Quote from: PhydeauxLeChien on March 11, 2014, 02:18:52 PM

I was reading Moody's / Fitch. In any case, AA+ still implies a very good investment and very cheap rates. I'm not arguing that ever-increasing debt is sustainable or a good idea, just that neither country is even close to defaulting.

Quote from: TheEmperor on March 11, 2014, 01:34:48 PM

The native population have generations used to living on handouts and so have no incentive to get a job and the jobs that are available are given to immigrants who come here and work for cheaper. While obviously immigrants contribute in taxes they all send a lot of money back to their native country's so more money is leaving the country than going back into the system and meanwhile the lazy benefit takers do less, getting fatter and unhealthier and adding an additional strain on the already stretched health service.

Jokes aside, this is an incredibly pervasive set of misconceptions. The majority of welfare spending goes to pensioners, and the majority of other benefits go to people who are in work, on low pay. The majority of unemployment benefits go to the short-term (temporary) unemployed, leaving a small proportion for the long-term unemployed - an unknown proportion of whom presumably are fat and lazy.

Quote from: EvilPanda on March 11, 2014, 02:07:14 PM

This guy had it all served on a silver platter, it can't be like that! He has to share! It's our job to force equality! Viva la revolucion!

I don't believe in equality of outcome, but I do believe in equality of opportunity - all children should have equal opportunity to be successful, no matter who their parents were. If you had it all served on a silver platter then yes, you have a duty to make it easier for those who didn't.

Well I'm happy for you, PhydeauxLeChien, that you have such a positive outlook with regard to western economy's.

May I ask where you live? While yes I may be wrong to say fat and lazy so genericly, it also exemplifies the type of people I am referring to. Certainly not pensioners or people that need subsidies to get by even when they are working, and I think you know that. I was talking about a select group, which is undeniable. There are places in this country where 3, 3! generations of the same family have never had a job, and many more that have simply realised that it is more lucrative to have kids and sit at home than to work. And I say this from experience, I grew up on a council estate, I personally know people like this now from where I'm from to where I live now, to where I work now. So these are not pervasive misconceptions, these are observational facts.

Just to add, I do not have a problem with immigration or migrant workers, but it is a proven fact that immigration in the UK is at unsustainable levels and that a large proportion of available jobs are being taken by migrant workers.

I'm sorry, but if I work my ass off to become a millionaire, and then leave it to my child so that he can have a more comfortable life than I have had, not have to go through the shit I did, why on earth would it be their 'duty' to make it easier for someone else? Nobody would have done it for me yet I still made myself a success and passed it to my child, so in practicality I would have done what you asked, but because it's my blood and not a stranger it doesn't count?