The Illusion of Improvement
2024 ж. 13 Қаң.
77 336 Рет қаралды
In the UK over the past 20 years individuals have got richer, but society as a whole has got poorer. How is that possible?
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Performed by Gary Stevenson
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I purchased my house 10 years ago, I’ve never missed a payment and my income has increased in that time, but I couldn’t afford to buy my own house now 🤯
To keep our standard of living we ‘sold’ some of the equity in our house.
Well, this explains what Gary is saying perfectly doesn't it?
Your income has probably decreased in terms of real value, because the price of everything has increased greater than your income.
Prices have now grown to such a point that more & more young people are simply locked out. Even the individual feeling of improvement is breaking down.
@@Woodroffski yes that’s pretty much the point. Most people think that if they “make money” on their home then they are richer, but if they could no longer afford to buy it, then it’s actually an indication that their purchasing power has decreased so they are poorer
My wife and I started out 40 years ago in 1984. It was the easiest thing to get a mortgage even though we were not big earners. I can still remember how excited people were when their homes grew in value by £1000 each month. Even though I knew nothing about finance, it seemed obvious to me that this was a bad thing. My heart bleeds for our young people. You are a good man Gary. I wish you success in your honourable campaign.
If I had had 3 k cash I could have bought a feild back then with a tumble down cottage on it. Put a roof on it and figured out the rest. The social welfare has given me about 50 grand or more in rent allowance but they wouldn't let me borrow 3 grand from the credit union for a feild 😂not having acsess to capital makes everything more expensive even when I have some money at the start of the year and I buy a big bag of rice and lentils and toilet roll it saves me hundred of quid over the whole year. My old parents live in houses without any heating except open fires and electric heaters which cost a bomb to run ..theres a grant for replacing your boiler if it's old but not putting one in there's grants for insulation but only between two layers of walls and they dont have cavity walls but they have draughts and huge spaces under the floors. My granny had home help ..my mom broke her hip the home help lady turned up a year later😂 ...
Same but, I bought 5 years ago, couldn't buy today
Same here. Always thought that increase in equity could only lead to terrible problems for society down the line
Have you spare rooms you can rent out to lodgers or maybe build some living spaces in the rear garden to help out 😊
Basic Marx - The utility value of a house can only ever be a place to live. The only winners are those who own more houses than they really need, or take an ever increasing cut for trading & financing them - what Marx calls the commodity value. That extra money has to come from somewhere & it has to be the labour value (Marx's term). Workers have to do more of what they do to earn money to pay for a house. In turn, this means they have less to spend on the stuff other workers produce (including new houses) so the real economy (producing stuff of utility value) declines.
*YES YES AND YES* I live in Bulgaria - officially the poorest country in the EU - BUT... Most families here raise 2 kids quite happily on 1 income...!!! 85% of people own their own home with no mortgage. 65% of families have a house in the village for weekends and food growing. Kids get free school meals, old people do the child minding for free, food is more expensive than the UK but people still buy quality food not processed crap. The QUALITY of life for working people is way higher than the UK £££ =/= Quality of life. >>> Its what you can DO with that money.
A very admirable example, thank you.
Well don't let amazon and big supermarkets buy up your countries resources don't let the government sell you out. Don't let the temptation of mc donalds and Starbucks in to destroy local small businesses. Stay as you are. Don't take the bribe of something glittery ...its a scam they will fleece your country and then you will end up by the balls with everyone moving out of the countryside to the city and no rural bussiness left or left struggling and then when the city fills up they will sell you back your grandmothers cottage for instead of 40k 400k ...
Is this not due to the communist past where everyone was allocated basic resources equally and labour to produce them was devalued? Something that will progressively changed now that external currencies qnd economies can engage. I do agree it seems like a better way of living but its only sustainable if people agree to equity and the most productive agree to never leave.
@@steph6109 I agree - it came from the communist era - BUT, they are building lots and lots of new apartments. We don't have a housing crisis, we have 1/10th the UK population and we are building 1/3rd the number of homes each year. You can buy a house in a village for £10k or an apartment in the city for £25k [upwards] . A brand new apartment will cost about €600 per sq m. So that's about 40k for a 68m2 apartment like mine. The average wage in my city is €12k so thats 3.3X an average salary for a NEW apartment. You could find an old one to do up for maybe €15k. ALSO TO CONSIDER- this is a 15 minute city, you dont need a car, the bus is 75 cents a DAY no matter how far you go and the bus is every 7 minutes. BTW - the city is Burgas you can look it up
ironically the poorer countries are "richer" at this point... because they haven't fallen under the western financial system which is a system of scam LOL
*WHEN I WAS 24 IN 1994* I bought a 3 bedroomed stone terrace for 2.5 X my salary, I had a Toyota Supra Twin Turbo, and I was at restaurants and clubs every week. *THAT WAS NORMAL* I feel SO sorry for kids today, I know kids in the Uk who never go out, they save every penny for a deposit and they just get further away each year.
