CAPITALISM = POVERTY.

         A few days ago I wrote a little piece about the rising poverty in America, since then I read a post that listed 50 things wrong with America and it gives a wider range of the problems in that country. It must be increasingly difficult for those who advocate capitalism, to point to a success story as country after country under capitalism hits the rocks. Even in the so called leader of the capitalist world, the pinnacle of capitalist development, America, its citizens are facing poverty and deprivation. Of course we have always known that capitalism is a success story for the few, and today it still continues to be a success story for them. Unfortunately it was, by means of smoke and mirrors, sold under the illusion of prosperity for all, and now all those that produce that wealth are seeing the reality as the smoke starts to clear, and the mirrors crack. That reality is that the few parasites will continue to do all right, while those that produce the wealth will see deprivation staring them in the face. Recognise it, it is the true face of capitalism.

ann arky's home.

WHOSE "MORAL COLLAPSE"?

       

        David Cameron is on again about the “moral collapse” of Britain, according to him our “live and let live” has lead to a “do as you please” which in turn has contributed to our “moral collapse”. When he and those of his ilk, speak about Britain's “moral collapse” they don't mean them, they mean you and I. The fact that he and his cabal, are millionaires and their fortunes will be invested in a multitude of businesses involved in extracting the maximum profit from those who have considerably less than them, will be contributing to the rape and plunder of the planet and destruction of the environment, is not seen as “moral collapse”, no, to them this is seen as the proper way to do things. This talking of “broken Britain” and our “moral collapse” prepares the ground allowing free market ideology to be pursued as a remedy for “our” “moral collapse”. There is however, a “moral collapse” in those who live in the lap of luxury free from want, free from any fear of deprivation and then inflict poverty and hardship on others. There is “moral collapse” in those who slash at the social benefits of the sick and vulnerable, rip apart the social fabric of our society, knowing that they will be immune to any of the effects. The last thing we should do is listen to a bunch of millionaire parasites spouting about “our” “moral collapse” while they milk the system for all it is worth. It is because of “their” “moral collapse” that we have so many in poverty and deprivation. It is because of “their” “moral collapse” that we have people dying from fuel poverty, it is “their” “moral collapse” that is responsible for the wars in Iraq, Afghanistan and else where.

I'll have to do something about Britain's moral collapse.

        Sadly “their” “moral collapse” will continue to inflict misery, deprivation and death on us as long as we allow them to dictate the shape of our society, only when we get rid of the bunch of moralising millionaire parasites and the system that they worship, replacing it with a needs based society, controlled by all those in that society, will we see an end to poverty, deprivation and wars.

   ann arky's home.

CAPITALISM - PROFIT = MISERY.

           The capitalist system is in crisis, it sounds all so rational and academic, but what it means is that across Europe people are suffering in ever increasing numbers, and to an ever degrading degree. Country after country comes under the spotlight of the media and all the talk is about the “debt” crisis, never the human side. In Greece, a country with an unelected Prime Minister, unemployment has risen from 6.6% in 2008, to 16.6% in 2011, while youth unemployment went from 18.6% to 40.1%, and heroin addiction rose by 20% during the same period. Add to this human disaster the fact that the government during the same period has cut the health budget by 40% and reduced the street-work programs by 33%. Put that toxic cocktail together and you have human suffering and deprivation approaching third world proportions. Spain fares little better, with unemployment at 20%, and 10% of families with no wage earner, plus, during 2011, 1 in 8 business closed. Italy another country with an unelected Prime Minister, is about to embark on a series of vicious slashes to public spending, which will heap more people on to the already mountainous mound of misery that exists in Europe. Here in the UK we have now passed 2.6 million unemployed, 8.3% and rising. Our youth unemployment is now over 1 million and rising, add to this our wage freeze/cuts and an inflation rate of 5% and you can see the misery indicator shooting up. Meanwhile our Millionaire cabinet cabal, keep blaming the Euro-Zone for all our ills. The fact that growth in Europe is above that in the UK, and inflation is lower than the UK, doesn't seem to register with them, it is all Europe's fault.

CRISIS? What crisis?

