Friday, August 17, 2007

A tax on your dead

Exciting political heavy-weight George Osborne has announced that a Tory government would consider the abolition of inheritance tax. You know that a party is really scraping the barrel when it's having to go for demographics whose main concern is death. Politically this is a terrible idea, since the dead, by and large, have tended to be rather less active in the polling stations than the living. (Except in Florida of course, where I understand that the electoral register includes a significant number of the departed). Economically it transfers the tax burden onto active, hard-working wage earners away from those who, by a freak accident of nature, happen to be born to affluent parents.

Actually, the notion that it's politically a bad idea is slightly flawed, since it assumes a well-informed and intelligent electorate, rather than the greedy, stupid malignant electorate of modern Britain. 'Middle England', which largely comprises Daily Mail-reading arrivistes living in pebble-dashed houses in the Home Counties, will probably think that they're getting an enormous windfall and will vote for the conservatives in their droves. I doubt very much that they realise that inheritance tax doesn't kick in for the first GBP250,000, which given a good downturn in the property market will be far above their meager assets on death. The people who will really benefit are those rather more significant estates (i.e. Tory party members).

Ah, fuck it, what do I care about the British people? They're far too stupid to warrant my concern. Personally I have no successors anyway (at least none that I'll admit to). I intend to spend every last penny on a debauched dotage in Nevada, now that the Mustang Ranch has reopened.

Saturday, August 11, 2007

You're not fooling anyone, you know.

I've just look at the statistics on the 'racist bitch' poll. A little overdue, perhaps, but it's not as if I don't have anything better to do than keep informed of your opinions. Your opinions don't really matter to me anyway, unless you agree with me that is, and if you don't agree with me then you're wrong. If the poll is correct, 56% of you actually tell a Russian mafia princess to their face to fuck off back to St Petersburg. Frankly, I think you're all liars. I cannot imagine a single person I know who would actually say that other than myself, and even then it would be under the influence of a regrettable quantity of alcohol.

Not that I really mind that you're all lying on my poll, I've been known to tell a few porkies myself. The biggest lie I ever said was 'try not to tense up - it's the most natural and beautiful thing in the world'. It's not something that I'm particularly proud of, but it's amazing what a nineteen-year-old undergraduate will believe, and I'm far too opportunistic to be held responsible for my own actions.

The most fun I ever had lying was when I went into the Women's Bookstore in Boulder, CO wearing a summer frock and two days growth of beard and loudly announced that I really rated Germaine Greer because she was dead butch. It's easy to wind up people in Boulder because they consider themselves 'progressive'. I don't know what they mean by progressive, but it seems to involve having no sense of humour and espousing a lot of obscure left-wing causes, whilst still complaining about how the hippies make the place look scruffy. Boulder is an eclectic mix of high-end real estate agents and 'Free Tibet' stickers.