Man i just read that 5am in the morning no sleep worrying about the next job im gonna get, my head hurts. Im just gonna stick to listening to music and the gym man 🤦♂️ 22 btw no degree😂😮
@@jup2up311 IM sorry mate - its fking tough for young people today. My advice, 1st sort your sleep then work from there. sleep is the foundation of life.
@@piccalillipit9211 sleeps on and off for me not normally that bad, but when the 1am 2am sleep depression comes in when you're obsessed with these vids aint no good🤣 just happy this is a free space where i can talk about things and thanks for the reply brother!
@@jup2up311 - I spent about 8 years working with victims of narcissistic abuse and the 3 things that are most directly interlinked with stress and depression are: 1) Sleep - I hate to be that guy but get up early and go to bed early 2) Physical fitness / exercise - I would argue that physical health and mental health are the same thing - health. They are SO closely linked I no longer believe in making a distinction. 3) Diet - this is a weird one. But 90% of the serotonin in your body is made by the bacteria in your gut, serotonin is the "contented happy with life" hormone. Cut out sugar, cut down carbs and eat some animal fats like butter and a WIDE variety of different plants, you dont need a lot. You are just feeding the bacteria in your gut. Get up early, go for a walk, and eat low card high variety diet and honestly, that is the foundation for a happy life. BTW - if you get that 2am "I just dont want to go to bed" feeling - thats actually a fear of tomorrow. today is over, the horrors are over, nothing bad will happen, you have got through today but tomorrow - anything could happen. Its normal, most people have this at some point in their life. If you want to get rid of it - get up get straight in a freezing cold shower - that way the worst part of the day is over with immediately. 😀
I drove a xr2 had two kids my 21 all my mates had r5 turbos xr2s BMWs I brought totally renivatrd house for 29k I worked away in Holland operating machines for 500 take home a week and hotel paid and flights to my misses in uk 16 hours a week plus tax credits saving 10k every 6 months was easy fiat uni turbo or xr2 was driven around hard on a tenner a week max
My mum was decluttering paperwork the other day found an old tenancy agreement for a 3 bed house in East Ham (East London) where we lived about 22 years ago. The rent was £650/month. Went on Zoopla and found rent for 3 bed houses on the same street today are at least £1,800 but others are over 2k. First hand example of real comparative numbers and more than 3x price increases but wages remain virtually stagnant in contrast. Absolutely outrageous!
My family house in Ealing is worth around 1 million having been bought for 65k in 1985! 😮😮😮
@@goych OMG, just calculated and your house has literally doubled every 10 years! Your rolling in it mate!
@@SwahiliSpicE sorry I should state my parents sold it years ago! They still made half a million mind! 🤑🤑🤑
@@goych still has doubled though. This convo literally reflects what Gary’s been saying, the wealth is slipping from our hands with the decisions of each generation but not through their own fault. Is that what they call the invisible hand?
@@SwahiliSpicEonly if you can sell, but then you will have to live somewhere and have to pay the same which means NO PROFITS
I have just turned 40, I have done everything right. Got a job at 18, bought my own house at 19, worked hard, only ever had a handful of sick days, climbed the slippery pole. Started a family. I am now earning a decent wage especially for where I live, however I have less money in my bank at the end of the month then I have done in any part of my life.
When a system is broken nothing you do will make a difference
@@goych yep, just a slow steady march to the grave! Happy Sunday!
@@neilbirch8431 oh far from it! I just meant we have to target the areas we can make a difference and not blame ourselves for a systemic fault! Vive la revolution!
Am 50 and am in the same boat, I feel life is the hardest it's been, money comes in and goes out instantly.
Genuine question: When you say you have done everything right, does that mean there is only a single right way to achieve the outcome that you have?
My husband and I are in the same boat as another commenter- couldn’t afford to buy the house we are in now. It’s ridiculous. When we first started out 20 something years ago we were chasing 2-3% annual increases and that was at times soul destroying. We were also lucky to be helped by family. Without significant help young folks today stand zero chance. This has to stop. Thank you Gary for speaking up.
