Quote Originally Posted by swaledale View Post
Well you sound like my late Father, what is it about some over 60's that makes them have a blanket assumption that things in "their day" were better and the current generation is wayward/ doomed/ idle/incompetent and that the future is grim?

Is it something that affects certain people's minds, like the tendency to vote conservative or forget all the state funded education etc. etc. that our generation was in receipt of?

The next generation won't be comfortable taking knives to school. the majority aren't now. The issues of obesity affect all classes and income levels and are certainly not confined to one socio economic group.

Middle class values - mm are we imposing excessive levels of alcohol consumption on the poor then, given that the majority of "problem" drinkers, that is those who consume too much are what you would term middle class?

As for your anecdotal claims of poor people having children merely to get a larger social house and other such wheezes that they apparently get up to play the system. Yes it undoubtedly happens, though can you blame people whose lives are a struggle to survive using whatever wheeze to get by? However, its certainly not the majority and has been a "tale" going back years and generally reveals a level of looking down on those considered inferior.

Notably where are the tales of tax dodging that goes on to an extreme amount? The tales of undocumented immigrants used as staff, nannys, house keepers etc. by the very wealthy? Where are the wringing of hands over the cash in hand economy so beloved of the middle and upper classes so avoiding VAT, the self employed tax dodges etc. etc.?

Given that illegally unpaid tax vastly exceeds benefit fraud, one might think there is more to look at amongst the more well off in society?

This does smack of someone who reads rather to many papers that are filled with such nonsense, rather than an understanding of the true picture but I mean your far to intelligent to fall for blanket assumptions I'm sure.
I find it amazing how people will (rightly) complain about companies like Amazon legally avoiding tax but condone the cash in hand tax dodgers.

When you think about all the small businesses or sole traders up and down the country taking cash for many of their jobs and not declaring it it must rival or exceed the taxes Amazon etc avoid.

I know several people who regularly take cash in hand.

We aren't talking a few quid, we are talking thousands in unpaid taxes from single individuals.

They even openly talked about it thinking it's just, not thinking that for every £1 they don't pay it costs me and everyone else paying tax a little bit.

That said I'm guilty of enabling it myself when I've been offered a discount to pay cash, and I've done it. If I was true to my beliefs I'd refuse but I doubt many of us do.

I suppose I justify it as I'm still not the one committing an offence. But it still wrong.