Well done Harriet Harman

[PS_RalphW]

Hmm.

I am in the baby boomer inheritted a couple of properties category. We try to be a good 'landlords' for example by fitting insulation, double glazing and a new condensing boiler to the 80's built single glazed house, and not charging top dollar. We have a lot of inherited cash sloshing around and housing is one investment that gives a reasonable return given that do not expect my stock market based pension to be worth squat by the time I retire.

I would love to buy productive land or invest in wind turbines but we are too old to start a smallholding and in the long term the houses can be inherited by my children as homes for themselves.

I expect cash to be inflated away in the next few years which is why house prices are holding up and rising during these recessions.

The big land owning house building elite have a lot answer for over the last 50+ years - combined with the relocation of almost all wealth into the SE corner of the country. Most private housing has been built to dreadful, almost slum standards, because companies have controlled government.

I do probably benefit indirectly from housing benefit, but I do pay a large whack of income tax, NI, VAT, fuel duty, inheritance tax, beer duty, etc,
and I have recently lost child tax credits and my pretax income is lower now than 10 years ago. I am paying more tax on a smaller income.

I do not expect to inherit from my own parents because my mum's nursing home fees are eating rapidly into her remaining capital. When (if) I get to that age, I do not expect nursing care to be affordable by mere mortals.

[vtsnowedin]

Why would you want a gun in a city? Have the moose and bears moved into town?

Oh, hang on. Americans kill their fellow humans don't they?

If you are a gun owner and happen to live in the city then of course you want to keep your gun with you in the city at your residence. Not in some lock box down at the range where it is not available when you need it. Of course you will have to drive to the countryside to hunt if that is your use of the firearm but in between hunting seasons any firearm doubles as a personal and home defense weapon. Burglars here are very careful to only enter homes when the residents are away to avoid trial by fire.

[stumuzz]

Hmm.

I am in the baby boomer inheritted a couple of properties category. We try to be a good 'landlords' for example by fitting insulation, double glazing and a new condensing boiler to the 80's built single glazed house, and not charging top dollar. We have a lot of inherited cash sloshing around and housing is one investment that gives a reasonable return given that do not expect my stock market based pension to be worth squat by the time I retire.

I would love to buy productive land or invest in wind turbines but we are too old to start a smallholding and in the long term the houses can be inherited by my children as homes for themselves.

I expect cash to be inflated away in the next few years which is why house prices are holding up and rising during these recessions.

The big land owning house building elite have a lot answer for over the last 50+ years - combined with the relocation of almost all wealth into the SE corner of the country. Most private housing has been built to dreadful, almost slum standards, because companies have controlled government.

I do probably benefit indirectly from housing benefit, but I do pay a large whack of income tax, NI, VAT, fuel duty, inheritance tax, beer duty, etc,
and I have recently lost child tax credits and my pretax income is lower now than 10 years ago. I am paying more tax on a smaller income.

I do not expect to inherit from my own parents because my mum's nursing home fees are eating rapidly into her remaining capital. When (if) I get to that age, I do not expect nursing care to be affordable by mere mortals.

Remember Ralph, to the nasty lefties on this forum you will always be landlord scum.

Landlords can be blamed by the Guardians readers for everything that is wrong with their lives.
Can't be arsed like working? Blame the landlords.
Can't make that Ba in upholstery with Korean into a living? Remember blame the landlords
Feel a sense of entitlement to be given everything on a plate because your parents were middle class? Blame the landlords.
Whose fault is it you are renting? The landlord.
Whose fault is it you are not renting? The landlord have bought all the properties.
Whose fault is it your parents were poor. The landlord.

I used to say years ago whenever i hear a jet turbine shutting down it reminded me of a Welsh sheep farmer demanding subsidies.

When I hear that jet turbine shutting down now it sounds like the whineing and moaning, over and over of the 'I'm so p****d off I didn't think of this myself years ago crowd'

[UndercoverElephant]

Whose fault is it you are renting?

Yours, you immoral git. Yours and those like you, plus the banksters who made it possible. I hope your conscience is squirming. I suspect it isn't.

What did you actually do to deserve being in the position you are in?

Bugger all, my friend. Bugger all. You rode the banker scam, and have somehow managed to convince yourself that your wealth was gained due to "merit." Admittedly, you did nothing illegal. But that doesn't make your position morally defensible.

[stumuzz]

What did you actually do to deserve being in the position you are in?

First degree in law from UCL, LPC, Msc in risk management, Bsc in environmental management, multifarious occupational qualifications. Brings in jolly good living. Which I feel I deserve.

Houses are a pension fund.

[nexus]

Did you have to pay for your first degree, like many of us did or were you part of the lucky generation for whom education was free?

[UndercoverElephant]

What did you actually do to deserve being in the position you are in?