         The simple fact is that capitalism is crisis, it can't work for the benefit of the ordinary people, it is basically a system that feeds the rich at the expense of the poor. Profit is the aim, not human welfare, and as such, that profit must be protected at all costs. The human misery resulting from this type of value structure is never taken into account on the balance sheets of the corporate world. Throughout the entire period of history where capitalism has been the main system we have had continuous wars, raging poverty, mass unemployment and the resulting misery such circumstances produce. Of course the numbers who gain a reasonable life varies from time to time, but it is a temporary respite, soon along comes another recession, or crisis and the numbers change again, with poverty and misery growing, wiping out any benefits that some of the ordinary people had fought for and temperaly gained.

        If we want to fix the “crisis” so that all the people will benefit, then we have to demolish the present system and change our value structure to one of profit free thinking. The only answer is to create a society of mutual aid and co-operation based on sustainability. The present “crisis” of the system can only be remedied by eliminating capitalism and building a needs based system. Only then will be see an end to the misery of deprivation, only then will our youth be able to flower to their full potential.

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THE RETURN OF PAST POVERTY FOR GREECE.

        When the media reports on Greece it is all about the Greek government trying to "balance the books" which translates into "placate the IMF" (International Mankind Fuckers), with some coverage of strikes and protests. Never do they capture what is actually going on in Greece, they fail miserably to convey what it is like to be living in Greece at the moment. A country where all the ordinary workers have seen their wages cut by as much as a third, their taxes rise by by the same, and new taxes introduced. Add to that a flood of redundancies and massive cuts to health, 40%, education and all other social services. These type of cuts take a civilised country and return it to the beginning of the 1900's. Naturally the people are objecting, and rightly so. 

      There is one photographer who does capture what it is like on the streets of Greece with photographs that are each an art work in their own right. Yiannis Biliris's photographs capture not just an instant but a story, an emotion, a living period. You can see more of his work HERE.

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TAX MONEY, SOCIAL SOCIETY OR WAR??

       In the US 65% of all the governments available spending is on the military. At present America is fighting in seven countries across the world, Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan, Libya, Somalia, Yemen, and its latest war machine adventure, Uganda. If we add the “war-on-terror” that is eight brutal ventures through which the military industrial complex is reaping tax payers money and feeding it to their shareholders bank accounts to the tune of more than a trillion dollars over the last ten years. In the UK, a much smaller country, this year alone we have spent £9 billion on two wars, Afghanistan and Libya plus maintaining that illegal missile system Trident.

      Apart from the death, destruction and misery these wars cause to ordinary people, every penny spent is tax payers money and it goes straight to the corporate world's shareholders. What kind of transformation would have taken place in America if that trillion dollars had been spent back into the service of the people who had donated it in the first place through their tax? What changes could we have made in the last year here in the UK, if that £9 billion of our money had been re-invested in our civil society, after all, it is our money, why should we want it to be used to kill and maim and in the process enrich the arms industry.

 

      How can we proclaim to be civilised when we spend such large proportions of our resources on death and destruction in other peoples home lands. It is not as if the world has not got problems of poverty and deprivation to be sorted out. The poverty and deprivation across the world is expected to rely on charity, while wars get the full backing of governments and all the resources they can muster. Ah, that's capitalism for you.

ann arky's home.

THE EPIDEMIC DISEASE OF CAPITALISM.

       The propaganda from the proponents of capitalism continually spout that capitalism will bring prosperity to all. Yet across the globe poverty is on the increase. As poverty increases so does all the health problems that go along with poverty, mental health problems as well as physical. Figures show that suicides and depression are on the increase, there is no doubt that enviromental problems of the individual play a big part in bring about these conditions, the sort of things that are part and parcel of capitalism, unemployment, competition, the illusion that happiness comes in nice fancy wrapped boxes at a price, and the constant fear of deprivation, diseases that could be called the capitalist epedemic. The following is an extract from an article published in LINKS International Journal of Socialist Renewal the full article makes excellent reading.

By Mark Harris

July 23, 2011 -- www.resistance.au -- There is no denying it, depression is on the rise across the world. The World Health Organization says depression will be the second largest contributor to the global burden of disease by 2020. For young people this is already the case. Depression leads to about 850,000 deaths every year.

But why is depression on the rise? In some instances it is a product of more readily available methods of diagnosis and public understanding of the disorder. But increases in suicide rates and other indicators suggest that the increase in depression is well beyond this statistical readjustment.

