In all the exposure of our pathetic politicians over duck houses and the rest our hapless Fourth Estate seem to miss the point. We have been encouraging wide spread thieving for many years and pretending this behaviour is necessary to our economic well-being. The “arguments”are that we need a system that allows us to pay vast amounts to keep people in the country, be it Wayne Rooney or superstar bwankers. I now believe this attitude is a responsible as anything else for our inability to grow up and form modern societies. The whole idea that markets can decide someone’s “worth” is almost total toss.
If other societies want to charge huge sums for people to watch soccer we should grow up and let them go on with it. It’s pathetic to let ourselves become beholden to such madness. What sort of mentality have we sunk to to swallow guff about sports people, actors, bwankers and the rest being so much more valuable than ourselves? We sack cops for blurting our ‘black bastard’ in the heat of a moment, but not SMT worthies who steal large bonuses and salary based on pretending to their political masters they are doing the job we want of them. We imprison poor people but not our MPs for more or less the same kind of offences.
What gets me about this is that we have no proper way of action to do anything about it. I saw a scheme I could reasonably cost the other day (with more information) about using sailing ships to produce our energy, pulling generators that eventually make hydrogen. We are everywhere more concerned with plastic crap and spectating on excess or breeding kids into poverty than we are in trying to work on a society than might mean something. We don’t seem capable of seeing the massive, obvious contradictions in what we are up to. The feeble media is so far up the arse of all this it is of no use at all other than in maintaining the lunacy. This is a world in which Rooney gets the millions he is worth, but we want cabin crew to dote on us for the sheer joy of it. One in which our best people have to be motivated by bonuses more than many others can earn in a lifetime. I should coco!
There are some major questions about what “evidence” has become in all this. We have cops saying they acted worrying about weapon carrying women they lash out at, the threat being an orange juice carton and the CCTV looking like pretty grim bullying and assault. The woman makes money from the press and doesn’t give evidence, probably not of good character (why this should matter in such a case is questionable). We have MPs and peers clearly stealing money and whatever has happened there has been no open enquiry and a clear attempt at cover-up. Those paying money back have no clue most of us think it is far worse to go thieving when you actually have money than out of poverty. “Evidence” seems very plastic in all this. All around this squalid stuff, we hear we must make su re our best people are encouraged into the very positions we see the current people abusing. We seem to ignore the obvious fact that our “best” people are a set of incompetent thieves utterly incapable of owning up or letting independent scrutiny anywhere near.
Even in the hardest science, evidence is to some extent spun in theory. I can hardly begin to explain how much ghastly dross and misunderstanding has been spread about this molehill made mountain. What separates science from our everyday waffling is a genuine regard for evidence, the valuing of it ahead of abilities to spin invisible cloth.
Allcoppedout's Blog 
I wonder if all the professional footballers in the UK had their salaries cut to say £75,000 a year, with no prospect of being bought up by a foreign club, would they still want to play for their National team?
I would, of course, accept the principle of a reasonable pension plan commensurate with their shorter careers.
I seem to remember as amateurs we had to pay a match fee to play in representative matches.
Salary caps work in rugby league. Often wondered how good modern stars really are given the protection they get from referees and playing in good weather on such well trimmed pitches. Set a few ‘Skinner Normamptons’ amongst these pampered poodles and we’d see!
Daft that we can’t organise decent levels of pay because of brain or ‘best left foot’ drains. I don’t personally underestimate the need to motivate performances in work, but what’s going on is daft and we are expected to worship it. There are alternatives that aren’t some gormless form of socialism. I would guess our notions of hard work also need review – I remember it killing people.
Daft that we can’t even organise decent
Once again you have hit the nail firmly on the head ACO.
Particularly in your 2nd paragraph! It is clearly an imbalanced system with blatant double standards, where the lower ranks and the poor get “bashed” for their mistakes, and those at the top of the pile appear to get huge financial rewards, and honours, whilst denying and covering up THEIR mistakes and/or criminal acts.
It gets me too, because I am a “victim” of people in high places and their mistakes and bad faith, if not down right deception.
They appear to have gotten away with it, because nobody wants to “rock the boat” with the unvarnished truth about the hypocrites, who “Lord It Large” over those who are not so fortunate, nor so privilaged as themselves.
It will take something quite dramatic to change the unsatisfactory status quo in this country, which is determined to “keep up appearances”. It’s a deceptive pretence, held firmly in place by governments, that really has been going on for far too long. The expenses scandal shattered some of the illusion and transformed the way MP’s see themselves in relation to the rest of us.
The MP’s were given a short sharp shock, by the media and the public in response to the scandal of the abuse of the public’s money, trust and goodwill. MP’s were humbled, for a brief moment in time, chastised for their arrogance and dishonesty over expenses fiddles. But you are quite correct to point out that others, and the poor on benefits, would certainly be sent to prison for quite a long time if they made a dubious financial claim.
The MP’s were complaining bitterly recently about the new expenses system being “too harsh” and that they were being treated like benefits claimants and criminals. 😉
Well NOW they know exactly how the sick, disabled, single parents and the newly unemployed, are all made to feel by the system, the public and the press. It’s not very nice.
The genuine cases, the honest claimants, and those unfortunate enough to lose a job because of the recession, all get tarred with the same brush as the minority who do abuse the system. Perhaps the MP’s and the press could now do the decent thing and take that valuable lesson on board.
But then again…..Pigs might fly!
Given the worst of Nulabour claims and public sector performance management claims Minxy,I think we can say the pigs are in orbit!