The Truth is Out There

It’s the same the whole world over,

Ain't it just a cryin' shame?

It’s the rich what gets the pleasure

And the poor what gets the blame

This is a letter which attempts to state the obvious. Somehow the obvious has got lost in a haze of confusion, misinformation and lies, so this is to remind people of some hard facts we've lost track of, and debunk some pervasive and pernicious myths that have become so engrained in social consciousness that they are now accepted as indisputable truths.

Politicians wonder why voting is on the decline and why there is such voter apathy. Is it because people no longer care about their communities? Is it because they are so happy and satisfied with the way things are that they see no need to change?
Obviously not, but there is a general feeling of hopelessness and helplessness. People see injustice and inequality at every level of public life. They see bankers and billionaire corporations, who certainly don't need the money, breaking the law and not paying taxes without suffering any consequences. In many cases the culprits are rewarded with huge bonuses, pension pots and lucrative new posts. Meanwhile, ordinary people suffer under austerity measures, and woe betide them if they dare to take any liberties with the system in order to try to make ends meet.

Government and the media tell us that it’s the fault of immigrants, benefit “scroungers”, “druggies” and criminals that our economy is depressed, and that these “undesirable and unproductive” groups place an enormous burden on the public purse. We are also told that the welfare system itself, incorporating unemployment benefits, education, pensions and the National Health Service, is costing the country a fortune.

 The solution proffered is to cut back on social welfare whilst simultaneously tightening up controls and ratcheting up punishments as a deterrent to “undesirables”.

 But is it really the case that social welfare is responsible for economic austerity? And is it really the poorest and most disenfranchised in our society who deserve to be punished and expelled?

How much of our current economic woes are in fact the result of bankers and speculators playing fast and loose with the economy, gambling and taking risks at our expense, knowing they have nothing to fear if it all goes belly up, and can rely on the ordinary taxpayer and the government to bail them out?

Does cutting back on health and education and taking away safety nets for the worst off in our society – people on low incomes, single parents struggling to raise families on one income, the unemployed, the disabled, and disenfranchised groups like immigrants – really make the country richer and more productive overall?

What is actually going on here, despite what government propaganda and the media may tell you, is a clear case of blaming – and punishing -  the victim, whilst  rewarding the culprit.  The victims are the more vulnerable members of our society, those who lack the resources, money and education to effectively stand up for themselves. The culprits are big business, corporate interests, bankers and speculators, and the politicians and other minions that serve them. The government is in the pay of the culprits. The police, the media, the military are in the pay of the government. So the culprits – the perpetrators of morally indefensible crimes against their fellow citizens, are walking away scot free.

There have been huge protests in the U.K.  - against the war in Iraq for example - where millions of ordinary citizens came together to express their opposition. But the protest was ignored, the voices were not heard, and war was declared in our name in spite of all our opposition.

No wonder people no longer trust the state to listen to their concerns or to take action to right these wrongs. No wonder people have lost faith in politics as a means for social change and have grown cynical and disenchanted. Politicians of all political persuasions have repeatedly shown themselves to be unworthy of our trust, to be deceitful, corrupt and self serving.

People are increasingly aware that those in power are not really concerned with the state of the nation or its citizenry, rather they have their own interests at heart, which is the pursuit of power, and they will do or say whatever it takes, firstly to get into power, then to hold onto that power, and from there to use that power to line their coffers and assure their futures.

But there is still some attempt to speak out and be heard, outside of the party political system which is failing its public so badly. Grass roots street movements have sprouted up independently and spontaneously to protest against the social ills that are left completely unaddressed by the establishment. Activists bravely  and imaginatively initiate and organise petitions and protests, with little if anything in the way of funding, a lack of support even from the liberal press - who don't want to be labelled as extremist so prefer to minimise the grounds for protest and the strength of public feeling - and vicious labelling as trouble makers and criminals from the conservative media. Protestors face police violence, imprisonment and a criminal record, when the only "crime" they have committed is to make manifest their protest in the face of political indifference.

Why then are protesters so often stigmatised as criminals and trouble makers?  Is it really morally reprehensible to go out on the street and protest when you believe that something in society needs changing?
If people of all ages, from all races and backgrounds and in great numbers, feel the need to go out and protest, doesn’t this suggest that they have something to say which needs to be heard and acknowledged?

Democracy is still probably the best idea humanity has come up with for government so far. It certainly beats tyranny, dictatorship, hereditary privilege or religious fundamentalism as ruling principles. The problem is not that the democratic process itself is necessarily defunct, it is that the current version of democracy as it is practiced in the west, and in particular in Britain and the USA, has been hijacked by corporate interests acting in the name of capitalism and consumerism. Ignoring as it does the voice and welfare of the people in order to safeguard the interests of the elite, it is this brand of democracy, which is not really democracy at all, that has been discredited. When profit and greed become the motives driving the political process, the citizenry become mere commodities to be bought and sold, used and exploited, in whatever way will best serve the interests of those holding the power.

Advocates of such populist doctrines as "law and order" and "zero tolerance" say that we need to take a hard line with the “unsavoury” elements of our society, and I agree. What I take issue with is who those unsavoury elements are.

If you come from a privileged background, have had the advantage of a good education at one of the best private schools with a track record of high achievement and a reputation which opens doors to the higher echelons of society and all manner of lucrative posts, and if you are financially comfortable or wealthy, then to break the law by evading taxes, although the payment of those taxes would in no way have caused you to suffer hardship or deprivation, is morally indefensible.

If, on the other hand, you come from a disadvantaged background, grew up on a "sink estate"' in a family living on a low wage, went to an urban "sink school"' where literacy was low and educational attainment negligible, and now work part time at an unskilled position earning less than the minimum wage, to then break the law to supplement your wages by claiming benefits to which you are not legally entitled, just to raise your quality of life (and that of your family and dependants) to a more tolerable standard, seems far more easy to justify and understand.  How many of us would not do the same in that position?

Yet who is it that the government penalises, and who do they reward? Again and again taxes are cut for the wealthy, whilst benefits are slashed for the poor. As the poor get poorer their choices and opportunities diminish, as do those of their families and their children. If the only way to survive is to cheat or to break the law, then that's what people have to do, there's no alternative.

As the rich get away with corruption, fraud and tax evasion, and are rewarded with perks, exclusion clauses and bonuses, their arrogance increases. Give them carte blanche to milk the system and exploit it to the max, and they will.

Charwoman Miaow, May 2013