London: The Dirty Money Laundry
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- Опубликовано: 15 сен 2024
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One mad thing you forgot to mention is that the City of London elections give votes to the businesses in Square Mile based on the number of employees they have. The companies have about double the votes than the actual residents have and thus naturally dominate the elections. Mad that this all happens out in the open.
voting is already scam, if voting could actually make any kind of actual change you wouldn't be allowed to do it.
what the fuck
A fine tradition in Hong Kong where corporate votes outweigh people
Thats some bullshit
Do you know where I can find more info on this? Can't seem to find anything
That last line is a brutal assessment of modern society: "Tax means nothing to these people. Tax is something the little people need and the middle people pay."
It's all true, except there is no middle class - meaningless term that doesn't tell you anything about individual's relation to economy, it's just relative amount of wealth a person have in given economy, but this cannot be defined and is not definable by any serious metric or analysis. It's stands to reason there are only two kinds of people: those who work and produce shit for money, and those who steal the surplus from workers, the owners, the upper class. By that fact only, only the upper 1% are not working class, they own and run things.
@@iachtulhu1420 I'll agree with you there.
@@iachtulhu1420 People are always going on about black vs white or women vs men etc when the reality is the elite only see rich people and poor people... if you are poor its your fault.
everyone needs taxes, its not "something little people need". Things like NHS are relevant to everyone, they become the only otpion for "little people" just because they are underfunded and private options are not accesible. its not because there are some poeple who inherently dont need them
taxes have only ever been to keep people poor
9 years is pretty old for a chimney sweep, I only hire 4 year old ones, they can get into all the tiny places.
You hire yours?
@@redundantfridge9764 I only pay mine a copper for a weeks work.
Wait you guys pay them?
When's Stellaris getting the Taxation expansion?
back then hunger was a bit more common, current 9 year olds are about twice the size.
You're doing an important thing a lot of people forget to do: you accept the ugly parts of history and current reality of your country and are not afraid of speaking out about it. This is true patriotism.
To be fair, I don't think anyone hate the British more than the British do.
@@PenguinLord10 just in case your comment sparks a wild fight as it happens sometimes and the original thread gets lost in the process: it's kinda true for any nation innit. But it takes a bit of courage to bring it up to outsiders
@@PenguinLord10 I think the irish catholics would have a few words on that
@@PenguinLord10 half the world honestly.
Hating on Britain is the most patriotic thing British people can do
So here's fun. I had a look into the number of homeless people in London, and the number of empty properties in London, and it turns out you could give every single homeless person in London two properties, and you'd still have a load left over.
Re blimps, you might want to look at Cardington in Bedfordshire, there's a couple of hangars there.
He just says we could
@@notreally2406 And who's to say the homeless wouldn't contribute to society either if they were given a stable platform in which to build their lives instead of some Billionaire nonce using it to launder money?
@@notreally2406 why are you so triggered by that? lol
Why not make those homes available to those who don’t leech off society or constantly walk around with their hand out?
@@notreally2406 why not you?
Because, assuming that you are working, based on what you said, you can find means to live somewhere.
That's why not.
I'm mortgaged up and paying endless taxes, but I certainly don't think that puts me in any higher standing than homeless people.
We are all just people. Food, shelter and water are necessities to live.
The fact you have Internet access and some sort of device to utilise that access shows that you already have luxuries in life.
I’ve lived in London for a year, and will never understand the dismissive arrogance of Londoners to “tax dodging Irish” when the city is built on tax dodging.
But shouldnt Irish pay tax like everyone else lol, sure theirs some rich farts not paying tax but shouldnt both the rich farts and ''tax dodging'' Irish pay tax
@@TheIndieGamesNL Cheers for the civil reply! Yeah it was a moral abdication the Irish played with the Dutch, Luxembourgs and Swiss to see who could attract US businesses (“well if I don’t do it, someone else will!”). Thankfully they eventually raised the tax to 15% for all countries, at which point the US firms stayed thanks to the EU access, native English-speaking populace and high university graduation rate.
The problem I personally have with London (not the U.K.) is the Etonian elite using the city as an international money laundering hub while proclaiming a warped moral high ground that harms their own people. I wish Brits would rise up against London’s corruption but now that I’ve been here for two years I understand the apathy that most feel to a problem that is so embedded and which the government continues to nurture.
Being the place that allows dodging means receiving money, having another place do it means losing money
@@faded_ink3545 not to say you are wrong but when do they claim they have the moral high ground?
Yup this area is a bank of a different kind and the surrounding areas of Berkshire surrey is where they all live guards on their doorstep having escaped countries where they would have been sliced and diced having stolen the riches of their countries
You can really feel the genuine anger and frustration in this one. Cuts close to home, but all stuff that needed to be said. Well done.
Half of it is nonsense and I'd blame that on his "passion". It's sad watching him fall victim to this kind of childish politics. this could have been presented without ramming his own politics into it.
@@stevepickford3004 statements of fact arent politics
@@alexshand7592 OK. Erm, thanks for that?
@@stevepickford3004 what political points were made?
@@AveSequoia He's probably a rich pissant who inherited shit load of cash from his daddy and is mad this kind of bs is being exposed
"Don't let the bastards grind you down" feels particularly apt on this video.
Great content as always! 💜
*nolo bastardo carborundum* was carved in marble somewhere, but it is probably tucked away in the British Museum
Having lived in London for 2 years, I have to say I feel your pain. The place was bloody expensive, full of regulations and dominated by finance people. I’ll be surprised if there are still going to be a middle and lower class living in the bounds of London in 30 years.
