The UK is a rich country built on mass poverty - Grace Blakely
https://open.substack.com/pub/graceblakeley/p/the-uk-is-a-rich-country-built-on?
The UK is a rich country built on mass poverty - Grace Blakely
https://open.substack.com/pub/graceblakeley/p/the-uk-is-a-rich-country-built-on?
" #Labour's whitepaper outlines a qualitative restructuring of the repressive apparatus of the capitalist state, aimed at centralising command, expanding #surveillance, and enhancing the capacity to suppress social and political opposition. Far from a technocratic reform, it constitutes a strategic preparation for intensified state repression against an emerging movement of the working class."
"The timing and content of these reforms can only be understood in the context of the global crisis of #capitalism, marked by economic decline, deepening social #inequality, escalating imperialist conflict, and a resurgence of working-class struggle internationally. The ruling class confronts growing hostility, to worsening social conditions, Britain’s support for #Israel’s genocide in #Gaza and the costs of militarisation."
Is academia a family business?
John Dorsch concludes that:
• Over 50% of tenure-track faculty have at least one parent with a graduate degree (master's or PhD).
• About 22% have a parent with a PhD.
• Faculty are up to 25× more likely than the general population to have a PhD-holding parent,
• At elite institutions, that figure rises to roughly 50 times higher.
While this is based on US survey data my guess is the rough magnitudes would hold for the UK too
Introducing the Newsmast Poverty & Inequality Channel. Hand-curated content from all over the Fediverse. A mix of hashtags, follows, filters and mutes to bring you up to date, engaging posts. Published by @newsmast as part of our mission to make knowledge accessible across social media.
Just follow, create a list, add the feed and exclude from your home timeline - see the bio for more tips.
Please boost and help share knowledge in the Fediverse.
Is academia a family business?
John Dorsch concludes that:
• Over 50% of tenure-track faculty have at least one parent with a graduate degree (master's or PhD).
• About 22% have a parent with a PhD.
• Faculty are up to 25× more likely than the general population to have a PhD-holding parent,
• At elite institutions, that figure rises to roughly 50 times higher.
While this is based on US survey data my guess is the rough magnitudes would hold for the UK too
The push into online services across state depts. may decrease costs, and may even expand scope in some instances, but for those who either have difficulty with on-line interactions or have rubbish broadband connections (or none at all), the services are becoming harder to access, despite them being the key group that needs them.
A presumption that an online solution expanded accessibility is naive & misunderstands many people's position & needs.
#politics #inequality
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c33827k6elxo
The push into online services across state depts. may decrease costs, and may even expand scope in some instances, but for those who either have difficulty with on-line interactions or have rubbish broadband connections (or none at all), the services are becoming harder to access, despite them being the key group that needs them.
A presumption that an online solution expanded accessibility is naive & misunderstands many people's position & needs.
#politics #inequality
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c33827k6elxo
"If we do not change the government, poverty and the environmental desecration will be entrenched as a normal part of life in Aotearoa...”
WELL SAID ... and obviously not by Luxon!
https://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA2601/S00091/luxon-announces-his-retirement-date.htm
#nz #nzpol #FarRight #aotearoa #inequality #environment #climatechange
"If we do not change the government, poverty and the environmental desecration will be entrenched as a normal part of life in Aotearoa...”
WELL SAID ... and obviously not by Luxon!
https://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA2601/S00091/luxon-announces-his-retirement-date.htm
#nz #nzpol #FarRight #aotearoa #inequality #environment #climatechange
In France, the new special income tax on high earners has failed to raise as much as projected... but this is partly due to lobbying from the wealthy to ensure the tax was not retrospective & delayed, meaning income could be taken in the window before its imposition.
However, it's still expected to raise less than initially projected in 2026 too, although that will come down to 'tax planning'.
What lessons this might indicate for the UK lie in politics not economics!
#tax #inequality
h/t FT
In France, the new special income tax on high earners has failed to raise as much as projected... but this is partly due to lobbying from the wealthy to ensure the tax was not retrospective & delayed, meaning income could be taken in the window before its imposition.
However, it's still expected to raise less than initially projected in 2026 too, although that will come down to 'tax planning'.
What lessons this might indicate for the UK lie in politics not economics!
#tax #inequality
h/t FT
#Oxfam regularly publishes #inequality reports highlighting how global wealth is increasingly concentrated in the hands of a small group of billionaires and how oligarchy is re-emerging. These are important and useful reports. What I find hard to reconcile, however, are the hefty salaries and perks Oxfam pays its own staff and executive directors worldwide. Some of them are based in the Global South, yet their incomes place them squarely within the global south's 1%.
And this often touches a raw nerve. The usual refrain is that their CEOs and Executive Directors earn far less than corporate CEOs. Of course they do. But why compare yourselves with the top 1 per cent? Why should the Executive Director of a non-profit earn several hundred times more than a daily-wage worker in that same country? What moral standing do you have to speak about #inequality at all?
#Oxfam regularly publishes #inequality reports highlighting how global wealth is increasingly concentrated in the hands of a small group of billionaires and how oligarchy is re-emerging. These are important and useful reports. What I find hard to reconcile, however, are the hefty salaries and perks Oxfam pays its own staff and executive directors worldwide. Some of them are based in the Global South, yet their incomes place them squarely within the global south's 1%.
And this often touches a raw nerve. The usual refrain is that their CEOs and Executive Directors earn far less than corporate CEOs. Of course they do. But why compare yourselves with the top 1 per cent? Why should the Executive Director of a non-profit earn several hundred times more than a daily-wage worker in that same country? What moral standing do you have to speak about #inequality at all?
#Oxfam regularly publishes #inequality reports highlighting how global wealth is increasingly concentrated in the hands of a small group of billionaires and how oligarchy is re-emerging. These are important and useful reports. What I find hard to reconcile, however, are the hefty salaries and perks Oxfam pays its own staff and executive directors worldwide. Some of them are based in the Global South, yet their incomes place them squarely within the global south's 1%.
Among many pieces of evidence about inequity cited in the latest report from Oxfam on extreme wealth & inequality is this:
Billionaires are 4,000 times more likely be holding a political office than 'ordinary' people...
yup, we are living in a system ruled by and working for the 3,000 billionaires in the world!
#inequality #politics #poverty
for more see:
Among many pieces of evidence about inequity cited in the latest report from Oxfam on extreme wealth & inequality is this:
Billionaires are 4,000 times more likely be holding a political office than 'ordinary' people...
yup, we are living in a system ruled by and working for the 3,000 billionaires in the world!
#inequality #politics #poverty
for more see:
New report out from Oxfam arguing that efforts to increase inequality and corruption in recent years are wildly successful but have terrible consequences for all people. To reverse course, we will have to try. https://oi-files-d8-prod.s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/2026-01/EN%20-%20Resisting%20the%20Rule%20of%20the%20Rich.pdf #Oxfam #inequality #corruption #hunger
