Street lights switched off to save money

[biffvernon]

The rich own a lot of businesses outright

One has to be a little bit careful about who goes to the wall come the revolution.

In the UK, Dale Vince is one of the richest but his assets are in the company that he owns, Ecotricity, and it's wind farms. He chooses to invest earnings in building more renewable energy, 'cos he's that kinda guy: part of the solution, rather than part of the problem.

[Catweazle]

These bastards are not going to go quietly into the night because we all decided to stand in a circle and sing Kumbaya.

Yes they will, they'll go quietly into the night with every useful asset they can transport, and they'll leave the bloody fighting to us - over the crumbs that are left.

You will never see the rich hanging from lamp posts, they'll be long gone living the life of Riley in the Azores. ( Other remote islands are available ).

[kenneal - lagger]

There will be a lot of blood letting but most of it will be the settling of old scores among the not so rich. Unlike the French revolution, where people couldn't jump on a jet at the drop of a hat to the safety of a Caribbean island, the super rich and aristocracy will be missed but for how long their money and investments will do them any good is anyone's guess. As Steve's graph shows much of their money is in financial assets which are basically bits of paper with a rating from an agency to give them some credibility. Why anybody believes these ratings agencies I don't know as the last crash showed them to be either fraudulent or incompetent in their dealings.

More of their money is in property and shares which can easily be confiscated by a changed government. Given the propensity of many people on this board to nationalise anything and every thing this could the the fate of much that would be left of the wealth in the hands of the few. Whether that would actually transfer any real wealth into the hands of those who have no wealth now I very much doubt.

The alternative words to "The Red Flag" would kick in as it usually does in Socialist Utopias and a new "Elite" would be bought into being. The poor old underdog would find himself in the same position as now but with fewer crumbs falling off the high table of the New Socialist Big Brothers (and Sisters of course).

A revolution would just bring a crash as the social fabric fell apart and businesses with it. International dealings would freeze and with it trade and oil flows. without energy the supermarkets would run out of stock and people would start to starve. Rationing would be bought in and there would probably be the nationalisation of virtually everything to try and keep some order and some food in people's mouths. Biff and I would have our land and houses stolen by corrupt local officials and Adam2's hoard would be pilfered and handed out to the ungrateful and undeserving masses.

Things might get a little better in a few hundreds of years but In the mean time we would have all the joys of the revolution.

[vtsnowedin]

Imagine if all the business and corporate assets were seized and the operations turned over to a enthusiastic revolutionary government. How long would it be before the gas pumps ran dry and the store shelves were empty. Think of the percentage of that wealth that would have just evaporated into thin air from mismanagement.

[BritDownUnder]

You will never see the rich hanging from lamp posts, they'll be long gone living the life of Riley in the Azores. ( Other remote islands are available ).

I have to admit of being slightly jealous of the people in Tristran da Cunha or Pitcairn. I think they will have a good time during the collapse. I did not research the Pitcairn website but it will be something similar to Tristan.

To quote the Tristan website www.tristandc.com

Tristan da Cunha
is an active volcanic island with rare wildlife
and home to 267 British Citizens
living in the world's most isolated settlement of
Edinburgh of the Seven Seas
far from the madding crowd in the South Atlantic Ocean

Based on what this website says, immigration to Tristan is impossible unless you marry a Tristanian. All land is collectively owned. They are reliant on a lot of imports such as wood and concrete but I am sure if needs must alternatives could be found.

To go back on topic they have just (in the last few years) got street lights. I hope they are LED.

[Mr. Fox]

Personally, I can imagine no lower depth of hell than being stuck on a remote island with a bunch of soft-handed Goldman Sachs employees.

It might make a good 'reality TV' show, though.

[Mr. Fox]

Heh... think "Lord of the Flies", but without the manly stiff-upper-lipped British Naval Officer turning up at the end in the nick of time (ok, not for Piggy) to save them from their barbarism...

Pay-per-view? Think of the ratings when they actually start eating each other.

[RenewableCandy]

Never mind all that: most of those islands are going to be under water by and by

[Catweazle]

If I could have convinced Mrs Catweazle we would already be living on a large old yacht somewhere warm, making a living repairing electronic equipment and eating a lot of fish.

Sigh....

[another_exlurker]

Personally, I can imagine no lower depth of hell than being stuck on a remote island with a bunch of soft-handed Goldman Sachs employees.

It might make a good 'reality TV' show, though.

"I'm a banker, get me out of here (at taxpayer expense)"

[Mr. Fox]

"I'm a banker, get me out of here (at taxpayer expense)"

Excellent. I've already booked the venue.

Beautiful island location.

[kenneal - lagger]

Large three legged pot, ten gallons of water, vegetables and seasoning to taste, peal *anker of outer layers and boil till tender. Shouldn't take too long as most haven't had a chance to toughen up! If you don't like curry, select your *anker carefully.

[Catweazle]

Think I'll give it a miss, rich food doesn't agree with me.

[another_exlurker]

"I'm a banker, get me out of here (at taxpayer expense)"

Excellent. I've already booked the venue.

Beautiful island location.

Nah, too luxurious.

They'd much prefer this one. It has a lot of growth potential.