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Jaeluni Asjil
Apr 18, 2018

Sorry I thought you were a landlord when I gave you your old avatar!

Guavanaut posted:

I know a couple of small adult daughters who get away with hardly ever paying VAT on clothing because of loopholes in that.

I'm sure some journalist somewhere is furious.

And some 5ft9in 11 year old girls with 40" busts and adult size 10 feet who have to get adult clothing.
Dear reader, I was that child.

catte tax:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SAjs3SdwTAk

Jaeluni Asjil fucked around with this message at 18:19 on Aug 21, 2019

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OwlFancier
Aug 22, 2013

A Buttery Pastry posted:

I don't disagree with that, but stratification and specialization isn't the same thing, even if the latter is a requirement for the former. Like, instead of attacking specialization, just go directly for stratification. Whichever specialization you end up getting rid off as you remove stratification is specialization you definitely didn't want.

They aren't the same thing but I would suggest that stratification is a subset of specialization, a perfectly specialized society would be just as, if not even more incapable of operating collectively. Stratification is, if anything, when people of a specialization get together to lord it over other people. They are both instances of alienation but one is, you might say, the alienation of classes rather than individuals.

Sanitary Naptime
May 29, 2006

MIWK!


Jaeluni Asjil posted:

And some 5ft9in 11 year old girls with 40" busts and adult size 10 feet who have to get adult clothing.
Dear reader, I was that child.

The public notice for kids clothing literally states the maximum bra size allowable for zero rating the vat.

Doing it by size is a really dumb way to do it, but alas, VAT.

E: kids clothing in general, not bra sizes specifically lmao

Sanitary Naptime fucked around with this message at 18:17 on Aug 21, 2019

NotJustANumber99
Feb 15, 2012

somehow that last av was even worse than your posting

Failed Imagineer posted:

Cheap construction is simple:

Inflate house-shaped balloon.
Spray with concrete.
Concrete dries into house shape
Deflate balloon.
Move and repeat.


This was suggested by a small child some years ago and I stand behind it :colbert:

This is what we're gonna do on the moon and mars. Where everyone will be a super science expert, able to turn their hand expertly to each and every task like elon can, so getting rid of stratification.

Sanitary Naptime
May 29, 2006

MIWK!


NotJustANumber99 posted:

This is what we're gonna do on the moon and mars. Where everyone will be a super science expert, able to turn their hand expertly to each and every task like elon can, so getting rid of stratification.

Colonising europa so everyone can build their own innovative submarine

Party Boat
Nov 1, 2007

where did that other dog come from

who is he


Jaeluni Asjil posted:

And some 5ft9in 11 year old girls with 40" busts and adult size 10 feet who have to get adult clothing.
Dear reader, I was that child.

Yeah I'm 6'4" and if the first year of his life is any indication my son is going to beat that so I had some personal stakes in choosing that example.

It's an interesting example of having to go with a "good enough" measure in legislation, because while the fairest way to apply VAT on children's clothes would be by age, applying that in practice would turn any clothes shopping trip into some Numbers Fuckstein affair. Size is a good enough proxy even if it means some small adults are unfairly advantaged and Large Not Quite Adult Sons and Daughters are unfairly disadvantaged. But we get to reach high shelves unassisted so there are upsides.

Firos
Apr 30, 2007

Staying abreast of the latest developments in jam communism



It me, the 8 year old with clown feet.

Guavanaut
Nov 27, 2009

Looking At Them Tittys
1969 - 1998



Toilet Rascal

Sanitary Naptime posted:

The public notice for kids clothing literally states the maximum bra size allowable for zero rating the vat.

Doing it by size is a really dumb way to do it, but alas, VAT.

E: kids clothing in general, not bra sizes specifically lmao
Clothing for kids and small adults isn't a luxury. Clothing for adults and large kids is a luxury because they can just walk around naked without arousing lust in MPs.

