Remember when Gideon, Mr Osborne to you and I,
predicted in 2010 that he would balance the budget in four years.
Then our tough spell of austerity would be over and we would be awash
in the lush green shoots of growth and the entire population would
sing hallelujah Gideon. Then there was a slight re-think about those
magical green shoots of growth, and it seemed that we would have to
suffer a little more austerity, through to 2017/18. So from a four
year fix to an eight year fix, that's quite a miscalculation. Now,
Gideon's fix seems to be getting pushed a little bit more into the
future, Two economic “think tanks”, (I love that phrase, it seems
to imply that we have found some people in economics who can actually
think), have come up with another wee disappointment for Gideon. The
Institute for Fiscal Studies and the Institute for Government have
warned that the austerity measures in the UK could still be trying to
work their magic when the 2020 election comes around, with austerity being the plans for that election, and Gideon's
mythical balancing act still out of reach. Beyond that requires a very special crystal ball.
What does all this missing targets and austerity
continuing mean to us the ordinary people? Well there has already
been agreements by a number of government departments to make cuts of
between 8% and 10% for year 2015/16. This is on top of the massive
cuts we have had to Government spending, since Gideon and his gang
first mugged us in 2010. So all those who think that the worst is
over should think again. Ten years or more of cuts in benefits and
social spending, wages frozen or cut, inflation running at almost 3%,
and you can see deprivation staring you in the face for a generation
or more.
What these two “think tanks” are actually saying is, that
there is no hope of any improvement in the living conditions of the
British people for the foreseeable future, on the contrary, it is a
future of more cuts and the risk of higher taxes. Even if in the
2020's those mythical green shoots of growth do start to appear and
that magical balanced budget materialises, how long will it be before
we the ordinary people even get back to where we were in 2008? The
answer is never, it is a downward spiral and our battles and
struggles over the last couple of hundred years to improve our
standard of living will have to be re-fought. Improvements in wages
and working conditions will have to be wrestled miserly bit by
miserly bit from the capitalist greed merchants, as they were in the past. We could of course organise to
bring an end to the capitalist economic system that is the root
problem of our economic woes, and start to restructure society on the basis
of the needs of all our people. We can create a society free from
bankers and corporate control, based on communities, built on mutual
aid.
If you're an anarchist and an anti-capitalist, why do you have such issues with the economy? Why are you bothered about it? If you're an anti-capitalist and living outside of the system I fail to see how it should impact on you.
ReplyDeleteI merely comment on the short comings of the system in the hope that others will see the stupidity and injustice in the present economic system and may also come to the conclusion that it can't work in the interest of the people, can't be modified to suit the majority and will always work in favour of those who have the wealth and therefore the power to shape society to their benefit. I think if you read the article again you'll realise that I'm not one of those rooting for those mythical green shoots of growth. Anarchists, like anybody else, can't live totally outside the economic system, nor do we want to, but we can work and plan for its transformation into something more just, and one that sees to the needs of all our people.
ReplyDeleteIt depends where you draw the line between anarchism and hermitism. But anarchists and/or libertarians can – and do – live outside the economic system – via self-sufficiency and a holistic lifestyle. In fact they were doing this quite successfully back in the 1960s and 1970s in the UK and in the 1930s in Spain. It's still perfectly possible to disappear and live completely outside the system today. I don't think you can truly call yourself an anarchist unless you do that: have zero compliance with society. Can you call yourself an anarchist when you take part in creating the system?
ReplyDeleteYou win, I'm not an anarchist.
ReplyDeleteWell arguably you are, because you're inspiring others. You are whatever you think you are and your definition of anarchism is personal and individual whatever anyone else believes. I'm just discussing, I'm not saying that you're wrong. I'm just interested in dialogue about what constitutes the definition of an anarchist as it's such a misappropriated term.
ReplyDeleteIf you are interested in dialogue, then I suggest you go to the meetings of one of the groups in your area. Face to face discussions with people involved is the best way to get an understanding of what they are on about.
ReplyDelete