Comments by "TJ Marx" (@tjmarx) on "Energy crisis: British Gas owner Centrica triples profits to £3.3bn" video.

I'm not sure you understand what a monopoly is. You aren't tied to any particular company, you have the ability to choose whom you go with and there is enough variety in the market to allow for competition. That's not a monopoly anymore than expecting your employer to pay you for doing your job is one. Also you heard wrong. It's a £1.6 Billion pound bonus. Billion with a B. As in more money than several generations of your family will make in their lifetimes combined. Being jealous that he's successful at his job isn't a great look though and it certainly isn't an argument.
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@LWQ15881 Oh, no you've made some very wrong assumptions there. 1. I am not by far a peasant. 2. I am not at all a Tory supporter. Both major parties are much for muchness. 3. This is not a partisan issue. Both major parties are to blame for the mess the UK is in right now, but there are also legitimately external factors at play too. 4. A CEO of any company is the hardest working man in the company. Literally the entire operation, it's strategies, vision and future rest on their shoulders. That's a 24/7/365 job. The CEO of a major resources company with a diverse asset stack is exceptionally busy. 5. Bonuses are paid by boards in recognition of their leadership and success building profits. They are usually calculated as a percentage of revenue growth (normally between 0.5%-2%) and not as a fixed number. That is, the more money you make the company the bigger the bonus. A £1.6Bn bonus means he made the company a LOT of new money. 6. Public companies have a LEGAL obligation to make as much money as possible by whatever means possible, putting profits above all else. They are compelled to do so BY LAW in every OECD country because the biggest holder of shares in public traded companies are pension funds. You benefit in retirement from their profits today
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It isn't the role of private business to look out for the social good, manage people's bills, help the poor or any of the malarkey discussed in this video. That's what politicians are for, and why taxes are paid. Governments looking to put a cap on profits through "windfall taxes" are acting in desperation because they have no real solutions, but ultimately do harm to the economy by disincentivizing localised investment. Nationalisation of energy generators won't solve the problems AT ALL. The problem for the UK is it lacks energy resources of it's own in any significant quantities. That makes the UK reliant on foreign partners and international markets, the UK isn't making the rules here. Real solutions come in the form of aggressive electrification of the energy grid to all but entirely remove gas from the network. Set a no gas date, re-enforce consumer subsidies and move forward with determination. Fund councils so that council flats can ALL be upgraded within the next 24 months. It's pointless even discussing things like renewables or alternative energy sources when 80% of the grid can't benefit from the electricity they generate because it's gas reliant. That's the heart of the issue, everything else is band aid solutions and empty whinging. Remove the price cap, use that money to fund electrification.
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What a stupid virtue signal
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lol. No it isn't. So much melodrama
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@alexbatsis2785 There's nothing disastrous about capitalism. You wouldn't be watching this video, and having this conversation with me right now if it weren't for that concentration of wealth. Not just this platform, but Channel 4 itself. Everything you take for granted, all the services, products and resources you use are made possible because of those concentrations of wealth. They're not disastrous, they're the system working correctly.
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@alexbatsis2785 Funny, the only actually "empty ideological manifesto full of invalid claim" I see is coming from you. You've got not argument left so you start trying to attack my character. It's quite amusing.
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@boota1979 Oh look another guy hiding behind a pseudonym. It's the same capitalism that's responsible for your right to free speech, democracy and self determination. It's the same capitalism that gives you everything you have ever enjoyed in your life, including the internet and the device you're using to interact right now. It's the same capitalism that's given you the lifestyle to enjoy, and arguably even your life itself. It's that capitalism. Capitalism has never been "bailed out" I'm not sure how you imagine that would even work. Creditors and very occasionally nation states "bail out" individual businesses. Very occasionally, an industry in a specific country may need to be stabilised. Your country, whichever country that might be because you don't seem very British, is not all of capitalism. That's bigger than any one nation state. Capitalism isn't perfect, sure, but nothing in life is. It is the best economic system we've invented so far though.
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@boota1979 I'm not reading that wall of text, learn how to write paragraphs. Nope, just your actual name instead of a sad little pseudonym. All systems are unequal in output. You live in a fantasy world.
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@leeatkinson1582 So your comment consisted of * Jealousy and virtue signally * "Oh won't someone think of the children" * "Why don't we live in rainbow land" * Words you clearly don't understand * Dopey and baseless assumptions about my political alliances I'm sorry Lee but you don't live on gumdrop lane. People will always make more money than you and having a cry about it won't change anything. The only thing that will make you more money is outcompeting others. No, it isn't extortion. No, market driven profit isn't obscene. The point of a bonus is to reward someone for a job well done. CEOs get bonuses based on how the company performed under their stewardship. You know what is obscene? All the unions with workers on above average pay striking, putting peoples LIVES at risk, because they don't want temporary inflation to impact their lifestyle in even the slightest way. That's obscene.
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