I argued yesterday that the UK is now rudderless because of May's willingness to change policy on a whim in an attempt to retain power. Her ability to shift position for no other reason than appeasement of whoever appears her most immediate threat is quite extraordinary.
Unless, of course, it is compared with Trump's ability to deny the meaning of all he says, even when he cannot deny having said it. Yesterday he claimed the comments made about Putin on Monday were all just a mistake. Who doesn't, after all, say ‘would' when they mean ‘wouldn't'?
Leave aside for a moment the idea that both are just expedient. Leave aside too the idea that they are people of such little principle that they can renege on themselves without a moment's hesitation. Dismiss too any suggestion of incompetence. Maybe all such ideas are far too convenient. And come to that, just exactly what May and Trump may want believed.
Suppose instead that the aim really is instability: that they read Naomi Klein's ‘Shock Doctrine' and thought they'd get themselves some of that.
I've never wanted to believe that there were those who would create chaos for its own sake. But if you really wanted to destabilise liberal democracy, why wouldn't you do just that?
We know democracy is in retreat, and not just as an ideal. The pretence that it exists in Russia is just that; i.e. a pretence. Within the EU it is in retreat in Poland and Hungary. The two party systems of the US and UK have always been vulnerable. Suppose they fall? And suppose the fall is already in planned progress?
I don't want to accept this possibility. But there have been other possibilities in my life that bitter experience has required that I address. The possibility that the process of democratic failure in the UK is much further advanced than I had thought possible is one that I have to, at least, consider possible. The time has come when it would be negligent not to do so.
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May appointed a hard brexit Brexit minister, and for Health a minister financially supported by the IEA who believes the NHS should be abolished. Why would you do that unless you wanted these ministers to achieve the outcomes of hard brexit and demolition of the NHS?
George Monbiot has a piece in The Guardian today about the IEA – https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/jul/18/dark-money-democracy-political-crisis-institute-economic-affairs
George is spot on
AliB says:
May appointed a …..
…….man who has not quite managed to sell off all of the NHS, to be foreign minister so he can presumably set too and sell off the rest of the country.
May also refused to backdate the requirement for funding to N. Ireland political parties to be transparent, thus allowing the large donation to the DUP used to fund Leave ads in mainland UK to remain unknown. If May had any interest in supporting democracy she would have demanded that the DUP publish who the money came from.
regarding May’s support for democracy – I’d suggest that the jury is still out. However, post march 2019 we will see. My analysis of the flow of fresh food stuffs suggests that the Uk will face significant shortages – this will lead to widespread civil disturbances initially centered around super markets & given that there will be little the UK government (I use the term losely wrt the current “rabble”) can do – then given that May is highly authoritarian – she will reach for emergency powers etc. That said: I notice that the police are under-manned and under funded and quite possibly less than motivated to helping out May & her rabble – which leaves the army. The film “V” was an interesting piece of theater – next year will start to show how close to life it was. Still doubtless UK serfs will do what they usually do in such situations – roll over & let their tummies be tickled by the Tories.
Again I i will post https://www.irishtimes.com/opinion/fintan-o-toole-trial-runs-for-fascism-are-in-full-flow-1.3543375
If this is the big picture, and these two useful idiots are in charge of the UK and the USA, then who is pulling the strings?
Remember, just because you are paranoid, doesn’t mean …
I have already commented that I think Fintan spot on with this
“The two party systems of the US and UK have always been vulnerable. Suppose they fall?”
“The possibility that the process of democratic failure in the UK is much further advanced than I had thought possible is one that I have to, at least, consider possible.”
I’m sorry to say that it appears you are making the mistake of equating ‘democracy’ with the two-party system. Issue-based politics has been replacing the 17th century party system for the last 40 years (think CND and Greenpeace activism alongside gay rights and women’s rights movements compared to the increasingly creaky and incongruous parliamentary parties-within-a-party). We’re just getting to the end of that process.
There is no doubt that we are in the middle of a transformation in political and economic terms but fighting for the best outcome of that turmoil offers the possibility of improvements from where we are. It’s not a depressing state of affairs we face but a possible liberation. Buck up.
Facevthe reality, and it is a reality, that the transition will be a dire period, at the very least
Agreed 🙂
I have to say I prefer Allan W’s vision to yours Richard. It does look as if May is taking us into a dire period but we will have to elect people who can take us out of it. That’s what democracy is all about. The people get the politicians they deserve and its beyond time that we tear up the current ossified party political system and realign Westminster to what people want. Social media works both ways. Right wing billionaires can exploit it and so can popular movements.