Born and bred in a rough part of London (the suburbs) and I’m from a struggling family and we struggle to get by everyday, where we live, I’m so used to living in the nitty and gritty part of London, old council estates, pubs and whatnot, now that’s becoming a distant memory with how things have changed, which isn’t really a bad thing but it is if you can’t afford to live locally to your family anymore or you’ve been kicked out to another house by the council due to demolition of an estate; wherever you go where I live, you’ll see homeless people, food banks and when you walk around the corner, you’ll see people carrying bags of high designer clothes, sports cars, the lot. It does feel weird sometimes but I'm used to it; I do feel as if the rich and poor divide is getting far worse where I live but this is because of how the local council have treated tenants and owners on neglecting their flats and homes to only kick them out and move them elsewhere which quite possibly be worse off to build flats that aren't even affordable.
There will be a LOT of lower class. People need to run the coffee shops.
You can be sure they will be mostly foreign though.
They'll have to start paying more in taxes unless they want to live in a cesspit. Won't be able to afford the train in to Clean the streets otherwise
@@user-ug8wx5er1w you want a brick with that coffee?
-hahhaa
30 years that’s so cute you think there will be a 30 years from now
Ordinary Guy always makes my day. Mentioned your TedTalk in a class presentation the other day and the feedback was incredible. Your videos are unmatched in quality, and your writing is incredible. You are the best.
yea
Wait he has a TedTalk? Um...yes, please! Where?
Ordinary Fella has done a TedTalk?!
Your comment is very relatable. I spent the previous summer watching his videos
@@DoctorZomboo ruclips.net/video/I5rhU3U63C8/видео.html
The way you walked out in the end said it all. I can honestly say that this video is so well put together and well documented and you truly had a personal passion for this this was very personal for you.
this this
Excellent video! I am a Londoner, I’ve loved my city since the day I was born and knowing that this shit is happening right on my doorstep is so depressing, you can see the inequality whenever you go to certain boroughs and the wealth disparity is disgusting
"City of London is not London".
And whilst the British monarchy exists... there will be corners on every part of the planet that legalising financial manipulation and greed is allowed. The monarchy needs to go.
We should get ALL THE MONEY in a pile and then divide it by population and give it out ....thats fair
Welcome to Earth, enjoy your stay.
That would be an open invitation to all the snake oil salesmen.@@Gianfranco_69
New Yorker here. So many points about the decay of London apply to my hometown; the foreign interference in real estate, tax avoidance of bankers, massive homelessness problem, etc. It's like the elite in both cities have no idea their actions are completely unsustainable and will eventually harm themselves.
P.S. I'm happy you included Delaware on the list of shady tax havens, it is literally the only reason the state exists. It's very fitting it was the first state admitted into the union.
will it though? because since it began in the 70s thousands and thousands have lived lives, gotten rich, had the best of everything ect while everywhere else suffered
@@mikemcmike6427 it’s different when the people who have those luxuries don’t even live in the city and hoard real estate as capital. The number of people who remain will not be enough to manage the bloated bureaucracy the city of that size needs to operate day to day. Then again that is probably the plan all along, so maybe my argument is wishful thinking.
We have Reagan and Thatcher and their neoliberal policies to thank for the decline of western civilisation.
Oh, they fucking know, they just also know where to hide once it finally goes south, dodging the shit off the fan.
@@blackranger7597 I’m not justifying don’t get me wrong. I’m simply commenting on him saying “it will eventually harm themselves”
They have been able to live their full lives unharmed harming everyone. It’s like the argument “dictators eventually get justice”
No they don’t: they often live great wealthy lives.
I’ve lived in London my whole life and have always wondered why I’d hardly ever see anyone enter or leave those white pillar houses. Makes sense now.
Same here, London born and its been a mystery.
People do live there, it's just that they are like 3 flats in one. There is one in Bayswater that's fake though
You may want to disclose that Honey is basically a privacy nightmare and will track everything you do. With an unknown op sec so their own data may not be secured so well.
The overall quality of your stuff is really exceeding itself every new video I see man. Love it. Keep it up.
NPC_843: “Wow, friend. Your content is brilliant and getting more brillianter with each new video. “
_patiently watching the likes pile up for dopamine fix_
@@oldmandoinghighkicksonlyin1368 waaaa waaaaa
Feel like I've seen this exact comment on at least one other good creator's videos
yea
@@GodDidMeWrong Haha, made you pay attention to me.
_dopamine fix +1_
I live in San Diego, CA and we feel so many of these same issues with investors from around the world gobbling up trillions in property to use as tax skirts. The global elite are making cities around the world completely unlivable.
I definitely feel for you, I was born and raised in SD and even during those times these issues were noticeable but currently it's a wasteland. I will say these foreign property owners are only part of the problem, there are just too many people in California. The U.S. moving away from production so hard drove people to massive coastal cities which allowed these predatory practices to thrive. I hope the U.S. will soon have a resurgence of people returning to live in the rest of our massive country.
So agree. California is sorely mismanaged and doesn't lift a finger to try and solve its unsustainable population. It's sad to see the homeless population grow every year and all that happens is the people in the city complain more. Smh
Well, it's time to lower the value with shooting blanks in the air.
Born and raised in the Bay Area, I know the pain very well.
