Council tax rises
by stephenpalmersf
What the hell is wrong with British people?
Talk today is all of council tax rises, which could be 3% for most councils, or 5.99% for the largest councils. I make that an extra £6.78 on my (average band) council tax for the larger rise. Yet all we’re hearing about today is how terrible it is that “so much” is being taken away in the form of council tax, and how councils should be making ever more stringent cuts in order to balance the books. Recycling collections every month, maybe?
Let’s look at this the other way round. The worst case scenario on my tax – an increase of 5.99% – is an increase of £6.78 per month. That is a ridiculously small amount of money to be making a fuss about. It equates to the loss of two Costa hot chocolate with cream and marshmallow drinks per month. Two. Just two. Even though I earn far below the nation average salary, I’m pretty sure I could manage that.
The reason this is an issue at all is that for cultural and political reasons this is an exceptionally selfish country full of people who have been taught to think that every penny possible should come to them for their own selfish use. Well, the truth is we live in communities, and communities need money.
In fact, communities need lots of money. Maybe the solution to the “problem” is that British people could stop being so selfish and think about the societies they live in.
Because Thatcher was wrong: there is such a thing as society. And we have to pay for it.
Couldn’t agree more. Along with this goes the concept that everything on which money is spent should show some kind of financial return: if you take a degree it now seems to be expected that you will reap the rewards in terms of enhanced job prospects and pay. The idea that you might study a subject just because it is hugely interesting seems to be going. I suspect this is also behind the reluctance to spend on things that will never show a monetary profit, which should be a public service plain and simple, such as education, transport or social care. Society increasingly knows the cost of everything and the value of nothing.
Your last sentence is absolutely spot-on! We think of price and never value – and the latter includes the damage wrought by economic systems on our irreplaceable planet.