We must be fair to everyone - even the rich?

Good comments, to begin with, on this article from the Times in London, England - 'We must be fair to everyone – even the rich.'

Here are my comments. check out the times site for more:

by Sue McPherson 10:41 am EDT (15:41 BST)
There are so many excellent comments on this article! As far as 'intent' is concerned, re the comments by Miriam Nielson and Harry5, I have noticed that also, that there is some resistance from employers to hire unemployed people. I have also noticed some people getting jobs in the community which appear to require little or no education, yet would probably pay a reasonable wage for the work done. Many of those jobs don't seem to be available to just anyone. So besides some employers not being able to see past their own petty biases against the unemployed I think there is some intentional selection process going on by which those who are well-integrated into the community already manage to benefit further, while newcomers may be excluded.

by Sue McPherson 11:13 pm EDT (16:13 BST)
Tim Brown wrote May 14, 2010 2:41 PM BST : "we do need to be fair to the rich because if the rich go elsewhere and pay their taxes to a different country, everyone in this country loses."

Tim, I believe the point being made was the rich have the power to influence people and govts. They don't have to rely on ordinary citizens to get a fair deal. On the other hand, for most ordinary people, most can't just call up their mp or well-connected friends to ensure they get treated fairly. Thus Andy ODonnell wrote: "No need to be fair to the rich. They have the means to take care of themslves. . . . the poor need us to be fair to them. "

I have reprinted one comment in its entirety, with my comment on it first:

Alan Lynott wrote on May 14, 2010 5:33 PM BST:

"Let us suppose that every day, ten men go out for beer and the bill for all ten comes to £100. If they paid their bill the way we pay our taxes, it would go something like this:
snip
snip
'Wait a minute,' yelled the first four men in unison.'We didn't get anything at all. The system exploits the poor!'The nine men surrounded the tenth [the richest] man and beat him up."

My response: It's more often the other way around - not the poor attacking the rich, but the rich who find ways of keeping all others down, in all the ways they are able simply by having access to resources. This anecdote, by Alan Lynott, not only turns that around by having the poor attacking the rich, but implies that they are stupid, not realizing that they were getting their beer for free, apparently. And they should be grateful, right, and try to remember that the rich work harder than anybody else and they really do deserve what they have?

Comment by Alan Lynott, May 14, 2010 5:33 PM BST :
Let us suppose that every day, ten men go out for beer and the bill for all ten comes to £100. If they paid their bill the way we pay our taxes, it would go something like this: The first four men (the poorest) would pay nothing.The fifth would pay £1.The sixth would pay £3.The seventh would pay £7.The eighth would pay £12.The ninth would pay £18.The tenth man (the richest) would pay £59.So, that's what they decided to do.The ten men drank in the bar every day and seemed quite happy with the arrangement, until one day, the owner threw them a curve. "Since you are all such good customers," he said, "I'm going to reduce the cost of your daily beer by £20." Drinks for the ten now cost just £80.The group still wanted to pay their bill the way we pay our taxes so the first four men were unaffected. They would still drink for free: but what about the other six men - the paying customers?How could they divide the £20 windfall so that everyone would get his 'fair share?'They realised that £20 divided by six is £3.33. But if they subtracted that from everyone's share, then the fifth man and the sixth man would each end up being paid to drink his beer. So, the bar owner suggested that it would be fair to reduce each man's bill by roughly the same amount, and he proceeded to work out the amounts each should pay.And so:The fifth man, like the first four, now paid nothing (100% savings).The sixth now paid £2 instead of £3 (33%savings).The seventh now pay £5 instead of £7 (28%savings).The eighth now paid £9 instead of £12 (25% savings).The ninth now paid £14 instead of £18 (22% savings).The tenth now paid £49 instead of £59 (16% savings).Each of the six was better off than before. And the first four continued to drink for free. But once outside the restaurant, the men began to compare their savings:"I only got a pound out of the £20," declared the sixth man.He pointed to the tenth man, "but he got £10!""Yeah, that's right," exclaimed the fifth man. "I only saved a pound, too. It's unfair that he got ten times more than I did!""That's true!!" shouted the seventh man. "Why should he get £10 back when I got only two?The wealthy get all the breaks!""Wait a minute," yelled the first four men in unison."We didn't get anything at all. The system exploits the poor!"The nine men surrounded the tenth [richest] man and beat him up. The next night the tenth man didn't show up for drinks, so the nine sat down and had beers without him. But when it came time to pay the bill, they discovered something important.They didn't have enough money between all of them for even half of the bill!And that, ladies and gentlemen, journalists and professors, is how our tax system works. The people who pay the highest taxes get the most benefit from a tax reduction. However, tax them too much, attack them for being wealthy, a


We must be fair to everyone – even the rich
Camilla Cavendish
The Times, UK
May 13, 2010
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/camilla_cavendish/article7125822.ece


Added May 25, 2010:

Bryant says he'll 'never forget' deadly fight with cyclist
May 25, 2010
ctvtoronto.ca
http://toronto.ctv.ca/servlet/an/local/CTVNews/20100525/michael-bryant-court-100525/20100525?hub=Toronto
Videos: CTV National News: Scott Laurie on the case
CTV Toronto: John Musselman on why the charges were dropped
CTV Toronto: Austin Delaney from the vigil at Bloor and Avenue
CTV News Channel: Michael Bryant speak to media