The more I read, the more it's dawning on me that the right-wing are winning. In fact, far short of a revolution in this country (and maybe even in the USA), they might just have won already.
All my life, and a little bit before, we have had purely right-wing governments in this country. You could argue that between 1997 and 2010 we had a change (New Labour), but in reality it was more of the same, shifting to the centre just a touch from the right. There were a few bones thrown to the working class, but, ultimately, it was very much business as usual.
In the last, nearly, forty years, not only have we had right-wing politics dominating our lives, but we've also had capitalism increasingly taking over. It's got its grubby little mits in everything and there doesn't seem to be any way out of the hole that's been dug.
We're so deeply entrenched in it that the politicians and advocates of it have convinced people that it's in their best interests to continue with it. Any other alternative must be hunted down and murdered before it has a chance to convince us that there's a better way forward.
Take something like universal health coverage that someone like Bernie Sanders believes in. This idea is completely shot down by the right and a lot of people who this would greatly benefit. It's portrayed as if it's some sort of radical or lunatic idea that a country should look after its people?! It's just not profitable to look after your people, eh?
In this country, Labour's last election manifesto was filled with policies that would greatly benefit the many over the few (to steal their tagline). They got a lot more votes, but still more people voted for the despicable Tories. I suppose seven years of wage regression still isn't enough for people to want real change in this country.
I've probably said all this before, multiple times, but it still completely baffles me that this is where we are.
I recently had a Twitter back-and-forth with, what I can only assume are either bots or, in fact, actual Trump supporters who are opposed to DACA. Instead of seeing that these people (DACA recipients) have only ever known America as their home and probably only speak English, these Twitter users simply want them deported. It was a discussion that really made me see that the right's indoctrination of usually-compassionate people has stretched to the point of blaming groups of innocent people because we might be suffering in some way in our lives, and we need a scapegoat with which to blame.
I would suggest that we should maybe blame greedy corporations and businesses, as well as the banks that plunged us further into a capitalist hell hole.
Greedy businesses don't pay their fair share, stashing most assets offshore so that they don't have to pay as much tax. They also choose how much they're going to pay a worker. It frustrates me no end how foreigners get blamed for "dragging wages down" but it's simply not true. Employers want to make as much profit as possible, so of course they're going to pay as low as they can.
What aids this is that in the last thirty-plus years, unions have had their balls cut off. Like they're a detriment to the workplace or something. Obviously, the opposite is true and the results of them being neutered has shown in that time period.
Today, people rarely strike and rarely strike for long enough to make a difference or scare the employer into giving them what they ask for. Additionally, increasingly many people simply can't afford to strike because wages have become so abysmal and their real value has decreased so much that workers are living paycheck to paycheck in some cases. Employers have gotten workers by the balls and probably (definitely?) know it.
I wait for the day that unions get reduced to nothing/abolished; then those against them will also feel the wrath of opportunistic employers, too. I wonder if they'll complain or bend over.
Banks have got a huge responsibility to bear, too. In 2008 they plunged us, amongst others, into a financial catastrophe. Have they been punished for this? Of course not. In fact, they were bailed out (by us, naturally) and, with certain policy changes in America, will probably do the same again. They can play with our money how they see fit, pay huge bonuses to undeserving bosses, that we could only dream of, and get bailed out if it all fails.
It amazes me that, collectively, workers (and everyone, really) haven't done ANYTHING about it. But then, I suppose, with my earlier observation that people can't afford to strike, is it any wonder why we've not kicked off as much as we should've?
I'm really not sure what the answer is. Some of these observations are so obvious to me, but, for a hell of a lot of people, is perfectly OK. I despair sometimes.
Thanks for reading. This probably comes across as ranty, but sometimes I just need to spew my bullshit onto a page and see if anyone relates to it!
