…the Labour leadership think they’ve worked out why they lost the election:
And if they and their supporters continue to feel that way, they’re already well on track to losing the next one too.
Mo’ money, mo’ corruption
Let’s preface this with a couple of statements setting out my stall, shall we?
I’m not one of those people that believes that I shouldn’t have to pay tax. I recognise that tax is necessary in order for this country to function and for services to be delivered to me and everyone else.
That said, I’m well aware that this country would function much better, and that more services could be delivered to more people if a percentage of that tax money was not going straight into the back pockets of corrupt individuals across the various sectors of government in SA.
The problem is that the consequent shortfall in revenue is dealt with in three main ways: borrowing more money, cutting back services, and thinking up more and more ways to tax the population.
None of these are good things.
What should be happening is that corruption should be being eradicated. But that’s not happening and that’s why I was even more annoyed to hear that the next thing to be taxed is my Adobe subscription.
South Africa has imposed a tax on e-services, which includes software subscriptions.
So that’s an extra 15% on my Lightroom and Photoshop – a subscription that is already more expensive because it’s priced in USD, and the exchange rate has disintegrated to utter crap because of the way that this country is being run.
“Cancel your subscription then,” I hear you exclaim, conveniently ignoring the issues that I am trying to raise here. And hey, I could, but then I wouldn’t be able to work, and I would pay a whole lot less tax.
That wouldn’t be good for the overall fiscus, but it would be better for me.
I wouldn’t be able to eat either though. And if I died, I wouldn’t be able to pay any tax at all (once my meagre estate had been divvied up, that is), so in the medium and long term, no-one benefits.
Least of all me.
Never mind that taxing of “e-services” is a massive own goal, effectively limiting access to literally thousands of services for those least able to afford them.
Look, I can afford this, but of course, I’d rather not be paying it. It limits my income, and I will have to pass on these costs to my employers when I next bill them. And they’ll pass that on to their customers, so the ordinary guy in the street loses out in the end.
I don’t have a choice about paying though – it’s imposed by computers way before the actual subscription gets to me. I also don’t have a choice about how it gets spent – or pilfered – and that irritates the hell out of me.
New fone, who dis?
The battery has died/is dying on my Xperia. It’s now only as good as any other phone. And it gets a bit hot while it’s doing it. I’ve moved on to a Huawei that fell off the back of a Guru. It’s my first non-Sony phone since 2005.
New territory then, but the initial impressions are good. It’s pacey, has a few nice features, and is cool enough to hold while you’re using it. A couple of annoying things too, but nothing terrible.
Setting up has taken a while, despite everything being backed up on my Google account, but we’re up and running now. In fact, I’m even writing this post on it. Lovely.
Several gigs of photos and music will download overnight, and aside from connecting it to my car and the bluetooth speakers by the braai tomorrow, we’re all done.
I’m looking forward to trying out the camera(s) out over the next few days and weeks. Watch this space, I guess.
A gentle day
A gentle day today, after last night’s enjoyable festivities. A nap, a couple of beers, a bit of work in the garden and some football on the couch.
Tomorrow, the shops await,which won’t be anywhere near as much fun.
Look out
It’s the football end of year dinner this evening, an event I prepared for by waking up early and driving some Scouts to a wet campsite outside Wellington. I have had to watch some football this afternoon to recover from the traffic on the way home.
Anyway, this evening promises to be every bit as boozy as you might expect, so an early post tomorrow seems unlikely. There will, however, definitely be a post. It may just consist of grunts and vague vowel sounds.
Woo. Let’s party.