You don't need a lot to be happy! This is true to a certain extent. But who can be happy working two jobs just to put a roof over your famlies head, food on the table and pay the bills. Many people work more hours today than they did 30 years ago and it,s not all due to wealth creation. I know a $30000 a year income in 1980 dollars used to get you a small house and supported a family quite comfortably. Today you would be lucky to get a caravan. Politicians do not believe in family life and decent working hours they believe in more hands to create more goods for less pay. It has been happening for too long and people are fed up. I would rather time at home rather than time at work....... Doesn't everyone?

I suspect that people work harder because the tax burden is higher and because land zoning ensures that cheap accomodation is minimised. In both cases I blame government regulation.

Terje, No mate I am not advocating a poll tax, only the theory of rights and responsibilities, is it so wrong that a storeman should pay 20% of his/her income in tax, while a billionaire pays $25,000 in income tax due to loopholes? I would be happy if the billionaire only paid 20% of income, as the storeman does, it comes under the heading of fairness mate, I can guess your reply, the billionaire pays a much higher rate, yes true, but the storeman can not claim any deductions, whereas the billionaire can, and does, is this your idea of fairness? I assume you are not a billionaire, but I'll bet pounds to a peanut, you defend the billionaire.

If you are talking of income tax then you should talk about people on income x, y or z. Being a billionare refers to wealth not income. If you are saying that you would prefer a wealth tax instead of income tax then come out and say so. I'd be happy if we abolished income tax and replaced it with a general land tax.

If you run a company that earns a billion dollars per year but it has expences of $900 million per year then of course you should only pay tax on the difference. Every business big or small deducts expences in this manner. At the end of the day shareholders care about profits not revenues.

Likewise if you run a company that earns a billion dollars per year but has expences of $1.2 billion per year then you should not pay any taxes in that year as you are running a loss.

I might even agree with you but we will never know until you get more specific in what you advocate.

Qoate

Travelling on the British Airways Concord made me happy. Visiting my father in England every year makes me happy. Flying around the world First Class (on multiple occasions; to America, Spain, Germany, Belgium, France, Holland, Italy, Greece, England, Serbia, Portugal, Thailand, Hong Kong, Malaysia, New Zealand) made me happy. Reading new books makes me happy. Buying a new laptop makes me happy. Buying really nice looking home and furniture makes me happy. Going out to dinner in silk pants and Prada shirt a few nights a week; makes me feel happy. I enjoy coming home, messing about on the internet and playing some music (on my $5000 PowerBook), having a fanastic dinner then retreating to the most comfortable couch anyone could ever own and watching "Lost" in High Definintion on a 1920x1200 pixel plasma panel. These things make me feel great. This life is heaven, I couldn't imagine anything better (I don't even have to, that's how good it is). I have great meals; a variety of fruit, vegetables, nuts, breads, meats, basically an abundance of food (I enjoy ALL food; there is nothing I don't eat unless it's low quality and crap like McDonalds). I have a fantastic girlfriend, my health; I swim 2km a day, great sex, great teeth, body etc. All these things cost me a heap d by images of perfection. I have zero hardship. I love being alive and I love this capitalist and globalised world I live in.

yah yah yah yah!! all good untill ya come down with cancer, or god forbid worst reality check money dont buy ur health hope you keep tapping wood there :)

Was that a straw man