Facing up to change.

Subject: Facing up to change.

“When money is short, language takes up the slack”.

We see and hear it in every political  utterance on all sides of the political landscape, words to mesmerise us into believing someone is doing something about the craven lack of attention into the plight of our economy.

As we descend into a 'second world' order, sliding down the snake on almost any measure you wish to compare  us to we are like an aging aunt who once commanded attention for her opinion but is now virtually ignored.  We rank close to bottom regarding so many of the economic and social bench marks, from the provision of education to the provision of health, from the capacity to make and invest in things, to our understanding of the importance of social cohesion through the failure to rebuild the stock of affordable housing sold off my Mrs Thatcher and the lack of standards which we once formulated as a world leader in virtually every aspect of public life.

History tells us of our decline, the corruption of government and the civil service, once the gold standard, now corrupted by inertia and apparent ineptitude appearing not to care for the plight of the unwashed majority. A police force mired in claims against it regarding its sloth to investigate ordinary crime and worse, the crimes that actual policemen themselves commit covered up by senior colleagues in the force.

Everything has become tainted by ‘gesture’ politicking. Conviction’ politics has virtually disappeared under a welter of commissioned focus groups which weigh the pros and cons of political gain rather than following a path which might lead to the overall betterment of the majority.

Our economic frailty has reached a point where the protection of the many as well as the wealthy, choosing harsh tactics on a nation which has grown up molly coddled by the rights of minorities over the rights of the majority. There are swathes of people living on the Benefit System who should be contributing in some way or another but who have become untouchable by the provision of rights. A cold douche of reality would be in order for those not willing to train to do jobs and which the economy needs. Properly taxing unearned income on those who are protected by the corporate body. Investment and training in not only a skilled workforce which adds to the collective infrastructure and becomes part of the growth we need to make the things we are currently reliant on from other manufactures, based in countries which are critical to our national need but are critical of our political aims. Here we have been far too reliant on a lez-faire attitude by assuming, when we buy it more cheaply from others rather than make it ourselves there isn't a cost to bare. The cozy global supply chains, created at the turn of the century which are faltering as authoritarian regimes take over have made us vulnerable and much more reliant on the potential enemy for sensitive parts in our economic structure which has laid ourselves open to exploitation.

I suppose we shouldn’t complain since the history books describe, that’s how we rose to prominence.