Gérard Depardieu - Tax dodger

[Captain...]

This is not about left wing right wing politics, but by every debate descending into left vs right political point scoring we conveniently forget what it is we are debating.

With regard to Gerard I don't blame him, you see the government taking lots of your money and wasting it and using it to fund projects you don't support and see society falling apart around you and think why the fvck am I working hard to fund these clowns. Then you see other people in other countries paying a fraction of what you are paying and living in a better society of course you will want to move.

While we continue this divide and conquer mentality we will never get anything done. We need a global approach to taxation and a fair one, we need people to see the benefits of paying their taxes and not feel excluded and exploited at one end or the other, whilst I am a socialist and I do believe in taxing the rich to help the poor I that is only a temporary solution, what I actually believe is that we should all work together to eliminate poor from our society and globally, despite dwindling resources I still believe there is enough food to comfortably feed everyone and enough shelter to house everyone and at times I just don't understand why we can't all put our differences aside and work out how to do it.

[leicsmac]

This is not about left wing right wing politics, but by every debate descending into left vs right political point scoring we conveniently forget what it is we are debating.

With regard to Gerard I don't blame him, you see the government taking lots of your money and wasting it and using it to fund projects you don't support and see society falling apart around you and think why the fvck am I working hard to fund these clowns. Then you see other people in other countries paying a fraction of what you are paying and living in a better society of course you will want to move.

While we continue this divide and conquer mentality we will never get anything done. We need a global approach to taxation and a fair one, we need people to see the benefits of paying their taxes and not feel excluded and exploited at one end or the other, whilst I am a socialist and I do believe in taxing the rich to help the poor I that is only a temporary solution, what I actually believe is that we should all work together to eliminate poor from our society and globally, despite dwindling resources I still believe there is enough food to comfortably feed everyone and enough shelter to house everyone and at times I just don't understand why we can't all put our differences aside and work out how to do it.

So much this.

[The People's Hero]

Well, personally I believe in a meritocracy which is to say that I believe that those who are prepared to work hard, to study and to contribute to society, deserve a better lifestyle than those who can't be bothered.

[leicsmac]

Well, personally I believe in a meritocracy which is to say that I believe that those who are prepared to work hard, to study and to contribute to society, deserve a better lifestyle than those who can't be bothered.

Absolutely, but different people's definition of those three things vary wildly. Particularly the last one.

Which shows in the different pay brackets different "worthwhile" jobs can command.

[Captain...]

Well, personally I believe in a meritocracy which is to say that I believe that those who are prepared to work hard, to study and to contribute to society, deserve a better lifestyle than those who can't be bothered.

But who decides on what is merit worthy, why should a footballer earn more in a week than a cleaner, working full time doing a great job, in a lifetime.

Or a film star, or a banker, what makes one person's time more valuable than another, meritocracy is fine, but our valuations are completely out of line at the moment and any working for the good of society is immediately at a loss because societal benefits have no tangible profits.

[Webbo]

But who decides on what is merit worthy, why should a footballer earn more in a week than a cleaner, working full time doing a great job, in a lifetime.

Or a film star, or a banker, what makes one person's time more valuable than another, meritocracy is fine, but our valuations are completely out of line at the moment and any working for the good of society is immediately at a loss because societal benefits have no tangible profits.

Because the footballer could easily do the cleaners job but the cleaner couldn't do the footballer's job. A film star only earns big money if his presence can sell tickets.

[Zingari]

Well, personally I believe in a meritocracy which is to say that I believe that those who are prepared to work hard, to study and to contribute to society, deserve a better lifestyle than those who can't be bothered.

I’m quite sure you do at the moment , but if you find yourself out of work for a couple of months you’ll be squealing like a stuck pig for the government to look after you until you can find a job to maintain the standard you think you deserve , and you will hold on to the belief that you are worthy to maintain that standard .

We all change out viewpoint of how life should be when our circumstances change

[I am Rod Hull]

He`s not the first celebrity to move abroad to avoid higher taxes is he.

75% on 1 million euros does sound a bit like daylight robbery, don`t blame him for moving.

[Captain...]

Because the footballer could easily do the cleaners job but the cleaner couldn't do the footballer's job. A film star only earns big money if his presence can sell tickets.

Do you really think Balotelli would be a good cleaner?

And regardless of how well someone plays football do you really think they deserve to earn that amount? And don't say they earn that amount because that is what they are worth, if true why is almost every top flight football club in massive amounts of debt, and haemorrhaging money?

[Webbo]

Do you really think Balotelli would be a good cleaner?

And regardless of how well someone plays football do you really think they deserve to earn that amount? And don't say they earn that amount because that is what they are worth, if true why is almost every top flight football club in massive amounts of debt, and haemorrhaging money?