I have a vision
I can still dread the massive cost of the upheaval
And I can be uncertain of success
Only a fool is not wary
AllanW says:
” It’s not a depressing state of affairs we face but a possible liberation. Buck up. ”
If we end up with a democratic system, yes that will be fine. PR voting would have had the process under way by now I think and may well have led to more transparent party groupings than the two broad church leviathans that stand for nothing because they stand for everything (sometimes for as long as twenty four hours at a time)
I find it hard to see the bright side of this because our current batch of politicians seem to be predominantly unprincipled and more concerned to play an outdated system than to seek meaningful policy objectives.
The brightest hope is ‘creative destruction’ and that leaves an opening for a quasi dictatorial coup.
Interesting times indeed. But something is going to have to ‘give’.
There’s a good reason why countries like China and Russia are so accepting of what we might see as unsatisfactory authoritarian regimes – they’ve experienced revolution and chaos first hand and they have no desire to repeat the experience.
The thought of either of them reading a book immediately makes me doubt your theory…
George Clark says:
“The thought of either of them reading a book immediately makes me doubt your theory…”
I watched, an apparently quite serious, web presentation which showed evidence of the possibility that Donald Trump is verging on functionally illiterate. He displays many symptomatic characteristics.
Your comments worryingly reflect my thoughts last night. How did people feel in the 1930’s? What is coming that with hindsight we will seem blind to have missed? I am coming to the conclusion too that they surely cannot be this incompetent – so what is their plan?
I have to say, I think May is just too bloody useless to be so Machiavellian.
She was a useless Home Secretary, I’d guess she’s a useless MP and she’s beyond useless as a PM and ‘leader’ of the Tories who have always needed to be bullied into line.
I don’t think Trump has anything like the intellect to be this Machiavellian either.
Of course, this doesn’t rule out the possibility that that the loathsome ERG-types and right-wing American billionaires who are basically telling them both what to do aren’t aiming for the chaos so they can fill their boots (even more).
Mariner says:
“I have to say, I think May is just too bloody useless to be so Machiavellian…….
I don’t think Trump has anything like the intellect to be this Machiavellian either.”
Agreed. But neither of them is actually ‘in charge’. What they can do is proscribed by the mostly invisible forces that drive the agendas that they are the ‘front’ for.
The Trump ‘admission’ that he had ‘misspoken’ tells you everything you need to know about ‘Russiagate’. He cannot be allowed to have any sort of sensible relationship with Putin because it would dent the US adversarial strategy. Putin knows that. Love him or loathe him he isn’t stupid.
Both May and Trump are expendable and if they get it wrong enough they will disappear from the scene, either precipitately, or in due course as their authority and credibility is destroyed.
May would have gone already if there was any possibility of an alternative Tory party leader who would not fare worse. Or of course if the Labour Party was not studiously avoiding any danger of having to sort the current mess without any coherent alternative policy proposals.
I’d bet on both of them being pawns or glove puppets, manipulated by darker forces
You’ve gone to the heart of the neoliberalism versus democracy debate again. Under neoliberalism you don’t need as much democracy is their view. If you want high government spending to GDP, then Northern Ireland is your place and if you prefer much less government share of the economy just cross the border to the Republic. If you want high taxes and high entitlements, move to Scotland, and for low taxes and entitlements move to the Isle of Man. If you want to live in a town with a government run shopping centre, move to Bootle. If you live there and think that retail centres should be run by private companies then move away.
Two years ago 52% of us voted not to have any more MEPs swanning off to Brussels to allegedly represent them while achieving precisely nothing. If you want to continue sending money and people to Brussels, the heartless neoliberals say, then you can send yourself and your own money. Chlorinated chicken isn’t a problem as long as it’s labelled and carries the US logo, as consumers can decide for themselves if they prefer it or not, and the majority clearly would prefer not. And so the retreat from democracy goes on, because more and more can be decided by giving people a little more economic freedom.
Democracy is one person – one vote. Neoliberalism is one pound – one vote.
” If you want high taxes and high entitlements, move to Scotland”.
Not true. Nobody who is on less than £33,000 — which is considerably higher than the average (£23K) or full-time median (£28K) wages — will pay a penny more tax, and the large majority of Scots will in fact see a small tax cut. (Those who are fortunate to earn more than £33,000 should be well able to afford the extra asked of them, as the extra tax would be in the hundreds as opposed to the thousands that have been lost to those in need who have seen benefits slashed.)
