I have been most impressed today by the ordinary strikers who have been interviewed on all broadcast news media. While some of them have been very low paid, they have not just been talking about their own problems and their own pensions. They have rather continually referred to the fact that they are suffering so much because hundreds of billions of public money have been given to the bankers, who continue to give themselves massive salaries and bonuses. There have also been many references to tax evasion by the wealthy and their massive income increases.
Plainly this is not just a strike about specific pension issues; in the mind of the ordinary people, this is action against the sickening levels of inequality in society.
I have also been struck by the horrible braying Tories, who to a man have stripped off their masks of social decency. How long will the Lib Dems go along with it?
Unfortunately, much of the detail on pensions is, just as the difference between Osborne’s and Balls’ spending plans, is irrelevant. The effects of the inevitable collapse of the South Sea Bubble model of western economy, are only just starting to be felt. They are not rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic. Ed Balls is suggesting there should be a few more deck chairs, and special chairs for the old and sick, and better pay and conditions for the crew. But the ship is still going down.
Look at the massive jump in the FTSE today, a day after the gloomy forecasts and predictions and on the day when 2m strike. Weird eh?
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FTSE 100 5,505.42 +168.42 +3.16% .
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Nothing to do with six central banks, including ours, printing some more money?
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30 November 2011
Central banks join forces to ease financial strains
The Bank of England is one of six central banks taking part in the co-ordinated action
Some of the world’s biggest central banks have announced a programme of co-ordinated action designed to support the global financial system.
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The US Federal Reserve, the European Central Bank (ECB), the Bank of England and the central banks of Canada, Japan and Switzerland are all involved.
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They will make it cheaper for banks to buy US dollars, which they hope will ultimately help businesses and households access finance more easily.
Stock markets rose sharply on the news.
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“You could call the global coordinated initiative an attempt to prevent the current funding difficulties for eurozone banks deteriorating into Credit Crunch ll for the global financial system” Robert Peston Business editor
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As well as cheaper US dollars, the central banks will also provide easier access for banks to other major currencies as and when they need it, beginning 5 December.
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Germany’s Dax index closed 5% higher, while France’s Cac 40 jumped 4.2% and the UK’s FTSE 100 rose 3%.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-15966753
As for the LibDems changing tack – perhaps the best illustration that this is not going to happen can be found in David Laws article in the Standard encouraging Osborne to stick to Plan A – and the underwhelming response that it received on LibDemVoice here http://www.libdemvoice.org/liblink-david-laws-george-osborne-must-stick-to-austerity-plan-a-26022.html
It doesn’t look that there are many LibDems left wishing to fly the flag for Keynesianism – and my guess is that it is only a question of time before Vince Cable remembers that he used be one and is then replaced by David Laws.
Paradoxical, innit? The collapse of capitalism is the perfect opportunity for the Tories to impose their (anti-)social agenda. ‘Twas ever thus. Look at Hitler.
Folowing on from the post by mary about the baton rounds training and the water cannon that is quite worrying but about the faicial recognition-why don’t people use stage makeup imaginatively.it should be possible to confuse the system quite easily using various techniques that change the proportions, shapes and sizes of faces. give yourself a more prominent chin create larger cheeks, etc
As for the stock market leap-and the liquidity injection by the central banks, there is a big rumour that these measures were enacted to save one of the big French or Italian banks going down the swanee.
I have enjoyed my day off /strike and I am wondering why we cannot arrange the simple measure of reducing our income in a more managed way by reducing working hours and giving space for training of young people and unemployed people an entry into the workplace. It would also reduce stress for everyone. I expect such an idea is just naive however.
I am not advocating that we dismiss the fraudulent behaviour of the finance industries, but at root, the issue is also, at one level, about resources being spread more thinly as large, previously disadvantaged parts of the world have developed the technical capacity to compete with the west. I think that we should be thinking about finding common cause with people else where on the planet and trying to pull these people up rather than being forced down the retrograde path of competing with the barbarisms of Chinese and Indian work practices and as advocated by the dim witted filth of the Tory party and Nulabour.
