Hilarious!: ‘Too rich’ Brits lack desire, says Heseltine

[ttosca]

By EMMA CLARK
Published on Monday 25 March 2013 07:20

BRITAIN lacks a ?national will? to improve its economy because people are too rich, former deputy prime minister Lord Heseltine has suggested.

The Conservative grandee questioned whether people who live comfortably in advanced economies are motivated to strive for better.

However in economies like China and India, which are growing at a much faster rate than Britain, people are driven to overcome ?real problems?.

In an interview with the Independent, Lord Heseltine warned that the economy could keep drifting down.

He told the newspaper: ?There is no God-given rule saying you?ve got to have a well-performing economy. It could be an indifferent economy.

?It?s a question of whether the national will is there; whether we want it. And the richer you get the less imperative there is.

?Maybe one of the problems of advanced economies is that people are sufficiently well off that they don?t need to drive themselves any more.?

He later added that it in the nature of most people to ?desire to do something and to do it better?.

He also questioned official GDP statistics and instead pointed to rising employment and house prices as indicators that the economy was recovering.

Lord Heseltine is a senior adviser to the coalition Government on growth, focussing especially on the regeneration of cities.

www.scotsman.com/news/uk/too-rich-brits-lack-desire-says-heseltine-1-2855791

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You got that? Brits are 'too rich' -- that would explain the huge rise in homelessness and use of foodbanks in the past few years.

So presumably he'd supporting huge confiscatory taxes on wealth so that all the richest people become more so that they can work harder for the sake of the economy?

Or is it just more of the same: the rich need to be paid well to be motivated to work but the poor need to be paid poorly in order to be motivated to work?

Un. Fucking. Believable.

[ouryve]

YABCT

(Yet Another Bloody Clueless Tory)

[FasterStronger]

Desperation is the mother of invention.

[duchesse]

Talking out of his arse like the rest of the Tory front bench. It's the I'm all right Jack school of politics.

[Itsjustafleshwound]

I think you are misinterpreting the whole 'rich' definition.

[FasterStronger]

He is talking about average people in the UK being rich relative to average people in China and India. I think he is correct.

[duchesse]

These would be the average Chinese people who are utterly exploited and have to sell their entire soul to their employer, would they? Or the average Indian people struggling to make a living in a country with too little money in the hands of the majority, and an elite so rich they are world-class and don't need to even operate within their own markets?

[FasterStronger]

yes (but I disagree with your description of India)

[MiniTheMinx]

Perhaps he has dementia poor love.

[Wewereherefirst]

The same people he encouraged to aim at this 'richness' then. Hypocrite.

[PanpiperAtTheGatesOfYawn]

He's a multimillionaire with one of the most beautiful houses in Northamptonshire. So I guess he knows what he's talking about

[MiniTheMinx]

Yes he must find working such a bore. Maybe that is why he spouts such crap.

[FasterStronger]

but he has made his money himself hasn't he?

so he probably knows something about how to make money.

which we as a country need to pay for education, health care, pensions for an aging population....

[MiniTheMinx]

perhaps he would like to hand over some of his then to pay for it

[FasterStronger]

well I hope if he aggressively avoids tax he gets his arse hauled over the coals.

[Salbertina]

Relative to most people in the world, I agree with him.

[CogitoErgoSometimes]

I think he makes a good point. You don't have to be rich to take things for granted and squander opportunities. If you look at the life trajectory of the average inspirational leader, captain of industry or entrepreneur it's quite normal to find some early difficulties (economic, social, emotional) that motivated the person to get on. Look at the way the children of immigrant families consistently perform well at school.... because their parents understand the benefits of education, value the opportunities and make sure their children make the most of it.

[Hamishbear]

Yes, that's it exactly Cogito. Other cultures/countries place a higher value on education and are hungrier. Our children will be competing with theirs in the global marketplace of the future...

[ttosca]

Iain Duncan Smith heckled at speech

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-21953896

Well put.

[ttosca]

No, he doesn't make a good point at all. Not surprised that you agree with him, Cogito, seeing the reactionary views you've put forth on this forum before.

The people of rich developed countries have no problem leading in innovation and excelling at education and businesses. That's partially why they are rich and prosperous to begin with. Germany, Denmark, Italy, France, etc. are some of the richest countries in the world, and also the most innovative.

This crap from Haseltine is just more hate speech that we've come to expect from the Tory party with its hatred for the poor and struggling middle-classes.

[claig]

It depends who Heseltine means by 'too rich'.

It is the rich comfortable elite that is 'too rich' and is stifling economic growth. The type of people who ride bicycles, hug trees and stifle our growth by imposing 'green' taxes on our industries and who shut down our coal-powered power stations and increase our fuel and energy costs with their 'green' taxes and their 'carbon cons'. They are not like the elites of India and China who ride a Mercedes to work rather than a bicycle with a helmet.

We are led by wallies who are comfortable and rich and who prevent the progress of the population.

The people aren't too rich. People are cutting back on their food to pay their bills, mong them the energy and water bills which are increasing under the policies of the 'too rich' elite and their green gamble. People are using food banks and payday loan stores are on many high streets. The people aren't 'too rich'.

The people are hardworking, ambitious and aspiring, buyt they are hgeld back by the wallies on bicycles with their green slogans.

It was Thatcher that won elections by appealing to the hardworrking aspiring working and middle classes who wanted growth and rewards and progress. They saw in her a chance to succeed. But Thatcher is gone and has been replaced by the low-growth, no-growth, zero-growth, comfortable, 'too rich' windmill wallies on bikes and that is why the country is being overtaken by much of the rest of the world. They have fewer wallies and fewer windmills.

[claig]

Our comfortable policy wink 'too rich' elites work in charities and foundations and 'think tanks'. They have never worked in industry. They don't understand engineering. That is why exporting, manufacturing countries like Germany can run rings around our windmill wallies and why we have such large deficits.

[claig]

They work in the 'third sector' and their spin doctors spin about the 'thord way' and that is why we are declining and slowly becoming 'third rate' compared to dynamic socities. That is why we are going downhill faster than a polar bear on a toboggan on an ice capwith a windmill on top.

[ATouchOfStuffing]

I think he may find the main difference is they have more jobs...

[claig]

It is not because the people are 'too rich' that we give billions to bail out bankers or witness an NHS where scandals are so frequent. It is due to the people in charge on their huge salaries and expenses and perks.

We have been let down by their policies, by their spin and by their gagging clauses. It's not the people's fault, it is the fault of the 'too rich' elite.

[claig]

They talk about progress and say they are progressive but then they pedal their bikes uphill on a snowy day oblivious of the fact that that is why humanity invented the automobile. They are jokers and jesters but the tragedy is all too real.