The Budget

I'm a bit of a masochist when it comes to The Budget. I know watching it will do little good for me but I am fascinated about such things and so will probably be viewing it at work. My boss certainly knows this is what I will be doing and seems to understand. For some reason I need to watch it live rather than catch up on it at a later time. As I say, fascinated.

I guess there will be the usual rises of tax on alcohol and travel but the raise of income tax threshold could benefit me. Aside from that, this year seems to be about public sector pay, taxing (or not) the rich or changes to benefits, all categories I don't fall into although I know people who will be affected by this. And no doubt I will unlikely be a net beneficiary overall this year, the devil is often in the detail.

I hope The Budget is good for you or at least neutral which I imagine is all you can hope for in this age of austerity. Not much is going to change for a while but there could be a few nasty surprises from that nice man Mister Osborne. I guess all will be revealed at lunchtime. Masochistically, I'm looking forward to it.

ADDENDUM: I can't really complain with that. Raising of income tax thresholds, dropping of corporation tax and investment in northern infrastructure, both Internet and railways, are all good moves. Freezing alcohol duty will also benefit me while the laws on gambling were not a surprise (and indeed are necessary). The planned 3.1p rise in fuel duty is still to go ahead in August though, although a lot can happen in the next four months.

Posted via LiveJournal app for iPhone.

Manholes For Manners

Reading Jocasta's travelogue of Japan, and particularly how polite everyone was, I started to wonder about manners in this country. Nowadays, most people in the UK seem to be very rude and uptight, and this lack of common courtesy is having a knock-on effect on my own behaviour. It is making this country a thoroughly miserable place to be.

I was always raised to be courteous and polite so I don't use my phone on the bus nor do I listen to loud music for fear of pissing someone else off. I don't talk loudly, eat smelly food or swear around strangers either, nor do I share my munty breath around. Seriously, the secondary smell of chewing gum and halitosis is worse than smoking. All these are bus things and this may be tainting my view - relaxing on public transport is pretty much impossible for me.

However, out and about I hold doors open for people yet the number of thank yous I receive has diminished in recent times. In the high street there is a heads down bulldozer attitude which literally bowls me away.

We seem to live in a society that celebrates individualism over community. The recent cuts have demonstrated this attitude perfectly - don't scale back MY stuff, THEIR stuff is what should face the axe. The politics of selfishness is ruling and this attitude has pervaded into culture. This has been catalysed by advertising, who use stereotypes designed to make us feel insecure by portraying aspirations which we could never possibly live up to.

Coupled with the difficult economic situation and heightened stress over the need to make a living, I guess this rise of rudeness is understandable. It doesn't make it right though but it's difficult to see how we can go back. I'm sure the vast majority of people are nice once you get to know them but there is an open hostility to strangers right now which I'm not sure was there before.

Posted via LiveJournal app for iPhone.