Necessity:


Luxury:


NotJustANumber99 posted:

This is what we're gonna do on the moon and mars. Where everyone will be a super science expert, able to turn their hand expertly to each and every task like elon can, so getting rid of stratification.
Elon Musk is a perfect example of the difference between specialization and stratification.

e:

Party Boat posted:

It's an interesting example of having to go with a "good enough" measure in legislation, because while the fairest way to apply VAT on children's clothes would be by age, applying that in practice would turn any clothes shopping trip into some Numbers Fuckstein affair. Size is a good enough proxy even if it means some small adults are unfairly advantaged and Large Not Quite Adult Sons and Daughters are unfairly disadvantaged. But we get to reach high shelves unassisted so there are upsides.
Do it by price. If you're buying luxury designer clothes for a 6 year old then pay VAT, if you're buying a £15 shirt for work then no VAT, regardless of whether it's covered by 'work wear' or not.

Cerv
Sep 14, 2004

This is a silly post with little news value.

Fairest would just be to get rid of the VAT exemption on kids clothes.
You’ve got the child tax credit to pay for that.

But some things are too ingrained to be worth the effort changing. Can you imagine the headlines

A Buttery Pastry
Sep 4, 2011

Delicious and Informative!
:3:

OwlFancier posted:

They aren't the same thing but I would suggest that stratification is a subset of specialization
I mean, that's why I said one was a requirement for the other.

OwlFancier posted:

a perfectly specialized society would be just as, if not even more incapable of operating collectively. Stratification is, if anything, when people of a specialization get together to lord it over other people. They are both instances of alienation but one is, you might say, the alienation of classes rather than individuals.
What do you mean, exactly, with operating collectively? A pretty crucial aspect of specialization is that you need other people, your daily life would basically fall apart in no time at all if other people weren't doing their part to maintain society. Conversely, in a completely non-specialized society, no one actually needs anyone, they can just do whatever themselves. Obviously in a class war kind of sense it's useful to have a huge class of people who're essentially clones of your self if you want to join together to beat up your bosses, but I don't see why you couldn't connect people through other things than their jobs. I mean, nationalism does a pretty good job at getting people to operate collectively, for admittedly largely bad ends. If we're imagining an ideal society of sorts though, where everyone has far more free time, what your job is should also matter far less than it does today. Doesn't matter if there are ten times as many professions, if your identity is just as bound up in your hobby that you share with thousands or millions of other people as your job.


Sanitary Naptime posted:

The public notice for kids clothing literally states the maximum bra size allowable for zero rating the vat.

Doing it by size is a really dumb way to do it, but alas, VAT.

E: kids clothing in general, not bra sizes specifically lmao
I'm surprised no one has argued that if your breasts are larger than the maximum bra size allowed for something to be consider kids clothing, then you're legally an adult no matter you age. Or maybe they have.

Guavanaut
Nov 27, 2009

Looking At Them Tittys
1969 - 1998



Toilet Rascal

Cerv posted:

Fairest would just be to get rid of the VAT exemption on kids clothes.
You’ve got the child tax credit to pay for that.

But some things are too ingrained to be worth the effort changing. Can you imagine the headlines
Isn't the point of the zero rating is that kids' clothes are a necessity, like uncatered food and soft drinks, animals, animal feed, plants and seeds, helicopters, antique jade statues, that sort of thing.

So unless we're going to allow public nudity, non-luxury clothes for people of all ages should be VAT exempt or zero rated, and the fashion labels can have their Jaffa cake moment trying to prove that they're not luxury while telling all their target market that they are.

Jedit
Dec 10, 2011

Proudly supporting vanilla legends 1994-2014

Guavanaut posted:

I know a couple of small adult daughters who get away with hardly ever paying VAT on clothing because of loopholes in that.

I'm sure some journalist somewhere is furious.

Clothing has loopholes, who'da thunk it.

OwlFancier
Aug 22, 2013

A Buttery Pastry posted:

I mean, that's why I said one was a requirement for the other.

