Comments by "Steve Parker" (@steveparker8065) on "Garys Economics" channel.

As the last vestiges of humanity are sold for shares on the human stock market it's time to admit that we have the worst system of resource management and sustainability ever created. The impact on human psychology and the planet should tell us all we need to know. Led by a minuscule minority by our wallets to the grave...
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I think we as workers need to understand the power we have. Workers produce the goods, build the houses, build the roads, transport the goods, heal the sick, repair what's broken, provide the services, work out the balance sheets, fight the wars, manage, clean and protect society. We provide the dual roles in the economy of worker and taxpayer, producer and consumer, service provider and service user. We are collateral, taxpayers, cannon fodder and consumers. Why should we live in poverty while the Tories siphon our taxes and provide little use to society? We are tied to debt, mortgages, jobs, car finance agreements, bills, looking after our children etc and these things make us unwilling to take real action such as national strikes. But in reality, we allow these short-term problems to rob the next generation of even more freedoms and opportunities. Thanks for the video Gary, I think it's important to expose the big picture to as many people as possible.
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Thanks Gary. We should also ask what has happened to National Debt. In 2010 when the Tories came to power it was around £1 trillion by Tory estimates, and that was after we bailed out the banks due to a cross-party decision. It's now over £2.8 trillion almost tripled in just 12 years, despite the dramatic cuts to public services. This a huge slice of our GDP.
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Thank you Gary. Merry Christmas to everyone, May your wildest dreams come true. May the presents you receive, Be gifts of happiness for you. Happy Xmas to one and all, May your loved ones feel the wonder. May your thoughts be pure and true, And your troubles, torn asunder. May your charity heal the vulnerable, May your kindness salve the bruised. May this season be all you wished for, Hope and joy to your family and you!
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Thanks for vid Gary, excellent as always. Inherited wealth allows generations to live simply by investing. On the opposite end of the scale are people who work all their lives and pay rent and end up with nothing to pass on to their children. Which continues the cycle of poverty despite working hard.
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Regardless of how money was created and its alleged value to trading. Ultimately, money is simply a human construct that in practice allows a tiny minority to own and control the vast majority of the world's actual resources (Land, Water, Human Labour). Since the loss of the gold standard in 1931 (UK) 1933 and fully in 1971 (US) money is no longer tied to a physical resource. Coupled with Fractional Reserve Banking and FIAT currency money has become more digital to the point where the majority of money is now fractionally created and is predominantly just on computers and balance sheets. What this means for the working class going forward is that we can be cut off from the means required to live and support our families. Global debts are over $300 trillion, over 4x global GDP. Proving the system to be a farce. A Billionaire like Bezos has $214 billion which if he spent $1,000,000 a day, every single day would take over 530 years to spend (assuming he wasn't earning 5% per annum). Time to shake things up if we want to avoid a dystopian corporatocracy.
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Thanks for the info Gary. Unfortunately, the system is inherently flawed and will always be. My solution would be an ideological shift to a resource based economy, using sustainable materials with local sourcing where possible, making things to last using modular tech and the best materials rather than unreliable plastic products for profit. Managing biodiversity, protecting ecosystems and having communal tools, transport and housing for those without. Providing a healthy, happy, thriving society for all with local management from communities, towns, counties all the way up to countries.
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@ai-d2121 Essentially 90-99% of us dependant on how high up the pyramid you go. The top 1% have the majority of resources and power, possibly refine that to the top 1% of the top 1%. The higher up the pyramid we go the more power and wealth are in the hands of a tiny organic group of people with varying views and interests who look after their own self-interests through mutual cooperation and control.
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@davidbishopbishop4664 Agreed on many points. Some options include an ideological shift through education and agitation, strikes don't need to be damaging, they just have to be used effectively, enforcing criminal proceedings against corrupt MPs, marching, unity and if necessary uprising, enforcing plurality of the media. Then we tax wealth, the investor class, inherited wealth, close tax loopholes, and renationalise industries such as energy, communications, transport etc. As I said things will only get worse we have little to lose in the long run. We are heading for a dystopian corporatocracy. The longer we wait the harder it gets and the more legislation is put in place to block us.
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Thanks for the vid, Gary. Accept the lack of freedom and the never-ending bureaucracy, consume, pay bills and give consent to the dystopian corporatocracy.
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Cheers, Gary. Every crisis is an opportunity for the wealthy. During the first round of austerity, the wealthiest families in Britain doubled their assets. At the cost of 160,000 excess deaths in the NHS alone, in fact, a recent article states "Austerity may have caused an additional 335,000 deaths in Great Britain between 2012 and 2019". Every banking crisis causes bankruptcy for small businesses and increases the problems in society. This means millions of people have to sell their assets, companies, stock, buildings etc at rock-bottom prices. Giving those with disposable wealth the opportunity to buy up all those bargains on the cheap. It seems to me a crisis is only ever a crisis for those without, for those with wealth it's always an opportunity. An opportunity that costs lives.