We should be seeking ways to raise the lives of others in ways that are much less dangerous than the destructive drive to the lowest point of competition released by the capitalist globalisation agenda that has grown out the fallacious philosophical positions of the last thirty odd years, with the utterly false idea that we must compete to the point of near mutual annihilation in order to evolve . The point about human nature is not that it is fixed in some feral urge for primacy, but that it is incredibly adaptable and can develop to meet almost any challenge.
[Jon/mod: Sorry Tony, off-topic]
“How long will the Lib Dems go along with it?”
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for goodness sakes the libdems are as much neo con as any group .. and they are as much friends of israel than any group
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we dont have multiple ideologies we have multiple parties with the same neo con policy.
“They Realise That Not Only is The Economic System Totally CORRUPT so Are The Politicians and All their Fucking Parties.”
Oh, I agree, Tony. Just pointing out that the champions of capitalism are still poisoning society even as their own system is writhing in its death-throes. They’re biting themselves in the butt.
Sam:
“There is no social decency in this psychopathically rapacious era, those who need political power cannot afford decency, social or otherwise. Indeed, the whole desperate debacle can be summed up, IMHO, not as an global economic crisis but, rather, as a complete catastrophe for ethics globally and personally.”
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Yes… the parallels with the fall of Rome are striking, if you ask me. It’s as though our civilisation has run out of challenges and purpose, and is following the call of an unconscious death-wish.
The whole Coalition thing was cleverly contrived so that in the tumultuous times to come hatred of a sole leader is deflected.
Ruth, if you think the shower of lightweight power-seekers in Parliament has the wit or cohesion to plan something that complicated, I fear you are overestimating them. The coalition was a straightforward arrangement to give the Tories power and the LibDems the illusion of power. The Tories, whatever else you may say about them, have never worried about being hated. The LibDems have, collectively, never been unduly bothered by principle. (I except some of their better constituency MP’s individually).
[Jon/mod: Sorry Tony, off-topic]
Komodo,
Your contention that the “capitalists” are biting themselves in the butt, conjured up all manner of hilarious images in my mind, making it hard to concentrate.
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Ruth has a point the day Charile Kennedy was ousted was the day the current coalition government was set up. You rightly point out the shower of the idiots, however the
oligarchsorgan grinders playing the tunes, is a fact that cannot be overlooked.Hi, Fedup. And if Kennedy had been around, what then? The LibDems would have gone with Labour, and Prudence Brown would today be making very similar noises to Cameron. The oligarchs (no need to use the strikeout) would be just as happy with this. They loved Blair, who was always for sale, and Brown knows the ropes. If voting changed anything, it would be illegal…
[Jon/mod: Sorry Tony, off-topic]
Newsnight’s just finished with an interview of one of Gaddafi junior’s (saif-al) examiners. After some good questioning from Jeremy Paxman, Lord Desai (I think his name was) answered to the question “Do you think he was entitled to his PHD?” “Absolutely”. Desai said he had a two-and-a-half hour oral examination (viva) and was told to re-address it. He did and was awarded his doctorate. Desai admitted that recent events and revelations about him relying heavily on other works, and the because Gaddafi made donations to the university while correcting his thesis, disgrace has been brought on the LSE. Despite some having called his degree plagiaristic, it cannot be disputed that a respected academic has exonerated Gaddafi of cheating. This pleases me. I have no love for the Gaddafi family. I don’t even know them. What I do know is that there are some well-educated cheats and liars in this country who would like the rest of the world to think others were as unworthy as them.
Speaking of the fall of Rome, Bryan Ward-Perkins’s The Fall of Rome: And the End of Civilization is a hell of a scary book. People in the Roman Empire had become so dependent on the “global” economy that when it collapsed the standard of living in the Western provinces dropped to a level far below what it had been before the Romans conquered those provinces a few centuries earlier.
Komodo,Ruth,
Clegg and his cronies have had an unexpected ‘sweet taste’ of power with this coalition agreement.
Remember, Power corrupts … fill in the blanks.
I suspect strongly they will get their retribution in the next polling that counts.
Craig, the only solution I believe is a new fourth party who will represent real democracy and real people, the current three are following the same rainbow where there are no long term pots of gold. Discounting the bullion for the corrupt bankers I should add.
The million dollar question is how do you educate the masses?
tony0pmoc, when you stay on the planet you often make sense but your frequent trips to Mars spoil the experience.
