Coiled Spring.

 

       One of our government pundits stated that the economy was like a coiled spring, and would bounce up quickly. I believe that the underlying anger of the people is like a coiled spring, and that as this lockdown and pandemic comes to an end, and unemployment and slashed working conditions start to make their mark, that anger in the coiled spring will be released. In so doing it will bounce up and reverse that submissive attitude that has affected all our actions like a thick gum. Some of the coils are already releasing their energy, all for different aspects of this type of society. Spain, against the arrest of rapper, Pablo Hasél, in India, the largest strike in the world, because of the government pushing its neo-liberal free market policies. There may be different reasons but the anger is there and will thrust itself up like that released coiled spring.

     There will be plenty to vent that anger on, child poverty, homelessness, unemployment, inhumane treatment of migrants, police brutality against public protests, the privatisation of the the NHS and other public assets, and the myriad of population controls introduced during the pandemic, which our lords and masters will attempt to retain. Then of course there will be the anger against the oncoming austerity engineered to pay back the billions handed to their corporate friends, to keep their luxury yachts well stocked. 

       We should never pull back from showing our anger at the injustice and inequality that is the bed rock of the capitalist exploitation system. What we must try to do is link up all this anger with that of other countries, we must organise across borders. Our corporate overlords, are well versed in that cross border organising, in conjunction with the various states. The ordinary people of this world must never recognise borders, we are all in the same struggle against the same state backed corporate juggernaut. Only unity across these imaginary lines will end this world of wars, exploitation, injustice and inequality. Let's release that coiled spring of anger, and in the words of an old Korean saying, "Enjoy the ecstasy of your righteous anger".

Visit ann arky's home at https://radicalglasgow.me.uk     

Homeless In A Forest Of Empty Houses.

       In any civilised society it would seem natural to take as a basic given, that everybody has the right to a roof over their head. Homelessness, when and if it happens, should be a very short and temporary affair. However this insane system of capitalism, that we seem to tolerate, creates homelessness by its economic policies. Not that it pulls down houses so that there aren't enough, it just makes them unaffordable to millions across Europe, and then demonises those unfortunate enough to become victims of its greed driven policies.

      It is estimated that there are more than 4 million homeless across Europe, and highlighting the insanity of the system, Europe has more than 11 million empty houses. More than enough to give every homeless person two homes. In that very rich conglomerate we call Europe, you can pick your country and the picture is much the same.

      The most recent statistics on homelessness in Ireland are from the Special Census report on homeless persons in Ireland. Of the 4.5million persons in Ireland on Census night (10th April 2011), 3,808 were in accommodation providing shelter for homeless persons or were sleeping rough. 62% (or 2,375) were living in Dublin on Census night, and 644 (17%) were under the age of 20. 15% or 553 people were non-Irish, compared to 12% of the total population. Almost one-third of homeless persons had health which was ‘Fair’, ‘Bad’ or ‘Very bad’, compared with 10% of the general population.

      There are so many empty houses in Ireland there is talk of bulldozing some to protect the housing market and keep prices up, not a new idea, as this has been done in Spain. Deutsche Bank figures suggest that there are 289,451 empty houses in Ireland, including almost 60,000 vacant holiday homes. This represents a vacancy rate of 15 per cent. A recent report suggested that it would take 43 years to fill them. With sanity we could fill most of them tomorrow..

      So homelessness is not a matter of not enough homes, we are awash with empty houses, it is the system that prices people out of the ability to have that basic right, of a roof over your head. It is the system that sees houses as a means of making a profit, rather than a place to live. It is the system of gross inequality where one person can have two or more houses and others have to sleep rough. If sanity prevailed, the system would be scrapped and people's needs would be seen to, and a roof over your head would there for all.

Visit ann arky's home at www.radicalglasgow.me.uk