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@pierremartini2229 I think we need to put an ad on TV, something along the line of: "Are you aware that many Tory MPs have never had the benefits of a happy family upbringing? That many Tory MPs were brought up by paid help or a Nanny? That some Tory MPs only know their parent's name because it is displayed on their Trust Fund? That their closest confidant and friend is their butler? If you can spare just 10 minutes a week please reach out to a Tory MP, send them a message or a letter and tell them that they are loved and that there is a better way. Encourage them to integrate with people, you know real people. If you would like to adopt a Tory MP you should be hypocrite tolerant and have a very high boredom threshold. They require the most exquisite diet, because of their fragile constitution and need lots of care and light exercise once a year. A reasonable-sized mansion is suggested for housing your Tory MP and a large amount of public money should be set aside for future upgrades such as duck ponds, moats; you know the usual. It's important to remember a Tory MP is not just for Christmas, they can be found dipping into the public cookie jar at all times of the year. Adopt a Tory MP today, and show them the way to a better life."
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My in-depth financial analysis of Brexit: Brexit was the equivalent of cancelling your direct debits, defaulting on your mortgage, throwing your mobile phone in the bath while it's charging, setting fire to your house, driving your car into the canal and then running off into the woods half-naked screaming "I'm the wild man of Britain, hear me roar!"
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@pierremartini2229 I write a lot of satire and parody to try and get through to people who won't normally listen to facts. It's the ideology that concerns me rather than wealth. Here's another: "I just love the way the Tories have always done their best for Britain and its citizens. Every decision they make is carefully considered to provide the best opportunities for the British people especially the poor, vulnerable and disabled. They always do their utmost to help the elderly, especially during the winter and provide safe care homes for them in which to spend their final years. They never abuse their power by selling Britain out to the highest bidder, they never give their donors and friends overpriced contracts at the taxpayer's expense. They are the most moral, dependable servants of the country and always put everyone else above their own interests. It's indeed a pleasure and a privilege to be governed by such altruistic, philanthropic humanitarians, with such integrity, compassion and honour. Long live our inspiring Etonian overlords and their wealthy corporate handlers..."
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@goych It's inherently flawed, even if you change things it will just drift back. It's inherent to have a poverty gap and the powerful continually manipulating the system for their own ends. Money is simply a construction, not a real resource - we are social animals and need a system that thrives on cooperation as opposed to competition. Inequality always leads to exploitation and a continual cycle of the 99% being subservient to the 1%. While the 1% game the system and are virtually free from consequences - to the point where we risk the future of the species...
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@extremepoker75 It's owned by individual investors, institutions and foreign governments and some tied to pension funds. The UK would be ostracised from the IFF, WEF, Central Banks and most other international financial institutions if we refused to pay. We, the public are simply collateral for that debt and the higher the debt the easier it is for the Tories to refuse to pay for public services, infrastructure and welfare, hence why they keep it high.
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Back in the 70s when I was born debt-to-GDP was around 30-40%, since Thatcherism and Neoliberalism it has risen to 90-100% (Mainly due to Privatisation and outsourcing, things like corporate welfare/subsidies/tax breaks/grants/bailouts). The high percentage of our Debt-to-GDP is commonly used as an excuse to cut public services to control the debt. Hence why the Tories keep the debt high, they keep it high by lining their own pockets with vanity projects and farming out their responsibilities to a host of private enterprises (Everything from energy, water, education, telecommunications, Healthcare, construction, advisors etc).
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@Nickle314 According to economists at the ONS Britain's hidden debt is actually around £69.6 billion and not £16 trillion as you assert. Although the telegraph does make an argument that hidden public debt in liabilities is around £4 trillion. The Welfare state has not asset-stripped people, they pay for the safety net and many use it when in between jobs, sometimes through Illnesses and accidents or when pregnant or disabled. We give away over £2 billion to corporations in subsidies every single week and lose a similar amount via the tax gap through corporate non-payment. The wealthy are the problem, not the victims of a system that uses the unemployed and disabled to keep wages down and people in poverty.
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@johnrueda3595 I'm a socialist, I think you need to learn to read and interpret language...
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@dgamerssvideoreaction7666 Socialism = Resources belong to the people, tools of production belong to the people and the people are the state. Personally, I think a resource-based economy that is sustainable and ecologically friendly is the best way forward and despite being a socialist we need a new system designed around those principles. Modular tools and technology that last a lifetime, the best materials for goods, the highest standards in our approach to production using automation and allowing people to be free to develop themselves rather than spend their lives working 40+ hours simply acquiring money.
