The Squirrel and the Grasshopper

Mar 14, 2005
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THE VERSION REST OF THE WORLD KNOWS:

The squirrel works hard in the withering heat all summer long, building

and improving his house and laying up supplies for the winter. The grasshopper thinks he's a fool, and laughs and dances and plays the summer away. Come winter, the squirrel is warm and well fed. The

shivering grasshopper has no food or shelter, so he dies - out in the

cold.

THE END

THE BRITISH VERSION:

The squirrel works hard in the withering heat all summer long, building

his house and laying up supplies for the winter. The grasshopper thinks

he's a fool, and laughs and dances and plays the summer away. Come

winter, the squirrel is warm and well fed.

A social worker finds the shivering grasshopper, calls a press

conference and demands to know why the squirrel should be allowed to be

warm and well fed while others less fortunate, like the grasshopper,

are cold and starving. The BBC shows up to provide live coverage of the

shivering grasshopper; with cuts to a video of the squirrel in his

comfortable warm home with a table laden with food.

The British press inform people that they should be ashamed that in a

country of such wealth, this poor grasshopper is allowed to suffer so

while others have plenty. The Labour Party, Greenpeace, Animal Rights

and The Grasshopper Council of GB demonstrate in front of the

squirrel's house. The BBC, interrupting a cultural festival special

from Notting Hill with breaking news, broadcasts a multi cultural choir

singing "We Shall Overcome". Ken Livingstone rants in an interview with

Trevor McDonald that the squirrel has gotten rich off the backs of

grasshoppers, and calls for an immediate tax hike on the squirrel to

make him pay his "fair share" and increases the charge for squirrels to

enter inner London .

In response to pressure from the media, the Government drafts the

Economic Equity and Grasshopper Anti Discrimination Act, retroactive to

the beginning of the summer. The squirrel's taxes are reassessed. He is

taken to court and fined for failing to hire grasshoppers as builders for the work he was doing on his home and an additional fine for contempt when he told the court he grasshopper did not want to work.

The grasshopper is provided with a council house, financial aid to

furnish it and an account with a local taxi firm to ensure he can be

socially mobile. The squirrels food is seized and re distributed to the

more needy members of society, in this case the grasshopper.

Without enough money to buy more food, to pay the fine and his newly

Imposed retroactive taxes, the squirrel has to downsize and start building a new home. The local authority takes over his old home and utilises it as a temporary home for asylum seeking cats who had hijacked a plane to get to Britain as they had to share their country of origin with mice. On arrival they tried to blow up the airport because of Britain's apparent love of dogs.

The cats had been arrested for the international offence of hijacking and attempted bombing but were immediately released because the police fed them pilchards instead of salmon whilst in custody. Initial moves to then return them to their own country were abandoned because it was feared they would face death by the mice. The cats devise and start a scam to obtain money from peoples credit cards.

A Panorama special shows the grasshopper finishing up the last of the

squirrel's food, though Spring is still months away, while the council

house he is in, crumbles around him because he hasn't bothered to

maintain the house. He is shown to be taking drugs.

Inadequate government funding is blamed for the grasshoppers drug

illness'. The cats seek recompense in the British courts for their

treatment since arrival in UK .

The grasshopper gets arrested for stabbing an old dog during a burglary

to get money for his drugs habit. He is imprisoned but released

immediately because he has been in custody for a few weeks. He is

placed in the care of the probation service to monitor and supervise

him. Within a few weeks he has killed a guinea pig in a botched

robbery. A commission of enquiry, that will eventually cost

GBP10,000,000 and state the obvious, is set up.

Additional money is put into funding a drug rehabilitation scheme for

grasshoppers and legal aid for lawyers representing asylum seekers is

increased. The asylum seeking cats are praised by the government for

enriching Britain's multicultural diversity and dogs are criticised by

the government for failing to befriend the cats. The grasshopper dies

of a drug overdose. The usual sections of the press blame it on the

obvious failure of government to address the root causes of despair

arising from social inequity and his traumatic experience of prison.

They call for the resignation of a minister.

The cats are paid a million pounds each because their rights were

infringed when the government failed to inform them there were mice in

the United Kingdom .

The squirrel, the dogs and the victims of the hijacking, the bombing,

the burglaries and robberies have to pay an additional tax on their pension funds, their extra taxes being required to pay for law and order and they are told that they will have to work beyond 65 whilst all government employees negotiate to keep their normal retirement age at 60 thus allowing those that make the decisions to retire earlier than the average whilst the rest of us work longer to pay for it.

The reason given is because of a shortfall in government funds.
 
Mar 14, 2005
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Some fairy story!!!!! They reckon the human race is the most intelligent form of animal life. Think of the squirel - he gets his food together and stores it in his winter shelter and hibanates the winter away. He then wakes up in the spring and hey presto breakfast in bed. What better life is there than that. And we are supposed to be inteligent. Incidently this is not a fairy story.
 
Jul 15, 2005
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Hi Clive,

I certainly recognise your "Rest of the World" view as America when I worked in California in the late 80's. Fantastic if you had a well paid job, health insurance and lived in a nice region, but awful if you existed on the other side of the coin.

And I'm guessing you've never lived and worked in Holland or Germany, or you wouldn't think the UK was such a benefits paradise.