What do you mean, exactly, with operating collectively? A pretty crucial aspect of specialization is that you need other people, your daily life would basically fall apart in no time at all if other people weren't doing their part to maintain society. Conversely, in a completely non-specialized society, no one actually needs anyone, they can just do whatever themselves. Obviously in a class war kind of sense it's useful to have a huge class of people who're essentially clones of your self if you want to join together to beat up your bosses, but I don't see why you couldn't connect people through other things than their jobs. I mean, nationalism does a pretty good job at getting people to operate collectively, for admittedly largely bad ends. If we're imagining an ideal society of sorts though, where everyone has far more free time, what your job is should also matter far less than it does today. Doesn't matter if there are ten times as many professions, if your identity is just as bound up in your hobby that you share with thousands or millions of other people as your job.

I would probably characterise less time working and more time being around other people as working to reduce specialization, because most of who you are and what you do is in the same sphere as everyone else.

Whereas someone who spends most of their time working, in an environment defined by specialist practice, with minimal connection to other people, that person probably isn't going to be able to easily organize with others outside their environment. Or at least they are operating at a disadvantage when doing so. The effect of that alienation is to harm their sense of collective being. This is further exacerbated when their work comes with an attendant social circle separated from the common one, and so on.

But I would point out that you're describing a society where people do less specialized work, just less per person rather than fewer people doing it.

Like necessarily this is still gonna involve eliminating a lot of specialist labour on the grounds that it's unneccessary and people should be doing other things with their time.

OwlFancier fucked around with this message at 18:57 on Aug 21, 2019

Party Boat
Nov 1, 2007

where did that other dog come from

who is he


Cerv posted:

Fairest would just be to get rid of the VAT exemption on kids clothes.
You’ve got the child tax credit to pay for that.

But some things are too ingrained to be worth the effort changing. Can you imagine the headlines

Not any more lol it's all Universal Credit

Plasmafountain
Jun 17, 2008

sup sup

Alan G
Dec 27, 2003

Cerv posted:

Fairest would just be to get rid of the VAT on everything.

Can you imagine the headlines

A Buttery Pastry
Sep 4, 2011

Delicious and Informative!
:3:

OwlFancier posted:

I would probably characterise less time working and more time being around other people as working to reduce specialization, because most of who you are and what you do is in the same sphere as everyone else.
Then your focus on specialization makes even less sense, given that you can get around it by giving people more free time.

OwlFancier posted:

But I would point out that you're describing a society where people do less specialized work, just less per person rather than fewer people doing it.
The actual proportion of specialized work is constant (or likely increased), so the average individual is more atomized in their work. Though this goes back to the "just give people more free time" solution, which again, makes the focus on specialization seem real weird.

OwlFancier posted:

Like necessarily this is still gonna involve eliminating a lot of specialist labour on the grounds that it's unneccessary and people should be doing other things with their time.
What does "a lot" mean in this context? In absolute terms, sure, but I'm not sure about in relative terms. Actually, even if you eliminate a lot of unnecessary specialist labour, you just free up people to do necessary specialist labour.

A Buttery Pastry fucked around with this message at 19:10 on Aug 21, 2019

Josef bugman
Nov 17, 2011

Pictured: Poster prepares to celebrate Holy Communion (probablY)

This avatar made possible by a gift from the Religionthread Posters Relief Fund
As a quick thing, how are we supposed to prevent folks taking money out of the country if we start putting up more taxes on things?

Alongside that, why has no one ever thought about plonking a battalion in the Camen Islands and going "this is ours now"?

OwlFancier
Aug 22, 2013

I would suggest that if you're proposing making people spend, say, most of their time not working and also eliminating work-related social groupings, economic and otherwise, that's a pretty radical change away from the current effects of specialized labour which are to divide people both economically and socially.

And while it would likely help to promote people caring about each other, that itself is still a bit of a patch over the material lack of accountability between different groups. Possibly a sufficient one and certainly a model I would suggest trying where specialist labour is necessary, to mitigate its downsides, but it doesn't really get rid of the downsides.

OwlFancier fucked around with this message at 19:12 on Aug 21, 2019

Firos
Apr 30, 2007

Staying abreast of the latest developments in jam communism



Josef bugman posted:

As a quick thing, how are we supposed to prevent folks taking money out of the country if we start putting up more taxes on things?

Alongside that, why has no one ever thought about plonking a battalion in the Camen Islands and going "this is ours now"?

