Freedom is a multifaceted construct which extends beyond political ideology.

Tangatagamadda Chaddabinga Bonga Bungo

I was at a Christmas market over the weekend. There was a man standing on the corner making balloon animals for kids. I went to buy one for my kid. We asked could he make a bunny rabbit for us and he duly obliged. I asked him how much I owed him and he said he's legally not allowed ask for money but if I wanted to make a donation of a few euro then he would be happy to accept, so I handed him 3 euro.

In the minute or so that I was talking to him, he told me how that a few years ago he was unemployed and broke so he spent months learning how to create these balloon animals to help pay the rent. I just said fair play to ya.

All that this man is guilty of (in my opinion) is that he wants pay his own way, in a legitimate way, yet the system is set up so that we'd rather hand him rent allowance and dole instead of letting the man go and earn a living.

It made me think of this comedy clip from 2 minutes in.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sAYAcZUCwQk

TLDR; If you want to sell some socks on a bridge, sell socks on a bridge.

diomed

Wha?

ninebeanrows

How are you able to have such a long username? It messes up the site!:D

donvito99

Dublin should not be turned into a giant flea market.

renegademaster

Tangatagamadda Chaddabinga Bonga Bungo wrote: »

It made me think of this comedy clip from 2 minutes in.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sAYAcZUCwQk

TLDR; If you want to sell some socks on a bridge, sell socks on a bridge.

i totally agree with you and thanks a million for that video link, i needed that big time )

humanji

The problem is deciding how much and what you can sell without paying taxes or giving the consumer security over what they've bought. Give a little leeway and people abuse the system, making life harder for those who play it honestly.

nelly17

I wish I didnt have to pay tax - in fact I wish nobody had to pay tax - then one day I'd have to drive my wife in labour to a hospital funded by taxes along a road funded by taxes but id does'nt exist because nobody pays taxes - and I would wish I had to pay tax.

KyussBishop

Is freedom here, having a job? If so, what to do when the private sector fails to provide enough jobs? (it's not 'the government' stopping the private sector, as the script for this usually goes)

What if the private sector is so indebted, that it's incapable of providing more jobs (while still retaining an equitable society), and government is the only remaining way of providing enough jobs in the present? (a little bit different with the EU: 'government' either means the collective governments of all of Europe, or the Irish government after leaving Europe)

Should everybody have a 'right' to a job? Or just the 'freedom' for a non-existent/unsustainable job?

chopper6

KyussBishop wrote: »

Is freedom here, having a job? If so, what to do when the private sector fails to provide enough jobs? (it's not 'the government' stopping the private sector, as the script for this usually goes)

The private sector produces plenty of jobs,unfortunatley the private sector is also fond of delivering overpriced goods and services,poor value for money and in the case of some industries is downright greedy.

MadsL

OP is arguing for untaxed/unregulated sale of anything at any streetcorner. My libertarian streak agrees, but knows deep down that this will not end well.

Fr_Dougal

KyussBishop wrote: »

Is freedom here, having a job? If so, what to do when the private sector fails to provide enough jobs? (it's not 'the government' stopping the private sector, as the script for this usually goes)

What if the private sector is so indebted, that it's incapable of providing more jobs (while still retaining an equitable society), and government is the only remaining way of providing enough jobs in the present? (a little bit different with the EU: 'government' either means the collective governments of all of Europe, or the Irish government after leaving Europe)

Should everybody have a 'right' to a job? Or just the 'freedom' for a non-existent/unsustainable job?

Dafuq? So it's up to the Private Sector to provide enough jobs for everyone? Really?

If someone doesn't have the skills available for the jobs on offer they either upskill or choose a job that they're over skilled for. The sense of entitlement in this country is a hangover of the Celtic Tiger days and it has to stop. Nobody owes anyone a living.

KyussBishop

chopper6 wrote: »

The private sector produces plenty of jobs,unfortunatley the private sector is also fond of delivering overpriced goods and services,poor value for money and in the case of some industries is downright greedy.

Plenty is not equal to enough jobs.

If you decimate the price of goods in the private sector, then you decimate wages, and then private debt in this country becomes permanently unsustainable (people don't earn enough to service their debts), then you're looking at a crisis where lots of debt gets written down and defaulted on, i.e. a new bailout and probably bail-ins plus higher taxes, which (coupled with reduced wages making for reduced consumer spending) further damages the economy reducing jobs, requiring further wage slashing, and the same loop again etc..

People need to stop taking the intellectually lazy option of blaming government for everything, and see the real problems with the economy, then they can see what actual real solutions are available.

KyussBishop

Fr_Dougal wrote: »

Dafuq? So it's up to the Private Sector to provide enough jobs for everyone? Really?

If someone doesn't have the skills available for the jobs on offer they either upskill or choose a job that they're over skilled for. The sense of entitlement in this country is a hangover of the Celtic Tiger days and it has to stop. Nobody owes anyone a living.

Not necessarily, I'm perfectly in favour of government providing jobs programs when the private sector fails to provide enough jobs - I think paying someone to do actual useful work, is much better than paying them to do nothing, and I think it would provide for a much more equitable and fair society (not to mention a better functioning economy).

All of Europe can do this, with the right policies, but I don't think it ever will, because it's deadlocked by politics - the only other alternative is to do it outside of Europe, and long-term, doing that and getting back to recovery, will be far less damaging than staying as we are, with a decade or decades more to go of high unemployment and associated damage to the economy.

Karl Stein

Street dentistry in India is pretty close to what a true free market might look like.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ol-RyYnTD4

humbert

Tangatagamadda Chaddabinga Bonga Bungo wrote: »

I was at a Christmas market over the weekend. There was a man standing on the corner making balloon animals for kids. I went to buy one for my kid. We asked could he make a bunny rabbit for us and he duly obliged. I asked him how much I owed him and he said he's legally not allowed ask for money but if I wanted to make a donation of a few euro then he would be happy to accept, so I handed him 3 euro.

In the minute or so that I was talking to him, he told me how that a few years ago he was unemployed and broke so he spent months learning how to create these balloon animals to help pay the rent. I just said fair play to ya.

All that this man is guilty of (in my opinion) is that he wants pay his own way, in a legitimate way, yet the system is set up so that we'd rather hand him rent allowance and dole instead of letting the man go and earn a living.

It made me think of this comedy clip from 2 minutes in.

TLDR; If you want to sell some socks on a bridge, sell socks on a bridge.

Clip is great; sympathy for some guy that 'can't' charge for his balloon animals is idiotic.