Waiting for the storm

I watched the rolling news out of the corner of the eye today whilst doing my admin tasks. BBC, Sky and Russia Today get some part of my attention.  I learn nothing much except I prefer Radio 3.  Sky had some vapid woman who either is of was a police superintendent.  I gleaned little except democracy is not safe in hands like hers.  RT actually spoke to a few protesters about the protest.  The UK clowns seemed to be hoping something would kick off.  What I thought I saw was police over-kill with London closed to traffic and more officers than protesters.

I regard myself as little more than a serial cock-up survivor.  Life as others live it is meaningless to me and allows little moral fellowship.  We do a bit of shopping for elderly neighbours, I cut next door’s “lawn”, clean up crap for the street when I put out our bins and turn up to help next door’s kids when their parents are out if needed (they have replaced a couple of my roof tiles etc.) – but in the wider sense I just see doom.

Gadget’s girlfriend was under attack in Parliament and blamed the previous government. No truth came out other than that the gaggle of clowns in the place aren’t fit for anything but ridicule.  Ms May appears capable of sacking people and I suspect this will lead to more paperwork as people cover arse.  I note that when the clowns present themselves in our roughly five-yearly selection interviews that they don’t say they will do so much of more or less nothing they will still be able to blame the last management two, three and ten years down the line.  Evette Cooper was useless and the point that we can’t muster enough customs people with a reserve army of about 8 million unemployed was never made.

Police will not be able to find enough officers to ‘anti-protest’ at double the number protesting or setting up tents if the actual nature of our plight dawns on enough people.  It’s not good to see that we now mob protests with police and nick people for camping in Trafalgar Square.  But never mind anything serious, FIFA is going to allow our players to wear poppies that rightly commemorate the fallen but also encourage the forgetting of the imperialist nature of wars millions protested against and then died in because we couldn’t resist the banks and commercial interests any better then than now.

I have no real truck with the protesters, but think they should be allowed to protest around Parliament – to discourage the clowns in the place.  The rest of us deserve little as we remain ignorant and apathetic under the current tyranny of clowns.  I’m just waiting for the run on the banks (what I put by is in gold), a collapse in asset prices and then my little pace in the sun.  I’d rather fight, but tell me where or who with,

I’m going abroad because almost all our society disgusts me and I can get cricket and rugby on Sky.  It’s all easier to ignore as an exile, there’s generally less crime and a less threatening drinking atmosphere when I venture out for a few.  And there are none of those awful apathetic English.  I hope to be out before the storm blows here.

Channel 4 News returned a little sanity, soon back to the despair of a young disabled couple who committed suicide in our Brave New World, yet at least some concern with truth.  I half-expect the studio to be dismantled by a flood of Bobbies!  There is still little on the Italian job and what it means.

Those of us who believe the current model of doing things in the world is hapless are rarely motivated by Marxist jargon these days.  I’ve always thought ‘brainwork’ should be unlicensed and free to all with minor exceptions like bomb-making recipes and skills.  the issue for most of us is debt and the way neo-classical economics (of most governments) leaves this out of the relevant management spreadsheets.  This leads us to think we are in another great depression, with the exception that government interventions this time have been massive (QE and such).  And most of us think these government measures are appliatives for a crooked banking sector, not the real problems.  This isn’t hindsight and most of us concerned with debt predicted the 2088 crash or something like it.  You can find most of the argument at Naked Capitalism, Steve keen (including a full academic course of lectures), David Malone and Zerohedge.

My tack has never been one of economics in the standard sense.  I take it that society needs something simple that most people can grasp – this because I’ve taught too long to believe even university students can get over ‘early learning’ constantly reinforced by our vapid media and stifling workplaces.  More people turned out for Jimmy Saville than to protest.  It is no surprise that Berlusconi is off just after agreeing the IMF inspectors can come in.

Advertisement

OccupyX will lead to violence

The Occupy demonstrations are growing across the West rather like the Arab Spring.  In Oakland they managed to close what I think is the 5th biggest port in the USA.  There was violence as police cracked down.  The following is quite interesting – an email from a police officer there:

“The Oakland Police have expressed sympathy _for the strike_ via their union, and are greatly disgusted with their civilian leadership. This is critical to notice. The police were thrown under the bus, my words, by the civilian leadership, and then left to look the bad guys when the civilian leadership backed down. I’ve said before that the morale of the local police departments would crack before the moral of the Occupiers, and this is a prototypal example of exactly how and why. I expect transformations like this to occur in similar manner elsewhere, when police get disgusted in being ‘the bad guys’ for cowardly or corrupt civilian authorities who can’t formulate a political strategy. Not every city, but even a few send a message to local police everywhere: “Don’t get used.” ”

I’m not hearing any vaguely credible statements on the debt mess from our politicians.  I’m unsure whether this is because they are too stupid or horribly corrupt.  Like most management they swan about hoping problems will go away, whilst pretending importance and credibility – real Glod Command material (typo but it fits).

