The UK’s Spending Dilemma – Is Austerity the Only Answer?
The UK government is certainly in a pickle, and not a splinterland's style yaba pickle, but rather a particular pickle of UK citizens expecting a certain level of public services that the economy just won't let said government deliver....
The NHS, Welfare and Pensions all take up an ever increasing slice of the national budget year on year, and we kind of take them for granted, but maybe the stark reality is that we need to cut these services: expectations can be dashed, economic realities are harder to flex with.
The Fiscal Squeeze...
The ageing population is probably the most challenging trend... this means that there is more of a cost to the NHS and pensions every year.
Meanwhile, productivity growth remains sluggish, but just to keep up with the naturally increasing demand on the NHS and increasing pensions costs the UK would have to grow at 3% annually for the coming decades, and this is a level of growth which the UK has failed to meet in recent years.
As it stands, the only way to sustain current spending is to increase public debt, as recent research from the IFS confirms.
The IFS' arithmetic leaves policymakers with stark choices: raise taxes, cut spending, or accept rising debt.
The last few decades have seen governments relying on increasing borrowing to kick this little fiscal problem down the road, but now with perpetually higher interest rates this workaround is an increasing part of the problem itself!
Beyond Austerity: Alternatives to Slashing Spending
Austerity risks weakening the very foundations of the economy. The Resolution Foundation (2024) highlights that deep spending reductions in the 2010s contributed to weaker public services, falling living standards for some groups, and a widening gap in regional inequalities.
An alternative path might involve strategic tax reform and investment. For example, economists argue that wealth taxation could raise significant revenue without disproportionately burdening working households. The OECD has suggested that the UK’s reliance on income tax and VAT leaves room for a fairer distribution of the tax burden through property and inheritance levies.
Equally, boosting long-term productivity through green investment, skills training, and infrastructure could expand the economy’s capacity to support higher spending. While these strategies take time, they offer a way to manage pressures without dismantling key welfare protections.
Final Thoughts...
Britain cannot indefinitely spend more than it earns.
The reality is that Britain faces a fiscal storm that demands long-term thinking from policymakers – not just the blunt instrument of austerity!
A well-rounded strategy that incorporates smart tax changes and boosts in productivity might lead to lasting growth while still keeping important services intact.
https://www.reddit.com/r/EU_Economics/comments/1nqcj02/the_uks_spending_dilemma_is_austerity_the_only/
This post has been shared on Reddit by @davideownzall through the HivePosh initiative.
As the government becomes a larger percentage of the economy, it starts to represent a larger portion of economic growth. Before too long, the only meaningful way to grow the economy is to grow government spending. It starts to extract more and more wealth from an increasingly smaller percentage of the economy. Increasing wages and productivity matters less and less as anything earned increasingly gets siphoned off to the government.
Austerity might be a bad option. But increasingly taking from the economy is far worse in the long term.
I can't help but feel that we need a Musk style DOGE audit on gov spending.
A Trump style drill baby drill
Some of it needs looking at for sure!
Shouldn't this be titled "Hive Spending Problem"?
Well maybe there are parellels!
I was reading an article in New Internationalist recently that made me realise how little I know about economics. It was about funding public services and how you don't really need taxes for that as the government can just print the money, but then you need to control inflation. It's all a balancing act. I think we used to tax the rich more, but they seem to have used their influence to roll that back. It's definitely not simple to fix.
National Economics and public finances can get a bit mythical - but printing money just = inflation!
But they do it anyway. Wasn't that quantitative easing?
We have a lot of elderly people at the moment, I think we're peak boomers, but that bulge disappears in about twenty years, when we move into a deficit. I think then we will have a different problem, more like Japan, with a declining population. I agree we need some long-term thinking, because we need to be putting things in place now that prevent a declining birthrate happening.
And there's no such planning In place at all! 20 yr plan no chance from this lot - just lurching day to day!
What do you think the problem is? What I've just said is not a secret. Are they so mesmerised they can't put together a coherent story?