Sorry about going off topic on the last comment, I just thought it was important.
I think Wendy’s comment about the LibDems is so apt. They are just as bad as their Conservative masters and are not going to come out of this unhappy term smelling of roses. This public-sector dispute was a unique opportunity for them to show that they do have Liberal and Democratic values. But they failed. They used to be a Liberal Party, Then they became a Liberal Democratic Party. They are now Neo-libdem-cons! If they get any more attachments nobody will know what the f..k they stand for or what they are. Or did we ever?
[Jon/mod: Sorry Tony, off-topic]
Komodo
‘Ruth, if you think the shower of lightweight power-seekers in Parliament has the wit or cohesion to plan something that complicated, I fear you are overestimating them.’
Why on earth would I think the Coalition was set up Parliament?
Komodo,
A thought experiment would be; Kennedy could have won the elections and the “unknown outcome” factor was the reason for him to get struck out. Although you are correct, in the event of a Kennedy win the outcome would have been very much heavily biased in favour of the oligarchs.
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As for Blair, he was the trojan horse, that kept the socialists at bay whilst the “best ever” conservative prime minister proceeded to screw the poor; anyone other than the oligarch and plutocrats.
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Anyone has any data on Blair and his oil companies in Iraq? Also that harridan Ann Clwyd who seemed to undergo a metamorphosis from a wifey, to a well heeled and clothed Millionaire, immediately after the war. Any data on her ownership of any companies in Iraqi Kurdistan?
Ruth: The whole Coalition thing was cleverly contrived so that in the tumultuous times to come hatred of a sole leader is deflected.
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No it was not. It was set up because no one party had a majority in Parliament.
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Hellooooo!
Author, Richard Heinberg links economic ativity, and predicted mayhem immediately following peak oil close on a decade ago.
It’s not that simple of course, but I’ve never yet heard any economist explain how you can have permanent growth within a finite system.
If some form of egalitarian capitalism could be arranged, it would still hit the buffers. Keynesian growth is subject to the same limitations as monetarist, or any othjer sort of growth. So in the short term, the real issue is social justice. In the long term, all the mainstream parties trumpet further growth as their main objective, but no matter how loud they shout, it ain’t going to happen.
Agree about the bankers – the slimy bastards should be skinned and hung from lampposts. Anybody who strives to place themselves that far above their fellow countrymen does not deserve the protection of humanity.
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But for the pensions, you’d have to take a good look at the figures to see what is realistic. The problem is that the whole thing is a ponzi scheme with current pensions being paid with current deposits. They are not thought out along the lines of investments made and returns paid. They are set by politics, not by financial sense, and are part of the bribes paid to the electorate in order to get the slimy politicians (friends of the slimy bankers) into power. These people are borrowing from future generations in order to pay off the current voters to get themselves elected and help their friends steal even more cash. If we really want to get away from this unsustainable system, we could be truly shocked by what is actually possible and sustainable. Is it possible, with reasonable taxation, to give everybody education up to university, free and unlimited health care and then let them retire at 65 or earlier and enjoy a decent life-style (and more health care) for another 30 years? Not to mention paying for a significant percentage of the population who are structurally unemployed. In the end, for a truly sustainable system, what the average person pays in should equal what the average person gets out – or am I being stupidly simplistic? So go figure. That would be a responsible journalistic project – calculate these real numbers, see what’s possible without the black magic of politics and banking, then let’s come back and debate priorities. But maybe a little dry and unexciting to make headlines and get published?
[Jon/mod: Sorry Tony, off-topic]
“The people are not stupid”
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While I believe in “we the people”, wish to think the best of them, and hope that we will collectively work in our own best worthy interests, I’m constantly finding reason to conclude otherwise. It makes one a cynic. ‘Guest’ said above, the people will vote for one of the three main parties again. But it’s much worse than that – most people would vote exactly the same way.
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Most people don’t have a clue, or really care much about what’s happening. They’re interested in trash-TV, the gutter-press, gadgets like the latest mobile, sweat-shop produced clothes and what the rich and famous are up to.
