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George Orwell Surely Would Be Amused by the Statolatry in the United Kingdom
Townhall.com ^ | February 9, 2013 | Daniel J. Mitchell

Posted on 02/09/2013 6:47:40 AM PST by Kaslin

I just finished up a trip to London.

In previous posts, I’ve expressed pessimism about the future of the United Kingdom, largely because all political parties have a statist mentality.

I criticized Gordon Brown, the former Labor Party Prime Minister, for being a compulsive redistributionist, big spender, and taxaholic.

But nothing’s really changed under Tory leadership. David Cameron is a vacuous statist, undermining the Conservative Party in the same way that George W. Bush eroded the brand name capital of the Republican Party.

This sign was on a train I rode today. It is sponsored by the UK version of the IRS,  and it pretty much symbolizes how the United Kingdom has turned into a predatory state.

The United Kingdom is in terrible fiscal shape. Government spending has reached record levels, and now consumes a larger share of economic output than the public sectors in failed welfare states such as Spain.

And what are taxpayers getting for their money, other than Orwellian signs?

Not much. They get an increasingly dysfunctional society filled with scroungers such as Natalija, Gina and Danny.

They also get a healthcare system that seemingly prides itself on maltreatment, and a tax system that is more designed to be punitive rather than to generate revenue.

UK Tax Orwell

Though the UK government does provide taxpayer-financed sex tours to Amsterdam, so at least a few people are getting screwed as a result of government rather than by the government.

But let’s close by contemplating the mindset of a government that would post such a sign. We already know that Prime Minister Cameron and some of his senior deputies think it’s wrong to engage in legal tax avoidance.

And this is a government that is brainwashing kids into becoming servile snitches, and is even considering a system that would have employers send paychecks to the state and then the government would decide how much to send to taxpayers.

Such a shame since so much of what is good in the Western World came from England.

P.S. This is also a country where they send innocent people to jail for shooting burglars.


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Culture/Society; Editorial; United Kingdom
KEYWORDS:

1 posted on 02/09/2013 6:47:46 AM PST by Kaslin
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To: Kaslin

I’d be sorely tempted to deface such a sign, security cams or not.


2 posted on 02/09/2013 7:02:44 AM PST by Clock King
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To: Kaslin

This is also a country that sends people to jail for opposing the mass importation of Muslim scumbags. Tommy Robinson still sits in a cell.


3 posted on 02/09/2013 7:08:12 AM PST by Viennacon
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To: Kaslin

Cameron is a “Bloomberg Conservative”:

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/08/nyregion/bloomberg-builds-an-empire-in-london.html?pagewanted=all


4 posted on 02/09/2013 7:10:55 AM PST by 9YearLurker
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To: Kaslin

Neville Shute would be no fan of modern Britain either. He was writing novels that warned of socialism back in the 50s.


5 posted on 02/09/2013 7:25:18 AM PST by cripplecreek (REMEMBER THE RIVER RAISIN!)
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To: Clock King

I love the reaction when Leno explains why we don’t have as many speed cameras in the USA. Actually the whole interview is kind of interesting. Clarkson says he used to feel like America was an armed camp but says Britain is worse now.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y0XtNGuijqc


6 posted on 02/09/2013 7:36:03 AM PST by cripplecreek (REMEMBER THE RIVER RAISIN!)
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To: Kaslin
Such a shame since so much of what is good in the Western World came from England,

True, but time to let go. The UK is out of gas and dead by the roadside.

7 posted on 02/09/2013 3:33:38 PM PST by hinckley buzzard
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To: cripplecreek
There have been novels warning of socialism as long as there has been socialism. One would think people might have begun to pay attention by now. Instead they have just quit reading.
8 posted on 02/09/2013 3:35:57 PM PST by hinckley buzzard
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To: hinckley buzzard

Books by Shute

So Disdained (1928), written soon after the General Strike of 1926, reflected the debate in British Society about socialism and considered whether Italian fascism was an effective antidote.

Ruined City (1938; U.S. title: Kindling) a rich banker revives a town economically with a shipbuilding company through questionable financial dealings. He goes to jail for fraud, but the shipyard revives. Ruined City was distilled from Shute’s experiences in trying to set up his own aircraft company.

The Far Country (1952): A young woman travels to Australia. A condemnation of British socialism and the national health service.


9 posted on 02/09/2013 3:45:51 PM PST by cripplecreek (REMEMBER THE RIVER RAISIN!)
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