I don't think we are getting richer at all if you look at the productivity to salary ratio... alot of people are expected to work overtime for no extra pay. The new fad is going "above and beyond" in our jobs or else we are considered as lacking, lazy and not "team players". Even if you get a higher than average salary, it's still not fairly exchanged for the the overtime people put in these days. Also employers like to say "well I pay you a good salary and I expect more from you" but what they mean by "more" is never specified, should you work 24/7 just because you get a higher salary? Your skill and experience are ignored because... reasons
@@BillClinton228 Companies love to use words like take ownership of certain tasks and responsibilities and then spout crap about self care and how at the end of the day it isnt worth getting stressed out but if you dont do what is expected you're sacked.
Let’s not forget those without help even ten to twenty years ago. Many people over the years have been unable to but for various reasons. It is not exclusively a “now” or purely a generational thing.
This was excellent. My Mother in her 80’s is so critical of her youngest daughter for ‘not saving enough’ like ‘her generation did’ to get on the property ladder.
So how old is her eldest daughter? 60s? Late 50s? This doesn't make sense and sounds a bit like "blame the elderly"
Nice little analysis of how we as a community are getting poorer, but feel as individuals our life is getting bit better, so it's OK. They divide us, we must see ourselves as one.
Absolutely agree - a horribly subtle form of brainwashing…. Totally dystopian 😱
The BEST example i always give for what you are correctly explaining Gary is to look back at your own Family. So i look back at my situation growing up. Dad worked, Blue collar Engineer on the Trains(when i was a kid) he just did Night School after he left School so no University/Degrees ect. Mum stayed at Home looking after us Kids and Homemaking. We could afford on that single Wage to buy our Home, have no Debt, have savings, a decent Pension Pot, have multiple Holidays a Year, a family Car and although we were by no means Rich we were you typical Working Class Family on a Council Estate we didn't really want for things that we actually needed. Can you do that today on a single Working Class Wage? Not a fookin chance in Hell can you, no way at all.
The thing with fighting back, especially in these exciting times, is that people with existing power are increasingly less bashful about wielding it; trying to erode any checks and balances and basic rights to enable them to just go full authoritarian despot if they experience resistance. With non-violent protest increasingly criminalised and a legacy media telling people who aren't the greatest consumers of information that everything is fine, it feels like this is going somewhere very dark indeed.
the western ruling class started going full retard once the USSR disappeared, and they no longer feared "organized labour" lmao
We have sleep walked into an economy where ordinary working people are dependent upon income from government to rise to a minimum standard of living , food banks are a standard form of help and hundreds of thousands of children are living in temporary accomodation and falling behind with education. My father managed to buy a 3 bed house as a single income lorry driver and had money left to have expensive hobbies and the cost of living ....I can see it why doesn't everyone ?
Well said, Gary! The system is geared up to increasing the wealth of the already wealthy at the expense of working people, through debt and cost inflation of essential assets. At the end of their working life, the younger generation can expect poverty in old age under the current system.
I bought in 1997 for less than 40k whilst earning around 16k. Today the same job pays around 30k but the house is valued at 210k. The same person in the same job could not buy the same house. That's a sad state of affairs.
Great video. Thanks for sharing your views. The data shows this is a worldwide trend and it is clear that, globally, the wealth gap is growing and the wealthy is forecast to gain even more under the current conditions. The problem for the UK is that much of its so called "crown jewels" infrastructure type assets are in foreign hands (e.g. City of London commercial & residential properties, Rolls Royce cars, Heathrow Airport, Gatwick Airport, Thames Water, Premier League football clubs .. etc) and this will accelerate its economic and social decline.
I'm curious what data shows this? His theory is interesting, but he doesn't present any real statistics that show this. You say this is a worldwide trend. Do you know what data I can look up to observe this?
@elijabuscho7715 There are numerous studies with real data to back this up e.g. World Economic Forum 10 Dec 2021 article titled "These charts show the growing income inequality between the world's richest and poorest". Just earlier today, there was a CNBC article titled "World's five richest men have doubled their wealth since 2020". Within the article, "If current trends continue, the world will have its first trillionaire within a decade but poverty won't be eradicated for another 229 years," Oxfam said. I hope this helps.
