“Humans have existed for about 500,000 years. For 99.8% of that time, we were serfs, peasants and slaves. We were disposable, of use only to till the duke’s land, to die in war for our King’s honour, or to haul stone for a Pharaoh’s pyramid.
Where we are now, you and I, best beloved, is a very recent aberration in human history. It is an anomaly. It is the result of millions and millions of us fighting in two world wars, fighting in unions, fighting through demonstrations and direct action. We fought, and we won those rights. Those rights are so new, so experimental. And the work is not yet done, not by a long shot. There is still so much more to fight for and so much to remedy and repair.
But always remember: for 99.8% of human history, the vast majority of us lived with nothing. That horror is waiting, now, on the edges of our world. It’s biding its time, waiting for the ground to be fertile. It will always be waiting.
Force must be the last resort, when all other options are exhausted, and should only be used to defend ourselves and those too weak to protect themselves. But, I foresee a time when all other avenues will be spent and we may need to consider alternatives.
Best beloved: remember how recent your human dignity and rights are. Do not let the horror of 99.8% of our history come back, because it is trying and it senses its time is near.”
freekayZekey on
i’m a black american; my dad is slightly younger than the civil rights act. i’m fully aware 😂
Lease_Tha_Apts on
>On that note, did you realise that for twenty years — during your parent’s or maybe grandparent’s salad days — the UK taxed the income of the wealthy at 90%? That was during the 1950s to the 1960s. Thereafter it dropped a little, to 75% with a 15% surcharge. This applied to anyone earning more than £265,000 a year in today’s money. This paid for our NHS, our schools, roads and other public goods. The notion that we can’t possibly tax the wealthy for reasons X, Y and Z didn’t exist until the 1980s, forty years ago, when neoliberalism was ushered in by Thatcher and Reagan. Right now, the wealthy pay 45% on income over £150,000.
Kinda important to note that this model was unsustainable and the UK required an IMF bailout in 1976.
Idk if the author considers that reason X, Y, or Z.
3 Comments
“Humans have existed for about 500,000 years. For 99.8% of that time, we were serfs, peasants and slaves. We were disposable, of use only to till the duke’s land, to die in war for our King’s honour, or to haul stone for a Pharaoh’s pyramid.
Where we are now, you and I, best beloved, is a very recent aberration in human history. It is an anomaly. It is the result of millions and millions of us fighting in two world wars, fighting in unions, fighting through demonstrations and direct action. We fought, and we won those rights. Those rights are so new, so experimental. And the work is not yet done, not by a long shot. There is still so much more to fight for and so much to remedy and repair.
But always remember: for 99.8% of human history, the vast majority of us lived with nothing. That horror is waiting, now, on the edges of our world. It’s biding its time, waiting for the ground to be fertile. It will always be waiting.
Force must be the last resort, when all other options are exhausted, and should only be used to defend ourselves and those too weak to protect themselves. But, I foresee a time when all other avenues will be spent and we may need to consider alternatives.
Best beloved: remember how recent your human dignity and rights are. Do not let the horror of 99.8% of our history come back, because it is trying and it senses its time is near.”
i’m a black american; my dad is slightly younger than the civil rights act. i’m fully aware 😂
>On that note, did you realise that for twenty years — during your parent’s or maybe grandparent’s salad days — the UK taxed the income of the wealthy at 90%? That was during the 1950s to the 1960s. Thereafter it dropped a little, to 75% with a 15% surcharge. This applied to anyone earning more than £265,000 a year in today’s money. This paid for our NHS, our schools, roads and other public goods. The notion that we can’t possibly tax the wealthy for reasons X, Y and Z didn’t exist until the 1980s, forty years ago, when neoliberalism was ushered in by Thatcher and Reagan. Right now, the wealthy pay 45% on income over £150,000.
Kinda important to note that this model was unsustainable and the UK required an IMF bailout in 1976.
Idk if the author considers that reason X, Y, or Z.