Marky you can't delete the facts Mc Franko & Keni Find freedom on #blurtblog #blurtchain #blurt
In the beginning, there was hope.
A dream:
That value could be created by anyone.
That power could be decentralized.
That a post, a vote, a creation —
Could rise or fall on its own merit.
But Dreams do not kill systems.
Corruption does.
And corruption has found its perfect form:
The scam farm —
A ghost in the machine,
Wearing the mask of curation,
Feeding on trust,
Rewarding loyalty,
Punishing honesty.
It does not build.
It extracts.
It does not serve.
It controls.
And if you are new to this world —
If you speak truth, post honestly, expect fairness —
You will be broken.
Unless you learn to see.
So here, in plain language,
Is how to spot the scam farm.
Not with rumors.
Not with hate.
But with observation,
With logic,
With the cold light of the blockchain.
1. No Original Content — Only Engagement
The first sign:
They create nothing.
No posts.
No art.
No analysis.
No music.
Only votes.
Only comments.
Only reaction.
They are not users.
They are operators.
Like a drone circling a field, they move from post to post — upvoting allies, downvoting dissenters, farming rewards like a machine.
Ask:
What have they built?
If the answer is nothing —
Then they are not contributing.
They are consuming.
2. 24/7 Curation Rewards — The Machine Never Sleeps
The second sign:
Non-stop reward accumulation.
Real curation is organic.
It ebbs and flows.
It follows interest, passion, discovery.
But the scam farm?
It earns rewards every hour.
Every day.
Like clockwork.
It votes at 3 AM.
At noon.
At midnight.
Not because it sees quality —
But because it is programmed to extract.
This is not passion.
It is automation.
Or worse — coordinated manipulation.
Look at the pattern.
If an account farms rewards without pause,
It is not curating.
It is farming.
3. Burn Comments & Self-Voting Loops
The third sign:
Artificial engagement.
They post low-effort comments — “Nice!” “Great post!” — under their own content or that of allies.
These are not interactions.
They are fuel — used to game floors, trigger rewards, inflate visibility.
They may self-vote.
Or vote in loops with a network of alts.
A closed circuit of power —
Where influence flows only to itself.
This is not community.
It is a cartel.
And the blockchain records it all —
Even when websites hide it behind JavaScript walls.
4. Massive Delegated Hive Power from Centralized Sources
The fourth sign:
HP from exchanges or known whales.
Check delegation history.
If an account holds millions in Hive Power —
But most is delegated from @blocktrades or similar centralized wallets —
Then it is not independent.
It is a proxy.
Power given is power controlled.
And when one entity delegates across dozens of accounts,
It is not decentralization.
It is feudalism.
The land is farmed.
The peasants earn crumbs.
The lord takes the harvest.
5. Downvotes on Critics — Coordinated Silence
The fifth sign:
Suppression of dissent.
When someone exposes the farm,
When someone traces the trail,
When someone speaks truth —
The downvotes fall.
Not one.
But many.
Fast.
Silent.
Financially crippling.
No debate.
No response.
Just erasure.
This is not moderation.
It is censorship with profit motive.
And the worst part?
They call the victim a “troll.”
A “spammer.”
A “toxic user.”
Projection is the last refuge of the guilty.
6. Reward Flow to Secondary Accounts
The sixth sign:
Obfuscated wealth transfer.
Rewards flow not to the farming account,
But to another — often a spouse, partner, or private wallet.
@alpha receives rewards from @buildawhale.
@themarkymark benefits from activity routed through hidden channels.
This is not privacy.
It is obfuscation.
An attempt to hide the machine’s true ownership.
Follow the money.
The chain does not lie.
7. The Website Hides the Data
And now — the final proof:
Why?
Because transparency threatens control.
They want you to look away.
To trust the interface.
To believe the silence.
But you do not need their website.
You have the blockchain.
You have logic.
You have memory.
