You’ve hit the nail on head with this. Starting work in the seventies, I’ve seen the pattern and have never understood why so many politicians fail to see the obvious. Inequality is the greatest issue followed by degraded public services and imo cutting taxes is not the answer. I’d rather pay higher taxes and have services that actually deliver. France & Denmark have higher taxes but that costs people less overall as they don’t have to pay for ridiculous medical insurance that fails you when you need it most. Rant over. 😉
That is a powerful and thoughtful assessment of our national condition. I hope that a government and a leader in the near future will begin to grasp that painful reality and start to address it rather than looking for easy scapegoats.
Brexit for me felt like a before and after moment that impacted my life in this country. While it certainly was, and my quality of life is now worse despite having a better salary, now that the dust has settled I'm with you. Brexit wasn't the only cause of our current issues.
It was the result of the lingering frustration and disappointment with a system that wasn't performing well for most people. And judging by the turnover of PMs it seems to be quite dysfunctional still.
I concede that the pandemic and the rise of tech giants have also played a part in accelerating the decline but it looks to me as if UK political leaders are matter-of-factly accepting that this is how it is instead of trying to fight for people's basic rights.
Would Burnham change that? It remains to be seen. We can only hope for the best.
I think you make an excellent case for when the rot started. I remember some of the discourse at the time of the crash. 'This will change everything' was the opinion. 'We will have to fundamentally alter how we run the economy, the financial system. It can't just go back to how it was.'
Guess what? Yup. Everything just went back to how it was. Possibly worse. I don't remember knowing about so many billionaires before then.
As you point out, things did genuinely improve in many ways during New Labour's tenure. I am no economic expert, but I definitely lean toward the idea that the Govt should borrow heavily to invest, given that it is NOT a household. Does that make me Keynesian or MMT? Whatever. What they're doing now isn't working & I genuinely worry about unrest if the divides get any deeper, where so many really are suffering.
Burnham apparently caused consternation with a remark that 'We're too in hock to the bond markets' and has had to row back. But I think most people agree with him. The financiers that crashed us in 2008 have somehow got back in charge. I don't believe their greedy ways will have changed & nor do I think they should have the elected Govt under their thumb. But I don't know what can be done about it, especially in a country so weakened by Brexit where we have made ourselves alone.
You have clarified what I have been thinking for some time with an excellent explanation of where we are as a nation. How we begin to resolve our differences and repair the damage is another question which will inevitably require higher taxes which we have been told are emphatically not the answer especially given how long it would take for things to improve sufficiently for people to begin to see the positives.
You’ve summed it up perfectly Bear, once again. I’ve got a radical suggestion - the Palace of Westminster needs a thorough refurbishment which has been postponed for decades. Move government “up North” for the duration. If politicians had to experience living and working out of the metropolis, they may be inclined to make better decisions and stop being influenced by think-tanks, finance and malign operators.
BTW, I am a knitter & there's a huge knitting website for patterns &c but which also hosts a lot of forums. A lot about the craft, but we also talk politics. One thread, overwhelmingly 'lefty' on a day to day basis, was pretty much universally *against* Burnham unseating Starmer when I looked in yesterday. Not because they love Starmer, they don't. But they don't think messing about like this will help.
I'm not convinced either tbh. I don't see how Burnham's USP of plucky outsider stands up to being PM.
So what are 'the root causes'? It seems to me to be a combination of untrammeled global capitalism and the internet; both of which have isolated us into silos, and both of which have obscured The Common Good. Problem is we cannot go back and undo things. So do we hope AB has the correct mix of vision, courage, moral fibre and charisma?
Swings & Roundabouts then someone falls off in favour for they think something is better 🙄 at a time when the world is upside down inside out ,.Yet some want again another change but the same just done under a different individual 🙄 bloody insane it is Orchestrated id say , what can Burnham bring one wonders 🤔 will he concede to the right will he challenge farage trump musk even Tommy Robinson 🤔 will he change the outlook of Britain or will it remain in Brexit fall out ... what does changing the guard so to speak the right thing to do considering the above! Then theres the wars Iran Israle NATO? What will he do one wonders, will he drag us into a war that shouldn't have been ! Defence spending Not on the back of the poor i hope not !.21st Century needs a leader for such ! All this pandering to the right wing papers is totally unrealistic for it helps no one but those who side ... PM Needs a backbone to bounce back the shite the nation has had to deal with ! Proganda owned by certain fractions need to be shut down ! Education to private school level but will it happen,only if we have a PM who puts the foundations down to overturn the years of bad governance!
