The super-rich and their vassals are deeply invested in the system because it richly rewards them. They’ll deploy everything they can – from the media to the 'security' forces – to prevent change
Hoe about the role of the executive, the civil service and the hugely expanded cabinet office? WTF are they doing? What is their relation to structural forces anyone?
Great writing is a reward for subscribing to your work, Jonathan. It's so clever how the ruling elites can tug at emotions when seeking agreement and support, and squash with uber-rational wordsmith. Legalese is the vernacular of the charlatans who depend on tacit support.
I think the public needs hard talk from caring, honest speakers. I just watched this within the hour, and though it is nearly half a century old, it resonates today because it articulates what so many cannot.
The CEO justification that they're constrained by the requirement for shareholder profit should be called out as the at best half-truth it is. For sure stock market activities aren't a measure of a nation's econ health for many reasons. Among them that it doesn't reflect at all the situation of the majority working class. It's also only a privileged short term frame that precludes thinking about vital aspects like ecological impacts over the long term. And most pointedly, unless an IPO, owning shares is not an investment in a company, but merely manipulative gambling for rich boys. It's the same as when someone buys a used car, the money paid doesn't go to GM or Lexus.
A good analysis, really helpful in explaining so many disperate thoughts prompted by recent news stories.
The conclusion is I think correct and educational reading material of this type is extremely valuable in an age of 'anxiety' (I see there is even a nagazine on sale in supermarkets of the same name.
An interesting piece of journalism that rings so true and brings to mind senior members of the CIA whom I recall having expressed remorse at what they did. And Oppenheimer’s The Act of Killing where ‘ordinary’ Indonesians became mass murderers only to show regret many years later.
"When someone puts on the One Ring, they experience a profound transformation. It grants the wearer the power to see the thoughts of all those who have used the lesser Rings and governs their actions, ultimately enslaving them. The Ring's influence is so profound that it can alter the physical and spiritual nature of its wearer, leading to significant changes in their behavior and perception of reality."
Yes, but the enslavement, of politicians and of the public, is enacted through bribery and blackmail not magic. We all choose our comfort and material goods over concerns about global inequality, working conditions, imperialism, animal well-fare or the environmental and climate crises.
That's what the One Ring banks on.
Problem is that the One Ring no longer rules them all. Specifically Russia, Iran and China refuse to be ruled by it and manage to resist its power (by, to an extent, isolating their internet and information space from US interests).
The Ring is going crazy at this and is doubling down on wars and propaganda (that it's not happening) which will end up destroying humanity through the climate crisis. If the Ring can't rule them all; it will destroy them all.
The role of the plucky hobbits destroying the Ring in the Fire would equate to us refusing to be bribed or blackmailed, refusing to contribute to the climate crisis or buy into war or the Ring's products- cheap and destructive goods produced by exploitation that profit the US based billionaires in fossil fuels, animal ag, pharma, AI, tech, media, entertainment, junk food, gambling, alcohol, auto, air travel, finance, tobacco, narcotics and arms.
While the Truss government was seemingly brought down by the market, there is more to the story. It appears to have been a regulatory failure, rather than the markets flexing their muscle or showing disapproval.
I was shocked to learn that Britain made a profit on the whole affair.
If you get a chance to read it I hope you'll find this article as enlightening as I did:
Many thanks for one more excellent article. As usual I have to print it to read again. I also appreciated very much all the videos that you added to the article. Listening to Starmer speaking about the genocide in the Croatian city of Vulkovar and currently denying the genocide in Palestine is very sad and disgusting. The Shin Bet pressures to turning Palestinians into informers is very painful. I wish all these could end soon. But it takes a long time yet. Reading all the information about AIPAC in the site of DAWN, which shows how Israel combined with American Zionists have been buying the American elections, shows that we have a long fight ahead of us for building a humanitarian world.
Regardless of who’s elected prime minister or president, Far West governance is heavily steered and may therefore be weakened by domestic corporate/oligarchic interests, sometimes through the latter's economic intimidation.
