Richard Murphy on tax, accounting and political economy
Two FT headlines show that nothing much is really changing post Brexit. First, relating to the incoming leadership:
So much for the elite being put in their place.
And then relating to the outgoing:
Why on earth might George have said that?
Might that have been his job application?
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The point has to be made to the BREXIT voters that they were voting for a mirage – and not the winged variety either.
PSR -that is grossly condescending to may people who voted Leave because it was their first feeling that a vote could have any effect in a one-party corporatised state. They were fed bullshit to the power of infinity supported by a press that isn’t worth transforming into loo paper. What do expect? People are pissed off with years of mendacity, grift and graft and wallet lining beyond the dreams of avarice.
let’s hope Labour splits, get’s rid of the M.P’s that were as useful as chocolate fire-guards in front of a furnace and we can start shifting the paradigm.
Simon
That’s pretty patronising too
You could reverse almost all of what you have said barring that relating to the press and upset someone who holds honest opinion
The reality is that this is an system’s failure and we’d be wise to not irritate each other
A range of opinion is going to be needed to solve this
Agreed-Richard, apologies, if it sounded offensive -however I take issue with the notion that what I said could be reversed entirely in light of the fact that there is a BLAME culture out their I thought PSR buying into (implicitly), that is, that Leave voters:
1) Included racist bigots from ‘up north.’
2) They were a naive bunch of poorly informed idiots
3) They didn’t know what they were doing
Jonathon Pie’s recent sketch encapsulates it well: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NffWa8ZlJkY
I think it fair to say many people did not know what they were doing
It is fair to say nor did those proposing Brexit so they could not have done
Simon
It must be hard to accept that one has been ‘had’. But the facts remain that many have. I obtain no satisfaction from it. I speak what I see.
The conduct of the interested parties of UK EU referendum has shocked people here and abroad and I suspect that had Remain won, there would still be a bitter after taste and the BREXITERs would be saying just the same if they had lost. And I would agree with them on many things we Remainers were told – but not all – mostly about HOW we were told.
‘Condescending’………..Oh dear. The last defence of ……..well, I’ll put that to one side as we are meant to be kinder to each other now – and why not?
Look Simon, I’m applying the stuff I’ve read from Freire right?
Using Freirian analysis, BREXIT won because of the domination (or combination) of either (i) a naïve consciousness (that something causing havoc with people’s lives – the EU and the free movement of people – would change as a result and that is the only thing that will change) and (ii) a false consciousness (plain wrong concepts and even lies perpetuated by the BREXIT camp reinforced by a pro-BREXIT media) that become truth to certain people. In this category I would say those thinking that they have got our sovereignty back as a result of BREXIT are living under a falsehood that drove their voting.
BREXITERS thought that they were dealing a blow to the EU, without thinking about the wider consequences of leaving or about the rot in their own political institutions (which BTW is now turbocharged as a result). A very narrow minded view but also lacking the faculty of Freire’s desired critical consciousness to analyse the situation.
Blogs and comments like this about post-BREXIT are not meant to rub people’s noses in anything nor are they digging people in the ribs.
What they are is an exhortation for us to remember things like this and not forget next time.
To enable us to remember it is the responsibility in my view of every citizen, to themselves and their community, to reach a state of critical consciousness – educate themselves as to what is REALLY going on and thus be free of being manipulated by vested interests – Right or Left. This is how you will get a better politics in the end. This is a very hard and uncompromising message Simon, but is the only way forward. With the amount of data on the internet there is NO excuse for people to be badly informed.
Yet we had a referendum – not on facts – but opinions. And the result in my view reflected highly manipulated opinions – not facts. How valid is that?
Not much in my view.
So to whom this applies – please get on with learning and developing your critical consciousness – and do hurry, huh?
Finally, the ‘range of opinion’ needed that Richard states points to a dialectical approach – the holding of two opposite arguments in order to find – in my view – the truth that lies in the middle and is too often ignored these days.
The recent Panorama programme on why people voted to leave concluded otherwise.
If readers of this Blog haven’t read this acute piece of writing on “Brexit – Causes and Outcomes – UK: lost, divided and alone” by Paul Mason, you might find it interesting.
http://linkis.com/mondediplo.com/2016/KeAoF
I am reading it
This link avoids the linkis annoyance
http://mondediplo.com/2016/07/03brexit
Wow! That Paul Mason article, to my mind, really gets to the heart of things. Excellent analysis. I’m bound to reflect that while the history is different here in the USA the mood, the anguish and the anger can be seen in equal measure. We are living in very uncertain times.
To be fair I think he’s already got his directorships and advisory posts secure!
It might be more that loss of city tax revenue will really undermine any last fiscal hope of reducing the defecit
Adam,
I would scarcely know where to begin with that. I could start with the suggestion that the City’s revenues (and therefore tax revenues)are under no real or significant threat and in no great need of protection.
I might also note that the finance sector shuffles wealth. It does not produce anything. All of its gains, as such, come by way of redistribution. A loss for them is a gain for others, quite probably someone more productive.
The only argument or exception to this observation occurs in cases where the City draws foreign wealth into British hands – and even that argument is not quite as certain is it may initially seem.
‘Blame culture’.
I’m into ‘learn culture’ – and you can learn by reflecting can you not? I also believe that the theories I have used above go well beyond a ‘blame’ ethos.
Something that has occurred to me regarding the management or even ‘manipulation’ of the EU referendum is that it shows up once and for all the problems posed by single issue style politics. To me, the EU referendum was presented as a simple, single issue – our membership of the EU – or not.
All the other issues were ignored or just used to fluff up the pillow for yes or no as if they were incidental. Some of those issues were actually issues worthy of a vote themselves.
The whole episode will be used in the future as a text book case about how not to conduct a referendum – believe you me.
Mason’s analysis is very sane and hard to fault.
But getting out of the EU will not put an end to low wages and poor conditions which is the basis of much that is sovereign British business culture.
The living wage when introduced was used as an opportunity by some firms to reduce conditions and hours. The LW was not an EU policy.
This is why I agree with Freires’ ideas about naïve and false consciousness when people take part in democracy and why this whole escapade was very bad idea.
Sorry to be so active today but here is a little story……..
We have some Italian friends coming over to stay with us in August (they are from Siena).
They have asked us about places to visit and one of those mentioned was Stoke on Trent (which voted nearly 60% for Leave).
What should I tell them, given the recent heightened state of awareness of shall we say ‘people’s differences’ bequeathed to us by the Tory party and UKIP?
Ha Ha!
Here I am again talking to myself……………
I watched a select committee on TV last night – Andrew Tyrie taking the committee through some expert consultation on the ramifications of BREXIT.
I don’t normally watch these but this one was fascinating – talk about chickens coming home to roost. There was even comment on the conduct of the campaigns similar to what has popped up here.
Recommended viewing for any of you BREXITERs or non-voters alike and very satisfying for those of us who thought Remain was the best option.