Hi Bear, as a near neighbour who has done business in the UK since the 80's, I agree with your diagnosis. The cause of being a slave to the market under Thatcher ism is a key root cause. North Sea Oil was the first of huge public wealth transferred to the wealthy few. Each privatisation was another slice of that. What were reliable public services have been trashed by 40 years of enshitification and privatisation. COVID was a pinnacle.
Its clear that Westminster and the Media has been totally corrupted by money from the ultra wealthy and foreign agents. When the major parties have Israeli lobby groups controlling policy and who is leader.
The FPTP will deliver Facism if left in place.
Like the US, the first step is to remove money from politics and curtail all professional lobbying.
Repair the voting system so every vote is equal.
End the enshitification of public services with investment and roll back privatisation. Force water rail and utility companies to put all their liabilities on balance sheet and regulate them as monopolies.
Class remains a huge mental barrier for English and Welsh in particular. Becoming a Republic might be a good aspiration.
Another excellent 'hitting the nail on the head' piece Bear👌
The politicians have failed us, and until we ordinary decent people somehow come together, organise, and stop being divided and apathetic enough to put the moral compass and morale back into our country we'll continue to fall - no idea how though!!
Thank you, Bear. That is a very astute observation and I am as guilty as anyone at supporting the changes from Thatcher onwards. It was the Johnson government that started me to notice that we had fundamental issues that were not being addressed and which were creating a worsening divide setting us up for a fall. The rise of dominant wealth controllers has been a bit like turning the clock back to medieval days where the wealthy barons took financial control away from the monarch to protect their own linear inheritance in the Magna Carta tax reclaim. We are now firmly locked into a blame game so easily directed by money grabbing media and individuals. How that now can be resolved is probably down to my grandchildren if they ever hope to earn a living pension. For that, the capital investment model will need to change.
You’ve hit the nail on head with this. Starting work in the seventies, I’ve seen the pattern and have never understood why so many politicians fail to see the obvious. Inequality is the greatest issue followed by degraded public services and imo cutting taxes is not the answer. I’d rather pay higher taxes and have services that actually deliver. France & Denmark have higher taxes but that costs people less overall as they don’t have to pay for ridiculous medical insurance that fails you when you need it most. Rant over. 😉
That is a powerful and thoughtful assessment of our national condition. I hope that a government and a leader in the near future will begin to grasp that painful reality and start to address it rather than looking for easy scapegoats.
Brexit for me felt like a before and after moment that impacted my life in this country. While it certainly was, and my quality of life is now worse despite having a better salary, now that the dust has settled I'm with you. Brexit wasn't the only cause of our current issues.
It was the result of the lingering frustration and disappointment with a system that wasn't performing well for most people. And judging by the turnover of PMs it seems to be quite dysfunctional still.
I concede that the pandemic and the rise of tech giants have also played a part in accelerating the decline but it looks to me as if UK political leaders are matter-of-factly accepting that this is how it is instead of trying to fight for people's basic rights.
Would Burnham change that? It remains to be seen. We can only hope for the best.
I think you make an excellent case for when the rot started. I remember some of the discourse at the time of the crash. 'This will change everything' was the opinion. 'We will have to fundamentally alter how we run the economy, the financial system. It can't just go back to how it was.'
Guess what? Yup. Everything just went back to how it was. Possibly worse. I don't remember knowing about so many billionaires before then.
As you point out, things did genuinely improve in many ways during New Labour's tenure. I am no economic expert, but I definitely lean toward the idea that the Govt should borrow heavily to invest, given that it is NOT a household. Does that make me Keynesian or MMT? Whatever. What they're doing now isn't working & I genuinely worry about unrest if the divides get any deeper, where so many really are suffering.
Burnham apparently caused consternation with a remark that 'We're too in hock to the bond markets' and has had to row back. But I think most people agree with him. The financiers that crashed us in 2008 have somehow got back in charge. I don't believe their greedy ways will have changed & nor do I think they should have the elected Govt under their thumb. But I don't know what can be done about it, especially in a country so weakened by Brexit where we have made ourselves alone.