This is absolutely true. I'm going to be mortgage free in about 18 months which is about the same age as my parents were (early to mid-50s) but my mum and dad had two kids. I don't have any. Me and my partner are in far higher status jobs then my parents but we are poorer than they were at the same age. We feel richer though but when I really analyse and compare we aren't. Looking at my niece, on my partner's side, she doesn't own a house and has rented for the last 7 years or so and probably paid upwards of £50k in rent (we live in South Yorkshire) but isn't on the property ladder. At the same age, my partner had her first house. So over three generations (my parents, me and partner, our niece) we can definitely see we are poorer at comparable ages in our lives.
Love the parental comparison! I’m 25, my parents are 43 and 46 (had me very young) In 1998 they bought a 3-bed semi detached house in Hampshire for £88000, with a £5000 builders incentive (so they didn’t have to put up a deposit) and all they had to pay was £100 in fees They were 18 and 21 at the time, my dad was at the beginning of his career and my mum had just started her job too so both on the basic of basic salaries. They bought a house at 18 and 21 with a newborn baby (me) Imagine that situation now, both of you on a he minimum wage, a child, and you’re living at home. There’s a comparison of “how’s my kid doing at my age” I’m 25 and I’m still at home saving for that £40/50k you need down here just for the deposit. They were married at 27/24 years old and had 7 year old me and we went on holiday every year. Things were more affordable and that’s just in 2004 A bigger kick in the teeth is that the £88000 house they bought, if it stayed in line with inflation, should cost about £160-170k today. Its market value is £350,000 … how do we compete ?
My friend’s husband is a statistician and worked out what the average UK wage would have to be for it to be as easy to buy a house as it was for baby boomers. That’s taking into account inflation of everything, standard/cost of living, wage stagnation etc. he worked out that the average wage would have to be £86,000 per year. The current average wage is £31,000 per year. I think that puts it in perspective very well.
@@henryhayward6485 if you’re able to speak to him again and quite the data / example for this I think it would be a very powerful thing for Gary to use :)
My advice to you is join incomes. Either with your future wife, a sibling or good friend. Once youre on the ladder you can manouvere but its near impossible with one income qt your age.
@@steph6109 what if I expect to die alone and don't have a second person's income Guess I'll die alone AND destitute.
Jesus! He must have had a good wedge coming in back in '98. Things were absolutely shite wage wise up north. Most friends I knew were earning around £150 a week. In fact I'd emigrated at that point (to Ireland) because the wages were so shite and I could earn roughly 3 times what I made in the UK, have a decent pad and could send money back to my folks! Back on topic, the whole housing situation is like a gigantic ponzi scheme. I feel bad for anyone who wants to settle down, make a family and enjoy a good standard of living in the UK. I can understand why young Britons are leaving for better places.
We think it's great when TVs drop in price every year, but also great when house prices go shooting up. Bizarre.
Yeah, I think that‘s the way they play down inflation here in Germany, where food prices constantly increase… „Eat less, buy more TVs & Computers !“ 😆
I feel that many people fail to understand that house appreciation makes richer only people with multiple homes. If you have only one home your wealth in practice doesn't change, even if prices go up, because if you sell it you won't be able to buy more of a similar house somewhere else (where prices are comparable ofc). And you need to live somewhere. It is like taking off clothes before stepping on a scale and being happy that you loose weight 😬
Loving the graphs!! Visual aids really do your subject matter justice. You’re like a weatherman for economics.
I think the graph presented is a really good theoretical tool, but I wish he'd show some actual statistics to show that the theory does actually apply to the UK
Thank you for showing this and explaining it so clearly. It’s probably also worth pointing out in as simple a way as possible, the cost of buying/renting a property as a proportion of salary. That is a real eye opener for most Boomers!
I wish he showed some actual statistics. All he showed in this video was a theoretical graph with no real numbers. The theory makes sense, but I have no clue if it actually applies at all in reality.
I'm 38, I've been working in a trade for over 20 years. I've never been able to rent on my own, because there isn't enough work, I can't charge enough for the work I do, to cover that lack without pricing myself out completely. I feel like a star trying to burn iron for fuel and failing. I'm so tired. I have no savings, I live with my mother. I feel like the harder I've worked, the further from any independence or freedom I am. I need to rest. I don't mind making a living, but when does the living start?
my aunt - teacher - and her partner - probation officer - bought a 4-bed townhouse on 'the most desirable road in London' (Foxtons 2012 quote) in '87. 270k. That was 5.5 times their salaries. Sold for a cool £1.2m about ten years ago. The buyer converted it into three flats: 600k, 650k, ground+ garden £700k. The ground floor flat alone is 10x the combined salaries of a teacher and probation officer today. Facts.
Wow 😮 that’s crazy!