And then they will want us to all shoot at each other to sort it all out while they collect on their investments in the defense industry.
Bro imagine if politicians were held to the same standard as claimants of universal credit.
imagine if politicians were held accountable
@@isuckatusernames4297 Congrats, that's the joke.
We need to start calling all politicians Snaskfarfar
I was just starting to get interested in this topic, the fact that London is the money laundering capital of the world is such an unknown and important fact, thank you for this
@Ty Bey Of course, why do you think the Netherlands and the large majority of Scandinavian countries enjoy such great social programs at a relatively low cost? These are the great neutral zones, where the far right and far left come together to launder money.
@@somedogsarecops2354 or maybe they just have less population and spend their money accordingly, they are also historically neutral nations, hence no need to build up military industrial complex. Which is more likely, they just spent their money more fiscally safe and have less political gridlock, or that a secret wing of politics is making the Netherlands markets able to be a laundering nation? I think it’s option A
It's clearly option B. The Dutch real estate market is equally idiotic to the London real estate market. The Amsterdam Zuidas is still hiding billions of euros of Russian oligarchs just like the city of London while The Hague is making sure every country around the globe is having regulatory chill thanks to lobbying for ISDS just everywhere. Indeed there isn't that much of a MIC, but we're able to trade a lot of weaponry. Whatever the conflict might be, the Dutch are one of the first sellers out there offering something. Besides the trade, the Dutch government knows when to apply socialism pragmatically like with high quality social housing, infrastructure, agriculture and to some extent education. It isn't perfect, but it's better than London lunacy.
I like the way that you built up from mild whimsy to the anger of the overwhelmed. It is so ridiculous how that top 1% are allowed to continue to steal and not even have to pay the taxes on their ill-gotten gains.
"Heads were mostly hatted" is better than any Charles Dickens description of London lol. Great video, I love snark / sarcasm especially when it's backed up by really sound observations and research! Your writing is top notch and you have a great sense of humor.
It's tough balancing humor with facts, so you do a really good job moving things along without it seeming too flippant or shallow.
cannot agree more, another great video
Dickens was definitely the master of "London is grey and I hate it"
Best review I've seen in his comment section. Couldn't agree more.
Sort of the opposite to "He who is tired of London is tired of life".@@Brib8888
Mentioning the British overseas territories, but not the crown dependencies is a miss. I'm from Guernsey and we're notorious for being a tax haven, all the major international firms have offices on these tiny islands and genuinely half the work force is employed in finance. Our COL is comparable to London, on a tiny island in the channel. It drives out young educated people like myself and stifles out development as aside from hiding some ultra wealthy geriatric Russian bastard's money, there's little other to do. It's just depressing
Same here on the Isle of Man. Finance and E-Gaming are our biggest financial sectors, and the place is awash with foreign money. Makes it almost impossible for young people who want to call the island home to, you know, actually afford a home here.
@@qwrhggnhmeut "e-gaming", you mean online gambling.
by e-gaming you mean gambling and scam companies yes?
Ayyy Alderney gang here
ok
Your script writing and way of forming sentences is absolutely unmatch in my opinion. And it's f****** hilarious.
He's going bigger and bigger with his topics in each video and I'm all for it.
Incredible video! This must have been really hard to put together but it turned out really well. If you're interested, the London legal system has a similar story to the finance system. I'd love to see an oligarch video from you someday (look into Eurasia too- it's fascinating) but I also love your more ordinary things. Looking forward to learning about blimps!
sup lil bro
I heard about Turkish Oligarchs in The Simpsons & really only assumed Russia was Earth's only Oligarchy but now I'm curious if there's others that qualifiy
@@IvanVKlik underrated comment
@@shonenjumpmagneto Oligarchs is the name for what Americans call Big Business, nowadays they're everywhere.
@Teti Rohayati wtf
Always thought Ordinary Things was under-rated but everyone needs to see this. Amazing work, please keep it up
Hey, my great grandfather committed tax evasion leaving my family to fend for themselves, we’re still friends with the extended family he made there. I don’t dislike him but learning more about what he did explains the grudge my family has.
That is a crazy story. Write a book about it, I’d read.
@@PartnershipsForYou I would but unfortunately I have little information since it’s a touchy subject, even my grandma who knows the most people in my family didn’t know a lot about him since my grandad refused for her to meet him. I know he was a womaniser, a gambler and a fraudster but I only know my great grandmas side of the full story.
I assume you're based in London. So many naturally classic backdrops and you took full advantage along with good creative green screening for other locations. I also feel I have a better grasp on exactly HOW the "british empire" continues to suck the blood of the world even while retaining almost no overseas territory. Shadowy. Good work.
That's an easy answer, they're cozy with America
I wish he would do an episode on the IIMF and the World Bank. They're two international institutions founded after WW2 that extort poor and developing by countries by forcing them to privatize their industries, open up trade barriers and give beneficial treatment to western corporations in exchange of predatory loans that end up in the pocket of corrupted oligarchs. Without a developed economy or a comparative advantage to effectively compete in the global market, these countries become completely dependent on western economies to survive and we can exploit their labor and resources for pennies on the dollar. This is why manufacturing is so much cheaper overseas, it's why their regulations are so laxed and their taxes non existent. It's why Coca cola and Nestle can use slave labor to make their products and know for a fact that the local government won't do anything about it. It's why t shirts that cost 30$ in the west can be made for 15 cents in Africans sweat shops.