One answer for the average UK cop is to sit back and ‘enjoy’ the overtime.  The apathy of the British public is well known – only a third of public sector workers have voted in their strike ballot – the turnout was way higher on a police strike back in the 70s.  This government remembers how useful the police were to it during the Miner’s Strike and will encourage the same.  They were prepared to destroy the whole industry then – i don’t remember being asked if I wanted the collapse of pits and other industry in favour of ‘banking’.

The same tactics will soon be deployed against protest here as has begun in the States and parts of the EU.  I can only see violence – perhaps erupting as police fail to manage ‘virtuous protest’ and we see Argentinian-style looting again.  That we can’t organise as decent people to get attention paid to the current fiasco tells me British democracy is in intensive care.  The claim of Occupy X is to be the 90% – and as far as I can see it is about that.  My own reaction is just to give up on it all, thinking I did my bit – but this has come home to roost in the form of the dire schooling of my grandson.  I have to get involved in that.  Politicians have sold us down he drain – I prepared for that with a flat in Portugal and a nest-egg – but they have sold our children’s future down the river.

Are we on the brink of a genuine revolution?

There’s a big set of photos like these posted by my friend Chris Jenkins at – http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150334273466494.348470.722681493&type=3

The venue is Occupy Tampa, part of protest across the USA – we have the beginnings of our own versions.  Chris’ theme is now ordinary the protesters are.  Most street protest has only made me yawn or reach in despair for my cricket box – we has-beens had no protective equipment.  I hope we are going to see big protests this time.  I’m so fed up with politics as we have it that I could barely be bothered to register to vote – like many more gauging from the Council guy who has just been round with the registration forms.  I want a government of ‘white suits’ across the US and Europe and a structured debt jubilee and international service.  I’m not actually a democrat, but want to see a system in which votes matter to the people, not the loons making up political speeches and the same old promises to garner them.  There are clearly some things that most of us can’t vote on using considered argument – but these can still be open to public scrutiny are generally are not.

What I’d like to see is such a weight of public protest that politicians, banksters and our poodle media could not ignore.  I suspect something much worse is coming because our apathy is unbounded.  I see no left and right in any of this – the call is freedom and substantial change.to put us nearer 1970 than 1900 (which is where wealth distribution is).

The private sector as it has been for the last 40 years can’t help us get what we want, which is mostly simple enough – reasonable security and reward through work.  We just won’t be honest about this and research shows most of us don’t know the real state of play, do want more equality and imagine there is much more than there is.

Not exactly a bunch of ‘caped anarchists’ this lot, are they?  Chris has posted hundreds and I’m sure we have to do something.  Most people hope they can ignore what’s going on and that somehow decent jobs will return.  Some are so barking they still hope for a crisis in capitalism – not realising capitalism has almost disappeared and is something we need back.

Student Protests

Why on earth do we have to have protests like the ones going on recently?  The reason lies in a pretty dire political process that has long since failed to modernise and be representative.  Yet, in the meantime, we expose front-line police officers to what can only be thought of as abuse. This will surely get worse if other people start to protest or riot.

The protests barely bring the real issues to the fore, and police prevent the anger and bitterness reaching its real mark, presumably Parliament.  Without disorder, it seems the media can’t get interested.  Democracy should not need to be defended like this on either side.  One would expect the violence to escalate once the private sector cavalry don’t show up and unemployment grows amidst claims of recovery.

Our police have already given up other streets and problems faced by many ordinary people, and one wonders why they are now protecting our worthless politicians, though the power reasons are obvious – they are serving the masters.  I find it particularly appalling that we should attack our police in the UK, or that we should face mounted attacks, kettling  and batons (though it is hard not to justify the police actions).  The question is why reasoned ‘attack’ cannot be made, from anti-social behaviour to a culture in which we feel our views are understood and more directly represented.  Not much comfort to either a poor cop facing projectiles, or an innocent bystander.