@@Enormous866 yup, psst, it's not the value of the house going up - it's the same fooking house it's the value of the money going down...
Unchecked immigration coupled with lack of new houses.. pretty obvious when you take off your blinkers no?
I'm with you Gary. Thanks for the work you do.
So true. It’s exactly what is happening. We are in our 70s now and our children are in their mid 40s and they certainly cannot make the life choices we were able to do at their ages. Dread to think what life for our grandchildren will be like.
I'm 73, my parents emigrated from London UK to New Zealand where i was born and raised. Gary's snalysis is correct, but there are wider sociological and political nuances that underlie the differencès between the 4 generations. Just briefly, post WW2, most western democracies provided the returning Servicemen with jobs, subsidised housing, and the benefits of nationalised free Healthcare, ftee education for the children, and the ost war hrowth of the 1960's and 1970's. These were political, policy-driven decisions by Governments. Of course most people's lot improved. 1980's saw the permicious reach of neo-libetalism, Austerity promoted as 'the only solution' and the festruction of the working class and rise of globalisation. These realities have been MASSIVE. Ive watched it all and am appalled. It seems to me that our whole economy and political institutions have been hijacked from us. We are still blinking "'What happened?" But, as a woman, ive got to say that i do believe that women's lives have improved. My Grandmother [Edwardian era] had 11 children.
When I lived and worked in London 20 years ago rents and house prices were already beginning to rise fast. I moved abroad for personal reasons, having not bought a property. The media played up house price inflation and some owners were renovating and flipping houses for profit. Nobody ever talked about the purpose of a home, especially for people wanting or having families. House prices going up was never called inflation. Property owners were happy to see value on paper increase and yet if they were to sell, their next property to buy to live in would also have increased - where is the net gain? And why should housing serve as an instrument for profit anyway? People said nonsensical things such as that their (actual) home was their pension.
Great video! I really think you are tapping into the route of the problem. The increase in inequality not only means that the rich get richer but the poor MUST get poorer. It's like there is a pie and the elite just accumulate more of it vs the working class - there is no 'extra pie'! Interesting because there is this contradiction then between there being a finite amount of real value in the world then, but seemingly an infinite amount of money which can be created. If the money represents the social relation of power over another, does it mean that there is no limit to the amount of power one can accumulate over another?
Correct. Money is just a metric that decides who gets what of the existing pie. The workers make the pie (services and goods) , and the rich who manage the laws, loopholes, and financial systems eat it.
I bought a house in 2020. I can see now that I have escaped the crisis of living prices but little did I know how long, dull, expensive and worrisome paying off the mortgage and owning a home will be. Saving for deposit since 2016 in rented rooms was a piece of cake in comparison and personally I felt no stress back then. Getting on a property ladder is just the beginning of a very long and stressful process, especially if your salary is not high. When I have to remortgage in a couple of years I'm not so sure if I will even be able to afford my own house!..
Dull, expensive and worrisome… you sum it up completely and the stress is immense.
I've lived in my home for 20 years, £121k, nudging £300k now, like many others commenting I couldn't afford to live here now. I'm not certain how I feel about it all, I'm grateful I bought when I did and I was able to do so but I also feel guilty that its so hard for a lot of other people.
Another great video Garry. It would be interesting to determine the "break point" - the level of income, above which you actually improve your level of affluence, and conversely below which your impoverishment increases. Ans what is the impact of taxing the super rich on this break point.
Aw Gary! I wish you had more reach....you speak with such clarity its refreshing! You dont fancy getting into politics, no? Youd make a great chancellor! Keep going dude and your reach will grow!
Thank you, Gary, for another super informative video exposing the myths of the wealthy, and Trickle-Down Twattery. For some of us, it’s like playing the game of monopoly where some of players are given very little money to start the game and are required to play against those with an abundance. I hope going forward you can do some videos about how a progressive tax system would work too. Thanks again.
In the last 35 years for example from experience= Housing has risen 14x in the Republic of Ireland and around 18x in most of Canada but in the North of England around 6 or 7x. Young people may have more bobbles and bells and whistles and mobile phones but less chance of Bricks and Mortar.
And when you consider how mobile phones were created it gets even more frustrating. The major tech (Internet, GPS, touch screens, lithium batteries...) making smart phones smart were made possible by governments funding RISKY early stage research, i.e taxpayers paid for that. "We" paid for the risk, and companies only swooped in when it was no longer as risky to use said tech, and profited off it. Companies got rich off the research average taxpayers subsidized.
Exactly.
