GENERATION
Until a few years ago the word 'generation' for me would have evoked images of power-stations and 11KV generators half-submerged in metal-plate flooring... together with whirring, vibrations and smells of oil, ozone and dust.
Nowadays, in contrast, it evokes images of my contemporaries: ie, the group of people who's age is close to mine, the period from maybe 10 years older to 20 years younger; that is, born between ~1940 and ~1970. That's my generation.
Who isn't fond of generalising? Every time I chat with a fisherman they're friendly and interesting, so I have a positive image. And if when I eat an apple some peel gets stuck in my throat, I'll be biased against apples; unless they're chopped-up or peeled - though there's a good chance I can eat one without a problem, just as there's a chance I might meet an unfriendly fisherman.
OK, so now to generalise about my generation... not from personal experience, since I've always got along fine with my contemporaries. But when I hear of or look at what politics my generation have supported, then they can only be described as extraordinarily stupid or inordinately selfish. In short, that they're nothing but a mob of shit-heads.
Consider: in the UK, it's my generation that had by far the best start in life of any generation in UK history. Thanks to my dad's generation which had the wisdom to elect politicians that didn't represent or favour a small faction of wealthy elite, but rather ones who held the interests of the majority of people at heart: ie, they inaugurated an NHS, established an integrated rail network, began a building programme like never before so that most people could buy a house or if not would be provided by council-housing, organised free further education with grants, and set-up a well-managed economy with easy employment and adequate pay... etc., etc.
Brilliant - I know… I was one of the beneficiaries. I saw my contemporaries enjoy like me all these excellent benefits from the huge changes the 1945 government made. Unlike most of my generation, alas, I appreciated it... and still do. The ease of my first 35-years of life as Joe Average was very agreeable (although I never achieved anything much in the usual sense of the word – as I say, I was just a Joe Average, perhaps below-average).
Now, ever since 1979 my dad's generation has been dying out, and nudged by Rupert Murdoch's propaganda my generation has chosen to elect politicians who favour a small wealthy elite. This has resulted in a gradual decimation of welfare and worse conditions for millions of people. The 1997 Blair ‘Tory Mark-2’ govt kind-of 'marked-time' - they continued Tory policies and only funded token peripheral issues to placate and silence socially concerned supporters. It also joined with a reactionary US administration in invading Afghanistan and Iraq; it introduced the divisive PPP (public-private- partnership) and failed to re-nationalise Rail, Water and Energy... all of which at the tax-payers' expense enriched banks and other private wealth for decades to come; and it retained the council-tax swindle that penalises the poorest... ALL UK prime ministers since 1978 have been backed by Murdoch - leading member of the BIG 5 that control most of the UK media.
Who would have believed back in the 1990s, that for more than a decade up to the present, millions of people would require food-banks to survive... And tens of thousands would be forced to sleep rough?
And when at last at the rare opportunity for another 1945-style government to correct the devastation of the past three decades since the 1980s, my generation elect an even more far-right bunch of spivs than has existed in my lifetime.
Astounding? Corporate 'Murdoch' media and the Jewish establishment pulled all the stops, made colossal efforts and spared no expense to discredit the Attlee-style Corbyn opposition. With deceitful scheming, unrelenting specious propaganda and lies and other fraudulent tactics they hoodwinked the inept and alarmed the indifferent.
Were my generation just hopelessly inept and gullible, or did they really fail to see what kind of crooks they were electing? I'd like to think it was the former, but after talking with some of them I suspect the latter. I say 'suspect' because nothing I ask them suggests they'd do any different now - after all the incompetence and arrogance of the present mob in Westminster, they still declare their support. True, they're well-off, own nice houses, have good pensions, no mortgage etc., but they're blind to what they've landed the younger generations with, as if their choice of a far-right govt has nothing to do with food banks, poverty, homelessness - rough-sleeping and sofa-surfing - mental-health issues... No, they just can't see it. It's really astounding... they don't want to see it. "I'm all-right Jack." is the (ostrich-style) motto.
ECONOMY of CONSUMPTION
Even if we had a decent govt instead of a mob of incompetent spivs blindly following the orders of Rupert Murdoch via his retarded stooge Dominic Cummings, there are problems that no-one's addressing, or if they are then it's either sporadic or hopelessly inadequate. Above all Climate Change, which is reported not to be significantly relieved by the covid-19 lockdown and the slowing of the international economy.
And it’s that economy that's the problem. Any economy that depends on consumption is potentially toxic. A capitalist economy, at least, depends on promoting consumption and waste. Maybe before 100-years ago this was OK. But now it's destroying the planet. Whether it's a service or product, its manufacturer, provider, vendor will aim for maximum sales. So long as they get paid they won't be concerned if what they make or do is wasted or pollutes... the shops sell '3-for-the-price-of-2' and if it's perishable, then no-matter if they sell more... if it ends-up in landfill, what do they care?
Promoting the sale of double-burgers or biscuits (mainly to kids) that cause obesity and ultimate expense to the NHS, is the system, so they promote and sell come what may. Crazy... you couldn't invent a crazier system if you tried. At least, I can't think of one.
Quite apart from the left/right argument of whether to elect a ruling elite or a system of fair distribution, the world needs a revolution - to a system that discourages consumption. Any intelligent economy should minimise consumption, regardless of left or right politics. Otherwise it's unsustainable on a finite planet... of 7-billion people all polluting: all eating and breathing and shitting... ...
At present we live in a system that’s programmed for ‘self-destruct'… consume, consume, consume…. Waste, waste, waste…
OK…
