember reading somewhere that his father lost the dry good's business. Oddly enough neocon Irving Kristol's father lost his business as well:

Kristol was born in Brooklyn, New York, the son of non-observant Jewish immigrants from Eastern Europe.<4><5> He received his B.A. from the City College of New York in 1940, where he majored in history and was part of a small but vocal Trotskyist group who eventually became the New York Intellectuals. During World War II, he served in Europe in the 12th Armored Division as a combat infantryman

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irving_Kristol#cite_note-4


Interesting similarities between these two.

[TheBigotBasher]

10. Sod all to do with Thatcher or even Reagan.

Blair and Bush (originally Clinton) adopted the same economic model. Removal of property prices from the inflation indexes. We had a whole decade of rising property prices without corresponding increases in wage rates. This did not matter, especially to those who bought theri homes early as their capital value kept on increasing. As a result those on low to medium earnings felt enabled to buy on the back of their house price a BMW X5 or better. Not possible before.

The rising value of house prices allowed purchases by ordinary working folks to buy not just one house, but two or three as a replacement for pensions.

All the whole the freeze on real wage rates kept making the gap between those starting off and those who had even a relative little bigger and bigger, never mind the billionaires.

In order to get a mortgage to cover what you wanted, you had to self declare (lie).

Few gave any consideration about the property prices collapsing, as a result, we are where we are now.

[Brickbat]

4. Way to go, Thatcher.

[Omaha Steve]

6. K&R!

This isn't really a secret. But try to explain to most people and ............

[gratuitous]

8. It's curious, isn't it?

Big shot companies, we're told, have to pay their senior executives a shitload of money. Otherwise, they won't get the best upper management people, and they're fall behind in their industry. Besides, without ginormous pay incentives, executives won't try very hard, and again, a company will fall behind in its industry.

The same rules, however, don't apply to working stiffs. No, they're expected to put in a minium 40 hours each week, get a pittance in pay compared to the value they generate for the company, don't deserve any pension, stock options, paid time off beyond a week, or any other incentive. And if they slip for a day, they're gone.

But they're supposed to be loyal to the company to the very death. And beyond. CEOs? Gone tomorrow if there's one more green blade of grass on the other side of the fence.

[Nikki Stone1]

9. They are creating an aristocracy of money and using us as their worker drones

Our only hope is that they fight among themselves, this new transnational wealthy class, and destroy each other.

[Captain Hilts]

11. Yep. nt

[OHdem10]

12. This is what happens when Free Market Conservative Economic

Fundamentalism takes over.

DeRegulate the Markets and let them work their will. Redistribute
from the Poor and Working Class to the Rich. Cut Taxes on Business
and Rich until they can hardly be cut further.

[Nikki Stone1]

14. +1

:thumbsup:

[eppur_se_muova]

13. "pay more than average ... for alcohol and cigarettes"? Oh, the suffering!

I thought the proles were supposed to be kept opiated to keep complaints down. Can't expect the church to do it all. The Ministry of Happiness needs to look into this.

OTOH, I'm not sure how more expensive booze and smokes are supposed to explain shorter life expectancy.