Anyone for revolution?

'Kept in the dark until the dark is all we know.' That hit me hard, Laurie, and such a good title for a poem. Anyone? For the past thirty years, we've watched every single sliver of freedom squeezed and locked down, every angle covered to weaken the mind and strengthen division, every law massaged to favour the criminal rich, every act of defiance ridiculed as petty hypocrisy, every right used to portray enough wrong to make the law seem conveniently bewildering. The PFI scandal raises no eyebrows, which seems inconceivable when we know that the faceless, international investors who used to invest in stocks and shares now use the more reliable govt coffers (your money) to ensure their bonuses. These people are actually stealing from us for a living and what do we do? We sit and watch, knowing that we're viewed with the same contempt that futures brokers show to thrid world farmers. There's more money in the elderly, sick, disavantaged and poor than there's ever been but that's only because the rich have devised ways to profiteer from it like never before. There's well enough to actually make a massive difference but what does the govt do? It caves in to the wishes of the moneymen in the hope that they might pay their taxes this year while they do their job for them. The welfare system has become a lucrative tool for the govt to fritter money away (and back to itself) within its own network and without monitoring. Look at A4E, set up as an initiative to get the jobless back to work when all it was doing was filling the pockets of bounty hunters and refilling the coffers. Using that Harrison woman was a stroke of genius but did they ever really believe that a fat, money-fed cow could solve the unemployment problem? Perlease.

It's blatantly obvious that this govt can easily fool all of the people all of the time, but this has taken quite some time. Now, after decades of force-fed deceit and dishonesty, we strain to see right from wrong and run to the pumps at the mention of a jerry can. What a bunch of sheep we've become, and it certainly wouldn't be inconceivable to imagine that our fear might induce a self-fulfilled prophecy of doom. On the other hand, we are in a once in a lifetime position to stand up to the authorities and to take back what is rightfully ours, although I'm not sure that this is the right course of action. Should we actively oppose or passively accept the govt? Active opposition is happening with the introduction of free schools but I think the ball stops rolling there. The govt are quite happy to see initiative where and when it suits them (they gave up on education a while ago when they saw it as a guaranteed loss-maker). Where they can earn, they will, and much to the demise of society as a whole. While the system plays its game behind closed doors, the freedom of information will only gain ground in time, offering insight into the travesties dressed as aims for the common good to hoodwink voters into compliance with the status quo as never before. When the reality of our situation comes to light (the care system, child support, falsified employment schemes, new tax evasion measures, the law system, police policy, corruption from top to bottom in all sectors of govt), we're bound to rise against the govt but only when the crisis begins to affect the middle-classes to the same extent as the poor will be united against the rich and the govt. At this time, it will be perfectly clear that the rich have cleaned up and swiped everything of financial value with the help of our useless govt. Like in a game of Monopoly, when all the hotels have been used and the winner cannot be beaten, the game is over and another resumes, because even the player with all the hotels gets sick of taking everyone else's money after a while. So, starting-money is shared equally between players and battle recommences. In the game of Life, certain measures will need to be taken to extract the winner's pot, but the game will recommence regardless of how the winner is parted from his cash. How this pans out is almost entirely up to the winner, but he will be forced to release his money when he realises that he can't buy protection from people whose families are despised and being torn apart one by one. Sooner or later, the henchmen will turn against the paymaster and at this time, the winner will be left with no alternative but to share his pool around the table. (All this is balderdash if the goal of the rich and govt was to wipe out the poor, in which case we're pretty much fucked.) ...Please disregard the bracketed sentence and continue to read as if it never existed... Because everyone would, secretly or not, love to win the lottery and be free from financial constraint, it would probably be very fitting to allow the winner to keep his freedom, and rejoin society as all other players recommence battle. I would like to think that pure socialism would work in this world but when I think of scientific discoveries (bionics, healing, energy saving, etc.) through hard work, perseverance and technology, I would like to imagine that, with newfound faith, common goals could be achieved through competitive spirit, so long as no one person could ever exceed a certain amount of wealth (perhaps £5 million at today's value). This may arrest the megalomania that we are experiencing today, where Top 100 companies invest in poor countries to maximise profit under various pseudonyms and by long-cons, without regulation, killing innocent people who mean little or nothing to the masters of the 'civilised' world. So, what to do? I say we sit it out, wait for the rich to haul in what they've always wanted and then we can take back what is ours once their mignons fall away. The govt today is so lazy and lost, so empty and without depth, wholly dissatisfied with itself, so in awe of the money men that save them from the truth we will discover sooner or later, that they are almost powerless to make any meaningful changes until all the money has been taken from them and all avenues of hope have been cement-blocked. To let the moneymen get on with their crappy game may well be the most diplomatic and spiritual thing to do now. At the very least, we retain our sense of decency and love towards each other. Just because they have lost their love doesn't mean we need to give ours away. That would play into their hands. It seems almost useless to fight while the govt dances to the call of the wicked. The police are as blind and complacent to defy the govt as the govt is to defy the rich, and the army is probably dying for a real war, so what would be the point in rustling any of these dusty, poisonous feathers? I say we stand together and help those in need as much as ourselves. This way, our lives will have true meaning. The time will come when the rich have won, and, perhaps perversely, this will be the time that they will have to lose all they have amassed. Their quest for freedom will be their undoing, but it could also be the start of their true freedom. I almost feel like ending this with 'Allah Akbar' because I truly believe that western govts are nothing but sick, clever bullies dressed in a clean blue suits. Western people, on the other hand, have retained their dignity in the face of capitalistic terror, just as all people in the world have suffered their own govt and survived. Government is dead. Allah Akbar!

ps. I think I've been watching too much Homeland.