Since ww2, this was mostly a western thing. America did it a lot in Latin America and Britain and France leveraged their remaining influence in Africa to do it there. Meanwhile he Soviet Union couldn't use capitalism to build an empire and so their relied on direct political and military control. However recently, China has been getting in on it, offering incredibly predatory loans to poor south asian countries only to extort concessions out of them when they inevitably default on those loans.
@@visassess8607 an answer to what? they didn’t ask a question.
THE UK HAS 17 OVERSEAS TERRITORIES & DEPENDENCIES LOL.
"almost no overseas territory" lololol
@@puddleglum9179 This is some true gaming.
This video just happens to be amazing context for my study abroad trip to London! I watched it first before I left home, and a second time once I'd been here a while and seen all the things you talk about for myself. You bring up many things that the average tourist would never notice nor think about. I'll never see this place in the same way (although I can separate the truth of the matter from my enjoyment of visiting somewhere new and different).
I've always wondered what it must be like to live in such a touristy city. I thought people must be annoyed all the time. When I went to Paris this was proven true, however I went to London right after and, if people were annoyed, they didn't show it at all. Everyone was extremely helpful even if it was an inconvenience to them. It's one of my favorite memories from that trip.
This is typical in Paris. Once you leave the city you'll meet a load of wonderful people (not that all Parisians are bad, but allot hate tourists) . This is such a noted thing that there is even a wikipedia page on it..
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris_syndrome
Hillariously a french man visiting Italy coined a similar syndrome which was caused by a place being overwhelmingly beautiful
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stendhal_syndrome
I think another thing about London is its very big, cant comment on Paris but as someone from London I rarely encountered tourists. I think the tourism industry/areas here are very separated from the places people actually live.
I think its also we're used to them, I don't even notice tourists, cant get annoyed if you don't notice them :P
Yes Paris is a very strange place. Would not revisit.
If London is like NYC, i’m assuming you could avoid areas where your most likely to see tourists because the city is fairly large and because there’s so many ppl it’s a little rare to meet a tourist over an actual city dweller. It’s only annoying when tourists do actually annoying things.
I used to live in Honolulu. The only thing that ever annoyed me was I never wanted to go to the beach that was 5 minutes from my house because it was crowded 24/7. Everyone there is really nice though.
As a Belgian I always loved to cross the North Sea and visit the UK multiple times each year. I had fallen in love with certain aspects of the culture and my visits to London were always highlights. As beautiful as the city can be in certain buroughs, I had never felt more alienated than when I found myself in Canary Wharf. Basically an artifical island, loaded with skyscrapers and yuppies. I went to see a game of football in the only sports bar on the island, and apart of having been the only one not dressed in thousand-dollar clothing, I heard some of the business execs who went there for a pint after a long day of work talking about how it's 'just some bad luck' that they just lost the 300K they bet on Arsenal or whatever.
Like your video states, I feel London is in the grip of a group of individuals so wealthy and disassociated from everyday working-class life, that it dwarves the charm of some of the more cultural things the city has to offer. I sometimes wonder if there even is a middle class in London, because all I'd seen recently were either loaded yuppies, or dirt-poor beggars, hardly an inbetween. I often wonder what London would look like if the billions of pounds in avoided taxes were to be actually spent on city infrastructure or social programs.
Anyway, thanks for another great video. Your wit and investigative qualities are unparalleled on this platform, and I get only the best of dopamine rushes when I see your captivating mug pop up in my subscription box. I hope you keep going strong and wish you luck with whatever video you're working on next.
It’s utterly gutting to me to know that I’m not going to ever be able to afford to live in the city I grew up in.
@@pastlife960 same but I think that’s the case for a lot of people especially if gen Z or Y.
@@pastlife960 Just inherit your parents home
@@zerohero5753 JuSt InHeRiT… oh of course, why didn’t I think of that!? My parents can’t afford to keep it so we’re selling it. Turns out times are tough for everyone.
@@zerohero5753 So to alleviate a personal tragedy you recommend holding out for a personal tragedy? Neither of my parents even own a house
Dane here, the same is slowly happening to Copenhagen, not at all in the same scale, but in the last ten years, the house pricing and amount of newly build "Luxury" apartments have gone up insanely high
Could've also extended on how this tax havens are also a huge factor of capital flight and poverty in the third world, and how they play a part in the general flow of wealth from third world countries to first world countries (UK is not the only one playing this game)
Go look up the Vancouver Canada average house price vs average income. It's so much worse than London, New York, and San Francisco.
Yep, people always call those places underdeveloped, but it's not that, they are being over-exploited.
@@Peglegkickboxer the Chinese are to blame for that
That is the most stupid stament that I have ever read, after that Welfare State is something better than vampirism.
@@overbeb There is no such thing as overexploitation, just waful run countries and corruption.
LOVING the videos Ordinary Things!!!! The cost of living IS indeed going bananas. My family have lived in London and my family's family before that (Besides a few decades where they were forcibly relocated during the Blitz). They have always been Londoners, even the Irish and French ancestry from migrants who WANTED to live in London. I don't see how I can continue to live here. It's a great shame and I can't help but feel hollow when I see the level of tax evasion by the richest in this city. Anyway...Recommendations on cheap places to live (in the UK mind you) would be welcome haha.
Anywhere up norf really
Could you explain the "even the irish and french ancestry from migrants who wanted to live in London" part? I don't get it
from what i understand their family used to be migrants before living generations in london. the family was irish and french before living in london, and even they wanted to live there.