All political candidates thus parties are elected via the First Past The Post ballot system, which by way of its dynamics enables a covert rule by way of potently manipulative/persuasive corporate and big-monied lobbyists. While the FPTP system may technically qualify as being democratic within the democracy spectrum, it’s nonetheless democratically lacking.
It's a system that enables big-money lobbyists to pull our (typically politically vulnerable) governments by the nose. High-level elected officials can become crippled by implicit/explicit corporate and/or oligarchic threats to transfer or eliminate jobs and/or capital investment, thus economic stability, if ‘requests’ by big-monied interests are not met.
The lobbyists also write bills for our governing representatives to vote for and have implemented, supposedly to save the elected officials their own time writing them up. (The practice may have become so systematic that those who are aware of it, including mainstream news-media political writers, don’t find reason to publicly discuss or write about it.)
Low-representation FPTP-elected governments are the easiest for lobbyists to manipulate or ‘buy’. Perhaps it's why such powerful interests generally resist (albeit probably clandestinely) grassroots-supported attempts at changing from FPTP to more proportionally representative electoral systems of governance, the latter which dilutes corporate influence on government policy and decisions.
Meanwhile, the biggest of businesses (at least here in Canada) get unaccountably even bigger, defying the very spirit of government rules established to ensure healthy competition by limiting mass consolidation.
Ergo, maybe some Far Western governments like Canada’s need to cling less to an outdated capitalist-manifesto mentality and instead open their eyes to increasingly disturbing insatiable greed that's ignoring, if not exploiting via profiteering from, the legitimate needs of nations and in particular the growing number of financially struggling citizens within.
Impressive !! Not sure humanity shall one day change its choice 'between God & Mammon' !
Apols, lost its core values
Hoe about the role of the executive, the civil service and the hugely expanded cabinet office? WTF are they doing? What is their relation to structural forces anyone?
Great writing is a reward for subscribing to your work, Jonathan. It's so clever how the ruling elites can tug at emotions when seeking agreement and support, and squash with uber-rational wordsmith. Legalese is the vernacular of the charlatans who depend on tacit support.
I think the public needs hard talk from caring, honest speakers. I just watched this within the hour, and though it is nearly half a century old, it resonates today because it articulates what so many cannot.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9jXwWCyMJyc
It's simple: anyone aligned with any State is aligned with violence.
The CEO justification that they're constrained by the requirement for shareholder profit should be called out as the at best half-truth it is. For sure stock market activities aren't a measure of a nation's econ health for many reasons. Among them that it doesn't reflect at all the situation of the majority working class. It's also only a privileged short term frame that precludes thinking about vital aspects like ecological impacts over the long term. And most pointedly, unless an IPO, owning shares is not an investment in a company, but merely manipulative gambling for rich boys. It's the same as when someone buys a used car, the money paid doesn't go to GM or Lexus.
A good analysis, really helpful in explaining so many disperate thoughts prompted by recent news stories.
The conclusion is I think correct and educational reading material of this type is extremely valuable in an age of 'anxiety' (I see there is even a nagazine on sale in supermarkets of the same name.
An interesting piece of journalism that rings so true and brings to mind senior members of the CIA whom I recall having expressed remorse at what they did. And Oppenheimer’s The Act of Killing where ‘ordinary’ Indonesians became mass murderers only to show regret many years later.
Enough bitching and moaning. What we need to discuss is solutions that structurally deal with the problems so far created. Some pointers bellow:
https://squirrelbrain77.substack.com/p/basic-law-of-the-commonwealth-cfc
https://squirrelbrain77.substack.com/p/playing-devils-advocate-arguments
Superb, Jonathan.
"When someone puts on the One Ring, they experience a profound transformation. It grants the wearer the power to see the thoughts of all those who have used the lesser Rings and governs their actions, ultimately enslaving them. The Ring's influence is so profound that it can alter the physical and spiritual nature of its wearer, leading to significant changes in their behavior and perception of reality."
