2015 Election

[ZeroHour]

Someone posted this on Facebook and it cracked me up a bit

 

 

Hopefully it will lighten the mood a little.

Edited April 27, 2015 by ZeroHour

[sonofsanta]

Just for a giggle, New Statesman used Democracy 3 to model the outcome of the party manifestos: Simulection: How I'm testing the party's 2015 manifestos on the video game Democracy 3

 

The Tory manifesto results in

lynch mobs in the streets, class warfare as society collapses, inner city riots, booming crime rates, luddite riots smashing those lovely new robots, and extreme nationalism. Poverty has rocketed, equality plummeted, health collapsed, crime boomed, and generally the country has collapsed.

 

The Greens manage to make us all equal... by leaving us all unemployed:

Our GDP has collapsed—I thought it would recover but it hasn’t. This is due to the twin problems of a brain drain and a corporate exodus. We have 100 per cent unemployment, which is making GDP drag along the bottom of the graph, so low that the axes markers get in the way of seeing the line...Despite everything, the Greens made the country better-educated, more productive, healthier and more equal than ever before—indeed, the game deemed the nation a 'Green utopia.'

 

Labour, however, lead us to the promised land:

With the National Debt paid off, everything becomes easy. Huge budget surpluses mean that we can fund any innovative policy safely so Britain's push in nanotech, robots and flying cars is the envy of the world. Simultaneously, the prohibitive taxes on the richest have eliminated them from the country and political discourse, making the country fantastically equal, productive and prosperous. Barring a total global meltdown, the country is safe, so there's really little point continuing this. In this purely fantasy world, the Labour manifesto results in Utopia. That's an achievement for the Eds, even if they don't get elected.

 

Obviously this is all ridiculous - it's a video game! - but what's most telling is the trouble the author has in modelling the manifestos, because they're so vague and woolly.

 

(Hat tip: Wondering who to vote for in the UK election? Video games have the answer. | Ars Technica)

[Grey-gear]

Very interesting article, a game predicting the future. But these predictions seem to be on a one party government but as we all know that it's more likely to be another coalition, still I recommend the read

[sparkeh]

Did any of the simulations have Nick Clegg on his knees begging to be part of the Government, because I think we have all predicted that

[elsiegee40]

Today we have a visit from an election candidate to my governor school. We have had the one that will win (safe seat since 1910ish). This one doesn't stand a hope, but it will be interesting nonetheless.

[Garacesh]

Don't they push new candidates into safe-seat areas to get them used to handling rejection and being shot down or something like that? I'm sure I read that somewhere.

[SovietRussia]

Just for a giggle, New Statesman used Democracy 3 to model the outcome of the party manifestos: Simulection: How I'm testing the party's 2015 manifestos on the video game Democracy 3

 

The Tory manifesto results in

 

 

The Greens manage to make us all equal... by leaving us all unemployed:

 

 

Labour, however, lead us to the promised land:

 

 

Obviously this is all ridiculous - it's a video game! - but what's most telling is the trouble the author has in modelling the manifestos, because they're so vague and woolly.

 

(Hat tip: Wondering who to vote for in the UK election? Video games have the answer. | Ars Technica)

 

What a game! I do enjoy playing it because I am particularly nerdy. Very interesting results...

[zag]

At risk of continuing the "rich vs. poor" debate...

 

George Osborne has squeezed more from the rich than any UK Chancellor, ever - Spectator Blogs

 

My main point would be you can argue about this forever (the politicians have been since the 70's) so I guess its down to which news sources you read.

 

EDIT: Its also interesting to see that reducing the top rate of income tax to 45% actually increased tax revenues! Thats something that the marxest "Red Ed" won't tell you.

Edited April 28, 2015 by zag

[localzuk]

That article focuses on a single tax - income tax. It ignores VAT, it ignores stamp duty, it ignores all the other taxes people pay. It ignores the figures I posted earlier - 42% vs 35% total income in tax poor vs rich.

[Seb1780]

Just for a giggle, New Statesman used Democracy 3 to model the outcome of the party manifestos: Simulection: How I'm testing the party's 2015 manifestos on the video game Democracy 3

 

Labour, however, lead us to the promised land

 

The New Statesman publishes an article suggesting Labour would lead us to Utopia - who'd have thought??

[sparkeh]

The New Statesman publishes an article suggesting Labour would lead us to Utopia - who'd have thought??

