“For this relief much thanks” – Hamlet.
I had an uneasy feeling that you might find not hearing from me for over a week is rather like a holiday, but a friend wrote asking what had happened.
Well, I’ve been thinking (as maybe you have) about the state we’re in.
The State We’re In was a book that tried to prove that Tony The Bliar’s New Labour Project was going to solve all our ills.
But as we all now know, he landed us in bigger trouble than ever.
How come I wasn’t surprised to read that the little cockroach was busy trying to stop the man who blew the whistle on the great phone hacking drama?
He seems to be fond of cover-ups; we are all still waiting to find out about the miraculous “suicide” of Dr. David Kelly, which by all accounts was physically impossible. And now it looks like the way his death was reported seems highly irregular – with details locked up for 70 years. Why?
The other day I read that the Bliar blames his successor, Gloomy McToad, for the collapse of his “third way” – a mystical creation clouded by jargon that neither he nor any of his cronies could explain coherently.
However, I now realise that the third way only had one objective: to make sure its inventor made millions out of all the fools who gobble up bullshit on an operatic scale.
True, McToad ‘s chief contribution to affairs was to hire drones by the million for the public sector, most sure to vote Labour, and all now worried about their jobs and pensions, but the Bliar was in charge while it happened.
But will Bliar’s admirer Cameron (one of a tiny minority) do any better? He isn’t as good at winning elections, that’s for sure. Faced with the most unpopular Prime Minister I can remember he and his “brilliant” strategist Steve Hilton still couldn’t win a majority
Like the Bliar Cameron made big promises and is failing to keep them. He said he would sweep away all the useless committees stuffed with the greedy and ghastly. He is actually creating more. He spoke of sorting out our finances – and sends even more billions in “aid” to be stolen by kleptocrats around the world (40% is stolen on the way – and unaided countries do better than the other way round).
And he has the balls of a gnat. The first whiff of criticism and he backtracks.
The trouble with democracy is the same as the trouble with big corporations. The people who get to the top are good at getting to the top, not at getting things done. And once there, they have only two things in mind: feathering their nests and staying in the job. To get to the top they make big promises. To stay there they mortgage our future.
Not just our future. Our children’s future.
All the easy money given away in the past twenty five years is going to have to be repaid. It’s just beginning.
Maybe I should have kept quiet.
Best,
Drayton
Brilliant blog Mr Bird. All sadly so true. If you ever pass through Barnsley stop awhile and I'll treat thee to a breadcake and cup o' Yorkshire tea. You can help me set the world to rights starting in Barnsley. We love plain talking folk.
“40% is stolen on the way – and unaided countries do better than the other way round”And the majority of what gets there is stolen by the thieves in power in those countries.And I'm not surprised the unaided countries do better because they don't have to pay back interest on loans.I think politicians should be out-lawed. Isn't that what happens to all criminals?
I'm sorry, Rezbi, I expressed that badly; I meant that the thieves in power steal it. I don't know what you mean about loans – but I do know aid is often tied to buying from the donor country.
At last! Thanks for the political round-up, all about right. Anyone who pays taxes must share responsibility for this mess.
Our current political system is best termed “Welfare Democracy” and I highly recommend the book the “Sovereign Individual” by Rees-Mogg and Davidson for insights into what's currently going on in the world and what's likely to happen in the years ahead.
I forget who made the observation (Tocqueville, perhaps) that a “democracy” can only survive until the people discover they can vote themselves entitlements from the public purse. After that it's downhill until we get to the stage where 50.5% of the population are trying to rip-off the other (productive) 49.5% with a permanent political class leaching off of everyone else. At some point the system is no longer sustainable.
We're all in a pile of dung when corporations have more rights than individuals, and don't have to follow the letter or intent of common law. Not to mention the fact that corporate welfare … ummmm government support … takes more from the public purse than any group of citizens could ever hope to collect. The politicians and bureaucraps supported by the corporistas and then employed by same should all be sent to rehab for a couple years after servicing the public. Of course we'd have to pay for that country club campground too. Don't get me started.