Please do a little research before making this kind of blanket assertion.
Entitlements in Scotland are higher than in the UK as a whole. This can be seen in figures like public spending per head, and in the absence of being able to borrow or print money, then the only way to get to the higher spending figure is through higher overall taxation.
I’m aware there’s been a few progressive tweaks, but at the macro level taxation is higher.
By the way no-one earning above £33k is being asked to pay more tax. That implies it’s voluntary or partly so. If we are to effectively oppose the neoliberal narrative then we have to call it what it is, which is something compulsory or you’ll be put against the wall, and from then go on to justify it.
Jang Sung Taek says:
” And so the retreat from democracy goes on, because more and more can be decided by giving people a little more economic freedom.”
Yeah right. And where does this economic freedom come from ? And what about the freedom to move ? That can be constrained by political and financial forces. A wealthy minority has the freedoms it always had. The rest of us don’t and the freedoms we have are under attack.
Your comments sum up everything that has been wrong with the trends of the past forty years.
Time for a change of direction.
A disciple of Ayn Rand I guess…
i prefer Amartya Sen and ‘Development as Freedom’ – freedom comes from having access to education, health, a roof over your head, personal security and a reliable income.
Randian freedom is the freedom from any obligations to society and your fellow man/woman. Utterly selfish and destructuve
‘[S]uppose the fall is already in planned progress?’ ‘The possibility that the process of democratic failure in the UK is much further advanced than I had thought possible…’
That is the uncertainty that the alt-right is relying on to normalise its agenda, Richard. Believe it’s more than possible – that it’s probable – when you hear Nigel Farage and Steve Bannon interviewed without any of their statements being questioned, including by the BBC, who have been cosying up to dangerous demogogues for far too long.
To whom do we turn? Ah, but that is the question! Is there any group of people who can be trusted to pursue anything other than self-interest? Only the Greens – and they have one MP. Are we doomed to accept Corbyn as the only viable alternative to the triumphant alt-right?
A recent post here about the growth of fascism was very prescient I felt.
BREXIT seems like the equivalent of the fire in the Reichstag. What you are raising makes sense. In an information rich world, effective liars make headway. It is the dark side of the information revolution.
but what is really driving all of this?
We know that chaos is the modus operandi of the financial sector. How else is this dominant sector to continue moving money from society to the 1% if it is not destroying something? They will suck the value out of everything if they are allowed to – even life itself.
May, Trump and others are – as you have said before – the public caretakers of this process perhaps?
The first part of dealing with a problem is recognising that you have a problem. Is Finance the problem?
What do others think?
Finance is the problem. Follow the money behind Cambridge Analytica, Brexit, Trump etc. old money coming from commodities (Koch and Russia) new money in hedge funds (Mercer), sloshing through tax havens to avoid detection. Capital versus democracy is the defining battle of our age. The finance sector is not completely united (they compete) but still as Nick H put it above, neoliberalism is aiming for one dollar one vote, and they will not be stopped unless the democracies of the world unite and say enough is enough.
Having spent many years seeing the finance sector close up, at times on the inside, and watching it morph into the monster it is today, Id agree with you Pilgrim. The vampire squid metaphor applies to much of the sector, with any and all businesses, public and private sectors, seen merely as assets to be squeezed, sweated and speculated on, to maximise cash extraction for the finance sector and their clients. Ive argued for ages that ‘investment’ banks should be done under trades description – they do no investment but merely trade assets and extract whatever they can in the process. Actual ‘investment’ – in people, plant, R&D – is an anathema. They just would not understand it. The label ‘financialisation’ covers much of it. Thats before we even start talking about tax avoidance…
Arguably, a lot of the dysfunctional behaviour in the wider corporate sector is driven directly by the finance sector. I’ve known enough directors and senior managers who want to do the ‘right thing’ but are cowed by their ‘shareholders’ in the City. Either that or they just sell out for the big bonuses. There are rare exceptions – Paul Polmans at Unilever being one – who are prepared to stand up to the City and finance, but they are exceptions.
So yes – fundamental changes needed to the City and finance, and then changes to wider corporate governance over which finance has such a malign influence. Much of what Richard has been on about for years. That includes putting workers, wider society, environment, innovation back up on a level with financial return. Which is weirdly about how it was when I first did strategy work with organisations 30 years ago.
So if there is to be a revolution, personally I’d like it to start in the City. Id be there with my pitchforK!