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Agreed, The Tory/Very wealthy attitude: Let's not educate working people, the last thing we want is educated, well-fed, healthy citizens immune to gaslighting walking around challenging the aristocracy and their corporatocracy...
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@alfiecdyson Thank you, Alfie. I'm just a council estate lad who grew up, and spent the last 2 decades being sealioned by Tories. Greatly appreciate your kind words.
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@tonychorley4936 Yes, as Gary noted, the working rich pay a reasonable amount of tax but as wealth is not taxed many wealthy pay less than 1% as they don't derive their sources of income from work. Not to mention all those tax dodges available for the wealthy like inheritance tax. "But to recommend thrift to the poor is both grotesque and insulting. It is like advising a man who is starving to eat less." Oscar Wilde.
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@runner1984 I was brought up on a council estate and struggle to pay my bills. Like many on low wages in the UK, I go without regularly despite working hard and paying taxes. I see thousands of people dying every month for want of medical care, while ever more authoritarian legislation is passed. If all you have is inane comments like that, maybe you should understand the situation before commenting.
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@Vroomfondle1066 True, we are almost there.
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@ArcanePath360 Hard work creates wealth, no politics at the table, listen to your betters, keep your head down, stiff upper lip, blah blah blah. As you say indoctrination from birth.
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@puertodesuerte415 Agreed, the debt will never get paid and GDP will never grow enough to resolve it as that would leave the Tories with the problem of having to spend money on infrastructure and public services. They will carry on their failed ideology of Neoliberalism and keep debt high, even if they need to hide profits. That way they keep their control over us, we are simply collateral and cash cows, in times of war we are cannon fodder.
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@kongspeaks4778 Obviously I'm a Socialist but understand the brand won't be accepted globally. So I'm proposing a repackaging based on modern ideas including from the zietgeist movement.
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@crapmalls I was glad they left the first time, they killed our Druidic leadership on Anglesea (Ynys Môn) which left us Welsh in a precarious position. But apart from the loss of £trillions, prestige, standards, morals, human rights and trading relations. While polarising the nation, risking the Union & GFA, breaking international law and leaving a sizeable debt for our great-grandchildren and crashing the economy... What has Brexit ever done for us?
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Agreed, they were taken over by neoliberal centrists when Blair took over. Starmer is simply a Blair tribute act and they've dropped the Unions in favour of corporate lobbyist funding.
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@Vroomfondle1066 Capitalism isn't much of a step up from feudalism to be fair. It essentially allows the wealthy to keep growing their inherited wealth while promising the same opportunity for the poor. I think people like Gary are the exceptions to the rule, good luck to him for making a few quid. Respect to Gary for exposing the Tory myths. But the system is a pyramid scheme. The bottom rungs of the ladder are greased to stop the poor gaining a foothold.
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@O. M. You obviously haven't understood me or my comment. Gold is irrelevant the fact it's not tied to any physical resource is the problem. I'm not a fan of Milton Friedman or the Chicago school of economics. Digitised money: "What this means for the working class going forward is that we can be cut off from the means required to live and support our families." The more global debt rises the more of our actual resources are bought up by the wealthy (Polarisation of capital and expansion of the poverty gap) - check people like Gates and the acquisition of farming land in the US. As for getting something for free, listen to Gary it's the jobless wealthy who pay less than 1%. Corporations take £100+ billion per annum in corp welfare and subsidies off the tax payer and create a tax gap of £40-£120 billion per annum. While I appreciate economic analysis as a tool to use as counter-propaganda and for educational purposes. My view is that Money is an illusion, it's the curtain that hides the disappearing lady as she slips down through the trap door in the floor. Nothing more than a trick of the light to attract magpies who like shiny objects. A middle man to help the global criminal elitists to cheat the vulnerable and the gullible. Once you know how the magic trick is performed, further study becomes redundant to a pauper like myself.
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@Vroomfondle1066 Yea I'm not suggesting going back on the gold standard, I'd propose an ecologically friendly, sustainable resource-based economy where goods are valued based on rarity, usefulness, sustainability labour intensity etc. But that's something that requires an ideological shift in the public's thinking. So I'm not holding my breath :)
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@Vroomfondle1066 There is no currency in a resource-based economy Nat. Resources themselves have values that are interlinked by rarity, usefulness, sustainability, labour intensity, transport costs etc. The 'cost' is how long it takes to gather the resource, transport and refine said resource which are essentially energy, labour, other resources required etc. The trouble is we are all brought up with capitalist thinking, which predisposes us to think of alternatives in a capitalist light. Hence why we need an ideological shift. Sorry if my explanation is lacking. But I'm trying to be concise :)
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@TheRoz93 I read the introduction online and it sounds as if he is talking about the same things as me. We allow finance to dictate our morality, we see excess deaths in the NHS as justifiable despite how easily we could avoid them. I've bookmarked the online edition to read when I have time, thanks for the link.