I'm one of the left behind, having always been single and on a low wage. For those younger or with children you need to be starting up Community Land Trusts (CLTs) in your area, and shaming the local authorities, land- bankers, to turn over usable land. There is no way you should accept the prospect of an affordable home as a vanishing dream for the younger generations. Politicians and the big corps won't solve this for you. Unless you want to be visiting your children and grand children in single room, single family households, akin to the student accommodation being built today....
The graph really helped me to get the concept. Thank you. I hope your book goes crazy and more people find tour channel
Very interesting topic, great insights :) Comes down to purchasing power.... real wages haven't kept up with inflation for decades. Means on paper 100 dollars is now worth 50 in "real" terms.
Whats even scarrier is when you realise just how much purchasing power our monopoly money has lost. The Dollar has lost more than 97% of its PP and back in the 70s 1 GBP was almost worth 2 Dollars. We almost reached 1=1 parity a Year or so ago when Truss was PM. So the Dollar lost upwards of 97% just how much has the Pound lost LOL
@@bigdaz7272 Indeed and boomer generation managed to ride the greatest wave of prosperity in human history. Meanwhile laughing at millennials for "avocado toast" - they have no idea.
@@__Wanderer parents laughing at their own children... why even bother having kids at that point
Wish everyone explained this like you do Gary - you need to take this global.
I move from a high inflation country to the UK 23 years ago. I couldn’t believe how relatively low the cost of living was in the UK. That has changed. Yes, we earn bigger numbers than ever before, but we have no surplus income after paying expenses, so we can’t accumulate assets, so we remain with only with our labour to sell, in a situation where inflation-adjusted salaries have fallen. Good luck getting laws changed. There is also another strategy people can use: family asset accumulation. Families pool their income & buy properties (get legal agreements in place so it’s fair). Working class Families must work together to accumulate assets & never sell them. They also need to get financially educated so that they never get into consumer debt, and be forced to sell assets.
Yes, the best option there is just now. People are doing same for developments.
But if that’s all you’ve got to keep your head above water
Unfortunately assets need to be sold if care is required in old age. Care homes costs thousands per week.
Key point here is education and get into better paid jobs and yes buy asset , save and have a private pension for future ; you can do that with education and mindset change around debt and spending money
@@monikamateja917 except that we also have a widening gap when it comes to education. Money for private school fees or to be able to move house to the catchment area of a 'good' school ensures better opportunities than those who can't afford it.
I understand what you’re saying and agree. But the bit at the end about we get together and say we don’t except this is for the birds. This unfortunately is nothing to do with left or right politics. The very wealthy control whoever is in power. Right,they win,left,they win. Like in the US big corporations buy politicians and as you say, will create the illusion of helping the poorer.
So happy to have you back mate, I always look forward to your uploads and I missed it when you wasn't here.
Gary's messages are and must be heard❤100% Legend.
Man you explain this stuff so clearly. Fascinating and also very worrying. I feel like you and Martin Lewis should team up.
Another great video Gary thank you so much, looking forward to more videos and reading your book Some how we have got to fight back and demand our economic rights , you need to be in politics gary , I’m hoping people with get together in huge numbers take on the government, I’m 70 but I fear for my children and grandchildren what hope is there for them
Thanks Gary! Our eyes have been opened.
Sokath, his eyes uncovered!
Shaka, when the walls fell
As some who has worked with my hands all my life I can tell you I'm glad that was short , as always gazman , there is a lot of good info there my bro , good work . Thank you .
This is very powerful when combined with the weaponisation of gratitude. If you can't say "thank you for appreciating my skills and giving the promotion and a pay rise, but I'm not happy to have got this promotion later than the person before me, it pays less in real terms than they received and I'm paying more tax" with sounding ungrateful how can you challenge it? I know there are some who would say organised labour, but is there another way?
Why are you seeking another way than organized labor?
Thought-provoking video as always. I get that taxing the very wealthy more would hit their purchasing power, but I no longer believe that tax in and of itself funds anything. Since the money that eventually became our tax payments was first created from thin air by banks typing the numbers into an account somewhere to purchase something, that tax is merely returned as revenue to HMRC, whereupon it is deleted from the economy. The system is set up so that free market enterprise ends up with all the money and whilst the private sector is important, so is the public sector. All parties seem to want to entrench the fallacy that only the rich can save us, but that's not happening. Our fiat currency system is being abused in plain sight, because there's always enough money for war but never for council housing which would allow young people a chance of moving out from their parents' houses and getting some independence
I mean to say … I agree 😂 /rant
"that tax is merely returned as revenue to HMRC, whereupon it is deleted from the economy" What do you mean by this? Surely it's spent by the government, not "deleted"? A portion of it goes to service debts to the BoE true, which I suppose would meet your description of "deleted", but only a relatively small part.
