Taxed to the hilt

our current political and economic ideologies are economically primarily to the right, implemented and maintained by both the political left and right, how far right would you like to go?

Ah yes Norway, home to the worlds undisputed leaders in hypocrisy. No country in the world is as adavanced in hypocrisy as Norway. And in large part you can thank their soverign wealth fund for that. Particularly notable are the funds investments in renewable energy and it's propensity for 'responsible' investments:

"Norges keeps responsible investment high on agenda"

The fund is fueled by the creation of vast quantities of CO2 - all exported of course, so Norwegians can keep their gut wrenchingly hypocritical image for eco-responsibility pristine and clean. Did you know, Norway is leading the planet on the use of EV's? They have managed this by exporting vast quantities of oil, which brings in so much CO2 revenue, they can subsidise and fund a near endless stream of image enhancing green initiatives and socially progressive polices. By getting other countries to produce their CO2 for them, Norway has managed to establish an unassailable reputation for crusading against CO2 emissions and proving that eco friendly policies are practical and achievable - all you need are vast quantities of oil and even larger reserves of conceit and gall.

Leaving that aside - the best example I know of for how badly managed and taxed Ireland is, is New Zealand. A budget usually in surplus and lower levels of taxation.

Ireland is an intrinsically socialist country.

I think all parties are somewhat left or at the very most center. We have the most progressive tax system in the EU:

The "temporary" USC 8% rate kicks in at 70k. We have a very generous welfare system. I wouldn't really regard any of that as right wing. The low corporation tax has allowed us to attract foreign investment that otherwise wouldn't come here.

I think the issue is that lower earners want to have Irish levels of taxation and Swedish services. It is a matter of expectations.

I did overtime I couldnt get out of last weekend. I get to keep less than half of that for myself.

What a waste of time.

yes i hear ya !

i recall leo tone deaf stating that 80k a year isn't a lot of money and getting slaughtered for it by people who seem very much unaware of a good days work, but these days it really isn't! people on benefits do seem to have a lot more value for money than people on 80k paying their own way!

The Carbon tax isn't a "solution" to Climate Change. Oh if it were only that easy to solve. The truth is that the problem that we are all in is a fiendishly complex problem, the likes of which the human race has never had to tackle before. It seems to be primed to run up against all of our biggest blind spots and biases as human beings.

We (and every other country) need to reduce our carbon output. We're going to need to do a lot of different things to do that if we want any chance of reaching the climate change.

Right now we have a system in place where it is still relatively cheap to continue to burn fossil fuels, in our power plants, vehicles and homes when you consider the long term damage that they are doing to the planet. Carbon pricing and carbon taxes are a mechanism for making it more expensive to continue to damage the planet. They act as an incentive for individuals, companies and governments to both seek out alternatives, where available, or at least minimise their output.

They're only one prong of what will need to be a multi-pronged approach. To be honest we haven't even begun to tackle the real changes yet which doesn't fill me with much hope for the future. For example the national herd has exploded since milk quotas were removed back in 2015. Cattle contributes massively to the country's greenhouse gas emissions and yet you won't find any politicians willing to say that the herd needs to be reduced in any way.

The biggest misconception out there is all anyone needs to do is recycle more, build a few cycle lanes, switch to some plug in hybrids and that then it'll be ok to continue with our "growth at all costs" mindset. That simply won't cut it. We need radical change and the longer we put it off the more radical the required changes become.

Thats the point, its not a solution, but the government talk about it as if it will make a difference and it isnt going to make any, they talk about increasing steadily over time it as if that will directly correspond to a reduction in fossil fuel usage and the truth of the matter is that it wont make any difference .

its just another way of getting joe public to pay tax

While a socialist might see that as a 'problem', I see it as an opportunity.

You clearly haven't lived in NZ, almost impossible to buy a first home because of this

The scarcity of consents plays little to no part of the housing problem in NZ, the main issue is land banking, people buying property and doing nothing with it but knowing it will increase in value and can be sold without any taxes

As someone who recently bought a house here, the lack of CGT is a massive issue, when(if) you move here you might get a better understanding

Also, if you intend to move here and buy a house, then technically you are a first home buyer

Not hugely because its not enough. The problem is that in order for it to work, spending ability would have to be highly curtailed which will mean mass job losses and huge civil unrest which government's wont implement because people wont stand for it. We are too used to a high standard of living.

The climate change cause and affect link is so weak that most people don't see it I think. For example, the energy needed to make a new fitted kitchen is making a micro dent on the environment but I dont think people think about it. They just buy it because the old kitchen looks dated (despite being perfectly functional).

Because the quarries were unregulated by the city based government departments

That was a local government responsibility - I have talked many many times about the failures of our local government system based around the archaic British county system.