In the UK, a proud tradition of trades unions, wage protectionism, co-operatives, social welfare and free at the point of entry universal healthcare is now under threat from creeping privatisation and a rolling back of the frontiers of the state. In other words, social Darwinism taken to the the Frederich Von Hayek or worse, Robert Nosick level. This writer is all for individual freedom and as such would describe myself as an anarcho syndicalist or at worst a disaffected and non-doctrinal Marxist. But I do feel models of polity are required. The (supposed) real politik of David Cameron (and his supplicant Liberal Democrat coallition partners) and his over reliance on the miracle of hyper capitalism (and if truth be told libertarianism taken to the nth degree if he could get away with it) are a palpable concern. Welfare "reforms" which threaten to return us to an almost workhouse-driven system with unemployment benefit claimants being compelled to work for their bottom line reminds me of a pre-Jarrow march 1910 Britain. In the north east and Scotland, which saw some of the worst excesses of late stage capitalism and swingeing industrial cuts and closures, communities decimated by coal mine closures and mass industrial redundancies have yet to recover from Thatcher's purges of the 1980s. The "special relationship" wrought with the US (helmed by ex-liberal and bullwark against the McCarthy commitee Ronald Reagan) saw right wing policy makers looking to The States for enlightenment and offered only Polaris missiles and communist arse-kicking paranoia. I realise this is reductionism and only a tincture of the whole picture, but for the benefits of brevity I'm using a broad brush stroke here. The fact is that right wing thinkers and future policy makers, eg Keith Joseph, a future member of Thatcher's cabinet, started looking to America during the electricity black outs of 1977, when unions held a balance of bargaining power and the powers that be wanted, effectively to emasculate said bodies. When New York was hobbled with power cuts and black outs, various individuals formulated ways and means to carry this forward. Thatcher did the same, 7 years later with the coalminers of Britain, allied by Anglo-American union buster, Ian MacGregor. A year of painful reprisals against striking miners, scab labour employed and "flying pickets" criminalised, it was all over for the trades unions of Britain.
Even now these changes rung 30+ years ago are felt throughout the UK. Only defence, fuelled by paranoia is a growth industry. The Rail and Maritime Transport union is one of the very few with real teeth. They can effectively bargain, because they can with mass walk outs shut down the transport networks. The only bullwark against creeping wage slashing and further privatisation. Now we have the austerity measures in the form of welfare budget pruning, educational opportunities only for those that can afford the fees set by the universities themselves (another measure introduced via The Browne Report, under the previous Labour administration) that all stem directly from the sub prime mortgage scandal started, almost virally in the US. Our banking system was bailed out to the tune of billions for the basic greed and veniality of some speculators preying on the dreams of the poor. Now before you think that the thrust of this polemic is an outright critique of the people of The US, think again, as I am merely addressing the policies of a few affecting the lives of the many. That said, the yellow press in both countries helps to engender and spread the validation of these principles and political aims and the supine public often consume it, believe it and do nothing. The divide and conquer media hegemonic forces that Gramsci warned of are the secret weapon in the hyper capitalists' armoury. Once you have the press spewing out your spurious notions you've all but won. But, I digress, optimism in such a climate is indeed highly difficult and hope is almost a dangerous notion to incubate. We need more, not less actions. More, non-anonymous protest, more heads above the parapet instead of leaking useless information that amounts to already-known facts and tittle-tattle worthy of the tabloid gossip columns. Take on Big Pharma, for example. Sign petitions. Vote in every election, even if it's just to spoil the ballot paper. Get involved in your local credit union, trades union or worker's co-op. Start a campaign for something you actually give a stuff about. Don't consume mind numbing visual opiates and obssess over trivia. Get out on the streets. See what the so-called (and I hasten to use this term as it's an insult to humanity) lower echelons are doing and how the most vulnerable are affected by the current regime(s).
The very term "underclass" is an invention of the British right wing media, ignore the words "big society" as well. It's just another attempt to wrest power and money from state bodies and put it into the arms of amateurs and charities. The National Health Service can't be run by fund raising PR gurus, it is there to treat patients, not customers and we as well to remember that. The Second World War was fought to defeat Fascism and to keep our respective countries free of tyranny. In the wake of that war, under the Beveridge Report and under the Labour adminstration of Clement Attlee we were given the gift of an NHS and a welfare system that is currently under threat from a government and mindset that encourages poverty and the kicking into the margins the poor and dissenters. See the hysterical state response to the largely peaceful recent student protests, which saw Jody McIntyre, a 20 year old wheelchair user with Cerebral Palsy pulled out of his chair and dragged across tarmac by police. Only one such example of, on the one hand state control, whilst the other hand takes monies from the welfare and education pot to pay for defence of the realm. A few daubs of paint tossed at an outmoded royal does not a revolution make. Gil Scott Heron was right: "The revolution will not be televised" nor will it come about without a framework and a coherent alternative. That is the crux. It's all very well carping and tossing word grenades at the prevailing power super structure, taking to the streets with banners and chanting long-dead dreams through a megaphone. What is being offered as replacement? That, readers is where you and I come in.
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