It would be the right place to start
I think you’re correct here.
However I think there are two shocks coming:
1) The shock of ecosystems failure inadvertently caused by all of us in our day-to-day living.
2) Manufactured political/economic shock(s) deliberately created/manipulated by an elite clique.
My belief is that elite awareness of the inevitability of the first shock is driving those whose power derives from the unsustainable elements of our current system to manipulate (allow to happen and exploit or outright create) type 2 shocks as a means to rid themselves of democracy before the type 1 shock occurs.
If ecological collapse becomes unavoidably obvious to the public while vestiges of democracy cling on then there’s a chance that the people will irresistibly demand radical changes to the system that ameliorate or reverse that ecological damage. All such ameliorative action will inevitably undermine the power of many (most?) of those who control the existing system. They don’t want to lose their power so they must circumvent democracy in a controlled fashion before it is too late.
“We know democracy is in retreat, and not just as an ideal.”
The is a wanton disregard for democracy at the heart of government. Some tories are recognising this…
for example 17/07/2018: in the commons emergency debate about electoral law being broken
Sir Nicholas Soames speaking to Cabinet office minister Chloe Smith
“One of the great glories of this sadly now diminished country was our electoral and democratic system, and this example today is gross.
And I say to her that if we are to retain the integrity and trust of the voting public, the whole damn thing needs to be blown up and started all over again.”
We need more people to stand up for democracy.
Hmm….
Democratic failure yes.
But its not just the US or the UK.
It’s universal.
Coming at it from the opposite angle Richard, I wonder if Trump, rather than being the cause of the failed liberal ideology is not just the effect of it? There are many who believe that it was the breakdown of a healthy liberal ideology that created Trump. I mean, for example, what does deep eco feminism have to say to redneck in mid America who can’t a job? Answer precisely nothing because they are at different levels of consciousness with different life experiences and values. The trouble with the so-called leading edge according to Wilber is that they can no longer led because they don’t make room for everyone in their ideology. His great mantra is ‘transcend and include’.
Integral philosopher Ken Wilber has been talking about this for decades now and in ‘Trump and a Post Truth World’ makes it clear that Trump was a long time in the making due to a liberal ideology that has, for decades been degenerating into aperspectival madness. I would recommend this to anyone who is seriously interested in how we might address this huge problem. It would really help to have at least a passing knowledge of the levels of Spiral dynamics before you dive in, https://www.toolshero.com/change-management/spiral-dynamics/ This link explains the characteristics of each level.
I can recommend. Many people feel that Wilber’s insight into the evolutionary model of human consciousness perfectly expresses how they feel about things in the current confusion.
When an individual is raised not to have much in the way of moral values then it becomes possible to become a squirmer where maintaining or advancing your position of power becomes paramount. This would appear to be characteristics of Trump and May. They’re our Squirmers-in-Chief!
FWIW my read on Trump is that he isn’t stupid, but has the attention span of a gnat. Some concepts have seeped in over the years and right or wrong he doesn’t have the patience to listen to anyone else. Like with trade, no amount of anything is going to convince him that our trade deficit is anything except us handing out money to other countries. Which isn’t entirely wrong but it isn’t quite right either. Nothing is going to convince him that NATO is useful. He’s right on that. There are plenty of things he doesn’t understand and has no desire to, like the intricacies of his tax cut or repealing the ACA. He seems primarily to be motivated by undoing anything Obama did out of spite and to do anything he can count as a win. He also loves saying things that he knows liberals will go insane over because his base LOVES watching them freak out. I don’t think he is intentionally trying to destroy democracy, I don’t think he even wanted to win.
Trump is CERTAINLY stupid. He is a moron. A Dunning-Kruger exhibitionist to his short-fingered fingertips. Unfortunately, many of his supporters are little better, and those who are are to various degrees complicit — either corrupt or afraid.
You seriously think the USA will sign a trade agreement where their produce, that people are known to be unhappy with, will be labelled as such?
You do know that many foods produced from animals fed on GM feed (in the UK) are not labelled as such?
And that GM enzymes in cheese are not mentioned on labels?
Then we come to “chlorine washed chicken”. Well, chlorine-washing is only one of the ways the US agriproducts industry reduces bacteria on their meats…there are several other chemicals used as disinfectants…none cleared in the EU/UK, except periacetic acid. Then we come to the massive use of antibiotics in US production, and artificial growth hormones. Import of those products would inevitably lead to UK agri insisting they have a level playing field. their use would also mean exports to the EU would be severely impeded by checks to ensure no contamination.
