RSA Animate REMIX: The Economic Consequences of Mr Brown

In 2009, Stein Ringen, Professor of Sociology and Social Policy at the University of Oxford, gave his assessment of the New Labour government and the state of the British constitution. This was the subject of the first experimental, prototype RSAnimate. Visual scribe Andrew Park presents his remastered version of the animation here...

Category:

Education

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• RSA
• REDUX
• PROOF
• 110930
• IPad

[honestnetworker]

Does anyone know who the artist or company is that does the artwork?

[theRSAorg]

@honestnetworker the animation is done by Cognitive Media. Their details are displayed at the end of the video.

[theRSAorg]

@Agemoz Keep your eyes peeled - countdown to a new one is starting soon!

[rinoaangel08]

I like the old way better, seeing the artist draw...

[SLRist]

I find it quite amusing how people - (especially in the US) - have been brainwashed into thinking that any action which leads to a decrease in inequality is automatically 'Socialist' or 'Communist'. I speak as someone to the right of the political spectrum who is very much in favour of meritocracy. However, meritocracy - which I believe Thatcher encouraged - has been in the last few years largely dead or dying, and we are moving towards a plutocracy.

[hols2000]

@Ecapsora

The USA used to be a republic, not everyone had the right to vote. Now everyone has this right that's why you have the tyranny of the majority - that's what democracy is about. Under such conditions people tend to make stupid laws like giving the privileges to a group that shouts the loudest while suppressing the other groups (example: Obamacare). Law isn't perfect, that's true, but the aim of it is to protect the government from regulating too much, aka making stupid laws.

[CurtHowland]

@Ecapsora May I present a different direction of thought?

In a Republic, in order for a govt program to exist it has to have overwhelming support.

Yet, if there is such overwhelming support for such a thing, the people who believe in it are more than capable of paying for it themselves, without the "gun to the head" that is taxation.

Those who need a program, by definition in my opinion, can't afford it themselves. But basic "needs" are quite inexpensive and people who care help out voluntarily.

[Ecapsora]

@CurtHowland From what I see today, I agree.

It's difficult to get social programs to work with public money. Those who need these programs can't afford to pay for them, so the govt funds them, but people (those who can already afford them) don't want to pay for it with taxes, so the govt lowers how much money they spend, so social programs don't get the funding they need to work properly, and the govt has to spend more to fix it. Vicious circle

[Ecapsora]

The poor don't mismanage their money, it's done for them. Think about it poor families can't send their children to college. Without a college education it is near impossible to get a high paying job (Self made dropouts are rare in reality) Minimum wage jobs no longer match the cost of living (food, rent, heat, gas etc.) They get credit to fill the gap, and credit card agencies love the working poor because it's LITERALLY impossible to get out of debt when you're living paycheck to paycheck

[Ecapsora]

@anthonyww713 OK so you're obvisouly right wing/libertarian and you hate the idea of welfare, lets get past that.

I'm curious as to what your socio-economic status is. Generally people with your point of view either are self-made or have never needed to support themselves by working on the bottom tiers (the poor, lower class, working student, graduates with student debt cause you can't work and study and break even theses days,) and I get the feeling you haven't wanted for money in your life.

[Ecapsora]

@anthonyww713 most of them can't because multi-national businesses are allowed to pay employees less than required for basic necessities. If you work two jobs to make ends meet you can't do night school. You can't join the army if you're unfit because you can't afford meat and vegetables, so you and your children eat the cheaper fast food. Starting a business is no guarantee of success but is guaranteed debt and you won't have health insurance either. That is a free country over social equality.

[CurtHowland]

@Ecapsora Something you should look up is the very short book "Bureaucracy" which demonstrates why govt agencies cannot, ever, spend money "wisely".

I would also suggest "Economic Calculation in the Socialist Commonwealth" by the same author, Ludwig von Mises, for why saying this or that quantity of money is a complete waste of time when discussing govt agencies.