25 signatures reached
To: UK government
Oblige the UK's wealthiest people to give something back
Dear Prime Minister. Just as those in our society who depend on welfare rightly have to prove that they qualify for benefits then I believe it is surely fair that those who earn huge sums of money (and perhaps those who govern us) should be obliged to prove that they deserve to earn a disproportionate share of our country's wealth.
Why is this important?
Just like on the popular TV programme 'The Secret Millionaire', I would like to see the wealthy obliged to spend just a few days per year with under privileged families who live on the breadline. If the families of people who actually live on the meagre salaries paid by these wealthy people were chosen then the exercise would be all the more poignant.
The rich would have the opportunity to see that the poor often work much harder than they do.....and that not all people have the support, education, connections or the love in their lives needed to enable them to climb the ladder in our society. I believe that there are very few people in the world that are worth salaries in the hundreds of thousands yet many people are lucky enough to enjoy that sort of income -18 000 people now earn over £1 million per year in the UK and over 1000 people are worth over £65 million.......footballer Gareth Bale earns in one week what the average person in the UK earns in ten years - surely some obligation should come with that. Whilst a fairer tax system is essential, simply imposing higher taxes using the socialist model does risk driving people, innovation and investment out of our country. On the other hand, capitalism as it stands has created obscene extremes of wealth with no responsibility attached.
I believe that giving the rich a social obligation to spend just a few days a year living with or volunteering in poor communities would have an incredibly cathartic effect. It could promote compassion, generosity, altruism, mutual learning and hopefully philanthropism. This would help rich people to truly earn what they earn. It is our right to demand that those who posess most of the wealth in our country give something back and make an effort to understand the lives of the huge proportion of our society who work for next to nothing. This is not simply about redistribution of wealth but about bridging divides and having a more compassionate society and hence a more generous society.
The wealthy can only fully appreciate how difficult life is on the minimum wage, or less, by diving into that life to see it for themselves. Any communion of disperate parts of our society can only be a good thing and is in fact essential. This is not about stunting capitalism but about responsible capitalism and the responsibility that comes with wealth and power.
The rich would have the opportunity to see that the poor often work much harder than they do.....and that not all people have the support, education, connections or the love in their lives needed to enable them to climb the ladder in our society. I believe that there are very few people in the world that are worth salaries in the hundreds of thousands yet many people are lucky enough to enjoy that sort of income -18 000 people now earn over £1 million per year in the UK and over 1000 people are worth over £65 million.......footballer Gareth Bale earns in one week what the average person in the UK earns in ten years - surely some obligation should come with that. Whilst a fairer tax system is essential, simply imposing higher taxes using the socialist model does risk driving people, innovation and investment out of our country. On the other hand, capitalism as it stands has created obscene extremes of wealth with no responsibility attached.
I believe that giving the rich a social obligation to spend just a few days a year living with or volunteering in poor communities would have an incredibly cathartic effect. It could promote compassion, generosity, altruism, mutual learning and hopefully philanthropism. This would help rich people to truly earn what they earn. It is our right to demand that those who posess most of the wealth in our country give something back and make an effort to understand the lives of the huge proportion of our society who work for next to nothing. This is not simply about redistribution of wealth but about bridging divides and having a more compassionate society and hence a more generous society.
The wealthy can only fully appreciate how difficult life is on the minimum wage, or less, by diving into that life to see it for themselves. Any communion of disperate parts of our society can only be a good thing and is in fact essential. This is not about stunting capitalism but about responsible capitalism and the responsibility that comes with wealth and power.
