Money Males The World Go Round
Capitalism can be a cruel master, but nobody has come up with a better system. Attempts to do away with the Capitalist system failed in Russia and China. Communism was overthrown in Russia and transformed into Capitalism in China. For all its many faults Capitalism works. It needs to be regulated but it can't be replaced by theoretical systems such as Social Credit. Human beings are driven by acquisition and will not be satisfied with a subsistence economy. Instead of criticising the system, work hard, save for your retirement, and study the stock market.
Countries adhering to the European Social Model; free education, medical care, and subsidised housing, are running out of money. Such benefits can only be maintained in a thriving economy, they can't survive in a prolonged recession. It is therefore up to everyone to make provision for all their requirements, including retirement. It's only a matter of time before the UK scraps the old age pension.
If you enjoyed a good education and have a worthwhile job, you can look after your family, but an increasing number of less successful workers are dependent on the State. It's no good telling them to get a better job because they can't. They are trapped in poverty because high paid jobs go to the better educated, and low paid jobs go to immigrants.
The UK has generally been in dire economic straits since the war, but we have enjoyed brief periods of prosperity. In the fifties when Harold Macmillan said : "They never had it so good," and in the eighties when Margaret Thatcher sold off the family silver; the railways, the water industry, British Telecom, social housing, and anything else that she wanted to get rid of.
It should be possible for a modern technological state to organise society so that a working man could support his family on his wages. But it will not be done so long as unrestrained capitalism is allowed to function. Without legal limitations greedy capitalists will always go too far.
Since the banks were bailed out following the collapse of Lehman Brothers, governments all over the world have introduced stricter banking rules. This has helped the situation but clever and unscrupulous bankers and financiers have devised new ways to make excessive profits. When they are caught, like Bernie Madoff, they are sentenced to long terms of imprisonment, but considering the harm they do they should face the ultimate penalty.
We need money to live but we shouldn't crave for it. The Bible reminds us that the love of money is the root of all evil.
China
China is governed by the Chinese Communist Party, no other parties are allowed and opposition to the government is a criminal offence. Under this dictatorial regime China has become the world's second biggest economy and the standard of living for the average Chinese worker has improved beyond measure.
Western media reports the oppression of ethnic minorities in Xinxiang and Tibet, much the same as native people were mistreated by the British Empire, or the United States of America. Britain banned the importation of corn to protect her agriculture while the Irish starved, and we refused to use the Indian railways to transport food during the Bengal famine because the trains were needed to carry troops.
But it wasn't all bad. The White Dominions; Australia, New Zealand, Canada, South Africa and Rhodesia sprang from the Empire and their sons and daughters fought alongside us in two world wars. A Confederation of British Nations could have been formed but for the stupidity of our politicians. Instead, they used the Dominions as cannon fodder.
We lost the American colonies by treating them with contempt, taxing them without representation and deploying Hanoverian troops to put down their rebellion. This was a crime against the young American nation, but few crimes compare to the near extermination of the Native Americans by the United States. They used the US Cavalry and deliberate starvation to clear land for settlement.
Such is the staggering hypocrisy of Britain and America. Despite our joint history of slavery and commercial piracy we point the finger at China.
Our chequered history does not make us bad people. Big nations exploit smaller nations, but world trade benefits everyone. The short term advantages of protected economies do not last. The UK population is much better off now than when we were mostly self sufficient within the British Empire. When Queen Victoria ruled a third of the world the British working class lived in poverty and ignorance.
Capitalism, for all its faults, has improved our standard of living in the West, and it's doing the same for China, which, despite its Communist label is a thoroughly capitalist country that's following the same historical pattern that we went through. Peasants are leaving the countryside for the towns, which is pushing up rents, property prices, and wages. And the nations of South East Asia are undercutting China on world markets.
The 'One China' policy has already seen the return of Hong Kong and Macao; Taiwan will inevitably follow. The opposition party in the Taiwan Parliament, which favours reunification with the mainland, is expected to win the next general election. The Taiwanese people are Chinese by race, culture, history, and geography. There is absolutely no reason for us to get involved in Chinese affairs. We should mind our own business.
America
The current President of the United States, Donald Trump, is often described as a 'fascist' because some of his populist-nationalist policies upset the liberal establishment. But it's a queer sort of fascist that defends Israel against the slightest criticism.
It makes perfect sense that he is purging his civil service of left-wingers, and dismantling the equality industry, but his threats to annex the Panama Canal, Greenland, and Canada are deranged, to say the least.