But never mind, let’s go for the no-deal exit.
8% drop in GDP.
£158 billion less revenue.
2,800,000 less jobs.
Figures from the DexEU/ONS
Me, I’ll stop eating meat…and corn/soya-milk…there has to be a reason the USA has collectively lost its marbles.
Id back you on that JohnM. A spell with a major NGO with their food team reporting to me exposed me to just how bad US food standards are. Grim. That and living in South Carolina for 3 months and trying to buy half-decent food.
Give me EU food and agricultural standards any day of the week. Whatever their faults, they are infinitely better than where we are heading for; we’ll miss them when they are gone. Thats not to ignore the position of poor families for whom the £1.99 chicken, wherever it comes from, is all they can put on the table.
Serious US food poisoning is ten times greater per head of population than in the U.K.
There must be a reason
Worth noting that nearly all ‘washed’ salads sold in the UK are chlorine rinsed and that there is chlorine in domestic water supplies.
Oh come on
I think you can be a little more scientific than that
That’s akin to saying there is lead in some water still so why does lead from a bullet matter?
Washing vegetables in chlorinated water is acceptable within the EU.
Washing meat is not.
Usual ratio of chlorine-water is 5ppm.
Tap water typically has a ratio of 1ppm chlorine:water.
The ratio used to wash meat in the USA is typically 20-50 ppm (frequently higher) and has been used to wash away products of decomposition in the past (and maybe still is, who knows?)
As someone who has had food poisoning from chicken, and survived with bad memories and lasting damage, I ingest a minimum of meat, which is always overcooked.
My personal observation is that many are looking forward to a disastrous brexit.
Many will get rich from buying assets at a fraction of their price.
Treason seems very in-vogue at this moment in time….but I expected nothing else from the CONservative party.
I personally believe we have had a manged democracy at best in the UK and US for many decades. The electorate are allowed to vote for a limited range of options. Anyone threatening the establishment control will be disgraced, removed or if necessary killed. Zinoviev letters, MI6 investigate Wilson, JFK assassinated, Gary hart discredited, just a few examples.
I would suggest that WM is abolished and regional parliaments are set up with equal powers and funding. Politicians who are closer to home and therefore more vulnerable to public opinion would be more inclined to represent the voters wishes. Also it’s high time that all money spent is equally distributed and not London centric. Hopefully Scotland will have removed itself from the great U.K and be in charge of its own destiny.
To understand Trump look at Bannon – he is Bannon’s puppet for his white supremicist fantasy.
To understand May read this bio:
https://www.lrb.co.uk/v39/n06/david-runciman/do-your-homework
In many respects our MPs are useful idiots for Bannon and Putin, unable to see that they are being used – Brexit is simply a tool for creating division and political instability.
I fear you may be right. I am not at all convinced that Trump and May are incompetent.
I too have been saying for a while: just because some outcome may be too awful to imagine, it doesn’t mean it won’t happen.
I expect there were plenty of average Germans in the 1930’s who were blithely waiting for “sense to prevail” or for “them” (whoever that is) to sort out the situation.
The amount of public apathy on the Brexit issue astounds me. Personally, I am worried… and doing my best to fight Brexit, and I don’t even live in the UK any more.
I think there are some very nasty influences at work in the UK.. and links to the USA are obvious. (Way beyond the obvious ones such as Farage , Fox or Rees-Mogg…thye are just the visiblepart of the iceberg.)
Worrying times, indeed.
In the EU we were shocked to be branded (apparently sout of the blue) as “Foe” by Trump.
I would say that the British public has been groomed to think this for many years.
With what motivation? Although I do have my idea…..many aspects of which come up in your article.
I’m more relaxed about the democratic direction of travel in this country. The neo-liberal consensus has been quietly dominant since at least the 80’s, possibly since the 70’s, and Blairism made it explicit. It hasn’t become worse since then. The fact that Corbyn could be elected leader of Labour and that the majority of the UK electorate rejected the EU demonstrates a large part of the country remains unconvinced 30-odd years into the project. That’s the main reason I voted Leave: to keep the options open rather than accept the EU ‘TINA’ dogma.
And for anyone who thinks that makes me a myopic, racist, Little Englander, you should focus that supposed laser-sharp scrutiny on yourselves. Post-Brexit we may be left with the children of Thatcher/Blair/Cameron running the country, but at least it is no longer a foregone conclusion. That’s what democracy means.