Tax The Rich in Death

The New Way the Right have developed to distract our attention from the way they are looting our country is to start a war between generations - the old have erything, the young have nothing.

1.       Firstly, ask yourself if this analysis of ownership by age is even true; how many blind trusts are fronted by elderly family retainers (lawyers and accountants) although the true beneficiaries are the weak chinned scions of Remuera.

2.       The problem, really, was the abandonment of the whole vision upon which my parents and grandparents founded my country.  Egalitarianism – and even to say that word out loud, especially to the young, is like asking your favourite Aunt to show her tits at the Christmas party.

3.       The way we expressed that laudable aim was to decide that we all can have a Morris Minor so long as no one had a Rolls Royce.  A concept loathed by the young who feel they “deserve” the Rolls Royce.  And so we all had fee education, free health care and cheap and safe housing.  We “afforded” this for decades – why is it that we can’t now and the very idea is laughable?

4.       Because the way we achieved our egalitarianism was to ensure that wealth was not concentrated in fewer and fewer hands over successive generations – the “English Disease’. We taxed estates – death duties.  We taxed gifts from one generation to the next.  We taxed those who had more than they could reasonably need.  We punished those who tried to take our money out of our country.  We all worked to give everyone’s children (before Thatcher we were permitted to think of them as “our children”, children of our society) and we happily (yes, you poor benighted youth – happily!) paid tax to see our nation grow together.

5.       By the way, why the talk of “the young”?  Obviously the young caused all this – Roger Douglas was young in 1980.  Now the young must solve the problems that the young before them caused – but they can only do that with a proper analysis – a class analysis.

6.       Remember one thing; those of us over 55 would cheerfully give all our money to the State if we were assured that our mokopuna would get free education, health and housing.  Unfortunately the Right have got everyone frightened; and very suspicious of whole sectors of society who used to be heroes and heroines – teachers were trusted and we did not ever resent paying them – now they are all kiddie fiddlers backed by a corrupt union.  Nurses, doctors, - all the elements of a civil society we trusted to be working for the greater good, we are hypnotised into seeing as wreckers and enemies.  Instead we trust decayed journalists and bankers!