And his trade war with the rest of the world will do irreparable harm to the global economy. He has slapped a 10% tax on British cars because we hardly import any American cars. This is not due to British restrictions but because American cars are gas-guzzling monsters that are too big, too heavy, too expensive and unsuitable for our towns and villages
But President Donald Trump will not see it this way. To his paranoid mentality we are disrespecting America by driving cars more suitable to our roads
This jingoistic mindset is the real motivation for his tariffs. He thinks that an American drinking Scotch whisky, or Canadian Club, instead of Jim Beam or Jack Daniels, is committing treason.
I asked the manager of my local supermarket if people buy groceries according to their country of origin. He said that in general they buy according to price and quality, not for any patriotic motive.
The United States has suffered an extended period of liberalism that has allowed mass migration from Mexico and points south, but now the pendulum has swung the other way and Donald Tump has emerged to secure the borders, "drain the swamp" and take his country back to more traditional times.
The American political system is controlled entirely by big business which funds their election campaigns and buys their loyalty. And big business is led by the powerful Jewish lobby which demands total subservience to Israel. Millions of dollars donated to Israel by the American taxpayer ends up in the bulging pockets of corrupt politicians. That's why Trump is obliged to support the Zionist state against Iran, Israel's implacable enemy.
Donald Trump is an authoritarian with paranoid tendencies but he is not a fascist. Like Benito Mussolini and Adolf Hitler he has unrealistic territorial ambitions, but he shares none of the social welfare policies that defined Italian Fascism and German National Socialism.
Please believe that I am not anti-American. I have friends and family in America and I admire the American people for their work ethic and their ingenuity, but I am proud to be British and I resent my country being treated as a colony. I'm glad that we have struck a limited trade deal with America, but regret that it was achieved by Keir Starmer kissing Trump's ample posterior.
Europe
Now that Brexit has totally failed in all its objectives, our short-sighted media hacks and politicians are starting to question their judgement over Europe.
We were told that Brexit would stop immigration, instead it has more than doubled. The East Europeans have stopped coming but we have been overwhelmed by Africans and Asians. Some of them are doctors and nurses that we need, but too many of them are unemployed goat herders, that we don't need.
We were told that food prices would come down, instead they have escalated. For instance, a jar of pasta sauce that cost £1.00 two years ago now costs £3.00. And a full English breakfast in my local Turkish café has gone from £7.00 to £10.00.
We were told that we would regain our sovereignty, instead we are at the mercy of President Donald Trump's economic sanctions, China's decision to close their steelworks in Skegness, and India's decision to close the Port Talbot steelworks.
We were told that our fishing fleets would prosper, instead they have declined and British fishermen, who overwhelmingly voted for Brexit, are now unemployed. The fact is that our fishing industry has all but collapsed because we don't eat enough fish. If we emulated our Spanish neighbours our fishing industry would be in much better shape.
We were told that the nations of the world would be queuing up to sign trade deals with us once we left the EU, but this hasn't happened.
The last Tory government appointed Jacob Reese-Mogg to celebrate Brexit benefits, but he couldn't find any. The British public were conned with false promises and outright lies that have done irreparable harm to our economy.
At present Europe, including the UK, is facing a recession caused by the wars in Ukraine and Palestine. The shadowy figures that control international finance are getting us to pay for their Military Industrial Complex. When an Israeli soldier shoots undefended Palestinian women and children, we are paying for the bullets. And when a Ukrainian car bomb kills a Russian general in Moscow, we are paying for the explosives.
We might think that distant wars don't effect us, but the German economy has been wrecked by the loss of Russian gas, and British consumers are paying through the nose for gas and electricity, It matters not that we get most of our gas from Norway, the price of gas and oil is determined by the global market.
If President Donald Trump adopts an isolationist foreign policy, it can only benefit Europe. NATO without the USA would be a European Army. We could not immediately replace America's massive contribution, but the combined armed forces of Europe would still be formidable. This would be anathema to the Brexiteers who hate the French and the Germans with equal measure, but it would be a practical solution to our security requirements.
Like it or not, we are moving closer to the European Union and it's only a matter of time before we re-join. The majority for leaving the EU were mostly old people, myself excepted, but most of them have passed away since the referendum.
The Brexiteers are still dreaming of splendid isolation, but we have not fed ourselves since the 18th century and we rely on imported gas and oil. Even the dream of 'sovereignty' is a myth. Our armed forces are under the command of NATO General Christopher G Cavoli, you probably never heard of him, but he would deploy our troops in the event of a war, not prime minister Keir Starmer.
But the main argument for Brexit was about immigration. Before the referendum I warned that we would be exchanging Poles for Pakistanis and that's exactly what happened.
European Outlook
All articles are by Bill Baillie unless otherwise stated. The opinions of guest writers are entirely their own. The editor reserves the right to shorten or otherwise amend articles submitted for publication. We seek reform by lawful means according to the UN Declaration of Human Rights, Article 19:
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