Really clear, well explained video. Good to have you back Gary
You are a total inspiration Gary. ‘Power to the people!’ ❤
Good video Gary! Carefully chosen graphs and figures like this are a great addition to the channel!
I don't know anyone old or young who feels they're getting richer. Not in my town. I think everyone knows deep in the back of their mind that their getting poorer and their society is poorer.
This makes complete sense. You explain it very well. I had thought about his roughly before when thinking about my own circumstances. My grandfather could buy a house, raise a family with 5 kids and buy a new car every few years as a working man off a single wage. (Council worker doing grounds maintenance) My mother and father both worked and were able buy the council house we were in. Now I am in social housing myself with no chance of buying in the future by the looks of things. ( I feel lucky to have that and not be paying extortionate private rents). That graph shows it perfectly. Time to start eating the rich I think. When will they have enough? They are hoovering up everything. The next generations are going to feel lucky when they have a plate of food on the table.
Construction developers build houses not for the sake of providing ordinary people a place to live, but because investors invest money in construction. In my country, real estate investment is becoming increasingly popular, where even with just 100 euros, one can start investing. It common when a bunch of people buy a property and sell it later or let to get their profit. This drives up prices, and people who want to buy a home for their family to live no longer can, as speculators inflate the prices, it seems that banks getting involved in this too.
I’m a developer. I build for whoever buys. Mainly foreigners 🤷🏽♂️
Gary what you say is so true, and even more so for older people like myself whose grandparents were born before Irish independence so grew up in grinding poverty and deprivation as there was massive wealth inequality in the UK, and they had lived in generational poverty for centuries as did all of their community because they were Irish Catholics. Now only one side is still in the UK since the border was drawn up splitting apart their province where their families had lived as neighbours for generations My father grew up with no electricity, running water, or even a pair of shoes. His brother started work in a coalmine at 15yrs old, yet he still could get a roof over his head and raise a family of five children, in a tiny townhouse where he still lives. But he has taken in some of his grandchildren as they can't afford a house - although Ireland is now a 'rich' country and they are 'better off', they can't live in their own country just like the peasants of old who were forced out by poverty and famine under British rule Edit: I wonder how much the scale of the UK's wealth inequality and reliance on immigration was not noticed by the public in Britain when the poverty was in Ireland, and Britain was a wealthy country with a supply of cheap labour from a poor country. After independence the UK govt introduced the common travel area, so the Irish could still fill low paid jobs in Britain working as navvies, skivvies, tattie hoakers etc.
That’s really cleverly put. Well done. I can now put into words something I’ve never quite I understood. Thank you.
A clear and brilliant explanation - thank you Gary.
Gary ,I love your closing comment " send it to your nan" .......thing is nan will probably read the Daily Mail and start talking about 'illegals '.
Nan’s right though.
Look at the comment to views ratio! Nice! I always comment and like to support this important work
Never seen it explained this clearly before, thanks!
Brilliant as always Gary and we are with you all the way 👍🏻
The problem with older people like us is that we paid for our houses thinking we could down size. I would love to sell my house but when I see the places I would rent the amount of money for a one bedroom apartment is more than all my house expenses for a four bedroom house. If I sold my 🏠 I could not afford to live elsewhere. Even if a got a container house it would be difficult because I would need to buy land outside of the city.
Maybe just rent out the house then
Well done Gary. Keep up the amazing work you're doing👍
Fascinating! Ive never seen or heard this concept before but it makes perfect sense.
Smart, simple, well presented ❤
Excellent Gary. Keep getting the message out👍👍
Great video Gary;-) we the people need to know all this thank you for your time;-)
Totally agree, if you calculate everything as percentages or multiples it becomes easier to compare. Bills as a percentage of income say, or house prices as a multiple of salary
Great explanation!
Congrats on 100k subs and the new book! I'll probably get the audio book and listen to it while i run :)
I’ve had an insurance payout for life changing injuries I had in an accident. I’m about to buy a house outright, so, in a way I’m lucky. My body is screwed though, so I’d rather just go back to how things were. 🤦♂️ Before the accident I was earning above average wages. If I was to try and buy the same house now, the mortgage alone would be 80% of my take home pay!