Robert
 
Feb 12, 2006
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I lived and worked in Holland in the late 70's , and subesquently in Germany for 10 years. I must admit I've been back in the UK some years now but always preferred the system over there which seemed much fairer and designed to actually encourage people to work and develop their entrepreneurial skills.

Perhaps it's all changed now though. I retired last year having both worked for large multi-nationals and latterly run my own businesses in niche market computing.

If I was to give any advice now to someone starting their own business it would be 'Don't do it in UK'. Over the years we have got progressively worse and 'The Squirrel and the Grasshopper' is far too near the truth is far too near the truth to be comfortable.

Extremely amusing though, and I've C & P'd it to many firends and former colleagues.

Nick
 
Mar 14, 2005
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Hi Robert

I have worked in Belgium - but some years ago.

As for the UK being a benefit paradise - For those that genuinely need it I have no problem. And I am proud that genuine asylum seekers are welcome in my country.

If YOU had worked virtually anywhere in Africa (Kenya Uganda Botswana as just a few examples) you would understand what I mean.

As for Holland & Germany? - Presumably it must be the British climate that makes us so so so attractive to "economic migrants" rather than those in genuine need.
 
Feb 12, 2006
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Hi Robert

I have worked in Belgium - but some years ago.

As for the UK being a benefit paradise - For those that genuinely need it I have no problem. And I am proud that genuine asylum seekers are welcome in my country.

If YOU had worked virtually anywhere in Africa (Kenya Uganda Botswana as just a few examples) you would understand what I mean.

As for Holland & Germany? - Presumably it must be the British climate that makes us so so so attractive to "economic migrants" rather than those in genuine need.
I have no problem with helping the "genuinely deserving" as long as those genuinely deserving British Citizens are not discriminated against in favour of an immigrant who have never contributed in any shape manner or form to our economy or well-being.

I am well aware that this attitude may not be considered PC , but is a view shared by an increasing number of my generation i.e retired, non politically active, thinking citizens.

And yes I have spent many years abroad, including third world and developing countries so am more than aware that of the extreme suffering in some of these countries.

Nick
 
Jul 15, 2005
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Clive,

The point about Holland and Germany was their higher rates of personal taxation (50% in Holland, 19.5% VAT for example), their much higher level of immigrants, refugees and asylum seekers, and their benefits systems.

The UK isn't perfect, but I'm proud that it doesn't throw needy people to the wolves, nor is it overly supportive of those that won't contribute.

Robert
 
Mar 14, 2005
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Robert - On the subject of Taxation I am well aware that Germany has the most complicated tax regime in Europe - probably the world!

There are 118 laws, 185 forms, 418 exceptions and 96,000 regulations (only one comment to taxation covers 2,671 pages). There are nearly 100,000 instructions for the administration only referring to taxation (more than 28,000 pages). The administration spends _3.7 billion just to collect income tax. The complexity of the German tax system is a result of constant modifications prompted by political and corporate pressure groups, as well as a very German tendency that wishes to regulate everything en detail instead of via broad general rules.

BUT - as far as I am aware the highest rate of personal tax in Germany in 2005 was just 42%

The rates are:-

Tax Free Allowance of _7,664.00

Linear progressive zone from 15% to 24% on taxable income from _7,665.00 up to _12,739.00

Linear progressive zone from 24% to 42% on taxable income from _12,740.00 up to _52,151.00

42% of all taxable income after _52,152.00

As for the Netherlands the same database we use here states that Income tax is imposed on a progressive basis on taxable income. After allowances, rates in 2005 vary from 16% to 39% at a level of NAF109,000. This includes the effect of reductions in rates; minor further reductions will come into effect in 2006.

Income from 'substantial business interests' (meaning from a company in which an individual has a minimum 5% shareholding) is taxed at a fixed rate of 32.5%.

As such it is different but not that much diferent to what we have in the UK.

Hardly the 50% you quote.
 
Jul 15, 2005
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Hi Clive,

Nope, 50% is what I pay on income declared in the Netherlands and it's what my Dutch co-directors pay as well.

Robert
 
Feb 12, 2006
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I think that 50% figure sounds wrong as well; BUT the mnajor difference is with the indirect taxation or to use the paper's buzz words 'stealth taxes', we have in the UK had more taxes imposed under the present government than at any time since the war.

Together, with the pitiful increases pensioners and various public sector workers have received our standar of living has dropped significantly compared with the rest of Europe.

Like it or not those are facts that we have to live with if we decide to stay in the UK. It's one of the reasons, we are seriously considering selling up and moving abroad permanently now we have retired.

Nick
 
Mar 14, 2005
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Agreed Nicholas - What a lot of people forget is that we also pay a second tax in the form of NIC (National Insurance Contributions) which hist bother the employee and the Employer. So the overall tax hit for high income earners in the UK is actualy well over 50%.

Other EU countries have specific taxes like "pension tax" and in Germany there is even a voluntary "Church Tax". They also have a "reunification tax" designed to fund the re-intergration of the old East Germany.

But please do not think I admire the German tax system in any way as I do not - It is a mess!

In the UK - just as you say - there is the third tier of taxation in the form of the Local Government Taxes - the ones the pensioners on fixed incomes are expected to pay progressively more and more until they have no money and no income left at all!

Let's not forget VAT at 17.5%

Plus 80% Fuel Tax

40% IHT on anything above
 

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