Depressed, Probably Suffering From Capitalism.

The real shape of the UK:

At least '320,000 people homeless in Britain'
Fifth of people in working UK household trapped in relative poverty.
There were 4.1 million children living in poverty in the UK in 2017-18.
There are expected to be 5.2 million children living in poverty in the UK by 2022
47% of children living in lone-parent families are in poverty.
Children from Black and minority ethnic groups are more likely to be in poverty: 45 per cent are now in poverty, compared with 26 per cent of children in White British families.
London the richest city in UK has the highest rate of child poverty in the UK.
70 per cent of children growing up in poverty live in a household where at least one person works.

Figures show a homeless person dying every 19 hours in UK.

       This is the true picture of capitalist Britain, poverty, rough sleeping and homelessness are part and parcel of a very large slice of the population of this country. There isn't much good you can say about capitalism, unless of course you are one of the millionaire/billionaire exploiters that control the system. However, you can of course list a catalogue of its negative aspects. These vary from the brutal deprivation of millions of humans, the abject poverty of millions more, and of course its endless lists of wars for resources, markets and power. These all happen on a vast scale affecting us all across the planet, but there is also the individual problems less associated with this unjust economical system.

     Across the developed world, that part that is considered the lucky part of the world, there is an ever increase in mental health problems, rises in self-harm, suicides and substance abuse. More and more people feel anxious, depressed and isolated these can all be traced back to the type of society we live in, a capitalist economy where injustice, inequality and the constant fear of poverty have created a state of anxiety that can become normal, the accepted way of life. Capitalism doesn't just affect your purse and standard of living, it can also decimate your physical and mental health, without you realising the root cause. 

      A society freed from the greed drive profit motive that sees to the needs of all our people, would go a long way to eliminate these personal problems of physical and mental health.

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

You Don't Fit, You Need A Pill Or Injection.

          In this society mental health problems usually lead to incarceration, either in prison or the straight jacket of the pharmaceutical industry and its emissaries. Could this article be pointing to a rebirth of R. D. Laing?
This from Sub.Media:

          Mental Health in all its complexities is a topic that impacts just about everyone… and yet is rarely talked about. Ableism, rooted in an assumed mental wellness, is prevalent even among communities that fight against other oppressive social norms such as hetero-patriarchy and institutionalized racism. For those of us experiencing depression, psychosis or any other form of madness, our struggles usually remain invisible and unacknowledged until they boil over into full blown crisis. When this happens the massive coercive potential of the state is used to force us back into line. If we are lucky enough to escape the prisons and psych wards that form the double-edged sword of carceral psychology, we are often left traumatized, heavily medicated and likely to face further institutionalization down the road.
        In this month’s episode of Trouble, subMedia talks to people who are pushing back against this reality. Refusing to accept the notion that mental unwellness is the result of one person’s brain chemistry they instead recognize the fundamentally social and interconnected nature of people and our problems. Rather than allowing interventions to remain the territory of psychiatrists and police, our guests are reclaiming traditions, experimenting with self-therapy collectives and building relationships rooted in care and trust that form the resilient foundations so necessary for communities engaged in struggle.

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

Civilised People Don't Cage Animals Or Humans.

       The UK has one of the highest prison populations percentage of population in Europe, being beaten by Poland. The UK prison population stands at approximately 86,000, this is an increase of roughly 800, on last year. The largest growing age group being imprisoned are the over 60s, showing an increase of 130% between 2002 and 2013. The UK state imprisons 148 of its citizens per 100,000 of the population. All this while we are being told that crime is falling. Prisons have nothing to do with rehabilitation, they are simply a method of control by the establishment.

      Not content with holding the dubious record of imprisoning more of it citizens than practically every other country in Europe, the UK state is building a mega-prison in Wrexham, North Wales. This monstrosity of inhumanity, will have the capacity to cage 2,100 of our citizens. It will be the second largest prison in Europe and will cover an area large enough to fit the Millennium Stadium in its grounds seven times over and still leave space. It will cost an estimated £250 million of our tax money to build, which will go to the shareholders of Lend Lease, the company doing the build.

      Why should we be concerned? Simply because we know, like all prisons, it will imprison, the poor, working class, troubled people with mental health difficulties, learning difficulties, individuals suffering substance abuse, plus a disproportion of people of colour and immigrants. We know that these festering, depressing halls of cages, produce self-harming, brutality, mental trauma and suicides. Also, apart from being an inhumane and brutal caging of human beings, its workshops will replace local jobs based on slave labour, and paying well below the minimum wage. As far as I am aware, the decision as to whether it should be run by the public or the private sector has still to be decided. Another wonderful corporate idea, making a fortune from the incarceration of poor and vulnerable people.
      However, there has been considerable resistance to this monstrous edifice of the capitalist exploitative system.

This from Contra Info:

Sunday 17^th May, 2015.
     Last night an action took place at the site of Europe’s second largest prison in construction on Wrexham Industrial Estate in North Wales. The mega-prison, if built, will cage more than 2100 human beings at any one time.
     Multiple large diggers and construction equipment had their engines destroyed. Slogans were sprayed on the half-built prison fences including ‘Fuck Lend Lease’ and ‘Fire to the Prisons’.
     This is a warning to any company large or small that that is involved in the North Wales Prison Project, or any other prison building scheme that the state initiates. You are a target and you will feel the venom of the working classes fighting back.
     This action is dedicated to every slit wrist, suicide attempt, destroyed family and oppressed community harmed by the prison system.

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



 

A DESTRUCTIVE SYSTEM OF FINANCIAL APARTHEID.

SPRINGBURN PARK - Vox Pops from Diversity Films on Vimeo.

        I recently posted an article on the percentage of children in this country who live in severe poverty. The worst area in Scotland was Springburn in the north side of Glasgow, the area where I live and have spent most of my life. This district, once the centre of steam locomotive building in Britain has seen its entire industrial history wiped out. The factories closed and large swaths of the district were demolished to make way for a dual carriageway. Parts of Springburn are attractive with trees and greenery and a very pleasant park. However, pleasant scenery on its own doesn't make a life. The area has massive unemployment with precious few opportunities for jobs. The percentage of children in Springburn living in severe poverty is an outrageous 52%. Of course that figure can't be taken in isolation, with children living in severe poverty comes adults living in poverty, teenagers living in poverty, homes in poverty. Then there are the health problems, including mental health problems. Depression and suicides increase in relation to poverty and unemployment. These are the same people that designed, built and exported the finest steam locomotives in the world, so we can't blame the people, it is the immoral, unjust, crazy, exploitive economic system that we allow to govern our lives. These people, because of that system, are priced out of society. It is a system of financial apartheid with subliminal signs everywhere saying, “KEEP OUT IF YOU DON'T HAVE THE MONEY” The people of the world fought hard to rid the world of the South African apartheid system based on race, now is the time for the people of the world to unite and rid the world of this more widespread system of financial apartheid.

NORTH GLASGOW Vox Pops - Pressure from Diversity Films on Vimeo.

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