4 ms·

In the UK it is very much survival of the fittest except you are competing against everyone in the world. If you can't manage that competition you will inevitab

In the UK it is very much survival of the fittest except you are competing against everyone in the world. If you can't manage that competition you will inevitably be pushed out of London or any of the major cities and very quickly find yourself at the bottom of the social ladder. The UK is a free for all and naturally more people have become exploitive or desperate because of it.

graemep 8mo ago
Not living in a major city puts you at the bottom of the social ladder? Wow. A lot of people living outside major cities seem to have a better quality of live than those in them.
- hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm 8mo ago
  It is where most of the economic activity is. Many parts of the UK are poor.
  - nickdothutton 8mo ago
    One of the most interesting government charts (to me at least) is the "Net fiscal balance by geographic region" one from the ONS[1] (Figure 8). Spoiler: London and to a much lesser extent, the SE, are the only regions with positive net fiscal balance at all. A sorry state of affairs. [1]https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/governmentpublicsectorandtaxes/publicsectorfinance/articles/countryandregionalpublicsectorfinances/financialyearending2023 https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/governmentpublicsectorandtaxe... Figure 8.
    - graemep 8mo ago
      That is not really measuring things like quality of life etc. It just shows tax payments are higher (because incomes are higher, property is worth more, and lots of companies that operate nationally, or even internationally, are registered with London addresses) by more than government expenditure is higher. Someone living outside London might have a lower income but also have much lower expenses (especially rent or mortgage payments, but lots of other things).
      - nickdothutton 8mo ago
        Certainly. Indeed the trick is to wrangle London wages while based somewhere with less crime, more trees, a pollution-free waterway, and less traffic! Edited for typo.
        robtherobber 8mo ago
        The dream.
    - penteract 8mo ago
      Many people move to London when they want to make money, and move out when they want to do anything else. Pretending that London is independent of the rest of the country's children and retirees is misleading. https://trustforlondon.org.uk/data/population-age-groups/ https://trustforlondon.org.uk/data/population-age-groups/
- Havoc 8mo ago
  Not sure social ladder per GP is quite the right phrase but in UK London vs not-London definitely has a pretty sharp divide that is noticeable. Especially in terms of type of jobs
nephihaha 8mo ago
London is probably the most subsidised part of the UK although it pretends to be the opposite. It does produce vast amounts of money but also because its infrastructure etc is maintained and it is constantly promoted via the TV etc.
- robtherobber 8mo ago
  That's an interesting take, which contradicts what I know. I'd be interested in reading some specialist literature on that.
  - lotsofpulp 8mo ago
    The biggest subsidy is the supply of people, although these days much of those come from outside of the UK rather than other regions in the UK. Other places (and people in those places) bear the cost of making and raising the new people, and London (and other metros) gain the productivity from those new people. https://www.ons.gov.uk/visualisations/dvc2872/fig03/index.html https://www.ons.gov.uk/visualisations/dvc2872/fig03/index.ht...
    - robtherobber 8mo ago
      Yeah, that is expected I speculate. Or maybe it isn't, depending of how one chooses to look at things. But it's not public subsidies, as it actually runs the highest surplus, both in absolute terms and per capita: https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/may/23/uk-budget-deficit-grows-to-more-than-10bn-as-people-spend-less https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/may/23/uk-budget-d...
      - nephihaha 8mo ago
        UK taxes are gathered centrally to London and then redistributed to the so called regions. The bulk of British government infrastructure is based in and around there, as is the BBC and a big chunk of royal spending (as royals and their employees live in Buckingham Palace and Windsor Castle (just outside London) for much of the year). None of that will counted as "public subsidy" but collectively that will run into the billions. All those politicians, civil servants and BBC employees based there are spending UK public money to eat, sleep and travel within the city. If a place like Liverpool had all that instead of London, then it would be Merseyside mysteriously generating a high surplus.

graemep 8mo ago

Not living in a major city puts you at the bottom of the social ladder? Wow. A lot of people living outside major cities seem to have a better quality of live than those in them.

hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm 8mo ago
It is where most of the economic activity is. Many parts of the UK are poor.
- nickdothutton 8mo ago
  One of the most interesting government charts (to me at least) is the "Net fiscal balance by geographic region" one from the ONS[1] (Figure 8). Spoiler: London and to a much lesser extent, the SE, are the only regions with positive net fiscal balance at all. A sorry state of affairs. [1]https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/governmentpublicsectorandtaxes/publicsectorfinance/articles/countryandregionalpublicsectorfinances/financialyearending2023 https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/governmentpublicsectorandtaxe... Figure 8.
  - graemep 8mo ago
    That is not really measuring things like quality of life etc. It just shows tax payments are higher (because incomes are higher, property is worth more, and lots of companies that operate nationally, or even internationally, are registered with London addresses) by more than government expenditure is higher. Someone living outside London might have a lower income but also have much lower expenses (especially rent or mortgage payments, but lots of other things).
    - nickdothutton 8mo ago
      Certainly. Indeed the trick is to wrangle London wages while based somewhere with less crime, more trees, a pollution-free waterway, and less traffic! Edited for typo.
      - robtherobber 8mo ago
        The dream.
  - penteract 8mo ago
    Many people move to London when they want to make money, and move out when they want to do anything else. Pretending that London is independent of the rest of the country's children and retirees is misleading. https://trustforlondon.org.uk/data/population-age-groups/ https://trustforlondon.org.uk/data/population-age-groups/
Havoc 8mo ago
Not sure social ladder per GP is quite the right phrase but in UK London vs not-London definitely has a pretty sharp divide that is noticeable. Especially in terms of type of jobs

nephihaha 8mo ago

London is probably the most subsidised part of the UK although it pretends to be the opposite. It does produce vast amounts of money but also because its infrastructure etc is maintained and it is constantly promoted via the TV etc.

robtherobber 8mo ago
That's an interesting take, which contradicts what I know. I'd be interested in reading some specialist literature on that.
- lotsofpulp 8mo ago
  The biggest subsidy is the supply of people, although these days much of those come from outside of the UK rather than other regions in the UK. Other places (and people in those places) bear the cost of making and raising the new people, and London (and other metros) gain the productivity from those new people. https://www.ons.gov.uk/visualisations/dvc2872/fig03/index.html https://www.ons.gov.uk/visualisations/dvc2872/fig03/index.ht...
  - robtherobber 8mo ago
    Yeah, that is expected I speculate. Or maybe it isn't, depending of how one chooses to look at things. But it's not public subsidies, as it actually runs the highest surplus, both in absolute terms and per capita: https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/may/23/uk-budget-deficit-grows-to-more-than-10bn-as-people-spend-less https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/may/23/uk-budget-d...
    - nephihaha 8mo ago
      UK taxes are gathered centrally to London and then redistributed to the so called regions. The bulk of British government infrastructure is based in and around there, as is the BBC and a big chunk of royal spending (as royals and their employees live in Buckingham Palace and Windsor Castle (just outside London) for much of the year). None of that will counted as "public subsidy" but collectively that will run into the billions. All those politicians, civil servants and BBC employees based there are spending UK public money to eat, sleep and travel within the city. If a place like Liverpool had all that instead of London, then it would be Merseyside mysteriously generating a high surplus.