Gary: You should do a video which discusses both Nominal wealth, asset values, etc and those in Real Terms. The effect of inflation is mostly ignored by the media in their reporting, and the majority do not grasp their real wealth changes.
Great explanation. Looking forward to the next one!
Really appreciate your content Gary. You come from a humble background but understand the economic climate and share with others on a way that makes sense. Certainly agree that big corporate and the super rich are the ones who need to be taxed more and not us the working class. Let's hope for a reform of structure on how this system currently works.
Made my day you appreciated this comment. I would like to chat with you on so much as what you speak resonates with myself. Especially as I have experience the low risk high reward methods of trading and myself missed great opportunities because I was working that day. Think you are sending a good message out there. Keep it up dude you doing a good thing.
this is a superb explanation with great insight.
Excellent. Thank you very much. Not quite the same thing but I remember a job I was in decades ago where the cost of living increase was so bad that I realized I would have been better off quitting my job and getting rehired every year because the starting wage would have been better. Work a year, quit, get rehired with one year of experience at a higher wage than I actually got from doing my job well.
Yep. That's how you do it.
Very well explained! 😊
When 35 years ago my parents got their house for 100k on a single middle class income. When we got our house we could barely afford the 600k mortgage as two working professionals and had to save up for years and get loans from both sides of the family. Similar 4 bed house in the same area. WTF
This hints at a future economic system I’ve only considered, and would be an interesting novel: the only things you can truly own, you make yourself. Your body/mind/free will, and your creativity and utility. Everything else is living standards, which could become completely un-stratified, and then class becomes a pure skill based class society, with only 2 levels. A very broad acceptable one, and a class of true ownership limited by ability. which is what a true Merit Based society should be right? It’s an idea.
I have a friend (UK) who is registering their house as a place of worship. No council tax and diplomatic immunity 😂
Did it work? Lol
Watch this space, he has an interview with a registrar next week to talk about his programme of worship!! I kinda feel like he’s gonna be put on a cult watchlist 😬
Thx Gary!
excellent explanation, really clear
This feels a lot like being in a Casino, where the house is statistically designed to win and take your money over time. Yet in a Casino you have the option to not enter the building and play. While in this system you actually can't leave and you're forced to play until you lose everything. And if you complain they call you socialist or communist, and point at the person that just won at the roulette and say "see the system works, you can make money, you're just (insert insult)".
Gary! You have enough money to turn the heating on! Great analysis!
Waste not want not and all that
Thanks for the post. Do you need better heating in your studio? Gloves and hat? Live the values of keeping the heating off to save money, got it? 😊
Nice work! So true.
Good morning Gary. Really nicely explained 👍🏽 best regards, Phupinder
Excellent analysis, Gary.
Thank you, Gary.
Excellent insight and explanation. Critical concept
great stuff Gary, really a fan of what you're doing telling all my friends to subscribe so they can gain an understanding of the landscape
GARY! You should host a podcast with other experts where you discuss potential remedies for inequality. The problem is clear. What we need is a robust solution and a solution could take on many forms, each with their own potential pitfalls P.s I love the work you’re doing, the book was great, please keep up the good work .. we need you
My income despite increased responsibility has declined in real terms over the last 15 years...
Nice one Gary👍
Great video - very interesting point
Fantastic video Gary
Interesting concept, good explanation! Don't feel too bad about the graph, we can handle it! :-) Thank you for yet another great video!
Slight issue with the classification of living standards. Whilst income and wealth have a significant impact on living standards, and the disparity between the rich and poor may be growing it is difficult to argue that living standards are falling over time. I think it would be better to describe this as relative living standards, when comparing the debt burden between income groups in society as one metric. If living standards are measured by 'happiness' then a fair arguement to say that people are less happy overtime, working longer hours, more stress, higher debt, less discretionary income etc.
My elderly parents have been conned they are middle class simply because they own their house. In reality they are working class. Asset rich, cash poor. The youth are disillusioned that no matter what they do it will be a struggle to afford a family or property. Thus reducing population and ability of government to meet future debt payments due to less working/tax paying individuals. The country as a whole (gov and private) is debt laden. The government can't use inflation to reduce debt because public/corporations can't afford additional payments, even though rates are historically low. I think the government will print money again in the next downturn but instead give direct to those in need of support. Different from previous QE. This obviously has issues and is not solving the central problems - just kicking the can down the road. The main problem is the property prices and rents are currently unaffordable and it is going to get worse. The age comparison is simple and impactive 👍.
Gary is one smart cookie... this video exsplans alot...😮😮