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Note that the _really_ rich keep a low profile, on the whole, leaving the new-money celebrities to sell their fabulous lifestyle as entertainment to the the working poor. We’re all supposed to be wanna-be millionaires now.
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Noticed how things have changed in the past 30 years, and success is judged pretty much only in cash terms, in any field you care to name? An author’s judged by book sales, a business-person by their turnover alone. Bands by record sales, artists by the price of their works. “How successful are you?” is now far more about how much money you make from your work, than the worthiness it represents.
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Craig’s post is – as it is 90% of the time – totally valid. But he’s talking about people who “get it” – they are the ones on strike, so they’re more likely to than most. It’s the majority of people that are the problem, though. They just still don’t “get it”. They’re hearing the message again and again, hammered home, that the public sector had it too good for too long, that Labour spent too much, the public sector is too big, repeat ad nauseam, and the only cure is reversing this horror by cutting back drastically on all public services. A pound spent in the public sector is after all. a hard-working, hard-pressed family-man taxpayer’s pound utterly wasted.
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That vast majority also read the gutter-press, watch trash-TV, get their news from “Hello!” etc. as mentioned. They do outsell all other publications. They are the willfully ignorant, make rods for their own backs, and enthusiastically vote against their own interests.
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This is what the 99%’ers, the Occupy Movement, is all about. But the general population just isn’t getting it. They think sticking it to the Occupy Movement is a good thing, they’ve been demonised to the point that OWS somehow epitomises all our problems!
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What’s it going to take? While we’re still mostly hung up on sports and consumerism, and the underclasses too apathetic or ground down, nothing is going to change. The transfer of wealth will continue, and we will accept it until the environment dramatically breaks down, after which not much really matters at all. But the rich and their stooges will be lavishly rewarded in the meantime.
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One more quick point, if I may. Was out with the old man last night, and he came up with an interesting observation.
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Right wing policies want to grind down wages to the lowest possible level, you’ll find nearly all policies have that as their eventual goal. But there is a very low level below which we – as any sort of civilised society – cannot allow our citizens to drop below.
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So to keep up this semblance of humanity, we’ll provide a subsistence on a reasonable (but poverty-stricken) level for you to exist while you cannot earn money for yourself.
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But we want to drive wages down to the point where you can only just manage to live. Which matches the description of benefits.
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These two points are now so perilously close, that working-poor bumps along with benefit-recipient at the very bottom end of the scale. Why should someone work when they can get hobbles, lounge around and get more or less the same? We can’t let the unemployed just starve (godammit!), so what’s the solution? We certainly don’t want to raise the minimum wage – we shouldn’t have a minimum wage at all!
Why are they picking on Xstrata? It’s a mining company – it actually does something useful. It never got a public bailout. I thought they were supposed to be picking on the banks that are gambling and then being bailed out.
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Just because its boss is well paid – so what? The problem is not well run industrial companies.
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Sorry Craig, some of the people are stupid.
P Harry sees himself as ‘an expensive asset’ as he furthers his skills at killing.
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Prince Harry finishes Army exercise in US
Prince Harry flew to the US to take part in the exercise at the start of October
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Related Stories
Prince Harry trains in US desert
Prince Harry promoted to captain
Harry wants active service return
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Prince Harry has returned to the UK after completing a major exercise in the US, flying Apache helicopters with the Army, St James’s Palace has said.
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The prince spent eight weeks taking part in Exercise Crimson Eagle in California and Arizona.
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He flew the aircraft in mountainous and desert conditions, during both day and night, as well as firing its weapons.
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The exercise – designed to prepare pilots for action in Afghanistan – was the latest step in Harry’s training.
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Known to his fellow soldiers as Capt Wales, the 27-year-old must undergo more training at RAF base Wattisham Station, Suffolk.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-15976453
Jeremy Clarkson: ‘striking public sector workers should be shot’
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“I’d have them all shot. I would take them outside and execute them in front of their families.”
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http://www.mirror.co.uk/celebs/news/2011/11/30/jeremy-clarkson-striking-public-sector-workers-should-be-shot-115875-23600850/#ixzz1fEP9NhSx
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The BBC needs a cull. Though I’d prefer thugs like Clarkson were deported to a Falkland Island sheep station. He’d have the perfect audience then. Baaa Baaa Baaa!