Balotelli could scrub a toilet if he had to, I doubt any cleaner could dribble around 3 defenders and score from outside the box, at least not on a regular basis.What they earn is none of my business, the money is not coming out of my pocket.

[Guest]

More than enough to make my point entirely valid.

Well your point was factually wrong.

And just think how much he was paid (I can't say earned) to have had to pay that much tax. Even footballers will get jealous.

[Captain...]

Balotelli could scrub a toilet if he had to, I doubt any cleaner could dribble around 3 defenders and score from outside the box, at least not on a regular basis.What they earn is none of my business, the money is not coming out of my pocket.

Well it is when you are partly paying for it with going to matches and subscribing to sky sports and everything else the average football fan gets ripped off for.

And when was the last time you saw Balotelli do that? Any other profession and he would have been fired years ago, obviously he is the exception, but no other profession would reward inconsistency and poor performance as handsomely as football.

[Webbo]

Well it is when you are partly paying for it with going to matches and subscribing to sky sports and everything else the average football fan gets ripped off for.

I don't have Sky and football tickets, unlike taxes, are not compulsory.

[leicsmac]

But who decides on what is merit worthy, why should a footballer earn more in a week than a cleaner, working full time doing a great job, in a lifetime.

Or a film star, or a banker, what makes one person's time more valuable than another, meritocracy is fine, but our valuations are completely out of line at the moment and any working for the good of society is immediately at a loss because societal benefits have no tangible profits.

This point deserves emphasising.

Doctors, teachers, some researchers etc work in non-profit industries and so by association get paid less than those working in business or entertainment, whilst at the same time contributing to the future of humanity and society far, far more than most who work in other areas.

Intangible benefits like this don't get valued in the way that they deserve. Not everything has to produce profit or wealth immediately to be of benefit to humanity.

[Zingari]

i'm glad Webbo has come out of self imposed exile regarding political threads .

i'd like to think i played a small part in teasing him out

[Webbo]

This point deserves emphasising.

Doctors, teachers, some researchers etc work in non-profit industries and so by association get paid less than those working in business or entertainment, whilst at the same time contributing to the future of humanity and society far, far more than most who work in other areas.

Intangible benefits don't get valued in the way that they deserve. Not everything has to produce profit or wealth immediately to be of benefit to humanity.

But why does a teacher or researcher deserve more money than a cleaner?They are all doing important jobs.

[Webbo]

i'm glad Webbo has come out of self imposed exile regarding political threads .

i'd like to think i played a small part in teasing him out

I don't think there's many on here who'll thank you for that.

[Rincewind]

This thread has become too silly for any further contribution from me. Noone is taking it serious.

[Rincewind]

But why does a teacher or researcher deserve more money than a cleaner?They are all doing important jobs.

Maybe the thought process is that cleaning is mainly done by second class citizens and women and they do not count as worthwhile.

[The People's Hero]

This thread has become too silly for any further contribution from me. Noone is taking it serious.

But 3 minutes later...!

[Zingari]

I don't think there's many on here who'll thank you for that.

Come off it , we all love you when you're on you're best fighting form

Capt, Shrapnel to tough for you eh ?

[Rincewind]

I forgot.

[leicsmac]

But why does a teacher or researcher deserve more money than a cleaner?They are all doing important jobs.

For precisely the same reason you said a footballer should be paid more than a cleaner. I am agreed that someone with a job that requires a fairly unique skill should be paid more than someone that doesn't.

My point is that some jobs that require a fairly unique skill set and good level of training and result in intangible benefits (doctors, teachers etc) are paid much, much less across the board than ones with unique skill sets where there are immediate material benefits (bankers, entertainment etc), while doing jobs that benefit society/humanity much more.

[Webbo]

For precisely the same reason you said a footballer should be paid more than a cleaner. I am agreed that someone with a job that requires a fairly unique skill should be paid more than someone that doesn't.

My point is that some jobs that require a fairly unique skill set and good level of training and result in intangible benefits (doctors, teachers etc) are paid much, much less across the board than ones where there are immediate material benefits (bankers, entertainment etc), while doing jobs that benefit society/humanity much more.

As you probably guessed I was making a point.

Just because I don't have a problem with footballers and film stars earning big money it doesn't follow that I think teachers and doctors should be poorly paid. They've put in the hard yards, they deserve whatever they can get.

[Captain...]

But why does a teacher or researcher deserve more money than a cleaner?They are all doing important jobs.

If you're referring to my comment I didn't say that we should all earn the same, I said that it is well and good saying you support a meritocratic society, but that is not what we live in, as our values are judged not on what people do, or even how well they do it, but on how much money they make the person paying them, and whilst you may think that is a fair way of valuing people's worth we see time and time again people being paid a lot and doing awful jobs, bankers, politicians, footballers, traders etc.

And with the exception of footballers all of those I mentioned have directly contributed to the economic crisis we have found ourselves in through excessive greed.