The government cannot give to anybody anything that the government does not first take from somebody else – writes The Saltydog Investor

I was reminded of the above statement when reading the recent proposals being put forward by David Willetts, where he was suggesting the gifting of money to every young person under the age of twenty five -‘Millennials’. A ‘get you started’ gift to set them on the way towards economic freedom.

It would have to be spent towards the purchase of a house, their pension or some such sensible objective. He was suggesting that this was necessary to balance up the unfair financial advantages that had been heaped upon those people born just after the war – ‘Baby Boomers’. I really struggle with this idea, and certainly can’t envisage how it would stand a snowball`s chance of being administered correctly without whole scale fraudulence taking place.

However, I do firmly believe that there needs to be a rebalancing of wealth between the haves and the have nots in Britain. I should also say that I do not know how this can be achieved, only that in my book it must be earned not gifted. Young people with the correct work ethic and good education need the right environment to be able to create wealth not only for themselves, but for the country. The alternative, a hard-nosed Marxist type approach, I find quite frightening.

The following nine points I have taken from a John Redwood article laying down the main points of the Marxist doctrine.

  • The abolition of all private property.
  • A heavy progressive income tax.
  • The abolition of all inheritance rights.
  • Confiscation of all property of rebels and emigrants.
  • Centralisation of all transport and communication into the State`s hands.
  • Wholesale nationalisation of the means of production and State planned farming.
  • The establishment of industrial armies with equal requirement of all to labour.
  • Shift of people into towns with erosion of distinction between towns and country.
  • Free education for all, with abolition of child factory labour.

With the exception of the last item, which should be a given, I wonder just how many of other points lie on the ‘to do’ list of our present Labour Party leader?  Of course I do not believe for one minute that all are on the list – the passage of time has overtaken and outdated some, but not by any means all!

Should Mr. Corbyn come to power it will be a life changing event for the country and for investors such as ourselves. This must be considered a possibility with Brexit Remainers and Leavers in open warfare and prepared, it would seem, to bring the Conservative Party down. I am non political and generally take the view of a ‘pox on both their houses’. You would hope that it was not beyond the grasp of politicians to produce a manifesto that gave protection to the old, and encouragement and incentive to the youth and middle-aged of the country to work and be sensibly rewarded, without reverting to extremes both on the right and the left of the political spectrum. This is unlikely to happen so perhaps now is the time to be working on an investment plan to cope with a potential radical change in government direction, and the need to protect one`s financial future and that of our dependants.

I am of that age where the future is now in the hands of others, and I am becoming a reluctant spectator. For instance when I hear the William Tell Overture I am reminded of the TV programme ‘The Lone Ranger’, so perhaps that means I am hankering for the past. I don’t know about others of you that can remember this programme, but I was always rather suspicious of the Lone Ranger’s relationship with Tonto, and also it was never explained what he meant when he kept saying “Kimo Sabe”?

Douglas.

Founder & Chairman

 

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