O/T:- Lewis Hamilton

[ncfcog]

I've got no interest in Formula 1 or Lewis Hamilton but hasn't he been a tax exile for a while now? If so that would confirm the perception that a lot of people have about modern day activism - namely that it often means self-aggrandisement, token gestures, but little serious thought or concrete action.

As far as I'm aware in the last few months Hamilton has:

Worn BLM t-shirts
Knelt
Called other drivers racists for 'only' wearing generic anti-racism t-shirts
Driven a black car

According to Google he earns around 50 million pounds per year. Given that even BFP has now seen the light regarding there being more than meets the eye to the ' the cops are racist so only kill black people' narrative in the US, and has accepted that a large part of the problem is that, for a number of reasons, economic and therefore social deprivation.

Let's say the UK chancellor has had 200 million pounds less to spend over the past ten years because of Hamilton's decision to move to Monaco. That money could have kept a lot of youth clubs open during austerity.

Would he have made more difference to young black lives by saying nothing but paying his taxes, rather than engaging in all the symbolism but going to great lengths to avoid paying tax in his country of birth? That's an interesting hypothetical question.

Here's a quote from one source online when asked about his charitable commitments:

"He is a major contributor to Great Ormond Street hospital, Unicef, The Honeypot Children's Charity and Children of Africa. Many times after a race, instead of leaving the country immediately, he will stay and visit children in poor villages (India) and slums on behalf of UNICEF.

He has unified all of his giving under the Lewis Hamilton Foundation. The goal of the foundation is to provide grants and donations to help with disabilities, Education/training, the advancement of health or saving of lives, prevention or relief of poverty, and general charitable purposes throughout England. Lewis Hamilton Foundation"

I like F1 and have enjoyed watching LH over the years but I was getting to a point where I wished he played things down a little as I was starting to find him extremely irritating, but it does seem he is highly respected by his peers and seems to be doing what he can to help others, maybe spending a large sum of that tax money which most likely, knowing the way governments and councils are run in this country, would not have got anywhere near where it was needed most.