RyanioBirdio
Well-known member
- Joined
- 1 May 2018
- Messages
- 8,775
I’m afraid that it’s only going to get worse after January. I’m not even trying to provoke or ‘go there’, the simple reality is that there has never been a worse time to be doing what we’re doing, no matter what anybody thinks of it in principle. The Pandemic was a freak fire that broke out, but we’re about to dump a load of petrol on it. I genuinely fear for the extent of this, especially because while Sunak might be a money man (he’s been raised by the banks after all), the people around him are among the most incapable we’ve seen in decades. They mostly rode in on a single issue and were given positions based on how hard they’re willing to double down, and now find themselves particularly out of their depth in a situation that would be virtually impossible for even the most capable and qualified to navigate. Again, not even attempting to be provocative. Nobody would win this one - defeat is inevitable. But I think we’re one of the worst placed to even try to keep the score down.The country is in debt to the tune of two million million pounds. I can’t see how that is ever going to be paid back. The economy is in the worst situation ever, unemployment soaring. The retail sector looks screwed. I’d be interested to know how the government are going to sort out the finances with the continuing demands on it.
The budget is due. Presumably stamp duty will be reinstated at previous levels causing a housing crash. Not very much scope for tax increases.
These are not normal times
Some form of Universal Basic Income might become an absolute necessity now. Unemployment is likely going to reach unfathomable levels in the months ahead, and the bigger that number the less the amount of expendable income. Unemployment means the economy can’t be fed through consumer spending, so it might take radical action on a scale we simply haven’t seen before. The problem with consumer capitalism as a whole, globally, is that it is dependant on constant and never ending growth to avoid collapse. It is unsustainable as a model if the conveyor belt stops for even a moment, and crumbles quickly and violently. I categorically do not say that as a sandal wearing tree hugger - I am a consumer capitalist as much as we all are, because that is the system in place.
Is this our Rome moment, so to speak? Is the real ‘new world’ one that goes far deeper than simply wearing masks in shops and not being able to go to football matches?