Depression is not always caused by a chemical imbalance or as a result of human biology. It is a result of social factors such as loneliness, lack of social support, financial strain, lack of purpose and unemployment. These are endemic under capitalism.

Even in a wealthy country like Australia, youth often look to a future that is at best unfulfilling. Furthermore, capitalism is based on competition. In all sorts of ways we can only succeed if someone else fails. Obvious examples are job interviews or exams to get into uni.

THIS WORLD WE HAVE CREATED.

    

      The following is something I posted about a year ago on another BLOG.  I repeat it here as I feel it is just as relevant, or even more so, today than ever. Looking at the true picture of our world and realising that not one of the governments of the world has any intentions of attacking the true cause of the situation, corporate capitalism and the state system, it becomes obvious it is up to the poor of this world, the ordinary people, to put things to right. Don't expect the bloated parasites who are in control at the moment, to do anything that might in any way deprive them of their unearned, unsustainable opulence.   

     I should add that some of the figures in the article will now be much worse as a year in corporate capitalism has done nothing but add to the misery of the world's poor. The actual number without access to clean drinking water rises by the hour. 

      It is difficult to grasp the state of the world that we have created. A world where there is an abundance of almost everything conceivable and yet to the vast majority of the world’s population it is all out of reach. A world where a small elite live a life of obscene and wasteful wealth while millions die of starvation and millions of children die from the lack of clean drinking water. In this capitalist made world there are small enclaves where the rich, in safety, play games with their expensive toys, private jets, luxury cars, yachts and several holiday homes in “exotic” locations. While just over that financial apartheid wall there is the stench of squalor and death for countless millions living in total deprivation and endless wars,

      In this capitalist created world, 8 million people die every year from poverty, One billion children live in abject poverty, 640 million do not have access to appropriate shelter, 140 million have never attended school, 400 million do not have access to clean uncontaminated water, 500 million do not have basic sanitation, 270 million have no access to health care, and 90 million are severely food deprived. Approximately 12.3 million people worldwide live in conditions of “modern slavery,”while over one billion people live on less than one dollar of income per day and over three billion live on less than two dollars per day. Then there is the strata in between that manage to scrape a reasonable existence that seems to keep them from revolt.

        All this misery in spite of the fact that the world economy actually produces one and a half times the amount of food necessary to provide the entire human population with adequate and nutritious meals. The fact that the capitalist system will not allow this to be shared out to those in need tells us that it is not a natural problem but a political problem. Perhaps the words of Derrick Jensen come close to capturing something of that world.

       “We are members of the most destructive culture ever to exist. Our assault on the natural world, on indigenous and other cultures, on women, on children, on all of us through the possibility of nuclear suicide and other means—all these are unprecedented in their magnitude and ferocity … What this means is that corporations and those who run them cannot stop exploiting resources and amassing wealth until they have…I cannot finish this sentence, because the truth is that they can never stop; like cancer, they can only continue to expand until they kill the host … For us to maintain our way of living, we must tell lies to each other and especially to ourselves. The lies are necessary because, without them, many deplorable acts would become impossibilities.”

     Do you honestly believe that voting in a bunch of privileged parasites will rid this world of the poverty, misery and deprivation, not to mention wars and destruction being perpetrated by corporate capitalism? Most people in government are millionaires, they get fat on the corruption of  the corporate world, we live in a time when state and corporate capitalism or one unified body, it is known as corporate fascism. 

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VICIOUS LIES FROM GREEDY, VICIOUS LIARS.

       As the well manicured twins from the millionaires’ club down at the Westminster House of Hypocrisy and Corruption go ahead with the financial world’s plans to decimate the living standards of the working class, they are still, without laughing, muttering that blatant lie “we are all in this together” You and I are looking at a massive rise in unemployment, savage cuts to social spending, cuts in benefits, a shattered education system, reduced pensions, working longer to to get that lousy pension, if you have a job at all, and on top of that they are now about to rip apart the health service and turn it into a market governed grouping of private enterprises, in other words the privatisation of our health service. They are about to create a society where if you want something you buy it, at a profit to some corporate body. Of course if you can’t afford it then you do without and that will apply to health, education and special needs plus a host of other things that a civilised society should provide. While we, the ordinary people, are supposed to take this, the friends of this millionaire cabinet are still laughing all the way to the bank. For example, last year a certain Mr Justin King, chief executive of Sainsbury’s, faced the burden of austerity with an £8 million pay package, his previous year's earnings. Another of the millionaire cabinet’s friends who is in this with us is Marc Bolland of Marks & Spencer’s his contract could net him approximately £15 million for the following year's pay check. As you can see, we are all in this together.

