I have avoided mentioning the Grenfell disaster until now, the horror is overwhelming and it is difficult to grasp the horror and agony of the last few minutes of those ordinary people who were caught up in that inferno, through no fault of their own. On seeing the videos of this tragic incident, the first reaction is on outpouring of horror and a welling up of compassion and a desire to do something to help. Then rationalism creeps in, and anger rises, a righteous anger at an unjust system that allows such an avoidable tragedy to happen, and knowing the root cause was money. All across this country incidents of this nature happen, though on a much smaller scale, all down to putting cost and profit before human life. Our babbling brook of bullshit, the mainstream media usually ignores them, they are not big enough to be classed as news. Grenfell was different, it could not be ignored. On seeing the disaster unfold the 9/11 tragedy flashed through my mind, we could point the finger at terrorists for that event, but this towering inferno of the Grenfeell Tower, where do we point the finger, at money, it was not an unavoidable accident. Both these incidents have a human element in their cause, one was hatred, the other was ideology of profit.
I have no doubt, somewhere along the line in the building and maintenance of these tower blocks, scrimping and money, shaped the decisions, rather than human safety. This is symptomatic of this economic system we tolerate. Those who work to create all the wealth, see it lavished on others, while they scratch out a living in damp, dangerous, substandard, lousy accommodation. The UK, the sixth richest country in the world, can afford to house its population in decent safe accommodation, but chooses not to, in accordance with its ideology. Those who legislate and enforce the legislation on health and safety, are the very ones who profit from cutting corners, your MP's are made up of people who have investments in property, letting agencies, building contractors, and maintenance firms, and they are in it for the money. Until we sort that problem, there is another Grenfell tragedy waiting in the wings.
Lousy unsafe housing conditions for the ordinary people is nothing new, it is part and parcel of this corrupt economic system, as far back as you wish to go, and it is still with us. It is not the lack of skill or resources that keeps us in crap unsafe housing, it is the economic system that festers all around us, profit first and foremost, human life a poor second.
This video of the Kirby rent strike back in 1972, tells you nothing has changed, we are still struggling for decent homes to live in, and bring up our kids. As the woman in the video says, nothing will change unless we change it ourselves.
