Hey... how heavy a title is that? On the other hand it is something that has been bothering me for quite a while.
I know, of course, that I come from a different time; I come from a time when you saved up to buy something that you wanted and if you couldn't afford it, you didn't buy it. Simple. In today's luxury society everybody seems to want it now and they get it hoping they can pay back the money they have borrowed to buy the goods.
Astonishingly they don't seem to realise that doing it that way means they can buy LESS because they are paying more, via interest, for the original purchase. Weird or what?
This mantra of saving to buy was drummed into me and I assumed that intelligent people knew the principle was the most economical way to live. Silly me, I thought we voted for intelligent people.
A country is a business. I believe the business of a country should be run on the same lines that I was taught. So how did the world finish up in so much debt? If we look at low population countries like Ireland and Greece, who are both in financial trouble, where did the money GO? Who GOT the money because their debts far outnumber the population? America and the UK? What happened.
Surely those in charge know how much the country earns? They know, therefore, how much they have got to spend and should allocate that across the country's expenses and if they can't afford it they should NOT borrow just to keep themselves in power by not telling the people the truth.
In the UK, and this is not a political rant, just a fact, that we go through cycles whereby, to the working masses, it would appear that we are doing OK, but in fact the Labour Chancellors are borrowing zillions. Then when we are in deep poo, the country puts the Conservatives in and they HAVE to take punitive measures to try to dig us out. It's happening now. It's tough as hell but the National Debt is reducing which means we have to pay less interest so the reduction should speed up.
The problem is that the working masses are not told of this cycle which we have had since the Second World War and it goes round and round. I guess it's the same in other countries, not just us.
All this came to mind when I heard a Scottish MP proposing that, as 16 year olds can get married etc., they should be allowed to vote. This is in direct contrast to my observation of a few years ago that people should not be allowed to vote until they are 30, by which time they have experienced, possibly, several different governments and have the knowledge on which to base their vote.
Finally, at elections, I vote. Do you?
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2 comments:
Not all credit is a bad idea, I too live by the mantra you buy only what you can afford. But sometimes it makes sense to take credit. A mortgage is a great example of this, without the loan you'd not be able to make the purchase. You can't wait until you're 50 years old when you've made enough money to buy a house.
Another great time to take a loan is on interest free credit arrangements. I always take advantage of these deals, I can purchase the item and keep the money in my account earning me interest. I then pay back the loan and pay no more than the item is worth meaning I'm better off as a result.
I use the same idea on a smaller scale with my credit card. Putting purchases on that and paying it off in full each month means I keep my money earning interest in my account for as long as possible.
Clearly as a country we have borrowed far too much in the past to support us. We have to pay it off and big mistakes were made, such as when Mr Brown sold off the gold. However, I feel the current administration are cutting too much and doing so too quickly. It's harming any sort of economic recovery.
To answer your final question, yes I always vote. I don't believe you have a right to complain if you don't. As for an age to vote, I've voted since the age of 18, but I can honestly say that I only voted with a fully informed decision in the last general election. It's the first time I've understood the issues, so perhaps raising the age of voting to 30 isn't such a bad idea after all!
Voting AND marriage should require testing and training.
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