        The most blatant lie about this whole affair is the fact that they keep repeating, “there is no alternative” what shit, and it is ideological shit at that. This is the biggest handover of public assets to the private sector that we have ever seen. You and I and any member of the working class know that we could create a society that would see to the needs of all our people, we know we have the ability, imagination and resources to create a society free from the profit motive, based on mutual aid and sustainability. We know we do not need that army of pampered, well manicured parasites that rip us off day and daily. We, the working class, are facing what is probably one of the biggest challenges that has arisen in capitalism, we now have the ability to organise across the whole of the European continent on an almost instantaneous basis. What is happening in this country is happening across Europe, it is a united attack by the financial institutions of corporate capitalism, it surely makes sense that we should respond with a united attack on those institutions that aim to destroy our already meagre standard of living. Local strikes, marches and demonstrations can be ignored and dealt with without too much trouble to the system. However a national general strike would be a different matter and much more difficult for the system to handle, a pan-European general strike would be impossible for the system to cope with, and would be our opportunity to restructure society to our aims based on that fair and universally desire, of a society free from the fear of deprivation and exploitation.

 

 

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ARE YOU PROUD?

     All the mainstream media pour out stuff that is supposed to make you think that the only type of society that the human race is capable of organising is international corporate capitalism. WE are meant to believe that the only game in town is this system of greed and exploitation. We are also expected to swallow the crap that it is the only way to eradicate poverty and bring ever increasing wealth and well being to humanity. They pour this crap over you day in day out, even when the evidence to the contrary is everywhere to be seen.

    Capitalism has been nothing but boom bust boom recession with the world's wealth flowing into ever few hands at every step of the way. According to recent figures released this recession has pushed another 100 million people into poverty, this is on top of the fact that before the recession there were already 1,029,999,199 people classified as under nourished, approximately 9,351,160 people die each year from hunger, 1,454,972,999, (and rising rapidly) have no access to clean drinking water, and 4,684,945 have died from water related diseases this year so far. All this from a system that produces unimaginable wealth for a bunch of pampered parasites and can afford to spend, this year so far to the 5 December 2010 at 21:39, $3,409,887,641 world wide on armaments. The reason that you have to state the time with that last figure is that it is rising so rapidly that you can't give an accurate figure without the time factor.

      Wealth flows into all manner of sophisticated weaponry to destroy life at an immeasurable rate, while millions live in abject poverty and deprivation. This is capitalism's success story, war and weapons make millions for the corporate world, spending to lift people out of deprivation is not on the same scale when it comes to the corporate world making money.

     If we want rid of the poverty and deprivation, in most cases, it is brought about by the corporate system, then we will have to get rid of the corporate capitalist system. No modifications, no green capitalism, it doesn't work, greed is the driving engine of the system. You can't have compassionate capitalism, the shareholders would squeal because they could make much, much more by being greedy and ruthless. Profit is the name of the game.

     Why do we accept that there is no alternative when we know within our hearts that there is. We know that co-operation and mutual aid would produce a fairer system, we know that removing the profit motive and creating a society that sees to the needs of all our people would produce a fairer society. We know that if we got the parasites off our backs and took control of all the means of production and distribution we could create a sustainable fairer society that we would be proud to leave to our children and grandchildren. Look around and ask yourself, would you be proud to leave this type of society to your children and grandchildren?

ann arky's home.

PROOF THAT THE RICH GET RICHER AND THE POOR GET POORER.

     A recent study by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation found widening inequalities in all areas of life in Britain. The study, "Life in Britain: Using Millennial Census Data to Understand Poverty, Inequality and Place,"         Some of the key findings are:

       Areas with the highest levels of poor health also tend to have the lowest numbers of doctors, dentists and other health professionals (excluding nurses).