First degree in law from UCL, LPC, Msc in risk management, Bsc in environmental management, multifarious occupational qualifications. Brings in jolly good living. Which I feel I deserve.

Houses are a pension fund.

Wow! And you actually think that makes it more justifiable?

You are totally ignoring the point I'm making. You did NOTHING to deserve to be the owner of 18 properties, apart from being in the right place at the right time to take advantage of the bankster scam. YOU and people like you are directly responsible for driving up the price of housing, and you are now making a very fat profit at the expense of a large number of GENUINELY HARD-WORKING people who are condemned to rent slavery for the rest of their lives. In short, you are gaining massively, directly at the expense of others, and you've done nothing whatsoever to deserve it.

You apparently see nothing wrong with this. Your job is a completely different topic, and has nothing to do with this - I am not condemning you for earning a good wage - nice try at changing the subject though.

There is something seriously wrong with your sense of what is morally acceptable and what isn't. This is common to many people on the right wing of politics. When it boils down to it, they are a bunch of immoral fascists. That is all.

Sorry to get personal. Well, no I'm not sorry actually. I think you are scum, and if I was in charge of this country, you'd be very close to the top of the list of "persons who need to be dealt with."

ETA: "first degree in law"... Probably says it all. A f*****g solicitor! Well, having encountered quite a few of those in the past two years, I can confidently say you were already scum when you chose to study law in the first place. Entirely motivated by money, yes? And complete lack of moral compass or any sense of moral duty to their clients (sorry, did I say "clients"? I meant "victims.")

[stumuzz]

Nice.

[UndercoverElephant]

Nice.

I'm talking to a lawyer and a multiple landlord. There's nothing nice about you or people like you. You are parasites on the rest of society, just like the bankers.

[kenneal - lagger]

............
Sorry to get personal. Well, no I'm not sorry actually. I think you are scum, and if I was in charge of this country, you'd be very close to the top of the list of "persons who need to be dealt with."
........

Come the revolution............!!

There'll be another left wing blood bath. Happens every time: French revolution, Russian ...... . And left wingers condemn Fascists as evil!

[stumuzz]

You are parasites on the rest of society.

O rather!

[AndySir]

We all agree that the present economic model splits the world into haves and have nots (and arguably this would happen anyway as a function of technological growth as in vt's analogy), we simply disagree on the morality of this situation. Given that the inevitable trend is to violence, either by excessive force to retain security and order or by UE and Steve's revolution we might argue that the morality of the situation is irrelevant. Like peak oil and climate change inequality is simply a statistical trend which needs to be dealt with before it causes some damage.

If you follow that it makes the victims of the revolution it's perpetrators. Quite an easy case to make in the case of the French aristocracy or the Tsars.

[stumuzz]

U/E

Well when you said I probably didn't realise I was an evil parasite. You could be right. I was driving through shropshire the other day when I came across a village called Acton Scot. I thought i recognised the name so when I got home I googled it.

Turns out the person Acton Scott featured in BBC Series 'Victorian farm'

Not only did he own the estate, he owned the whole village at one time.

He had a village named after him.

Is it just me who said "I WANT A VILLAGE!"?

Imagine the things you could do with your own village. I could appoint myself mayor, give myself the right to a hog roast every weekend. I could ban weekends. Call myself emperor and make laws. Mmm repeal laws. Yes I could carry out my evil dastardly plans on the villagers. I could make great sacrifices for my villagers, well goats and virgins mainly.

You're right. being a landlord is just a little bit evil, imagine how much evil could be done when you have got a village.

Off to watch Austin Powers to pick up tips. Mwa hahhahahahahaha.

[UndercoverElephant]

We all agree that the present economic model splits the world into haves and have nots (and arguably this would happen anyway as a function of technological growth as in vt's analogy), we simply disagree on the morality of this situation. Given that the inevitable trend is to violence, either by excessive force to retain security and order or by UE and Steve's revolution we might argue that the morality of the situation is irrelevant. Like peak oil and climate change inequality is simply a statistical trend which needs to be dealt with before it causes some damage.

If you follow that it makes the victims of the revolution it's perpetrators. Quite an easy case to make in the case of the French aristocracy or the Tsars.

We are certainly heading towards a situation that is likely to be resolvable only through violence.

If the likes of stumuzz cannot understand/accept that they have no moral right to the absurd amount of wealth they did NOT earn and have NO right to, then eventually it will be taken from them, and if they don't like it then...well, then they will end up being dealt with. The wise ones will understand/accept before being dealt with.

The bottom line is this: there's only one of him, and (I'm guessing) about 40 of his rent-slave victims, and ultimately, sheer numbers will win out.

[biffvernon]

You are parasites on the rest of society.

O rather!

Maybe a little time out to reflect on what His Holyness the Dali Lama would say?

(He'd probably just laugh.)