Anna B Posted May 24, 2013 Share Posted May 24, 2013 6+ years on from the start of the economic crisis we seem to be no nearer a solution, but the eventual outcome is at least becoming clearer and can no longer be ignored. Globalisation means the big corporations can now avoid tax at will. Almost at the flick of a button they can relocate thier tax liablilities to avoid payment or at least pay the very minimum. Outsourcing work to the country with the lowest paid workers and least regulation follows a similar pattern. Making maximum profit for those at the top is the name of the game no matter what the longterm cost to people and the environment. If multinationals don't fully pay their tax, governments will be starved of income, and after taxing their citizens till the pips squeak they will still have an enormous fiscal black hole devoid of funds. Consequently countries will be unable to pay for basic infrastructure etc. resulting in decline and wide spread poverty. Surely the only thing that can stop this happening is a multilateral agreement worldwide to level taxes and minimum pay at a common level so that no country has an advantage or is able to offer itself up as a tax haven. This is unlikely to happen, but how else can multinational companies be persuaded to pay their fair share of tax? It's no good appealing to their moral conscience as we've seen they don't have one, and it's impossible to legislate effectively as they will always find ways round it. This is the 1% and the 99% coming to pass. Governments are complicit and unlikely to do anything to stop it as they see themselves firmly in the 1% camp. So are we simply now in a race to the bottom? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BEDROCK Posted May 25, 2013 Share Posted May 25, 2013 Watch The Zeitgeist Film Series which shows actual solutions and your views and beliefs on the world will be completely changed... http://www.zeitgeistmovie.com/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Longcol Posted May 25, 2013 Share Posted May 25, 2013 Watch The Zeitgeist Film Series and your views and beliefs on the world will completely change... http://www.zeitgeistmovie.com/ Nah - waste of time. you'll be saying that The Matrix was a game changer next. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
megalithic Posted May 25, 2013 Share Posted May 25, 2013 Watch The Zeitgeist Film Series which shows actual solutions and your views and beliefs on the world will be completely changed... Into delusional ones. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
*_ash_* Posted May 25, 2013 Share Posted May 25, 2013 The information is there Anna. And still people buy iPhones/ use Google / buy cheap clothes in Primark type shops / use Vodaphone etc. *insert lengthy list* People have power. If people have the information (which they do) then they must not care what these companies do if they purchase from tax avoiding companies. It makes them hypocrites. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anna B Posted May 25, 2013 Author Share Posted May 25, 2013 The information is there Anna. And still people buy iPhones/ use Google / buy cheap clothes in Primark type shops / use Vodaphone etc. *insert lengthy list* People have power. If people have the information (which they do) then they must not care what these companies do if they purchase from tax avoiding companies. It makes them hypocrites. Watched first half of Zeitgeist film (boy, is it long...) Very interesting, a lot of it I already realised, but not sure I agree with it all. Poverty has been around almost since day 1, and the poor have been exploited by the rich since day 1 as well. I don't see it changing anytime soon. I do agree though that people have power if they only realised it. But the co-ordination required probably will not happen. You only have to look on SF to see how many people still believe everything they are told by the state media, and that will prevent cohesive action. They have the information via the internet but don't trust it. I'll watch the second half tonight. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Longcol Posted May 25, 2013 Share Posted May 25, 2013 I do agree though that people have power if they only realised it. But the co-ordination required probably will not happen. You only have to look on SF to see how many people still believe everything they are told by the state media, and that will prevent cohesive action. They have the information via the internet but don't trust it. I'll watch the second half tonight. By "state media" I assume you mean the BBC - would this be the same BBC who exposed the governments claims about WMD's in Iraq? http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/3090681.stm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
melthebell Posted May 25, 2013 Share Posted May 25, 2013 The information is there Anna. And still people buy iPhones/ use Google / buy cheap clothes in Primark type shops / use Vodaphone etc. *insert lengthy list* People have power. If people have the information (which they do) then they must not care what these companies do if they purchase from tax avoiding companies. It makes them hypocrites. some of us have to like amazon we dont really have much money to spend and amazon IS about the cheapest, so its a vicious circle Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rupert_Baehr Posted May 25, 2013 Share Posted May 25, 2013 6+ years on from the start of the economic crisis we seem to be no nearer a solution, but the eventual outcome is at least becoming clearer and can no longer be ignored. ... This is the 1% and the 99% coming to pass. Governments are complicit and unlikely to do anything to stop it as they see themselves firmly in the 1% camp. So are we simply now in a race to the bottom? How strange! The Guardian (hardly a foaming-at-the-mouth capitalist rag) doesn't seem to agree with you. Who is in the race with you? Is it a one-horse race? "FTSE 100 hits highest since October 2007" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Bloom Posted May 25, 2013 Share Posted May 25, 2013 6+ years on from the start of the economic crisis we seem to be no nearer a solution, but the eventual outcome is at least becoming clearer and can no longer be ignored. Globalisation means the big corporations can now avoid tax at will. Almost at the flick of a button they can relocate thier tax liablilities to avoid payment or at least pay the very minimum. Outsourcing work to the country with the lowest paid workers and least regulation follows a similar pattern. Making maximum profit for those at the top is the name of the game no matter what the longterm cost to people and the environment. If multinationals don't fully pay their tax, governments will be starved of income, and after taxing their citizens till the pips squeak they will still have an enormous fiscal black hole devoid of funds. Consequently countries will be unable to pay for basic infrastructure etc. resulting in decline and wide spread poverty. Surely the only thing that can stop this happening is a multilateral agreement worldwide to level taxes and minimum pay at a common level so that no country has an advantage or is able to offer itself up as a tax haven. This is unlikely to happen, but how else can multinational companies be persuaded to pay their fair share of tax? It's no good appealing to their moral conscience as we've seen they don't have one, and it's impossible to legislate effectively as they will always find ways round it. This is the 1% and the 99% coming to pass. Governments are complicit and unlikely to do anything to stop it as they see themselves firmly in the 1% camp. So are we simply now in a race to the bottom? Very true. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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