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Letter: A billion dollar question - 05/03/10
ONCE again election time is with us and as usual our politicians start talking big money with the odd billion promised here, there and everywhere on their pet subjects, trying to convince the voting public that they are doing the right thing for all and sundry.
ONCE again election time is with us and as usual our politicians start talking big money with the odd billion promised here, there and everywhere on their pet subjects, trying to convince the voting public that they are doing the right thing for all and sundry.They use the word billion in a casual manner and I wonder if they have ever tried to imagine how difficult a number it is to comprehend and for us voting public to understand, as in my case at the end of the month I struggle to remember what 10 pounds looks like.
Let us try and put it in perspective in a more understandable format.
A billion seconds ago it was 1959.
A billion minutes ago Jesus was alive.
A billion hours ago our ancestors were living in the Stone Age.
A billion days ago no-one on earth walked on two feet.
A billion pounds ago was only about 13 hours at the rate our government is spending it.
Just take a few minutes to count up the things we are taxed on every day of every hour – and to think most of them did not exist 100 years ago.
Our nation was prosperous, we had no national debt and mum stayed at home to raise the kids. What happened?
Ged Jarrett
Gatenby,
Werrington,
Peterborough
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