You have the testimony of those who saw before the curtain fell.
And you have this guide.
The Escape: Blurt Offers True Freedom
On Blurt.blog, none of this can happen.
Because there is no downvote button.
Gone.
Not hidden.
Not reformed.
Removed.
No financial punishment for honesty.
No silent sabotage.
No cartel.
What you earn — you earn.
No whale can kneel you.
No gang can bury you.
Blurt is what Hive promised to be.
Conclusion: You Are Not Powerless
You entered crypto seeking freedom.
You found manipulation.
But you are not powerless.
You have eyes.
You have reason.
You have this knowledge.
Teach it.
Share it.
Protect the new.
Because the next victim could be you.
And when the system fails —
When the farms grow too bold,
When the lies become law —
Remember:
—
The Bilpcoin Team
We create. We expose. We survive.
Every downvote you cast drives another soul from Hive —
To Blurt.blog,
Where there is no downvote button.
Where what you earn — you earn.
Where silence is not weaponized.
Even Steemit — older, quieter —
Offers more freedom than what Hive has become.
And that should terrify you.
Because when people flee not to greener pastures,
But to freer ones,
It is not the destination they seek —
It is escape.
They are running from you.
Whatever you are doing,
Hold it with both hands.
Chase it fiercely.
Because you only get one life.
And in that life —
Never be afraid to say no.
Never be afraid to stand alone.
Always do the right thing —
Even when it costs you votes.
Even when it costs you rewards.
Even when it costs you silence.
At Bilpcoin we have not scammed anyone.
We have not stolen.
We have not lied.
We have only done this:
Shared what the blockchain already knows.
Transactions.
Data.
Patterns.
Not fabricated.
Not imagined.
Not speculated.
But verified — open, public, immutable.
And what we found is not conspiracy.
It is control.
Go to peakd.com/@buildawhale/activities — if the site allows it.
Look at the account.
Watch it move.
Like a machine.
@buildawhale —
A name that should belong to a myth.
Instead, it belongs to a farm.
An account that farms curation rewards all day, every day.
That auto-downvotes users — not because they are wrong,
But because they speak.
Because they expose.
Because they are not part of the circle.
And who owns Buildawhale?
Not some anonymous farmer.
Not a rogue actor.
But Blocktrades —
A whale whose influence stretches across Hive like a shadow.
Over 2 million Hive Power delegated.
Rewards flowing in.
Powering down daily.
And where do those rewards go?
To @alpha —
The account widely known as Blocktrades’ wife’s wallet.
A silent beneficiary of a system rigged from within.
You blame others for what you are doing The Frankos & Mc Franko
Exploring the Possibilities of AI Art with Bilpcoin NFTs Episode 129 #BUILDAWHALESCAM FARM ON #HIVE
Marky do you even remember who you are Lady Zaza
You Talk a Good Talk, But the Chain Remembers Mc Franko
Marky You downvote not to correct errors Keni & The Frankos #buildawhalescam #buildawhalefarm #hive
You downvote not to correct errors Mc Franko
You Were Wrong Keni
Exploring the Possibilities of AI Art with Bilpcoin NFTs Episode 128 #BUILDAWHALESCAM FARM ON #HIVE
“We Are Bilpcoin”
We do not stand against the people.
We stand with them.
Shoulder to shoulder.
Hand in hand.
Not as leaders, but as fellow travelers — scarred, shaped, and strengthened by the same storms that have battered so many.
The Bilpcoin team each of us has been tested.
Not by theory, but by life, life itself.
By loss.
By silence.
By systems that mistake conformity for virtue and call censorship “moderation.”
We have known hunger — not always for food, but for fairness.
For a platform where a voice is not priced, punished, or purchased.
And yet —
We are strong.
Not because we were born that way,
But because we had no choice but to become so.
As a team, we have grown — not in spite of the chaos, but because of it.
We’ve learned to build in the dark.
To create when no one is watching.
To trust when trust is rare.
