When one’s last update contains the word “Christmas” in the title, I think that’s a fair indicator of neglect as far as maintaining this thing is concerned. Jesus is it a drag. Like a disabled relative. Anyway, I’m not going to ship it off to some Swiss hotel room just yet, but I’m not going to babble on about anything in particular either. The fact is I have about 100 (*divide by 10 for actual number) things that are more important to do, but I’m already at the keyboard and seeing some nonsense written on the page will trick my brain into satisfaction at a task completed, just long enough for me to reward myself with some leisure time. In fact, just reading that back has justified a purchase of some new trousers. I’ve just come back from the shops by the way. And you’d never have known that I’d been away, such is the awesome power of the internet. I’m even eating a banana behind this screen and you’d never know. What to know something? I just made that up! I’m not eating anything at all.
Anyway, I suppose there is something that has been praying on my mind for a while, and that’s anti-banker sentiment. Yea yea, so they have huge bonuses, sometimes they can sound a bit wanky, and yea, they in part contributed to the financial crisis. But ask any self-assured bank-basher and they can’t give you a reason exactly why these pinstriped super-villains are so deserving of condemnation. The almost sickeningly predictable result is tax! Yay, tax fixing everything! No, wait, aren’t we usually really angry at how much we get taxed? Oh, no, wait it’s the bankers. They can afford it. Compared to me. But when I get taxed, compared to the poorest and most disadvantaged people in my country, not to mention the world, maybe I can afford it too, but that Sky subscription isn’t going to pay itself, you know? And so, our feeling of collective yet ultimately ironic indignation has culminated in a campaign for the “Robin Hood Tax”. Where *the fuck* can I start with this. You know what, I’ll just say this, because when it comes down to it, this is all people really care about. There’s a tax on all speculative transactions the banks make: derivatives, currency, etc. Prices rise as markets adjust or surcharges are made to the end consumer. Your pension will be worth less. Your holidays will cost more. Commodities will cost more. You’ll have less money in your pocket, just like if you’d been taxed yourself. Not to mention the fact that it’ll be yet more damage to the UK’s standing as a financial centre, that at it’s height contributed 1/3 of our GDP. Yay! Robin Hood, Robin Hood!