You have clarified what I have been thinking for some time with an excellent explanation of where we are as a nation. How we begin to resolve our differences and repair the damage is another question which will inevitably require higher taxes which we have been told are emphatically not the answer especially given how long it would take for things to improve sufficiently for people to begin to see the positives.
You’ve summed it up perfectly Bear, once again. I’ve got a radical suggestion - the Palace of Westminster needs a thorough refurbishment which has been postponed for decades. Move government “up North” for the duration. If politicians had to experience living and working out of the metropolis, they may be inclined to make better decisions and stop being influenced by think-tanks, finance and malign operators.
BTW, I am a knitter & there's a huge knitting website for patterns &c but which also hosts a lot of forums. A lot about the craft, but we also talk politics. One thread, overwhelmingly 'lefty' on a day to day basis, was pretty much universally *against* Burnham unseating Starmer when I looked in yesterday. Not because they love Starmer, they don't. But they don't think messing about like this will help.
I'm not convinced either tbh. I don't see how Burnham's USP of plucky outsider stands up to being PM.
One of your best 👌
Sadly, very very true. Excellently set out.
I don't suppose you have an answer too?
My answer at this stage involves pitch forks, so I’m not sure it’s quite there yet.
The pitchforks are what keep rumbling around at the back of my mind too.
I'll get down to the shop and buy one or two.
Excellent piece, Bear.
So what are 'the root causes'? It seems to me to be a combination of untrammeled global capitalism and the internet; both of which have isolated us into silos, and both of which have obscured The Common Good. Problem is we cannot go back and undo things. So do we hope AB has the correct mix of vision, courage, moral fibre and charisma?
Swings & Roundabouts then someone falls off in favour for they think something is better 🙄 at a time when the world is upside down inside out ,.Yet some want again another change but the same just done under a different individual 🙄 bloody insane it is Orchestrated id say , what can Burnham bring one wonders 🤔 will he concede to the right will he challenge farage trump musk even Tommy Robinson 🤔 will he change the outlook of Britain or will it remain in Brexit fall out ... what does changing the guard so to speak the right thing to do considering the above! Then theres the wars Iran Israle NATO? What will he do one wonders, will he drag us into a war that shouldn't have been ! Defence spending Not on the back of the poor i hope not !.21st Century needs a leader for such ! All this pandering to the right wing papers is totally unrealistic for it helps no one but those who side ... PM Needs a backbone to bounce back the shite the nation has had to deal with ! Proganda owned by certain fractions need to be shut down ! Education to private school level but will it happen,only if we have a PM who puts the foundations down to overturn the years of bad governance!
Hi Bear, as a near neighbour who has done business in the UK since the 80's, I agree with your diagnosis. The cause of being a slave to the market under Thatcher ism is a key root cause. North Sea Oil was the first of huge public wealth transferred to the wealthy few. Each privatisation was another slice of that. What were reliable public services have been trashed by 40 years of enshitification and privatisation. COVID was a pinnacle.
Its clear that Westminster and the Media has been totally corrupted by money from the ultra wealthy and foreign agents. When the major parties have Israeli lobby groups controlling policy and who is leader.
The FPTP will deliver Facism if left in place.
Like the US, the first step is to remove money from politics and curtail all professional lobbying.
Repair the voting system so every vote is equal.
End the enshitification of public services with investment and roll back privatisation. Force water rail and utility companies to put all their liabilities on balance sheet and regulate them as monopolies.
Class remains a huge mental barrier for English and Welsh in particular. Becoming a Republic might be a good aspiration.
Another excellent 'hitting the nail on the head' piece Bear👌
The politicians have failed us, and until we ordinary decent people somehow come together, organise, and stop being divided and apathetic enough to put the moral compass and morale back into our country we'll continue to fall - no idea how though!!
Thank you, Bear. That is a very astute observation and I am as guilty as anyone at supporting the changes from Thatcher onwards. It was the Johnson government that started me to notice that we had fundamental issues that were not being addressed and which were creating a worsening divide setting us up for a fall. The rise of dominant wealth controllers has been a bit like turning the clock back to medieval days where the wealthy barons took financial control away from the monarch to protect their own linear inheritance in the Magna Carta tax reclaim. We are now firmly locked into a blame game so easily directed by money grabbing media and individuals. How that now can be resolved is probably down to my grandchildren if they ever hope to earn a living pension. For that, the capital investment model will need to change.
We’re doomed,aren’t we?