Now Toil Like Chinese Peasants, Says Multi-Millionaire Jeremy Hunt

[billybong]

We want this to be one of the most successful countries in the world in 20, 30, 40 years’ time. There’s a pretty difficult question that we have to answer, which is essentially: are we going to be a country which is prepared to work hard in the way that Asian economies are prepared to work hard, in the way that Americans are prepared to work hard?

UK GDP per Capita = $39,000 (about 27th in the GDP per Capita league).

------------------------------

US GDP per Capita = $55,000

Singapore = $83,000

China = $13,000

India = $6,000

(Japan's is similar to the UK's)

So it's which Asian economy to start with - but assuming it's say the Chinese Asia he's talking about ($13,000) rather than the Singapore Asia ($83,000) then I guess most people would opt for the American form of "hard work" ($55,000).

Hang on though isn't that what the UK is supposed to be involved in and aspiring to already and for quite a few decades now. Lots of UK work and management practices and policies originate from the US - and why doesn't Germany rate a mention these days, it always used to be held up as an example of a successful economy.

It's matterless - if they want to have a successful economy one of the most effective ways would be to reduce house prices to say American levels in terms of price per square metre then the hard work and competitivenes would start to resolve itself .

It sounds very much as though they're trying yet another confidence trick on people - that in a long line of confidence tricks.

Edited October 10, 2015 by billybong

[wonderpup]

There's also the problem that global demand and global wages are the same thing- so a global race to the bottom in wages will by definition reduce global demand, leading to more downward pressure on wages leading to further reductions in demand ect ect.

[steve99]

Er, tax credits is 15h to 24h dossy work, subbed with me tax money.

? You may think this but in fact it is a way of subsidising employers not to pay a living wage and yes a bit of your tax goes towards this but not as much as the 1%ers tax dodges cost the system and hence yourself and every other tax payer. The daily mail and Tories would like to portray you as the good guy paying your and other peoples way and the underpaid 'dosser' (in fact dogsbody workers work much harder by and large than so called professionals, I know, Ive done both) cause this buys votes of indignation and hence gets them back in power where they can even more benefit themselves and the other 1%ers and you taxpayers get a few imagined crumbs to keep you voting the right way.

[steve99]

The problem with this whole 'competitiveness' meme is that you end up in the position where the only way to win the game is to lose it- Hunt's long term vision is of a Britain where people work long hours for low pay while state support is cut back to bone.

Let's be generous and assume that this plan works- and as a result Britain is now one of the most competitive nations on the planet- now what? Do we all go to our bosses and ask for a pay rise? No- that won't work because if pay started to rise what would happen to that hard won competitive edge? it would be lost.

The truth is that Hunt's vision of our future is actually a counsel of despair for most people- his idea is that we gain increased market share of global trade by impoverishing ourselves and becoming a nation of 'busy fools' working long hours for low pay- but even if this worked almost all the benefits would flow to a relative handful at the top, those who own the business's or the assets linked to the value of those business's.

A strategy that sacrifices the living standards of a large part of the population to gain global market share is not a solution to poverty, on the contrary it's a strategy in which the impoverishment of that population is an essential requirement. So poor pay and long hours are not simply the means here- they are the end. A workforce of poorly paid people who have no escape into welfare provision and no recourse to industrial action is the resource that Hunt and Co. are in the business of creating.

1000% correct.. What is amazing is that so many people who are suffering and those that are going to suffer under this system (like people who wear white shirts and ties to work and believe that they are proper 'middle' class) are so miss-informed by the right wing press etc that they have become turkeys voting for Christmas. What is doubly amazing is that the Labour party is not making big of this meme, instead playing the part of Tory lite ( lets see what happens under Corbin) and ulitimatly doing nothing to stop the crony capitalist nightmare we are now living in.

[winkie]

How I think they look at it is nobody in this country is poor, they have enough to survive if kept busy doing menial stuff , long hours, living hand to mouth....but people compare themselves with others that look better off living in the next street or up the road, who they know do little and earn lots....to them they are poor in comparative....not only that they may think that their hard work is making the rich richer whilst they are forever treading water with fewer opportunities, fighting for the crumbs.....it is all relative.

[steve99]

http://www.oftwominds.com/blogoct15/aristocracy-commoners10-15.html

An article on this very theme

When the Aristocracy Leaves the Commoners in the Dust, The Empire Is Doomed

[sikejsudjek]

We are getting to the point where the wealth extraction is beginning to kill people, not just in the third world but in the UK too. There are plenty of poverty deniers, but they are wrong. This really is happening. We had a situation recently where there wasn't a single spare mental health care bed free in the entire country. We have a huge rise in homelessness. Society is dividing into an ever wealthier 'elite' who believe they have a divine right to extract as much wealth as possible, and the rest of us not in the cabal.

The majority of the electorate still believe that things 'will only get better' but they are going to be in for a rude awakening.

[wonderpup]

The majority of the electorate still believe that things 'will only get better' but they are going to be in for a rude awakening.

An interesting line was crossed on Question time the other night when Priti Patel called tax credits 'handouts' which is to redefine 8.5 'hard working families' as benefit scroungers- I doubt those 8.5 million will be pleased by their new status as scum- especially given the fact that a large number of them probably voted for the Tories based on their 'get tough on welfare' rhetoric.

Of course tax credits are welfare- but saying this on national TV may not have been wise.

The Tories have a problem here- in order to withdraw tax credits they have to rebrand them as benefits- but in doing so they are in effect insulting millions of people who believe that these benefits are somehow a right to which they are entitled based on the fact that they work for some qualifying period or other.

How not to win friends and influence people- tell eight and a half million 'hard working families' that they are in reality welfare dependent scroungers.

[Guest]

An interesting line was crossed on Question time the other night when Priti Patel

This individual, along with Sarah Palin, Kay Burley, Louise Mensch form members of category of individuals useful in politics. (Hint: I am not talking about Gender which nothing to do with it)

[wonderpup]

This individual, along with Sarah Palin, Kay Burley, Louise Mensch form members of category of individuals useful in politics. (Hint: I am not talking about Gender which nothing to do with it)

You may be right- perhaps the propaganda line in future is to rebrand tax credit recipients as welfare scroungers- if so it's a high risk strategy given just how many people are involved.