Well the obvious answer is "capital controls".

Junior G-man
Sep 15, 2004

Wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma


Josef bugman posted:

As a quick thing, how are we supposed to prevent folks taking money out of the country if we start putting up more taxes on things?

Alongside that, why has no one ever thought about plonking a battalion in the Camen Islands and going "this is ours now"?

Capital controls would do it and also spook the City into a terminal(?) heart attack.

And we've never sent our divisions to the tax havens because the people in charge of the divisions have their money there. The only way they'd send them is to defend the islands.

Josef bugman
Nov 17, 2011

Pictured: Poster prepares to celebrate Holy Communion (probablY)

This avatar made possible by a gift from the Religionthread Posters Relief Fund
I more mean in general. It seems so strange to me that if/when the world catches on fire all of these loving moronic people who believe themselves to be titans of industry or Randian Ubermensch think that money and coin are going to be useful. Or that the heavily armed personal guards will not hesitate to execute them and live in the palaces they build for themselves.

I just don't get it at all.

Cerv
Sep 14, 2004

This is a silly post with little news value.

Guavanaut posted:

Isn't the point of the zero rating is that kids' clothes are a necessity, like uncatered food and soft drinks, animals, animal feed, plants and seeds, helicopters, antique jade statues, that sort of thing.

So unless we're going to allow public nudity, non-luxury clothes for people of all ages should be VAT exempt or zero rated, and the fashion labels can have their Jaffa cake moment trying to prove that they're not luxury while telling all their target market that they are.

every other EU country has VAT on kids clothes as well as adult. It’ll be fine.
The idea of VAT as a “luxury” tax is a complete fiction btw

Jaeluni Asjil
Apr 18, 2018

Sorry I thought you were a landlord when I gave you your old avatar!

Guavanaut posted:

Isn't the point of the zero rating is that kids' clothes are a necessity, like uncatered food and soft drinks, animals, animal feed, plants and seeds, helicopters, antique jade statues, that sort of thing.

So unless we're going to allow public nudity, non-luxury clothes for people of all ages should be VAT exempt or zero rated, and the fashion labels can have their Jaffa cake moment trying to prove that they're not luxury while telling all their target market that they are.

Adults can just wear colour-coded uniforms:


quote:

* Alphas are society's intellectuals, like college professors, scientists, and leaders and wear gray
* Betas are skilled workers who support the Alphas' efforts in roles that require intelligence but perhaps not critical thought and wear mulberry
* Gammas are semi-skilled workers and wear green
* Deltas are low-skill workers, such as packaging employees and machinists and are dressed in khaki
* Epsilons are the very bottom of the hierarchy - carriers, sewage workers and so forth - and wear black
Each caste also wears their designation on their chest, followed by a plus or minus sign, except for the Epsilons who are divided into subcastes. The use of clothing to divide castes in Brave New World is a criticism of European society in Huxley's time, when lower-classes were prohibited from dressing like the upper-class.

source: https://study.com/academy/lesson/5-caste-colors-in-brave-new-world.html

(I didn't know that last bit about Europe!)
Actually reminds me of what happened to my nan during WW2. Family was from large midlands city that got bombed to heck in WW2 and she and my dad and uncles (who were young kids) were evacuated to an army camp in Devon somewhere while grandad was off fighting. Nan spoke and dressed well and the army commissioned officers' wives 'allowed' her to socialize with them until the day grandad came home on leave and - horrors - was just a sergeant at which point they cut her dead.

Jaeluni Asjil fucked around with this message at 19:27 on Aug 21, 2019

Junior G-man
Sep 15, 2004

Wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma


Josef bugman posted:

I more mean in general. It seems so strange to me that if/when the world catches on fire all of these loving moronic people who believe themselves to be titans of industry or Randian Ubermensch think that money and coin are going to be useful. Or that the heavily armed personal guards will not hesitate to execute them and live in the palaces they build for themselves.

I just don't get it at all.

It's all just a giant fantasy that works well because the world itself still sorta/kinda works OK to support the infrastructure etc. that these bozos depend on. The moment the poo poo really hits the fan, as you say, the armed guards are gonna take their dragon hoard and shoot these people. But this is like when you're a kid building a 'fort' in the woods and then running around with a stick that's your rifle.