We are at a Lord of the Rings moment.
Yes, but the enslavement, of politicians and of the public, is enacted through bribery and blackmail not magic. We all choose our comfort and material goods over concerns about global inequality, working conditions, imperialism, animal well-fare or the environmental and climate crises.
That's what the One Ring banks on.
Problem is that the One Ring no longer rules them all. Specifically Russia, Iran and China refuse to be ruled by it and manage to resist its power (by, to an extent, isolating their internet and information space from US interests).
The Ring is going crazy at this and is doubling down on wars and propaganda (that it's not happening) which will end up destroying humanity through the climate crisis. If the Ring can't rule them all; it will destroy them all.
The role of the plucky hobbits destroying the Ring in the Fire would equate to us refusing to be bribed or blackmailed, refusing to contribute to the climate crisis or buy into war or the Ring's products- cheap and destructive goods produced by exploitation that profit the US based billionaires in fossil fuels, animal ag, pharma, AI, tech, media, entertainment, junk food, gambling, alcohol, auto, air travel, finance, tobacco, narcotics and arms.
Thanks, as ever, for your work.
While the Truss government was seemingly brought down by the market, there is more to the story. It appears to have been a regulatory failure, rather than the markets flexing their muscle or showing disapproval.
I was shocked to learn that Britain made a profit on the whole affair.
If you get a chance to read it I hope you'll find this article as enlightening as I did:
https://vincegomez.com/articles/the-bond-market-bluff/
Excellent reporting
Thank you for this brilliant article
Many thanks for one more excellent article. As usual I have to print it to read again. I also appreciated very much all the videos that you added to the article. Listening to Starmer speaking about the genocide in the Croatian city of Vulkovar and currently denying the genocide in Palestine is very sad and disgusting. The Shin Bet pressures to turning Palestinians into informers is very painful. I wish all these could end soon. But it takes a long time yet. Reading all the information about AIPAC in the site of DAWN, which shows how Israel combined with American Zionists have been buying the American elections, shows that we have a long fight ahead of us for building a humanitarian world.
Regardless of who’s elected prime minister or president, Far West governance is heavily steered and may therefore be weakened by domestic corporate/oligarchic interests, sometimes through the latter's economic intimidation.
All political candidates thus parties are elected via the First Past The Post ballot system, which by way of its dynamics enables a covert rule by way of potently manipulative/persuasive corporate and big-monied lobbyists. While the FPTP system may technically qualify as being democratic within the democracy spectrum, it’s nonetheless democratically lacking.
It's a system that enables big-money lobbyists to pull our (typically politically vulnerable) governments by the nose. High-level elected officials can become crippled by implicit/explicit corporate and/or oligarchic threats to transfer or eliminate jobs and/or capital investment, thus economic stability, if ‘requests’ by big-monied interests are not met.
The lobbyists also write bills for our governing representatives to vote for and have implemented, supposedly to save the elected officials their own time writing them up. (The practice may have become so systematic that those who are aware of it, including mainstream news-media political writers, don’t find reason to publicly discuss or write about it.)
Low-representation FPTP-elected governments are the easiest for lobbyists to manipulate or ‘buy’. Perhaps it's why such powerful interests generally resist (albeit probably clandestinely) grassroots-supported attempts at changing from FPTP to more proportionally representative electoral systems of governance, the latter which dilutes corporate influence on government policy and decisions.
Meanwhile, the biggest of businesses (at least here in Canada) get unaccountably even bigger, defying the very spirit of government rules established to ensure healthy competition by limiting mass consolidation.
Ergo, maybe some Far Western governments like Canada’s need to cling less to an outdated capitalist-manifesto mentality and instead open their eyes to increasingly disturbing insatiable greed that's ignoring, if not exploiting via profiteering from, the legitimate needs of nations and in particular the growing number of financially struggling citizens within.
Thank you for this so important, if daunting, article Jonathan, which I will share widely.