Is this not better ? https://ecotricity.co.uk/?partner=G...5drTi4dkudicA9dZNyop3I_M4FBLJ26hoCMVMQAvD_BwE
Just read an article to understand why our government can’t help us . This is about the the debt our country owes There is a massive amount of debt, which is in private ownership. Give or take, more than 80% of the world's debt is likely to be owned privately. And if that's the case, who are these private owners? Well, you might be one of them. I probably am as well. And the reason why is you probably have a pension arrangement of some sort, as do I. And pension funds are major holders of national debt. In the UK, a bit under 30% of all the UK's national debt is owned by pension companies and life assurance companies. They need it to fund their operations, because the UK government is the only person in the UK who is guaranteed to never go bust and who will always pay their debts in the pounds that the government alone can create. And therefore, pension companies, who make very long-term promises to people like me, who might live a long time on the pension that they've earned, need that assurance to guarantee that they can fulfill the promise that they've made. And this is true right around the world. In the USA vast quantities of the US national debt is owned by pension funds, and that's true in Europe as well. So the point is that this money, this national debt, about which the world obsesses as if it's a great burden, is in fact the bedrock of the private sector finance industry’ So our pension goes to companies who lend the government money then charge the extra to get it back. Also look at this fact ‘the wealthiest are earning potentially three times more per annum in interest then the rest of the world are earning as a result of their labour’ What can we do about this? First of all, there needs to be a concerted effort, the world over, to reduce the interest rate on national debt. It is too high. Secondly, around the world, we need concerted efforts to make sure that unearned income, which is, of course, what interest is, is taxed more fairly. At present, it tends to be taxed less than earnings from workers, and that is absurd. It should be taxed more, because quite clearly it's unfair to tax unearned income at a lower rate than earned income. And thirdly, around the world, we need more progressive tax systems. Why? Because we need to recover more of this money from the wealthy to make sure that governments are not burdened by this cost to the point where they cannot provide the services that people in their countries need. That's a simple, straightforward fact. But the ownership of this wealth also needs to be democratised, so we need to look at how we might bring it back under public control. Japan has done this. It is possible. To some extent, this happened during Covid and during the crises after the 2008 financial crash. There’s a link here of anyone wants to read it but some won’t press links https://www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog...-for-the-wealthy-whatever-they-like-to-claim/
Stop the waste. As usual. Stop throwing food out, it is shameful how much is thrown away in modern society. Then folk have the nerve to say the cost of groceries is too high. I can never ever remember anything getting thrown away when I was a bairn. All this best before date ****e wants banning as well. Then dont be lazy. Instead of buying ready meals or take aways, cook properly. It is much cheaper, and healthier.
Another thing more people couls do is grow your own. For years I have had small plots in the garden for salads and veg. Grow toms and cucumbers in pots. I reckon it costs me max 10 a year in seeds and half of that is for my chillis. Wife says we get about £100 of produce over the year. That is from quite a small patch. I also have an allotment plot. £21 a year for rent. My wife reckons I have brought home over £300 of produce this year. That is most pots, onions, cabbage, swede, garlic, courgettes, carrots etc. Soft fruits as well. Still got the winter crop to come as well. Every bit of home grown is twice as tasty. And not one things comes out of the ground with a use by date on it. I store onions and garlic all through the winter no bother at all. I know not everyone can get a plot. But you would be surprised what you can grow in a tiny little space. I dont even pay for compost. I went to the local farm and he agreed I could have manure from him if I shifted it. Then I asked my butcher about rabbits. You never see them for sale much. He now shoots them in his fields at night and sells a few locals them for a £1 a piece. I have a freezer draw full on them. Lovely as well. I think plenty of folk could do their own bit if they were prepared to put a bit of graft in. That may be the challenge in todays world, a bit of extra graft.
We have a modest garden and in it I grow potatoes, onions, sun chokes, chilis, apples, gooseberries, blackberries, redcurrants and rhubarb. The apple tree produced 15kgs of apples this year, 90% of it got canned and frozen the rest gets fed to our 5 hens along with any kitchen scraps, anything we can't eat in time gets frozen or becomes chicken feed, it's a lifestyle for us now and we wouldn't have it any other way.
I am on a roll now. We could do with a lesson from our elders here. So much of what we used to do, to make ends meet, doesnt happen. You would think being hard up was a new tbing the way the media bang on. We were skint when I was a bairn. But we made it work. I still do some of the things I was taught back then. I dont buy stock cubes. Boil your veg peelings for an hour. Save your boiled ham water. Boil the chicken carcass for chicken stock. These things are easy to do. Dont pander to your kids whims on food. The crust on bread must be eaten. Veg is a must. Beige food is a treat, not the norm. No pudding until the plate is clear. Nee bugger died from having to fill up on veg from the garden man. Do you really need clean trousers for two days 2 running? Does that jumper really need a wash? Let me darn them socks, nee bugger will see them. Turn the f'ing lights off. Quit with all the tech always on. Cold? Put another jumper on, no heating on yet. Waste waste waste. Should be our bloody motto these days.
Tesco still sell it in normal packaging. I can't stand the vacuum packed mince. That's a whole new rant!
My Great-Nana was born in 1902 so lived through both world wars. She was a master of making meals from what she had available and mending/making do with things. She taught me so many skills when I was a child/teenager about cooking/baking, mending clothes and all sorts. I cook from scratch most nights. Just finished a pasta dish made with the mince I was on about earlier. I'd like to think if something happened and food was in short supply, I'd still be able to cook meals with whatever I could get my hands on. I do wonder about people my age and younger who've been brought up with no cooking skills and live on ready made food as they will struggle if we have food shortages.
It is a sad state of affaira Becs. So many brilliant skills just fading away. My Dad always said to me never throw anything away, unless you are 100% certain you cant reuse it. I never recycle cardboard packaging. It goes to my allotment and I bury it in sheets under the beds. Brilliant for water retention and getting carbon in the soil. Daft but simple. It is bloody rewarding as well to mend and make do in my opinion. I have a wooden bench in my garden. It is like Triggers broom
We actually have a little bit of lawn space, but yes, we free-roam the chickens on there most days and they keep it mowed for us, little bassas ate most of my gooseberry crop anall.
Rather than incentivising government to tax more how about reducing government spending and encouraging productive employment in the wealth creating private sector.
My only memory but a good one of my grandad was his allotment. He needed to be out of the house. They needed me out of the house. We both grafted on the allotment. I’ve done some growing in bags and pots but her had a proper garden. I’ve been on waiting lists for allotments but never made it. I was connected once to Incredible Edible a great organisation who do Guerilla gardening - taking over flower beds and police station yards for food https://www.theguardian.com/environ...d-group-incredible-edible-guerrilla-gardening
Who keeps the wealth ? The people who work or the people who already have it ? https://www.instagram.com/reel/DO1VHq4Ej0p/?igsh=MXhubHN6Mngxb2p5bw==
Brilliant, it was only about a month ago I mentioned to the wife about darning some socks,you should have seen the look on her face,said I was a dinosaur