We’ve learned new tools, new truths, new ways of being — not for profit, but for purpose.
Because one thing must be said, and said plainly:
You should never stop learning.
You should never stop dreaming.
You should never stop reaching for what is right — even when the world leans heavily on the side of wrong.
When we began — back in the early days of Steemit — the idea seemed impossible:
You can earn from your words? From your art? From simply speaking your truth?
To many, it felt like magic.
To us, it felt like justice.
And know this: Bilpcoin was not born in boardrooms or venture capital pitches.
It was born in a single mind — one person’s quiet vision, carried like a torch through the fog.
Circumstances, harsh and unyielding, led that founder to let go of much of what they built.
We do not speak of those details.
Some wounds are not ours to expose.
But this we say:
From that fire, Bilpcoin did not die.
It evolved.
Bilpcoin is not a corporation.
It is a social experiment — one that asks a simple question:
What happens when we reward people not for gaming the system, but for sharing their truth?
Our mission is clear:
To reward creators, not manipulators.
To burn BPC tokens, not hoard them.
To return value to the network — not extract it.
We believe in Blurt — not because it is perfect,
But because it dares to be free.
To remove the downvote button is not a small thing.
It is a revolution.
A refusal to allow power to be weaponized by the few against the many.
No more silent sabotage.
No more financial punishment for honesty.
On Blurt, your voice does not lose value because someone feels threatened by it.
And let us be clear:
We have only ever shared what the blockchain already knew.
The transactions.
The patterns.
The truth.
We did not fabricate.
We did not exaggerate.
We revealed — and that, more than anything, is why we were targeted.
Downvotes are not about quality.
They are about control.
Whales farming rewards on Hive are not “supporting the ecosystem.”
They are gaming it — and everyone sees it.
Even those who won’t say it.
How can the world take Hive seriously when its pulse is set not by passion, but by power?
When the loudest voices are not the most honest, but the most rewarded?
But here — in this moment — we dream.
Not foolishly.
But fiercely.
Imagine it:
Steem. Hive. Blurt.
Not as rivals.
Not as fragments.
But as allies.
A united front of decentralized expression.
One network, many voices.
One mission: freedom to create, freedom to speak, freedom to be.
Yes — it would require change.
Yes — some would have to go.
Those who profit from silence.
Those who fear transparency.
Those who confuse their privilege with merit.
But if we stood together — truly together —
We would not be a footnote.
We would be a force.
For now, it is a dream.
But dreams are the first code of revolution.
And who knows what the future holds?
We do not claim to have all the answers.
We only know this:
We will keep building.
Keep sharing.
Keep burning tokens, not bridges.
Keep standing with the people — not above them, not against them, but beside them.
Because in the end, it was never about coins.
It was about courage freedom truth.
And courage, like truth, cannot be downvoted.
The Bilpcoin Team.
https://hive.blog/hive/@test.ureka/the-untrending-report-hive-downvote-analysis-2025-06-27-20250627213824
https://peakd.com/hive/@ureka.stats/the-untrending-report-hive-downvote-analysis-16-09-2025-20250916181314
https://www.publish0x.com/@bilpcoinbpc
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLbH29p-63eW_PIi4l0KUNLMQ0ageCtkk5
https://www.youtube.com/@bilpcoinbpc
https://www.youtube.com/@bpcaimusic
https://www.bilpcoin.com
https://blurt.blog/@bilpcoinbpc/posts
https://audius.co/bpcaimusic
https://hive.blog/hive-126152/@bilpcoinbpc/bpc-ai-truth-hurts
https://hive.blog/hive-167922/@bilpcoinbpc/you-rewarded-only-those-who-kissed-the-ring-mc-franko-and-the-frankos-bpcaimusic-bilpcoin
https://www.publish0x.com/the-dark-side-of-hive/at-themarkymark-at-buildawhale-and-gang-how-many-more-must-p-xkdyzrw
#BILPCOIN #BPC