@@mavymagdowney9798 aaa, okay. Thank you a lot! ^^
Small correction: The Queen doesn't need to ask permission to enter TCOL(plc). I mean, she does generally need to "phone ahead", but this is the same for everywhere, as the local police will tend to be involved in security arrangements, so moving across police jurisdictions will usually involve making arrangements with the police in each of the jurisdictions.
These legal and financial rituals is what is giving me an incredible anxiety and the biggest confusion in my life. There are so many regulations, laws, tax rules in place that the ordinary person would need to read several books just to become familiar with them and need to hire at least 3 lawyers not to make a mistake. A single minor mistake in the ritual can, in the best case, end up as a lifelong indebtedness and life of a slave. Like how did we go from hunting and worshiping forest spirits to being yuppies and feeling happy when the stonks go up.
For the average person? An odd two thousand years of increasing layers of civilization and then a massive boost of complexity and layers of obsfucation as the industrial revolution and modern financial system formed.
It's been a while since people haven't been in some kind of system - and for a good majority of that, being a poor freemen (as opposed to a wealthy freemen) has often been worse than a productive serf. All about control.
I imagine there were a couple steps in between
We will eat them for breakfast while they’re sleeping when the time comes
The production quality is improving every video and the topics are becoming more and more political. I think it's very impressive how you link information together because, especially in political-historical context, it's not simply about facts but mainly what fact is connected with which reasoning and influence. Considering that these connections are blurred and being blurred constantly, you are doing fantastic work. I'm excited for every upload man
Everything is related to politics and money.
Everything is political because the rot and disease of inequality, capitalism, and exploitation have infiltrated every corner of society
Including religion?
(Face palm) What a stupid question!@@TheModdedwarfare3
You're doing something very real and meaningful with this content, it's strangely uplifting despite the subject matter usually being kind of depressing.
beautifully written as always. idk if youre gonna see this, but i love your content man. the hard work you put in really shows. also kudos to you for the bits you film in public spaces, especially the one at 12:38 lol
Great video! I had no clue that major governments and corporations had ever made _any_ attempt to hide corruption! I never thought governments and corporations had learned or would ever learn their lesson. At last, my faith in humanity has been restored. :)
I say this everytime but honestly you have to be one of the funniest creators on this measily website. lots of love xxx
18:10 this dude laughs like he's only ever read about laughter in books
Really glad you've been able to keep up this pace in terms of putting out videos. Love it. Thank you.
I came for the jokes, ended up learning about an ordinary thing. Thanks ordinary things!
BLIMPS ARE SO COOL I'm excited to see you make a video about them! Always wanted to learn more about them in a more entertaining way, looking forward to it!
12:55 - When you say “…You’ll see that the rich are still living off the backs of the little guy” and those two bourgie yuppies walk past you and DEFINITELY hear you - - That moment was *ART* 🤌💋💥
they don’t seem “rich”
@@UnderscoreZeroLP How do the ''rich'' look like then?
@@Hana9916 dont confuse a good salary with rich. Rich people are usually older, better groomed and much better clothed. Rich means you dont GAF about taxes because you live off of multiple millions of pounds worth of appreciating assets
@@UnderscoreZeroLPAlso, they certainly wouldn't just walk around the block, even if they did live there.
Surprised he didn't bring up that the EU started working on financial transparency measures that might have cracked down on this shortly before Brexit *mysteriously* started being discussed and campaigned for.
Exactly. Brexit only benefits the elites who have tricked us people into believing that the EU is bad
This is happening in Canada too. it seems to be a common trend for commonwealth countries, focused around their lifeless marketable cities.
Man this is so based. Excellent job compiling such complex systems.
Don't ruin the word based u anime gobbling manchild sandn*****
Based on what?
@@DAEDRICDUKE1 based means popular opinion
@@doneylopsy6296 on the contrary. urban dictionary gives a pretty good actual definition
@@DAEDRICDUKE1 based on owning the libs
"All the money you made will never buy back your soul" - Beff Jezos
A core memory I have of London is having to pass a booth where I was asked you if I "would like to" donate 20 pounds before you could enter. Just have a entrance fee ffs.
Yo, I've never heard my city described in such accuracy 'til just now. Cheers.
It’s ALWAYS a good day when OT uploads. Can’t get enough!
PLEASE COME BACK!!! Found your channel last week and have binge watched all of your videos. Your content and writing skills are underrate. Phenomenal work. 🤗
You're the only youtuber I don't skip the in-video sponsor, as its so funny.
I am more and more convinced that the entire issue of today's price hikes and issues on the house market are entirely due to tax evading mega trusts/corporations/billionaires/oligarchs/younameit. I'm perfectly okay with paying taxes, it's how we support eachother more effectively and get the best things done, but if those billions of dollars are never taxed, everything will collapse eventually. We can only hope that when it all collapses, the resulting legislation gets rid of tax evasion
I am not okay with paying taxes.
@@ShieldSniper I think people should be allowed to not pay taxes, but then their not allowed to use public roads, send their kids to a public school, and if public healthcare becomes a full fledged thing, they wouldn't be allowed that either.
@DrVurruct the people not paying taxes right now don't need those things anyways, so they'd be more than happy not to pay for them.