Guavanaut
Nov 27, 2009

Looking At Them Tittys
1969 - 1998



Toilet Rascal

Josef bugman posted:

Alongside that, why has no one ever thought about plonking a battalion in the Camen Islands and going "this is ours now"?
We did in about 1794, but our Crown likes theft and tax evasion.

Cerv posted:

every other EU country has VAT on kids clothes as well as adult. It’ll be fine.
The idea of VAT as a “luxury” tax is a complete fiction btw
If the rest of the white supremacist liberalism club wants regressive taxes on necessities then that's their bad decision. We shouldn't do that.

OwlFancier
Aug 22, 2013

smh if your fort doesn't include revetments and ravelins and interlocking fields of fire.

Private Speech
Mar 30, 2011

I HAVE EVEN MORE WORTHLESS BEANIE BABIES IN MY COLLECTION THAN I HAVE WORTHLESS POSTS IN THE BEANIE BABY THREAD YET I STILL HAVE THE TEMERITY TO CRITICIZE OTHERS' COLLECTIONS

IF YOU SEE ME TALKING ABOUT BEANIE BABIES, PLEASE TELL ME TO

EAT. SHIT.


Yeah VAT is one of the more problematic parts of the EU, at it's most charitable the VAT rules are a necessary evil to prevent cross-border shenanigans. Though it's been around on the continent for a long time to the point where it would be an uphill struggle to abolish it. Maybe, possibly, just about, one could get away with arguing for a lower mandatory rate, but you'd still have to convince people to have higher income taxes and the elites to accept higher capital gains taxes to compensate.

Party Boat
Nov 1, 2007

where did that other dog come from

who is he


UKMT August 2019 - we (UK) should simply invade the Cayman Islands peacefully

goddamnedtwisto
Dec 31, 2004

If you ask me about the mole people in the London Underground, I WILL be forced to kill you
Fun Shoe

Jaeluni Asjil posted:

Adults can just wear colour-coded uniforms:


source: https://study.com/academy/lesson/5-caste-colors-in-brave-new-world.html

(I didn't know that last bit about Europe!)
Actually reminds me of what happened to my nan during WW2. Family was from large midlands city that got bombed to heck in WW2 and she and my dad and uncles (who were young kids) were evacuated to an army camp in Devon somewhere while grandad was off fighting. Nan spoke and dressed well and the army commissioned officers' wives 'allowed' her to socialize with them until the day grandad came home on leave and - horrors - was just a sergeant at which point they cut her dead.

Sumptuary laws existed in England until the Georgian era, and it was basically lobbying from the new clothing industry that got rid of them.

Josef bugman
Nov 17, 2011

Pictured: Poster prepares to celebrate Holy Communion (probablY)

This avatar made possible by a gift from the Religionthread Posters Relief Fund

Party Boat posted:

UKMT August 2019 - we (UK) should simply invade the Cayman Islands peacefully

HA!

Also, sorry for misspelling "Cayman"!

Gonna be honest here folks, not feeling my best atm. I am still on the waiting list for therapy but have been for about a year. Alongside that, does anyone else think about killing themselves every day? It's become such a regular drum beat inside my head that I barely even notice it, but then I'm around normal folks and suddenly realise "Oh nooo, this isn't how folks usually feel"

OwlFancier
Aug 22, 2013

It's gotten less pronounced of late but yes, once you get into the habit it's hard to get out of.

A Buttery Pastry
Sep 4, 2011

Delicious and Informative!
:3:

OwlFancier posted:

I would suggest that if you're proposing making people spend, say, most of their time not working and also eliminating work-related social groupings, economic and otherwise, that's a pretty radical change away from the current effects of specialized labour which are to divide people both economically and socially.

