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[boat captain]

The next time you hear a politician use the word 'billion' in a casual manner, think about whether you want the 'politicians' to spend YOUR tax money.

A billion is a difficult number to comprehend, but one advertising agency did a good job of putting that figure into some perspective in one of its releases.

A.
A billion seconds ago it was 1959.B.
A billion minutes ago Lord was alive.C.
A billion hours ago our ancestors were living in the Stone Age.

D.
A billion days ago no-one walked on the earth on two feet.E.A billion Pounds ago was only 13 hours and 12 minutes, at the rate our government is spending it.Stamp Duty
Tobacco Tax
Corporate Income Tax
Income TaxCouncil Tax
Unemployment Tax
Fishing Licence Tax
Petrol/Diesel Tax
Inheritance Tax (tax on top of tax)
Alcohol Tax
V.A.T.
Marriage Licence Tax
Property Tax
Service charge taxes
Social Security Tax
Vehicle Licence Registration Tax
Vehicle Sales Tax
Workers Compensation Tax
STILL THINK THIS IS FUNNY?
Not one of these taxes existed 100 years ago and our nation was one of the most prosperous in the world.

We had absolutely no national debt.
We had the largest middle class in the world. Mum stayed home to raise the kids, Dad was allowed to discipline kids, a criminal’'s life was uncomfortable.
What the hell happened? 'Political Correctness', Politicians or both?' I hope this goes around the UK and beyond at least 100 times !

[knoby]

100 years ago we were entering the last days of our glourious empire. We could no longer take control of countries at the point of a gun, steal their wealth & enslave their people. We could no longer send 5 year old children up chimineys, of to work in dangerous industry. Company owners were starting to lose thier ability to force to workers to endure life threatening work places for a pitance of pay. The average life expectancy was 47.


I guess now we have to pay for our luxurious lifestyles ourselves, maybe the problem is us not them?


So if you want me to forward this message, can we have a more balanced view of things first 

[NFMike]

Got to agree with knoby.
I don't like paying taxes, but I'd like not having what they provide - like the NHS or roads - even less.

[Nordsee]

100 years ago we were entering the last days of our glourious empire. We could no longer take control of countries at the point of a gun, steal their wealth & enslave their people. We could no longer send 5 year old children up chimineys, of to work in dangerous industry. Company owners were starting to lose thier ability to force to workers to endure life threatening work places for a pitance of pay. The average life expectancy was 47.


I guess now we have to pay for our luxurious lifestyles ourselves, maybe the problem is us not them? A 100 years ago was 1913, the days of child labour were long gone, the average life expectancy was 63 for men and 61 for women.  We controlled Piracy with a gun and stopped feudal Rulers from terrorising their subjects. See when India left the Empire in 1947, 4 million died in inter religous attacks, Muslims against Hindus and Sikhs against anyone not Sikh, It needed Lord Louis Mountbatten back after 3 months to restore order and get them to stop the slaughter. Pakistan was created and they zhen continued to kill each other upto now and beyond. After the Brits left, all former Colonies, with only a few exceptions,  reverted to Dictators and Tribal wars, destroying all that was created under the Brits.Kenya, Zimbabway, Uganda are perfect examples. It is History, real and simple.Doesn't fit the "Wicked Brits" picture but the truth always hurts.


So if you want me to forward this message, can we have a more balanced view of things first 

[Gerardy]

yeah;s right!

[Geoff]

Absolutley right. About time someone spoke up for the days of the British Empire. Indeed lets look back into out history a little shall we at some of the inglorious things we did:
 
1) Introduced anti slavery laws (William Wilberforce etc)!
 
2) Controlled the world oceans and imposed our anti slavery stance on the rest of the world and nearly went to war with America over it!
 
3) Looked after all nations on the water irrespective of origin. We were the seas police and hunted down pirates everywhere.
 
 
I hope some of you pick up the note of sarcasm here. It has become far too popular to denigrate this country and the past. Many people do this with no knowledge of history and just jump on the band wagon!
 
Sure some of the things we did were not that great but they were a product of the times.
 
As for enslaving other countries we brought them prosperity and trade and education and health and law and order, all clearly bad things!
 
Strange how the empire lasted so long and the "conquered" countries countries sent men to fight for us in WW1 and 2.
 
Some of the comments remind me of the Life of Brian sketch about the Romans doing nothing for us, other than, roads, sewage, water, housing, education, medicine, law and order, but other than that Nothing!
 
Miffed old timer and proud of it!   
 
 

[Liverbudgie2]

Well said/written.
LB

[knoby]

Just to correct a few incorrect facts:

Tobacco Tax introduced 1660
Corporate Income Tax first introduced in 1597
Income Tax; introduced permanently in 1842
Petrol/Diesel Tax introduced 1909
Inheritance Tax (tax on top of tax) introduced 1796
Alcohol Tax introduced 1690
Property Tax introduced 1842
Vehicle License Registration Tax 1774

Average life expectancy was 53 in 1913
chances of surviving cancer in 1913 25%

France was the first European country to abolish slavery in modern times, in 1794 The U.K. freed slaves in British lands in 1834, we were far from world leaders in this,

We stopped the population of our colonies fighting by imposing our laws on them & imprisoning. torturing or killing those who opposed us. Although none of the countries actually invited us there in the first place

We policed the world’s oceans because we had the largest fleet, largely paid for by the profits from the empire, because we had the most to loose from piracy.

Many of the colonies resorted to dictatorship after Britain left,but many feel they just changed dictators.

Whilst British rule introduced many things to the colonies, the overall poverty level of the indigenous people did not improve significantly, however British GDP did.
 

[Colin Bishop]

When looking at the way things were done in the past you also have to take into account the prevailing attitudes of the time. In the words of L P Hartley: The past is a foreign country: they do things differently there. That is very true which is why you should not apply current ways of thinking to historical situations. I am currently reading a very good book on the pre 1914 political situation in Europe and the diplomatic issues between the great powers of the time. It is quite clear that the mindset of statesmen then was radically different to what might be acceptable today but they found the idea of settling issues by declaring war to be just one of the possible options.
 
One enduring truism is that nation states have interests and these will always take priority in determining their actions whatever the other factors that may be involved. When it comes to the crunch, nations act in their own self interest which takes overall priority and you can still see that very clearly today.
 
Whatever veneer of civilisation is apparent, the reality is that the world remains a very rough and dangerous place in reality which is why running down our military on the basis that there are no presently perceived threats is a major mistake.
 
Colin

[tigertiger]

Colin
Perhaps of interest to you.

You may be aware that the 1964 BBC 26 part series The Great War has been re-released. The first two episodes are about the political and social environments in 1914. It looks at the militarism, alliances, imperialism, nationalism, social issues, and political movements at that time. It is a great series. It is also interesting to get the 1960s BBC view of things, as well as the standard of English and vocabulary that were used then. It makes one realise how much the modern world and reporting has been cut down into sound bites. It also makes it clear that there are no simple issues, things don't happen on thier own.


The series can be had on DVD or some very naughty people download it from the internet.


For those who are interested in the marriage of war and politics I can recommend the 1966 film The Battle of Algiers, It is a French film but can be had with subtitles. There are so many parallels with other conflicts going on today that it is uncanny. It also shows that we haven't learned much.

[Gumpli]

You should be a observant persone. 

[GAZOU]

hello

War is always a terrible thing.
I do not understand those who celebrate war.
I do not understand the nostalgia of war (even if it is their youth)
I do not understand those who mock objects of war (although I admire the work)

France has abolished human slavery but slavery still exists money ...............