Democracy?

         I penned this little piece three years ago, but thought as it is "jubilee year", I would repeat it, just to express my thoughts on our UK "democracy".

         The establishment and its mouthpiece, the mainstream media keep referring to the UK as a democracy, but a democracy with a monarch. This edifice to imperialism may get labelled as a “constitutional monarchy”, but a democracy? I’m sure anyone with a modicum of rationalism must see this as a contradiction, who voted them in, how do you vote the monarch out? Built on that template only an idiot would refer to the UK as a “democracy”. Somewhere else this fantasy democracy falls down is in how it treats it citizens. I would imagine that in a democracy those in most need would receive the most care. Well how does the UK “democracy” fair in that aspect? Well for starters we have lots of privileges heaped on those with lots of money, while at the other end, those in need suffer in poverty. 

         In this UK “democracy” while wealth and plenty is displayed for all to see, it is out of reach for the majority. The fact is that more than 14 million people live in poverty in the UK. Of that army of disadvantaged, 4.5 million are children, while a further 1.4 million are pensioners. Mired in that swamp of avoidable poverty, 7.7 million are deemed to be in persistent poverty, meaning that they have suffered this deplorable condition for four years or more. Then there is those with greater needs, the disabled. Of the unacceptable army of poverty stricken, 6.9 million are in families with a disabled member.
       If you live in this fantasy UK "democracy" and you are a family with a disabled member, you are far more likely to be living in poverty than a family with no disabled member. In fact approximately half of those living in poverty in this land of milk and honey, are disabled, or living with a disabled person.
        Now how do we equate these facts with the word and idea of “democracy? It seems that in this UK fantasy “democracy”, the greater your need the deeper you sink into poverty.
     If we want a "democracy", a real "democracy", we have to get rid of the pompous circus of monarchy and privilege, we have to get rid of the party political system and its inherent corruption, self interest and privileges, we have to dismantle the capitalist system that fosters and is fostered by a brutal, callous, greed driven indifferent drive for profit and growth for the few, at the expense of the many. Or we can continue to live in the self destructive illusion that we are equal participants in a democracy, and that getting shafted is part of the deal.

 

 Visit ann arky's home at https://spiritofrevolt.info      

Same Old---Rich Get Richer, Poor Get Poorer.

    They Sunday Times has just released its latest UK “rich list”, and it tells an interesting story, though perhaps one that every ordinary person the the UK already knows. Last year the rich got richer and the poor got poorer, so according to the system, everything is working fine.

     The latest figures show that the richest 1,000 British now have a combined wealth of £518,975 billion, up 15.4% from a year ago, and now accounts for one third of the UK's total GDP. Just to get into that 1,000 rich list, you need to have at least £85 million, if you hope to aspire to the top 500, then you will need to flash around £190 million.
     Philip Beresford, compiler of the list, has been doing this wee job since 1989, said: "I've never seen such a phenomenal rise in personal wealth as the growth in the fortunes of Britain's 1,000 richest people over the past year. "The richest people in Britain have had an astonishing year.--”

We have to stay with austerity, the recovery is still fragile.

 

      Of course as we would expect, that old lady that stays in Buckingham Palace, done very well this year by adding around £10 million to her already sizeable little pile of loot, bring her in at No. 285 on the list, with a tidy little £330 million.
      The list is a compilation of the usual CEO, landed gentry, TV grinning faces, and smiling celebrities, etc.. “Ordinary common one of us” Jamie Oliver and his wife, added a nice wee bundle of £90 million to their stash, bring it to a health £240 million.
      I should add that these figures are what is called “identifiable wealth”, you know the sort of stuff, land, property, race horse, yachts, works of art, and so on. It does not take into account their bank accounts, that's personal, and no doubt there will by many, and fat, and in diverse places.
      The list also points out that the number of billionaires living in the UK has topped the 100 for the first time, reaching 104, with their combined wealth shooting over the £300 billion. Britain now has more billionaires per head of the population than any other country, and in that cesspool of the financial Mafia, London, there are 72 sterling billionaires, making it the largest concentration of billionaires in any city in the world. So the rich have had an astonishing year with “austerity” meaning that they all ran to the bank shouting “Yipeeee”.

 

        While at the other end, the you and I end, we saw our incomes shrink by approximately £1,600 since 2010. We have had to cope with bedroom taxes, slave labour workfare schemes, vanishing disability allowances, rocketing energy prices, rising food prices, a greater use of food banks, zero hours contracts, wage increases of less than inflation, if they arrive at all, cuts in benefits and social services. So it is obvious where that massive increase in the “identifiable wealth” among the parasites came from, it came from you and I, they get richer and we get poorer, and we tolerate this!!!

 

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