Saturday 20 July 2013

Something is very rotten in ......

.... Western capitalism.

The biggest smell comes from the current so called 'neo-liberal' economic model of capitalism which I would argue has little in common with and theory of capitalism or of the 'free market'. The neo-liberal model is predicated on the idea there is not enough to go round therefore you need to grab everything to yourself and screw the last dime, penny or cent from it, what ever 'it' is whether health care, water, blood, wheat, air ..... you understand my point, I trust. 

Neo-liberalism knows the cost of everything and the value of nothing and is in a rush to crush any form of regulatory structure that can not be bought or controlled. Worse they seek to traduce and undermine every form of democracy by 'donations' and 'paid for politicians', manipulating parliaments and congresses to achieve their ends squealing 'cheat', illegal, criminal if any other human grouping plays them at the same game such as Trade Unions or questions their action like Greenpeace and other environmental groups. Since these neo-liberal sharks own the media across most of the world they use these outlets to drive wedges between different groupings - or as the neo-liberal brains behind the Better Together campaign describe it - the tribes. In the UK we are seeing this strategy being used to enable the destruction of the NHS in England and its sell off to private health companies. The UK's once universal welfare system is being split and destroyed in the same manner. For the first time since the late 1920's in the UK we are seeing the growth of soup kitchens and food banks. The use of the latter having risen exponentially since 2010 as a result of the failed neo-liberal program of austerity which has been dumped on the people of Britain by a government which secured control with less than 30% of the popular vote - and this is called a modern 'democracy'?

The whole neo-liberal orthodoxy has more in common with the Nazi's Nuremburg Laws of 1934 than any democratic politic. For those who are not history buffs, in the simplest of terms, these laws set up the concentration camps, these camps were initially for the 'workshy', to 'reform them' - the very same workshy tribe Ian Duncan-Smith is in the process of criminalising. The next stage was to declare the mentally ill, disabled and chronically ill as 'Untermensch' who were threatening the gene pool of Germany and so needed to be 'treated'. At first this was in the form of compulsory sterilisation but that was deemed inefficient and not cost effective so they simply started killing them off by taking the sick and disabled for a drive 'in special buses'. ATOS treatment is not so blatant on the sick and disabled in the UK but according to Micheal Meecher MP it is having a similar impact in terms of deaths of this 'tribe'. Ultimately the German electorate sleep-walked into a European war in 1939, the guilt of the holocaust as the 1934 Nuremburg Laws inevitably and entractably enabled and progressed the destruction of their country and its long division.

Either consciously or unconsciously neo-liberal tribal politics, economics and policy has its roots deep in 1930's Nazi style fascism and media manipulation. It is time for the UK electorate to stop sleep walking into the trap they have set, the trap of reducing democracy to a hollowed out shell where most of the electorate can not be bothered to exercise their franchise as 'just what the point they are all the same' as the plutocrats and oligarchs just do as they please anyway. Cameron is simply replaying Hitler's anti-Wiemar theme against a feeble Labour Party busy at being 'Me too Tories' and succeeding even with a vital disadvantage; Cameron can not get anything to run on time, built within budget or garner the same hysterical and fanatical support from the masses. Cameron is now facing the greatest danger to his hopes for his British Reich, one of the key tribes is increasingly telling him to take a long walk down the pier and jump off. Worse for Cameron, all the carefully choreographed, negative, cause this particular tribe to attack itself, spin and media releases are having the opposite effect. Rather than causing splits within the tribe they are increasingly disregarded, laughed at and are pulling the tribe inexorably closer together.


This growing resistance is not only happening in the UK but across Europe where the neo-liberal orthodoxy is under attack from the people, themselves, in Spain, France, Italy, Greece, Portugal and quite a few others.

The biggest concern to the leaders of the neo-liberal orthodoxy must be just how much longer can they keep the lid on and total control of the jewel in their crown, the USA. In legal judgements, like the Trayvon Martin case, or politically, as in the Texas Capitol's antediluvian, slip it in the back of another bill, abortion act, just how much longer will they be able to push before something has got to give and we see a rerun of the race and civil rights riots of the 60's and 70's. The US is, sadly, getting the reputation of a 'do what we say, not what we do' democracy heading increasingly towards a right wing theocracy (the very thing the founding fathers warned against and sought to prevent in the US Constitution) .... because within the US the levels of discrimination against women, the poor, homosexuals, the Hispanics, the Afro-Americans are all on the increase - in fact it appears any non WASP Christian male 'straight' group is now fair game for attack in the US. 

Am I attacking 'capitalism' perse?

No - I have reservations to do with any political 'ism' because the most trumpeted extremes, such as Marxism or Neo-liberalism, are fundamentally flawed as they leave no room for who human beings really are and try to channel human's into an ever narrower, micromanaged road of thier theoretical construct. Adam Smith's version of capitalism has little in common with neo-liberalism. Smith could see the advantages of organising the means of production in reducing cost and increasing output to a consistent standard. Smith also understood the human element was important to capitalism and that with out a fair, equitable wage all the production organisation efficiencies would fail to deliver the expected profit margins. Smith understands profitable businesses need invest in their factory, plant and workers to thrive. Failure to focus on all three leads to eventual failure. 


This is why Marxism and Neo-liberalism have failed. Marxism has it the government says 'make this', the economy thrives, forget 'profit' and the masses will be happy because we say they are because 'we are all right', thanks. Neo-liberalism says maximise profit at all costs, it is only and all about the bottom line. Forget the masses, forget the supply chain, screw them all and keep a very small minority happy and that is all that really matters. The differences are minimal between Marxism and Neo-liberalism. The reason for their failure within human societies is clear, neither addresses the needs or expectations of the majority for a fair share or recognises the instinctive human dislike of greed. Humans are where we are because we 'share', when we stop sharing fairly there is only conflict left.

Neo-liberalism is not in anyway 'capitalist' because it is fundamentally as protectionist as Marxism. Neo-liberalism is better defined as Western corporatism, a corporatism which is increasingly and unremittingly plutocratic and fascist, complaining about the cost of wages, welfare and health care while pocketing massive public subsidy in the form of tax breaks and tax avoidance strategies. Worse when they get it wrong they suck even more money from the public purse because they are 'too big to fail' in the same way as the Marxist centralised industrial planning could not 'fail'.


We have seen the people bring about the collapse of Marxism and Communism in the old Soviet Block because the people had had enough. I believe it is only a matter of time now before the people in Western Europe and the USA do the same for Western Corporatism's fascist theory of Neo-liberalism.

No comments:

Post a Comment