just had a thought reading the views on taxation. Income tax annoys us all, but a centralised fund is required.
What makes us mad is that we get told we earn x-amount and our pay-slip tells us we only get (x-y)amount. Surely this is a perceptual problem not an actual problem, which could be solved really simply.
Our salaries/wages are quoted to us a the the net rate, not the gross. We get the same money, but we don't feel like we've been robbed. A personal income of £20,000 requires a governmental income of, say, £4000. We still get 20k, the company pays £4k per employee per annum. The maths is the same, the actual money changing hands is the same, BUT our perception of the process is greatly improved.
i'm on roll now;
next we scrap the budget and instead have a balance statement.
instead of second-guessing what we are going to do in the next five years, we add up what has gone in the last five years. A simple suofftopicry can be broadcast, with more detailed information available on line. Then we find the waste and cut it out
*xenmaster prepares for the hoards of redundant people calling for his blood and prepares his response*
sorry folks you made bad life choices, you're lazy and you are stupid. What do you enjoy doing? how do you feel you can contribute meaningfully? Good, we'll help and support you re-train and you can do something productive with your time instead of sending emails to your mates and looking at porn 'cos you have too much free time at work! (hehehe how many of you are reading this at work with a spreadsheet ready on the toolbar just in-case the boss walks behind you?)
next we change the structure of govt.
first, we cripple the civil service in whitehall as they are the root of much of the problem. We do this by making individual's fully acountable and ensure they act out the instructions of the govt. instead of manipulating it.
second, we have two class's of MP's, proffessional and lay-people. Lay-people form the majority of the back-benches, while professionals in their fields take the cabinet posts. A number of 'lay' seats in cabinet are also provided.
To be eligable for a proffesional seat, you must be reccomended by peers in your profession and you must have a proven track-record of competance.
This way we get engineers in charge of transport, acountants and business experts in charge of the economy, healthcare professionals in charge of the NHS etc etc.
Their policies are then presented to the 'lay' politicians and bills get passed based on feasbility and common sense. namely the lay house is convinced by reasoned discusion and presentation of facts.
*and then xenmaster comes back from utopia and nips to the shop for some milk, The Sun grins at him from the news-stand, 'Perhaps I should forget these foolish notions of a well thought out democratic system and check out what posh-spice is wearing this season, after all thats far more important....*
it's easy to sit back and moan about the problems, but then again, is it that hard to use the same energy finding solutions?