Tag: greed

Time to call a halt to fat cat excesses

Dear Editor

On 15th August, Channel 4 television reported on the salaries of company chiefs. It was staggering to hear how many millions of pounds are paid every year.

In one example, an individual was paid well over £4 million. It would take an average worker 195 years to match it. This was just one case of hundreds occurring regularly.

This money or wealth was created by the labour of workers and their families. This system is being justified as being right: it cannot be so.

Two people on the programme said they supported the payments and that they should continue.

The fairness, the justification, the morality of this system of wealth distribution must be changed. The sooner the better.

A. Delahoy

Silverknowes Gardens

Letters: Tears

Dear Editor

My tears are for all children, women and man who are suffering extreme poverty and starvation

My tears are for all animals, birds and wildlife

My tears are because of all the cruelty and the destruction of trees and natural habitat

But my tears are not tears of despair, they are tears of knowing how different things could be.

We have allowed a relatively few powerful financial organisations to control and exploit – with unbelievable callousness – people, animals and the natural environment for their private profit: these same people having created the biggest financial mess ever seen worldwide and are now passing it on to everyone.

This ‘system’ must be changed. Wealth created by the work of people must be used for the benefits of all people: we would then be able to deal with all these terrible problems.

A.Delahoy

Silverknowes Gardens

Letter: Need before greed

letter (2)

Dear Editor

Particularly during and since the Thatcher times people have been encouraged to think only of themselves. It has the divisive effect – which was it’s intention – of tearing people away from their natural instinct of caring for others. The evidence that the policy of looking after number one is the wrong thing to do is all around us, those with the most wealth have the most power.

A divided people are easier to manipulate: those in work against the unemployed who have to exist on benefits, the disgusting campaign against the disabled living on benefits, pitting those who work in the private sector against those in the public sector, the disgraceful ‘bedroom tax’ action taken against tenants and the continuing privatisation of public property …

The situation is not unique to this country; exactly the same is happening in many parts of the world, demonstrating that the capitalist system under which we live cannot solve their problems. What can we do? We can make a start to change things by identifying essential needs everyone has in common, to maximise unity; these essential common needs will show that no individual or groups of individuals should have the power to restrict or withhold them in the pursuit of profit. The following is a most obvious list of common needs upon which that unity can be achieved and removing them from those who only see those needs as a source of private profit:

  • Heating and power: this basic necessity should be treated as such, not as a source of private profit
  • Water & sewerage services: As above, absolute health essential
  • Transport: Essential public service to enable easy access to and from work and social activities
  • National Health Service: To ensure treatment is a permanent public universal service paid for out of taxation.
  • Recreation and Learning facilities of all kinds: Work is not an end in itself but a means of developing an intelligent quality of living in whatever choice of interest.
  • Greenbelt and Open Spaces: Selling these off to developers to be stopped immediately and lawful public consultation on any building applications.

A. Delahoy

Silverknowes Gardens 

 

Letter: People, not commodities

Dear Editor

Despite the massive potential wealth of the UK, around two million people are unemployed, causing great hardship, depression and a loss of dignity. If people are willing to work, and the materials needed are available, what then is the problem and what can be done about it?

We live under a system of capitalism whose main concern is to make profit: if it cannot, in any industry or enterprise, the owners of wealth will not invest, switching their money to where it can, irrespective of any damage or hardship caused in doing so. This cannot be right; it only appeals to the greedy and selfish and the events of the last few years have shown just how much damage has been inflicted on people.

Investors, then, have considerable power; supported by people in powerful decision-making positions, protecting the existing set up.

If switching of investment purely for profit is the creator of unemployment, then this activity must be changed. An initial steps could be to put a limit in place on the rate of interest on an investment, coupled with a minimum term of investment to prevent money being pulled out and putting an industry and employees at risk.

This immoral position of holding the threat of unemployment over people purely for private gain is long overdue for changing – people are not commodities to be used and discarded.

A. Delahoy

Silverknowes Gardens