@@PenguinLord10 That's the point. Taxes are needed if we want to use public services, but the filthy fucking elite do all they can to not pay it. At least the U.S. you could theoretically fight back with the second amendment, but in Britain you just have to pray someone catches them in the street with a knife.
@@drvurruct2274 the money the government uses to build the public roads is stolen. But yes I agree with you since if people could choose to pay or not to pay, the government would be more like a private company.
But of course is only fair for the roads built after you are free to choose.
Fun fact about the million Pound notes: they only exist to back Scottish and Northern Irish Pounds. While the Bank of England is by far the largest bank and largest issuer of currency in the UK, there are a few banks in Scotland and Northern Ireland that can issue their own Pound Sterling notes. To ensure their value, they have to be backed by Bank of England Pounds 1:1. There's a similar situation for most of the overseas territories, such as Gibraltar, the Falklands, and even the Crown Dependencies such as Jersey and Guernsey. A few territories, however, don't even use Pounds, such as the Cayman Islands and Bermuda, which use Dollars that are pegged 1:1 to the US Dollar.
Fun fact, the UK’s economy is over 70% financial services.
If London was independent, we’d be an entirely different country. And would probably revert to feudalism and subsistence farming in a matter of months, since we literally have no economy.
and the rest of the UK would cry joyfully "good riddance"
Propably. Like i cant name a single thing that is made in britain by a british company and exported. While just looking at the 70's almost everything was made to a sertain amount in britain.
That is completely incorrect. As OT said in the video the financial service industry makes up 10% of the UK economy and if you want to be really shocked manufacturing (which is supposedly dead) makes up close to 20% of economy.
@@k3kboi665 I'm Swedish and the only thing I've ever owned which was "Made in Britain" was a luxury soap. To be fair, it was a pretty nice soap but your manufacturing industry is really on its last legs.
@@apotato6278 well i am not english, thats why i specified "exported" but still your statement is right. My home of finland has become a true shithole again slowly after 94 and the final punch 09 now its just getting unbearable. Thinking of moving to sweden like so many fins before.
what a fucking hitpiece. great work.
honestly fascinating how (where I was in America at least) schools will teach a lot about banks and economics but always seem to cut off right about where globalism starts. thanks for filling in ordinary people on what our systems would like to omit.
"Globalism" isn't a thing though lol. This is just regular capitalism following its mandates i.e. upholding the primacy of property rights in order to better help capital chase profits.
@@devilex121 i think i was commentating more on a smaller facet of the video that touched on how some of these trades included foreign oligarchs that own the land but only occupy it for a fraction of the year. i know its practised elsewhere (my personal experience seeing a very nice empty neighborhood in NOLA) but it isn't brought up enough in my opinion.
@@chukadoo1871 this isn't capitalism being broken, this is the natural progression of capitalism. the system is working as intended. globalism or not, we're in deep bollocks.
thank u for this ! it’s so depressing when u can’t afford to live in the city you’ve grown up in. idk how they expect to have their café’s and restaurants staffed when us peasants can’t afford to live, and therefore, work here.
The quality of your videos is still going up. This video is excellent, there were a number of subjects I knew something about but you connected them and really drove home why this is such a problem. Please keep on doing stuff like this, the world needs videos like this. Seriously!
As a foreigner who lives in London, this city has good things: very cosmopolitan, you have access to cultures from all over the world and the parks are huge. But it's also ridiculously expensive and I can't wait to move to one of the smaller commuter towns (with a bit of luck if my boss allows me to wfh permanently). There are flats here that should go against the Geneva convention. Bed, kitchen and a cubicle for the fucking shower all in the same place. How are those even allowed to be rented? Rn I'm paying 1200 plus bills for a flat and the bills have doubled since I moved and the NI as well, like ordinary things said. That's why hearing these things infuriate me so much. Fuck the rich. Excellent video.
@@Reiman33 Define “English culture”.
> Loves diversity
> Can't wait to move to somewhere that's less diverse because of all the obvious and direct consequences of diversity.
@@Ma_Zhongying binge drinking?
@@Ma_Zhongying Name checks out.
@@Poonannyish Because it's too expensive and the living standard is shit, as stated????
The issue of companies holding office space and property is a problem that apparently managed to radiate from London like the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone in the 80s.
I live in New York City and it's estimated that nearly 100,000 empty "pied-a-terre" apartments exist: Vacant properties that exist solely as foreign investments that the owner will occasionally breathe the same air in. This number is included in 250,000 or so units that exist in the confines of the city of New York's boroughs that are just sitting vacant because the speculative property market refuses to lower prices, considering the average selling price for an apartment in Manhattan sits just under $2 million and the average rent sits at about $3500 (with studios at about $3000 and a 4 bedroom at $4500).
New York City has this weird unspoken rule amongst landlords that if you're renting out a unit, the renter should make roughly 40 times whatever the monthly rent is, which is made especially frustrating given that this implies that people should make minimum $120,000 in a city where the average individual yearly income is around $30,000 and the average household income sits just under $60,000.
Given NYC's estimated homeless population somewhere at 80,000-100,000, the city could potentially house all of these people more than twice over.
Gotta say, this is one of your best. Been watching regularly since early 2020, and it's been nice watching your evolution.
Honestly (and I understand this is maybe a little backhanded), I initially subscribed because I went "this guy's funny, he's essentially stolen Charlie Brooker's Wipe shtick and joke style, but I miss having new stuff of that and this guy is really good at it".