And while it would likely help to promote people caring about each other, that itself is still a bit of a patch over the material lack of accountability between different groups. Possibly a sufficient one and certainly a model I would suggest trying where specialist labour is necessary, to mitigate its downsides, but it doesn't really get rid of the downsides.
I think my issue with your position is that it basically seems to be "specialist labour is only required for a few key tasks where society has judged that the benefits outweigh the downsides" - despite like every bit of civilization being a result of specialization - and modern technology requiring specialist knowledge every step of the way. And you can't just hand-wave technology as unnecessary consumer products, because society would still need to be just as specialized to create and maintain medical and other technology that you've identified as an important part of your ideal society.

I don't really disagree as such with the idea that it has downsides, but I think you're severely underestimating the upsides. (For a given value of upsides, given that someone might argue quite convincingly that human civilization is a blight upon the universe.)

Junior G-man
Sep 15, 2004

Wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma


Josef bugman posted:

Gonna be honest here folks, not feeling my best atm. I am still on the waiting list for therapy but have been for about a year. Alongside that, does anyone else think about killing themselves every day? It's become such a regular drum beat inside my head that I barely even notice it, but then I'm around normal folks and suddenly realise "Oh nooo, this isn't how folks usually feel"

I used to have it about once a day or so, mainly when standing on tube or train platforms. It's a terrible loving feeling.

Wish I had anything better or more sensible to say than it really does get better. My best advice I can give is to spend as much time as you can outside - I used to walk at least 10-20km a day in the park or something and the fresh air and seeing biodiversity and life really kept me sane.

Feel better man.

Chuka Umana
Apr 30, 2019

by sebmojo

Josef bugman posted:

HA!

Also, sorry for misspelling "Cayman"!

Gonna be honest here folks, not feeling my best atm. I am still on the waiting list for therapy but have been for about a year. Alongside that, does anyone else think about killing themselves every day? It's become such a regular drum beat inside my head that I barely even notice it, but then I'm around normal folks and suddenly realise "Oh nooo, this isn't how folks usually feel"

Try seeing someone who can prescribe medication. It won’t fix everything, but it may put you on a good footing until you get into seeing a therapist.

OwlFancier
Aug 22, 2013

A Buttery Pastry posted:

I think my issue with your position is that it basically seems to be "specialist labour is only required for a few key tasks where society has judged that the benefits outweigh the downsides" - despite like every bit of civilization being a result of specialization - and modern technology requiring specialist knowledge every step of the way. And you can't just hand-wave technology as unnecessary consumer products, because society would still need to be just as specialized to create and maintain medical and other technology that you've identified as an important part of your ideal society.

I don't really disagree as such with the idea that it has downsides, but I think you're severely underestimating the upsides. (For a given value of upsides, given that someone might argue quite convincingly that human civilization is a blight upon the universe.)

I think I would agree more that it has very good upsides when modern society is not on course to kill millions of people because people barely notice it's happening, because through nations and classes and the atomization of labour we are sequestered from one another.

I don't take the view that human civilization is inherently bad, I take the view that it's the only thing capable of making value judgements so that question is kind of nonsensical, but I also take the view that it's rather hard to say that it, at present, is either good or sustainable.

Jose
Jul 24, 2007

Adrian Chiles is a broadcaster and writer
lol

https://twitter.com/tnewtondunn/status/1164246937543028737?s=20

Josef bugman
Nov 17, 2011

Pictured: Poster prepares to celebrate Holy Communion (probablY)

This avatar made possible by a gift from the Religionthread Posters Relief Fund

Chuka Umana posted:

Try seeing someone who can prescribe medication. It won’t fix everything, but it may put you on a good footing until you get into seeing a therapist.

Oh I am already on meds. 100 mg of sertraline per day. I swear London goes through so much of the stuff that the fish in the Thames must be perpetually blissed out.

Chuka Umana
Apr 30, 2019

by sebmojo
Also I should ask, is there any confirmation that’d there be a shortage of psychiatric medicines in a no deal Brexit?

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Guavanaut
Nov 27, 2009

Looking At Them Tittys
1969 - 1998



Toilet Rascal
Oh boy, issue #0002 of The Brexiteer, The Newspaper Of The Brexit Party, just arrived.

Headline: Boris' Tories CAN'T... Corbyn's Labour WON'T...
Who Do You Trust To Deliver Brexit?

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