Champagne Socialism

Day 877, 07:19 • Published in United Kingdom United Kingdom • by The Socialist Party UK

It’s been a weird month in eUK politics. Lots has been going on, but we don’t have time to talk about it all in one go. So let’s focus on a big topic for discussion- the SDP, and more specifically, the man who looks to be the next head of this fledgling party- Melophore.

Melophore burst onto the political scene in March, where he immediately got stuck into the forums, and injected some new ideas into the community, especially some interesting economics concepts.

Here’s an example of Mel’s policy on tax:

Income tax = 1%
Import Tax = 20% except R(aw) M(aterials) at 1%
VAT= 5%

Sounds interesting.

Let’s see what the eUK’s top politicians and economists said to this…

The Minister for Finance said,
“I support every sane thinking person and I frown at this idea. It will decimate our state income.”

Hmmmm. Ok, let’s see what the views of two MPs are on this:

“Wow, 1% income taxes? Incredibly stupid.”

“No One Makes Profits Against An Import Tax Of 20%. No One Will Import When 5% VAT Are Added. We Don't Get Any Money At All.”

Not so great on that front, either…

Also, this publication spoke to Iain Keers, the lord of the eUK’s economics.
We asked him, “What do you think of Melophore’s policy of VAT based tax income?”

Iain: I think basing income on VAT is unrealistic and damaging. It would significantly reduce our national income, make our goods internationally less competitive and would long term achieve nothing for ordinary players.

Then we asked whether Melophore’s policy of using lowered import tax as a replacement for income tax was realistic.

Iain: Reducing Import tax is a good measure, but as a standalone replacement for income tax is ridiculous. We may gain a few hundred currency a week from increased imports of high quality goods (houses and Q5 guns) but the basics will remain domestically produced, due to the prohibitive cost of licences for foreign producers wanting to export their goods to the UK. The best model for tax is one based on income tax. It has been said that France uses a VAT based income (as did Italy). However this merely reinforces my point, as despite having more citizens than we do, we generate five times the tax revenue.

Finally, we asked Iain to sum up his views on Melophore and the SDP…

This party is only one in a very long line of small parties claiming to subvert the position of their ideological comrades in the top 5. It happens I would say once every couple of months. The chances of success are very low. As far as I can tell, there is only one active member in the SDP, Melophore, and he is presenting a poor face for his party, with unrealistic financial goals and baiting a much larger and more experienced group of people (namely the government). When you consider TUP has over seven hundred members, of which we have a collective experience of hundreds of congress terms, ministerial positions and even CP positions between us, it's a bit silly really. And though I don't REALLY want to blow my own trumpet, and don't claim to be some prophet of economics, I have been a finance minister for over a year now, in various roles, and have been the Treasurer and Financial Advisor of Phoenix for five months now. I'm probably the most experienced economist in the world, and I keep up to date with all my colleagues latest theories. However apparently I am ignorant and Melophore is right, based on a few incorrect assumptions and a passing familiarity with the "country stats" page. I'll let you draw your own conclusions from that.

Upon being told that his slightly naïve ideas wouldn’t work, but to keep trying and learning about the game mechanics, Melophore responded by attempting to insult those who had commented,

“I see that you are so original! Or pathetic”

Fortunately for everyone, he failed.

Finally, in case he has a go at us for calling him naïve, I thought I better put this in,

“Every talks about this economic module, but where can you see it?”



But of course, politics consists of far more than economics. What does Melophore think about Social issues? As a politician who describes himself as being of the left wing, we would have certain expectations as to what he thought on this topic…

“Ah, the proletariat. Those who bite the hands that feed them.”

Move over Margaret Thatcher, here comes Melophore!

It is strange, therefore, to think that Melophore criticised Jamie Carter, PP of TSP, for not acting “for the good of socialism”. Fair criticism Mel, as we know how dedicated and committed you are as a socialist!

What about democracy? First, on the House of Lords,

“I prefer an enlightened dictatorship to that!”

And on freedom of speech…

“If you propose change or speak your mind you are either :
-stupid
-ignorant
-insignificant”

I know they said that the centre left is moving further and further right, but this takes it a bit far!

I know that modern politics is based on personality, and though it is debatable as to whether it is a good thing, we would all agree that conceit is not a good plan for a political leader. Oh dear…

“Anyway the next Labour leader should be Melophore, without a doubt! In fact I'm surprised that Labour hasn't called me yet!”

Also, a well respected party leader in the eUK recently said,

“Melophore is nice when he knows he'll get something from you.”

But we don’t like character politics, so and you shouldn’t be influenced by these quotes.

We’ve got to be fair, and give Melophore a chance to air his views on the matter. This publication spoke to him and asked him for a defining comment on eUK economics…

“Many eUK politicians and economists will try to make you believe that there is only one way to run business in the eUK : Theirs. In fact, when you look at Britains fiscal policy, you can see it is radically different from other countries that are booming and whose citizens are actually a lot richer. I'm talking about the USA, Brazil, Russia and Spain. What are these countries doing in fiscal terms that we are not? Low import taxes on all goods, these countries have large markets that are open. eUK economists will try to make you believe that closed economies are the only possibilty... How come do these countries out perform us every day? Most of them get big fiscal revenue from imported goods that on the whole drag prices down on their markets.
Are their companies broke? Not anymore than eUK companies. There are too many companies in the eUK, reducing productivity, and not enough workforce.”

With regards to the ‘wealthy citizens’ bit, the question is surely that of tax and spend. Just because income tax is relatively high, it doesn’t mean that the government are sitting on it. It means, surely, that they will be investing the money back into the economy.

“Spain has the 2nd GDP, Ruusia the 3rd, USA the 5th, Brazil 10th. France is 8th !? Low import tax as well... Where is the UK ? 11th.”

Once again, as Iain says, we may be 11th on the GDP but we generate 5 times the tax revenue of these countries. This is something which is to be praised, surely, rather than derided!

Just to round off, it’s worth giving you this one…

“Urgent. MP me please.”

Mel, you have to be in a top 5 party to do that urgently…
Oh, you meant PM.
I do apologise.

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