Showing posts with label wealth and power. Show all posts
Showing posts with label wealth and power. Show all posts

Monday 15 August 2022

Monopoly.

           Do you believe that the media plays a large part in forming people's opinions? You would be foolish to believe otherwise, it is to the media we turn for information on what is happening, if that information is controlled by a handful of very powerful companies, then you have to admit that the information we get is somewhat limited and one sided. If that is the case then can we honestly say we live in a democracy when a small group of extremely powerful people decide what information you get and what ideas will shape your opinions. The modern day media is not there to feed you information, it's there to shape your opinions, make lots of money and protect the status quo, keeping power where they want it to be.
          Corporate capitalism and monopoly media are part and parcel of this corrupt system of wealth equals power and they will fight tooth and nail to make sure it stays that way. It is up to the ordinary people to change this insanity of wealth means power and monopoly media that perpetuates the system.

Image lifted from Grant Campbell.

          The following extract from a report by Media Reform Coalition.

            This new report, published in March 2021, shows that just three companies (News UK, Daily Mail Group and Reach) dominate 90% of the national newspaper market (up from 71% in 2015). When online readers are included, these three companies (News UK, Daily Mail Group, Reach) dominate 80% of the market. In the area of local news, just six companies (Gannett, JPI Media, Reach, Tindle, Archant and Iliffe) account for nearly 84% of all titles. Two companies, Bauer and Global, now control nearly 70% of all local commercial analogue radio stations and 60% of national commercial digital stations.

Read the full article HERE:

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

Wednesday 8 July 2020

Class.


 
     Those on the right of the political spectrum will always spout that there is no such thing as class, we are all able to do well in this capitalist system, if we just work hard enough. Sadly there are those on the left of the political spectrum who claim that class is an out modded term and doesn't apply to today's social structure. Nothing could be further from the truth, class is the only way to show clearly the two sides of this exploitative system, and to explain clearly which side you are on in this struggle for justice and equality. 
      One class may have differing variations of wealth but still belong to that class which is has no real power in how the system works and are open to the exploitation of the wealthy and powerful controlling class, and will always have to struggle and fight just to have a half decent quality of life with millions failing to even reach that level. The other class will always have wealth and power, and defend it with what ever means are necessary, no matter the poverty of the many that there actions invariably cause.
      Determined and constant struggle, organisation, solidarity and direct action to bring down this capitalist exploitative system, in other words, a full scale class war, will bring an end to the gross inequality and injustice that plagues the lives of the many,


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

Tuesday 26 May 2020

The Illusion.

      I must thank Paul Cudenec for this article. It seems he has been inside my head and put into words the thoughts I have harboured for years but have never been able to put into a decent article. All the insanity of this system, the illusion of money, wealth is good, the rich should be respected for all their hard work, etc.. They have managed to turn that illusion of money into the only key to a decent life, and money as the key to happiness.
      During this pandemic the wealthy are having a ball, billions of that stuff you pay the government from you meager wages to create a social structure is now pouring into the coffers of the billionaire parasite class, more than the government has at the moment. When it is sorted out, the financial Mafia will be knocking on your door to pay back all the debt we handed to the super rich to help them keep their shareholders happy. Enter a decade or two of severe austerity. I have always liked Frank Zappa's quote used in the article, it is such an accurate description of the purpose and ruthlessness of the powers that be in our system of insanity. 
     The following is an extract from Paul Cudenec's article taken from ACORN:
 
 
          We all know that money is what makes this commercial world go round.
      The cult of money has swept away the traditional ethical codes of humankind and become the sole indicator of “value”.
        If something makes money, it is good. If it doesn’t, it is useless. If someone accumulates money, by whatever means, they are “successful”. If they don’t, they are a “failure”.
       But we also all know that money is not real. It consists of nothing more than pieces of paper, or electronic figures, which are universally agreed to represent something.
        For most of us, money is the whip that keeps us in line. Because we need it in order to survive, we are forced to spend the best decades of our lives working for money.
       Most work does not directly give us what we need or want. It is merely a means to another means, a way of earning money so we can buy various goods and services.
      The vast majority of people use money to pay for food and drink, shelter, clothing, leisure activities and whatever little luxuries are affordable in the part of the world in which they live.
     What about the really “successful” people, though, the people who have accumulated unimaginably vast amounts of money, at the expense of the rest of us? What does money do for them?
      It provides them with their lavish lifestyles of course – all their mansions and private jets and designer clothes and furniture and cars and plastic surgery. Money can buy people too, whether to work for their interests, massage their egos or satisfy their sexual desires.
      But most of all, and most worryingly for the rest of us, it brings them power.
     Lies are another important part of their domination.
      There is the lie that they “deserve” their wealth because they are somehow better than the rest of us – a total inversion of the truth since the obsessive pursuit of money speaks only of ruthless and sociopathic greed.
      There is the lie that all of this is somehow normal, that it is right and proper that a tiny elite are sitting smugly at the top of a pyramid of global exploitation which sees those at the bottom condemned to lives of abject misery.
      And there is the lie that this world of theirs is “democratic”, that we have the freedom to collectively determine the way we live.
      Anyone who is the slightest bit awake will have noticed that today this last lie is looking hollower than ever.
      With the totalitarian measures being introduced on the back of the Covid panic, it looks as if the ruling class have decided to finally ditch the pretence of liberal democracy and its illusion of freedom.
       As Frank Zappa warned: “The illusion of freedom will continue as long as it’s profitable to continue the illusion. At the point where the illusion becomes too expensive to maintain, they will just take down the scenery, they will pull back the curtains, they will move the tables and chairs out of the way and you will see the brick wall at the back of the theater”.
      I am beginning to wonder if money will be the next illusion that is ditched by the ruling class.
       This is not going to happen quite yet, of course. The Covid crisis promises to be a bonanza for the richest of the rich, who will be greedily hoovering up all the wealth previously in the hands of small-scale businesses and individuals, as well as ramping up their relentless robbery of the working classes.
      Not only will the ultrarich benefit from “emergency” spending by the world’s governments, but their banking branch will be happily harvesting the interest on the debts run up to pay for it all.
     And of course there is all the Fourth Industrial Revolution technology in which they have invested, which will now be forced on us under the pretext of public health, and the planned monetisation of everything alive through the so-called New Deal for Nature.
      But, as we have seen, money is just a means to an end. It is the key to the door of power and, after a few more years of what we are seeing now, the ultrarich and their vitaphobic death-cult will have all the power that they crave.
 Continue Reading HERE:
Visit ann arky's home at https://radicalglasgow.me.uk