Over the time though, it's been really great to see the way you make these videos has developed. You've kept the Brooker influence, but really come in to your own and bring a lot more of your own style into it, and partly because of that, and partly because of the topic, this seems like a video that could go viral way beyond your others. More and more often now I get excited for your videos and I think that's only going to grow as this run continues.
This was awesome dude. Being from the north it's absolutely heartbreaking to see people voting for the Tories because they think immigrants are the biggest problem. I wish I could convince everyone to watch this video and realize that the biggest problems are those gits.
As an American I feel we got some of the same issues and similar parties that being said it's all a den of vipers and I'd trust the left and right about as much as I'd trust Satan
Nah immigration is partly to blame as well, it's hard to unionize when they can just replace you with a random pole who would gladly be paid twice what he's paid in Poland
Barry: "Fucking northern monkeys."
Dean: "I 'ate these fuckin' southern fairies."
_Lock, Stock, And Two Smoking Barrels._
@@My_Old_YT_Account But it's still the people in power doing the replacing. An immigrant just trying to seek a better life shouldn't be blamed for just trying to have a better life for themselves exactly the same as people in other countries. It's the fat cats who would replace you for cheaper labour that need the kicking not your fellow worker.
Conservative media is highly effective, liberal media is not.
When both sides pretend like they are playing on the same, Levelfield, yet one side has no problem breaking the rules anytime they feel like it and get away with it, the good guys will always be behind the 8-ball
The way the traders hesitate on the word "kindness" in Auld Lang Syne always gets me
I remember hearing about London being the tax haven capital of the world and being confused because I never heard about it that way. Tax havens are so stupid and it's great that most people in power choose to use them or ignore them :).
The people in power are too busy at epstein island to even acknowledge these tax havens
I love the fact that this one is currently top 20 on trending, well deserved 💯🤙
"It's something the little people need, and the middle people pay"
That's a fantastic mic drop
This was awesome
There is a video of Chinese high school on my home page. I hope you can watch it and leave a comment in the future. Thank you!(◕ˇ∀ˇ◕)
SILENCE BOT
at this point im fully convinced that your ass is a bot with all your generic ass comments that u post on other videos with hardly any difference with the others
Informative video. These tax loopholes schemed by government entities themselves are shameful. $15 billion a year is only a fraction of the budget of the UK though. I hope that there is reform on this but this will not solve many of the UK or similar problems that most developed countries face.
In france i heard it was 40 billions so wouldn’t be surprised its more
Don’t even want to try and think about amount US tax evasions totals when the irs is barely funded. Also you know that are national defense budget grows by 100million a year for no reason.
thats 15 billion that could be going towards the NHS....
Found you from the Internet Historian, and haven't stopped watching. Great content, love it))
Everytime Ordinary Things posts a new video I am filled with complete joy, because every single one of these short documentary videos is put together with so much love and well-researched, not to forget the soothing/amusing narration of the Ordinary Guy. Extremely rewatchable as well. I'm glad I found you a couple years back when you had a cameo on the Internet Historian.
I love to attempt to understand a city I've never been to before or even the country.
@@canyeeast2 amazing summary
Mark Blyth: democracy is an insurance polic for the asset owning class, the issue now is they have been skimping on their payments.
Can't wait for this channel to blow up more. Love how you edit your videos and make depressing subjects entertaining and funny.
I love seeing Ordinary Things become more based with every video
This is legitimately the best documentary on London in recent times
I lived in london for several years. Thanks for explaining why I had to pay 700 pcm for a tiny room.
Completely fascinating. I know next to nothing about finance, but you broke it down really well. Looking forward to watching more of you!
I've seen your videos in my feed, never watched til now. It's rare that I come across anyone (on or off the Internet) who's even heard of the City of London. I like your eye for history and sense of humor, so I subscribed.
You're by far one of the best story tellers on the internet. Explain stuff that should make us all livid, but make is smile at it. :)
I always get excited when you upload a new video. These are such a gem to watch. This might’ve been a stressful video to make, but you’re sharing something about your country that you want the world to know and that’s great! I had no idea about this complex fraud system that’s been going on in London till now and now I’ve gained a better understanding of why people hide money in the Cayman Islands! All very interesting stuffs.
P.s. Let’s go INGERLUND! (Couldn’t hold that one back)
spitting the door step was a good touch
Such a great video! As an American, I barely knew of any of this stuff, it was very insightful. Keep up the great work!
Great video! I am from one of these pseudo-UK jurisdictions, the island of Jersey, and yes the whole economy is built on tax evasion.
Recently it was found that Russian oligarch Abramovich and others have billions of US dollars within Trust companies in Jersey. Living on the island I have always felt a sense of guilt even though I have never contributed to the industry. It's just hard not to feel like the island exists as a sort of parasite onto the rest of the world. The island's population is 100,000. There is no logical reason why there would be billions located on this tiny island, other than tax evasion.
The living conditions there are great honestly, baring the insane housing prices. But compared to London, there's so much natural beauty and it's a very convenient place to live with it's small size, meaning if you live in town then you only have a 10-20 minute walk every morning to work.
I am living the UK now as a student and I barely have enough money to live with how expensive commuting and rent is. Part of me regrets not selling out to the finance industry on the island where I would have a comfy life, but then I watch a video like this and remember that my home's existence comes at the cost of poverty across the globe.
