What is so special about a rich MP?

If an MP has money and investments or income from other sources it may influence the legislation he and his party are willing to introduce. I learned DC has income from rents and understood immediately why he is unwilling to bring in any legislation to provide fair affordable rents.

Some people with power /money seem to lack empathy. Those that do have empathy are less likely to be smug gits.

The issue for me about being rich or not so much about how rich a person is but how he regards his wealth.

Does he say it's because I am so clever and worked so hard or inherited lot of money from my family and I had the forethough to send my children to expensive public schools. I deserve this. everyone else could do this if they just worked harder.

Or does the person say I am very lucky to have inherited or been in the right place at the time to get the job I have, when so many others do not get that chance and were never as fortunate in life as I have been and have had to face difficulties I have not. or have not .
A bit of compassion and humility goes a long way.

IQ is an artificial messure and one can 'train' to improve it if you can be bothered. A high I Q is fine but you need to match it with high emotional intelligence too. Often something lacking with people who seek power.

I dont think IQ is artificial. From what I know it seems pretty acurate.
I agree about high emotional intelligence. And previous posts too.

Now for maybe an embarassing bit.
Wealth can mean
intelligence
hard worker
useful connections especially international ones
more time to work on Government business as have a nanny/gardener etc
talking at ease with others
confidence
gravitas

I could be talking a load of rubbish!

Wealth CAN mean intelligence, but it's just as likely to be there in somebody who isn't born into wealth, ditto hard worker.The other things you mention, then yes, I would agree on.

Yes, I think I can agree about both of those rosesarered.

Why can't we give our children some, money to help them out if we can afford it without the tax man taking some of it? It has already been taxed once when we earned it

Why can't we give our children some money to help them out if we can afford it without the tax man taking some of it? It has already been taxed once when we earned it

People not born into wealth can be intelligent but they are at a disadvantage because their parents may not be able to finance their time at university. Money plus who you know is a great leg up the ladder of success.

That's changed now though hasn't it? our children had loans, and also worked through UNI, parents don't need to finance them, it's all paid back in installments ( the loan) once they are earning over a certain amount.

Did anyone see the programme, some time ago, that said that most heads of industry/ banks/ high flyers are psychopaths. As we all know, not all psychopaths are Jeffry Darmer or Ted Bundy, but they all lack empathy.
In fact, the man presenting the programme diagnosed himself as a psychopath.

^Why "A" Students Work for "C" Students and Why "B" Students Work for the Government:^;

www.amazon.com/Why-Students-Work-Government-Financial/dp/1612680763

Interesting concept.
Apparently Richard Branson says he was a C student.

You can, Janal.

waitingfortax.com/2016/04/10/david-cameron-and-inheritance-tax/

A rich MP, who actually voted on the laws that enable you to do this as well, Janal.

Some years ago I read some research which said that if you take an average child and put him with more intelligent children he will achieve more, the same applied if you put him with less intelligent children, he would achieve less.

If parents can afford to put their children into private schools with high achievements then they have an advantage and, as with church schools, the discipline is often much better. You only have to go where groups of school children are to see the difference.

Parents with more money are likely to give their children a wider experience of life, more travel, sport etc.

Does this make them better MPs or whatever?

I think we all feel our lives are 'normal' and that anyone richer than us is rich, poorer than us is poor etc. It is very hard to understand the lives of people outside our own experience so presumably that is what the staff are paid to find out and teach our MPs about.

It was interesting to read about all the MPs who come from poor backgrounds but would have been more informative if we knew what education they had. Now that around 50% of the population do to university that seems to be less of an indicator than how they got to university.

petra, are you saying that MPs might have psycopath tendancies?

Jalima, I see where you are coming from, but from experience at lease, not many 'C' grade students end up like that.

dj - the link doesnt work

harrigran - very good points.

not many 'C' grade students end up like that

Some do those, misjudged by teachers and messing around at school because they are bored stiff sitting in a classroom when they want to be doing.

though!! not those

Nobody has yet defined how rich is rich. An income of £50,000, £100,000, £1 million. Must it be earned or inherited? How much capital makes someone rich? £1 million,£10 million? Do you have to be privately educated? It is difficult to discuss the undefined.

On the subject of developed potential and social. In the 19th century working men got together to form Mechanic's Institutes, Working men's clubs where ordinary working men thirsty for education would get the best teachers. The WEA, Ruskin College, Oxford and the extra mural departments that many universities used to have all sprang for this demand from working people for access to education. A significant number of miners sons (mainly) and other men of humble origins got to university like that. I went to a mainly engineering and science based university college in the 1960s and at least half the male students, including DH had working class background.

The question we need to ask now is why the more affluent classes who, previously were less interested in education became to keen on it and why those from working class back grounds have thrown away the culture of education and replaced it with a culture of being proud to be ignorant.

I think it is the opposite - the working classes value education a lot more[this is dpeaking generally]. I think this is because traditional manufacuting industries have been in decline for several decades now.

definition of rich - good question.
For me, being able to afford private education for a couple of children quite comfortably. Earned or inherited? Either.

obieone it's a very broad spectrum. As I said, not all psychopaths are killers.
It wouldn't surprise me at all if all our MPs took the test that some would be found. The classic common denominator is, the lack of empathy. Think of all the world leaders past and present and who do you think would fit that disription

The link worked for me, obieone. Try again.

If you can't get it to work, it's on here. The link to Jolyon Maugham.

www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2016/04/10/david-camerons-tax-disclosure-a-story-but-maybe-not-the-whole-one/

Thanks. I can read it now.