      Areas with high levels of poor health tend also to have high numbers of their population providing informal care for family and friend, as opposed to professional care.

       Areas with the highest proportions of unqualified young people tend to have the lowest number of teachers per head of population. The areas faring the best have four times the density of teachers and one third the rate of unqualified young people. 

       The financial hub of the City of London and the South East accounted for the overwhelming majority of "high-paid jobs." In most other areas, people with very good qualifications are more likely to be employed in lower-paid work. In areas of higher unemployment, those with jobs are less likely to work long hours, but unemployment itself is associated with physical and mental health problems.

      Approximately a million households have three or more cars. About the same number of households that might need a car (those with dependent children, etc.) have none.

      One comment sums it up, "--it is acutely disappointing to discover that so many opportunities and resources still depend on where people live. Wide and persisting inequality is reflected in big differences between 'rich' and 'poor' areas in terms of housing, education and health care as well as economic wealth. Perversely, people living in the poorest neighbourhoods with the greatest needs are often the least likely to have access to the services and support that would help them improve their lives and life chances."

      This failure can be attributed to successive Conservative and Labour governments. The areas with the highest life expectancy 10 years ago are the places that have seen the biggest increase in life expectancy since. Wealth lets you get health.

      Ben Wheeler stated, "The Census data show quite clearly that although living standards have increased in 60 years, the rich and the poor in Britain continue to live in two different worlds."

      The authors of the report have shown Britain as a severely divided society, between those with the greatest need for good health care, education, jobs, housing and transport who continue to have the worst access to opportunities and services 60 years after the founding of the welfare state, and a powerfully rich elite that continues to amass wealth and privilege. All indications are that this divide is widening.

        The rich have rigged voting to make sure nothing changes, if your poor why vote?

        That being the case what do you think will be the outcome of the slashing cuts that are heading the way of the ordinary people of this country? An ever widening gap with the poorest in society heading for deprivation not seen in this country since the 20s/30s.

        Now is the time to organise to protect our people, we can't wait until it is all over and then try to win back some of our conditions. You could fight for a decade and still not be back where we are at present, and that isn't too good is it?

ann arky's home.

THE CLASS WAR, IT'S STILL HERE TO BE WON.

       

        As we keep hearing about “the cuts” we tend to look at the small picture and think how it might affect ourselves, our family or our friends. This of course suits the powers that be, see it as an isolated thing, a blip in the running of a good system. However if we want to do something about it we have to see the bigger picture and realise that this is a European wide crisis, one of a continuing string of crisis in a rotten corrupt unjust system, not a blip.

        Greece gets a lot of publicity and the rest of Europe thinks aren't we lucky, we're not as bad as Greece. They were shady and corrupt, while we are open and honest, bullshit. All of European governments are shady, and corrupt. What is hitting Greece is going to be the pattern throughout Europe. A little nearer home, Ireland has already been devastated. The people of Ireland are facing a return to an age of poverty and deprivation. Tens of thousand of people in that country have been ruined. The cuts that the Irish people have had inflicted on them is equivalent to the UK slashing its budget by £150billion, approximately 25 times more than our suggested £6billion+.

            In Ireland, apart from the thousands who have lost their homes and their jobs, there are those who are now working 7 days a week just to keep a roof over their heads. Spain is circling the drain, with Italy, Latvia and other European countries putting a brave face on things as the sweat starts to appear on our masters' foreheads. This is a European wide affair and it is only if we the ordinary people link up in solidarity with all the other working class people on the continent can we hope to gain anything from this struggle. It is a struggle, a struggle that has been going on since the start of capitalism. The corporate world are united in their defence of their wealth and privileges, they realise it is a class war, they will defend viciously everything they have, while savagely slashing at the standard of living of the ordinary people. We have to make the same decision and accept this as the continuation of the class war, it is the working class that is going to be decimated if that upper class has it way. You can rest assured no matter how severe the cuts, the millionaires and billionaires will still be sitting on top with their private jets. It is a case now of accepting the class war, organising and standing up in solidarity across the continent. Don't ignore what is happening on the streets of Greece, speak to them, support them, learn from them, the deprivation is coming your way, don't wait until the shit hits the fan.

 

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