Wednesday 13 September 2017

The Culture Of Possessions.

        A video of a short interview with Frank Zappa, where he speaks some truths about the USA, I lifted it from arrezafe. 
        Yes our culture is the story of our history, and that is very important, it is who we are, but sadly in today's "culture" the only thing that seems to matter is power. Instead of a varied vibrant culture being the  object of admiration, acquisition of wealth is the dominant force, with power the desired possession. With the economic system of capitalism, how else could it be? Its foundation is money and its accumulation, this permeates its way though every fibre of society, shapes our value structures and governs our quality of life. Until we remove that rotten foundation in our society, it will continue to pursue happiness and satisfaction in the shape of the latest shiny production, and continue to kneel at the alter of the shiny car, the big house, and the latest Apple watch.

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

Tuesday 6 October 2015

A System Run By Greedy Arrogant Arseholes.


       We are surrounded by greedy arrogant arseholes, unfortunately, lots of them are in positions of power, and shape our lives and our society. Take the research director of The Taxpayers Alliance, Alex Wild, who is quoted by the BBC as saying that cuts to benefits such as winter fuel payments and free bus passes should be made “as soon as possible after an election for two reasons”. “The first of which will sound a little bit morbid – some of the people... won't be around to vote against you in the next election. So that's just a practical point, and the other point is they might have forgotten [who made the cuts] by then.” 
      Anther arrogant arsehole who agrees with these cuts to pensioners benefits, is one Dr Liam Fox. At the Tory conference he stated, “that any such cuts must be made permanently, in order to help the next generation”. He is also reported as having said, “We can't afford it now, we can't afford it in the future, why don't we try to get a longer-term plan put in place so that people can make the adjustments they will need to make for us to be able to get back into balance,”
         This particular arsehole is no stranger to sticking his snout in the MPs expenses trough. This from Wikipedia: 
In March 2010 Fox appealed Sir Thomas Legg's decision that he had over claimed £22,476 in mortgage interest payments. Fox immediately[68] repaid the money, then appealed the decision. Fox's appeal was rejected and the decision was upheld by Sir Paul Kennedy, a former high court judge.[69]

Fox stated that his decision to remortgage his second home to pay for redecorations and claim the higher interest repayments on his expenses represented value for money because he could have charged the taxpayer for the decorating bills directly. In his response, Sir Paul Kennedy stated: "What you claimed was not recoverable under the rules then in force. I entirely accept that, like many others, you could have made other claims if the fees office had rejected your claims for mortgage interest, and that you may well have spent some of what you raised by increasing your mortgage on your constituency home, but the evidence is imprecise, and my terms of reference only allow me to interfere if I find special reasons in your individual case showing that it would not be fair and equitable to require repayment, either at all or at the level recommended."[68] This reportedly made him the Conservative Shadow Cabinet member with the largest over-claim on expenses, and as a result, he has been forced to repay the most money.[70]

It was reported in June 2009 that Fox claimed expenses of more than £19,000 over the last four years for his mobile phone. Fox claimed the high bill was due to regular trips overseas, in his capacity as Shadow Defence Secretary and said he was looking for a cheaper tariff.[71]

In October 2012, the Commons Speaker blocked the release of data showing which MPs were renting their homes to other MPs for financial gain. However, a study of parliamentary records was published in the Daily Telegraph.[72] The study showed that Liam Fox receives rental income from his London home while simultaneously claiming rental income from the taxpayer to live at another residence.

In October 2013, Fox hit the news again, after documents showed he claimed 3p for a 100 metre car trip a year earlier. He also made an additional 15 claims of under £1 for car travel approved in 2012-13, two of which were for 24p and 44p. He told the Sunday People: "I don't do my expenses. My office does them. But they are all done according to the rules for travel distances."
        Then we have MP Michelle Thomson, an greedy arrogant arsehole who believes that emotion should not get in the way of making a profit from other people's misery. Regarding her property business, she is quoted as having stated, a rise in families losing their homes as a "great opportunity" and said emotional attachment could stand in the way of "huge profit". 
       Then there is prize greedy arrogant arsehole Alan Sugar, who is quoted as saying in an interview with the Times magazine, "Who are the poor these days? “You've got some people up North and in places like that who are quite poor, but they all have mobile phones, being poor, and they've got microwave ovens, being poor, and they've got televisions, being poor.” This particular arrogant arsehole is estimated to be worth, £1.4 billion, admitted, that he didn't know the price of a pint of milk, a loaf of bread or a dozen eggs, and only bothers to look at the prices for “planes and boats and things like that”
      These are the type of greedy arrogant arseholes who shape our society, who shape they way we live, and basically they are taking us all to the cleaners. We live in a society where they system dictates that we hand the keys of the chicken coup to the foxes, (no pun intended). When will we wake up to the fact that we don't need greedy, arrogant arseholes to run our lives, we can do a much better job all by ourselves.
Visit ann arky's home at www.radicalglasgow.me.uk