 

George Osborne has squeezed more from the rich than any UK Chancellor, ever - Spectator Blogs

 

so I guess its down to which news sources you read.

Yes!

 

You can spin/omit figures how ever you want to make your point. Though in this case I think its pretty clear, whichever way you lean, that taking tax as a whole rather than one part of the tax system is a fairer way of measuring.

[LeMarchand]

At risk of continuing the "rich vs. poor" debate...

 

George Osborne has squeezed more from the rich than any UK Chancellor, ever - Spectator Blogs

 

My main point would be you can argue about this forever (the politicians have been since the 70's) so I guess its down to which news sources you read.

 

EDIT: Its also interesting to see that reducing the top rate of income tax to 45% actually increased tax revenues! Thats something that the marxest "Red Ed" won't tell you.

 

 

Hmmm, interesting how Boris's rag doesn't point out that 10% of the people in this country hold over 40% of the wealth (and that the largest section of the population holds by far the least wealth!). When you take that into consideration, the top 1% paying 27% of the tax doesn't seem odd - it may even be a bit low!

 

 

Someone else can do the sums.

 

As for the edit, maybe the tax-dodging accountants didn't get their funds shuffling right?

[korifugi]

Not sure about my vote yet, but I did chuckle when I saw this the other day

 

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[pcstru]

EDIT: Its also interesting to see that reducing the top rate of income tax to 45% actually increased tax revenues! Thats something that the marxest "Red Ed" won't tell you.

Won't they?

The key question there is whether you put tax efficiency before fairness. To me that is much the same as (say) putting profits before patients - social policy should be guided by fairness not maximising revenue or profit.

 

There is also a problem of testing such a hypothesis since as with all social sciences, there are no control experiments you can run. I always find it amusing to see climate deniers like Loony Lawson attempt to trash climate modelling as "only a computer model" while forecasting that the costs of sustainable social and economic policy will be too high - costs that fall out of models with many orders of magnitude less in the way of predictive power than the climate models of 20 years ago.

[elsiegee40]

Don't they push new candidates into safe-seat areas to get them used to handling rejection and being shot down or something like that? I'm sure I read that somewhere.

 

That's exactly what she told us

[LeMarchand]

Stephen Hawking has spoken: General Election 2015: Stephen Hawking says he will vote Labour - People - News - The Independent

[zag]

Interesting to see Russell Brand in the news again trying to start a class war.

 

Funny that, when he's a privately education millionaire!

[Arreks]

Funny that, when he's a privately education millionaire!

He's privately educated? he's from Dagenham so I'm inclined not to believe that!

[LeMarchand]

Interesting to see Russell Brand in the news again trying to start a class war.

 

Funny that, when he's a privately education millionaire!

 

Whilst I do find Russell B a tad annoying, he has at least highlighted some of the injustices that are taking place.

[sparkeh]

Interesting to see Russell Brand in the news again trying to start a class war.

 

Funny that, when he's a privately education millionaire!

Brand went to Grays School Media Arts College (state school) and then the Italia Conti Academy for one year (independent school but was funded by Essex Council Council). That's hardly a private education.

[Garacesh]

Whilst I do find Russell B a tad annoying, he has at least highlighted some of the injustices that are taking place.

As a comedian I hate his guts. As a pseudo-political figure, I actually agree with a lot of the stuff he has to say.

[zag]

Italia Conti Academy

 

That's a private school that charges over £15,000 a year in fees.

[Bezwick]

That's a private school that charges over £15,000 a year in fees.

Possibly but lasting a year funded by the council and failing to get a grade can hardly make him privately educated.

I went to a comprehensive school but later went to Uni and got in a load of debt because of course fees does that mean im privately educated?

 

Also even if he was Privately educated is that really a reason to invalidate what he is saying? If that was the case the Tories should never be allowed to open their mouths again, especially when it regards welfare or the poorest members of society.

Edited April 29, 2015 by Bezwick

[LeMarchand]

Also even if he was Privately educated is that really a reason to invalidate what he is saying? If that was the case the Tories should never be allowed to open their mouths again, especially when it regards welfare or the poorest members of society.

 

If only!

[zag]

Also even if he was Privately educated is that really a reason to invalidate what he is saying? If that was the case the Tories should never be allowed to open their mouths again, especially when it regards welfare or the poorest members of society.

 

Agree with this 100%

 

It shouldn't matter where you go to school, or how much your parents earn or what class of society you came from.