What strikes me as particularly depressing is that a lot of young people seem to expect to be able to buy a house at an age when they should be carefree and enjoying their newfound freedom in the world. Up till the 80s/90s, a couple would marry, save and then get a 25 year mortgage together. They would stay together, bring up children, complete the repayment of the mortgage and retire. That was what a mortgage was designed to do; give a family a home that would end up as theirs for retirement and possibly inheritance. Since Thatcher and privatisation, asset-stripping and business skullduggery, many people have made their fortunes from the housing market. Many, too, have lived beyond their means and lost those fortunes. More still have lived on employment's knife-edge, knowing that the fancy car, holidays and house could be gone if the job went. Financial security has become a very flimsy facade, for families in particular. The age-old saying that if you work hard, you will reap the benefits no longer rings true for many young people because they know that the country's been sold off and that the few own everything now. University can't be seen as a ticket to success and fortune, especially when 50% of youngsters go there. It's a joke to expect that 50% of everyone new on the job-market will become rich but if that's what they want to believe, then dream on! The intellectual apartheid that has been caused by the great expectations of university students has had a rippling effect that has torn the guts out of the joy of youth, especially between those from different backgrounds in the country. The young have learnt cynicism quicker than ever before and it's so ugly to see fresh faces filled with abject terror and confusion. It's such a desperate situation, but if the young look at the big picture (that they're not entitled to the good life just because they went to some poxy university doing a business studies degree) then they might remember that the world's their oyster and it's not all about slippers and pipes at the age of 25. When I watch The Apprentice, I'm appalled that these complete tossers, these arse-wipes who couldn't tell snot from shit they're so detached from themselves, are the ones doing well in the world. When I was 25, all that was on my mind was hedonism and believe me I took it for all it was worth until it almost ate me whole, but even still that's a damn sight better than worrying about the price of a mobile plan, howling at estate agent's windows and doing shite jobs for shite wages. Steve, you sound older than your years and I do admire your work ethic and get-up-and-go, but life's for living and not taking things too seriously, certainly not at 26 anyway. Your intellect and viewpoint is so refreshing but to realise that you're so young makes me a bit sad. Forget about owning a house and go travelling around the world. Do some voluntary work by turning up at a town in India or Africa and saying you'd like to help. When you get back, you'll be enriched and will have a lot to offer, your love-action will shine through and you'll get a great job, but at the present time it sounds like everything's so depressing in your world that you've little to offer anyone, least of all yourself. I don't think Stan was having a go at young people. For me, it's just hard to watch young people growing old and resentful before their time, more interested in an app to watch music on than music itself. I mean, really, is life so plain? It's awful what's happened but unless we stand together and do something about it peacefully, it's all we deserve and will worsen with our united apathy. I know how much you have to offer society, Steve. It bursts through in your words, but it's time to either let the whole thing go and enjoy your life as best you can or do something about it that will bring meaningful change for all of us. If you have any ideas, I'm all ears and would love to help organise a peaceful protest against the rich and the govt cuts. It's not just the young who are fucked. Today, the govt go ahead with a £1 billion cut for the elderly, causing pain for hundreds of thousands of elderly people in the country. Some say these cuts will be counter-productive, putting strain on the NHS and family members, causing more illness that will need addressing, and then there are the cases of neglect that will certainly arise from the reality of the cuts, the proceeds of which will go into the pockets of lawyers, but the govt doesn't really care two shits. All it sees is austerity for the poor while it sucks at the teat of the rich.

Glad to see you've managed to steer clear of the sauce. Alcohol's got to be the shittiest, most depressing drug on the planet. The govt like people to drink it because it's taxed and lets you make costly errors of judgement. Acid was my all-time favourite drug because it opened my mind rather than numbing it to Mr Blobby status. I'm sure you're doing very nicely indeed. The riots were probably left to the run their course without police intervention for a few reasons; -to test the power of camera-captured evidence in a riot scenario for the first time ever on such a grand scale -to protect the police, who were grossly outnumbered -to deflate the image of protest, again -to test the rights and reactions of insurers -to make examples of those brought to book -to place fear at the hearts of parents, and to make them feel responsible for their children's actions. The riots were symbolic; of the desperate alienation of today's youth and of the crippling power of consumerism as a form of economic apartheid for those who see no future to trash it. It was awful to watch, like a bunch of toddlers waddling off with birthday boy's presents. They were so awestruck by the insanity of the situation that they acted against their better judgement, goaded on as if in a dream by those who took it very seriously as their chance to get one over on the system, victims of consumerism and therefore capitalism one and all. That was another reason why they let it run its course; to make fools of those who dared to rock the boat.