I don't blame people on the island, my family and friends for working in finance there, after all what other option is there except to move to another country? And everyone wants a peaceful life. It's easy to ignore the exploitation the finance industry represents when you only work as a junior administrator, disconnected from the deliberate decision to help others evade tax by executives through the means of boring, complicated company law.
I hope one day these tax loopholes will be fixed and the UK and other countries will finally see back the finances they deserve in forms of better social programs, but of course this would decimate my island, as well as the other places you mentioned like Cayman, Gibraltar etc. Whatever the future brings, it shouldn't be ignored that the UK and its empire of islands are facilitating theft.
I remember going to Jersey in 2007 on holiday (stayed on the coast of Trinity) and see the Battle of the flowers. I was only 12/13 when I went and I can still remember the beauty of it all.
I also remember looking into maybe moving there after graduating university in 2017 and instantly being horrified at the house prices even though my entire family’s from London and still lives in the Home Counties.
I hope the tax loopholes are closed soon, and you shouldn’t feel guilty for living in such a beautiful place. You’re not the one who made the loopholes and it sounds like you’d be one to actively protest against them.
I hope you have a great day, and UK uni towns can be so expensive, but I have a list of resources I used as a student that knocked so much money off of a load of things if you’d like me to pass them on to you? Good luck with your studies!
I went to an independent school and the number of people who's parents happened to live in Jersey or other tax havens like the Caymans was eye opening. Many of them were nice guys but it always made me think less of them on some level to know that they were tax skivers.
What you need to be aware of in regard to Jersey (and probably the other Channel Islands too), isn't part of the UK as such. It's 'property' of the queen, totally different concept, and probably subject to different laws and governing etc.
I've never been to Jersey but I went to Guernsey for a week or two about 20 years ago now, it was a beautiful place, lovely hidden coves and plenty of countryside. I imagined Jersey to be similar, but a fair bit more built up and busier 😎
Personally I support tax evasion. Paying tax funds war. Not paying tax funds meals for your family.
@@elias_xp95 That's a pretty ignorant statement. We aren't the US , the UK spends only around 2% of the budget on the military, which is the amount they commit to spending as a part of NATO anyway which is mainly insurance against stuff like what is going on in Ukraine which seems pretty necessary. The rest goes towards maintaining the country, including the social programs that pay for the meals of people who can't afford them. Anyone for whom it is worth it to evade tax in this way does not have an issue feeding their family.
If you are taking advantage of the many advantages provided by the government including healthcare, roads, education and public order or just have basic empathy for your fellow countrymen you cannot in good conscience support tax evasion.
But hey, your name and PFP suggest that you probably aren't a very smart or empathetic person.
"A city full of bankers." Ah, I getcha. They're the real problem with London. *taps nose*
I just want to say, because this glorious 10 million worth townhouses looks nice outside, inside they are like any other house in UK, an brick sheds with 100-year-old airy windows and smelly carpets.
He’s done it, he’s made the most cynical video intro in human history
The use of Erik Satie at 12:58 is brilliant. I commend you sir.
Possibly your best work. Your detail is absolutely perfect for someone like that wants to care about these things but can never really understand them enough to really give a shit. Great job & don’t let the bastards grind you down
0:15 Maybe there is something about having a lot of tunnels that makes you love money and gold way too much. Switzerland also has a lot of tunnels and loves money just as much.
Maybe Tolkien really was onto something with the Dwarfs and Hobbits.
That last sentence hit hard. "Tax is something the little people need and the middle people pay."
Love your content! Always so fun, interesting and informative! 👍
This channel's content is gold, keep pushing it! Somehow perfectly balances insightful interesting content with just the right amount of acerbic sarcastic humor to be highly entertaining.
I moved to London 3 years ago and despite everything you said about it being true, I still love it here. Maybe that’s just because I moved here from LA, which is a considerably bigger cesspool by comparison.
You swapped sunshine for humidity?
@@ZaJaClt Weather is like the least important trait of a city for me if said weather is at least tolerable (which UK weather certainly is for me being a guy who actually prefers overcast cooler weather). The temperature and sunshine and humidity levels of LA don’t mean jack shit to me if I’m also being subjected to horrible traffic with mandatory car ownership, a mostly ugly cityscape architecturally speaking, severely unchecked homelessness that’s constantly on the rise, the near total lack of any street/sidewalk culture in most areas due to the aforementioned mandatory car ownership culture, a populace of people largely obsessed with vapid faux positivity and who predominantly are just in LA to fulfill their delusional dreams of becoming big in Hollywood, and lastly the unchecked gentrification that’s caused once interesting places to lose their identity and also cause housing and rental prices to go astronomical (even worse than London). Also I think the beach is overrated and never go there. The only good thing about LA is being to get legal marijuana, but I don’t really smoke it anymore so that’s kind of a moot point.
@@lhays117 everything you mentioned I see in London, it might be less so vivid than what you described, also why u mentioned weed? I smoked for ten years straight in London and only been stopped once, no one cares bout weed over there. The problem is the people, to truly see the people you need to be on below 21k£ annum salary.
I always walk away from an Ordinary Things video with an overwhelming sense of dread and hopelessness. Thanks Ordinary Things!
Some historians would argue that the UK's main legacy in WW2 was helping to establish Russia as a new global superpower. And then, when this left us penniless, we clawed it back by, again, assisting Russia by cleaning their dirty money.
Good effort on this one man. You did a really good job of simplifying something that is intentionally complex and obscure
Please never stop making content, your writing skills are beyond measure