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@stevenmackay3342 FIAT currency is only tied to citizens in that we are used as collateral by the government. Fractional Reserve Banking allows a bank to have as little as 10% of the assets it loans. So essentially loan out 90% more than they have. We don't have that ability and when we get a mortgage the bank creates the cash, not us. Bonds are a debt obligation, just another form of national debt with us as collateral. The difference in language and scale are all important, we as individuals can't create sovereign bonds or create money.
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@Nickle314 The GDP of the UK was £2.2 trillion in 2022 and pensions amounting to £115.78 billion were paid out of this as is clear to see if you look at UK government spending. Roughly 5% of our annual GDP. Pensions that are owed are future liabilities and will come out of future profits via our GDP and government spending. Do you work out the cost of your whole life and then compare that to a single year's income? Because that's what you're doing...
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@Nickle314 My figures are from government spending you can check with the IFS, ONS and many other fiscal resources. Hidden debt is obviously 'hidden' as its name suggests. My figures are not wrong, we have a national debt of just over £2.5 trillion, probably a little more than that. I'm well aware how figures are often fudged. Government spending is only around half of our GDP the rest predominantly goes on servicing debt. Drop the patronisation and check my figures against official balance sheets. I have not argued regarding the existence of hidden debt and the possibility that it could be as large as £4 trillion. But you are conflating future liabilities with current expenditures... PS State pensions have gone up this year but the Pension benefit spending is forecast to total £123 billion in Great Britain in 2022-23. I'm not sure where you get your exaggerated figures from but the pension forecast is from the OBR...
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@Nickle314 I'm not sure why you're being so petty and pedantic. I was brought up on a council estate and I haven't been able to afford central heating for over 2 years and often go without food. I spend a lot of time debating the right and defending working-class values that I myself uphold. While also pointing out the inherently flawed system and the fallacy of finance. Tax receipts are just one aspect of our GDP, why wouldn't I use the total income? It provides a better and more accurate perception. What does it matter? What point if any are you trying to make? You've exaggerated every figure you've given me and conflated many things. I'm not interested in debating opinion and guesswork. It's about as much use as trying to teach a whale to fly...
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@Nickle314 Your ad homs and economic and political illiteracy make it impossible for any form of intellectual debate. If that wasn't enough try your lack of logic, reason, pedantry, pettiness and penchant for misinterpreting everything I say. The Neoliberalism that has prevailed in the west in the past 4 decades is the op[opposite of socialism. You could have just told me you were a right-whinger and can't read books, handle facts or understand how debates work. I've had a wonderful, enlightening, intelligent and erudite debate. But this wasn't it! I suggest you find a hamster with a brain injury to debate as you may have less chance of being outwitted...
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@pierremartini2229 Agreed, bread and circus, divide and conquer. Binge-watch TV and carry on regardless. Having said that "Apart from Brexit, Grenfell, Economic Euthanasia, Disabled Vilification, Election Fraud, Contempt of Parliament, Windrush Scandal, WASPI, Working Poverty, Homeless Crisis, Hostile Env, Food Banks, Universal Credit, NHS Crisis, Austerity, and crashing the economy during a cost of living crisis what have the Tories ever done for us?"
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@uniteddreamer Agreed, The 70s started with Tory PM Edward Health who was elected on a platform to crush the unions. He laid the groundwork for Thatcher and with the help of security agencies, phone tapping and tabloid smears created a hostile environment for the unions and workers alike. The mythology the Tories laid in the 70s and the gullible who bought their lies are the reason Thatcher was able to bring in anti-worker/anti-union legislation and hence the reason we have zero-hour contracts, temp agency domination and working poverty.
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@miguelramalho8792 Thank you, Miguel.
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@happinesstan Agreed, most people unfortunately are too worried about the mortgage, job, bills etc to see their collective apathy will lead to a harsher world for their children. The system is made that way and the media encourages compliance.
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@thomaswright7580 Thank you kind Sir!
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@richardharvey1732 Thank you and agreed, money is a human construct used to allow a tiny minority to own and control the vast majority of the World's actual resources - water, land and human labour. Most people only see the carrot dangling in front of them and ignore the hand in their back pocket.
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@Pastaface Pointless question. We are talking about changing/replacing a global system. However, there are many places that implement the flawed system far better. Why waste your time with such inanity...
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@AtlasofInfo lol, he wrote the most famous critique of Capitalism. You should stop making a fool of yourself.
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