This is a post leading on from the last. I'm not gonna lie - it was initially for technical reasons (I can't work the internet sometimes) but in the end it works out well. So Micheal D. Higgins is Ireland's new president (and, rumour has it, Gringott's also). The election for victory for him wasn't just an election victory for the Labour Party in Ireland, but also for 'johnkind' - the people of this world whose thoughts and actions I agree with, am inspired by, or can relate to. It is a concept defined more by what we as johnkind are stood against than what we stand for.
Number one on my list these days are the faceless guys running the global economy and the politicians who allow these people to dictate their morals. During the global boom the majority of the world's population were shielded from the real benefits as the already rich profited enormously. After the crash, the ordinary 99% lost out as the rich continued to make millions. Anyone who has watched Michael Moore's excellent Capitalism: A Love Story can tell you about how the former employees of Goldman Sachs circumvented democracy to pretty much steal money from the ordinary US taxpayer and keep their world in profit. The guys at Occupy Wall St and Occupy London: johnkind.
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| US johnkind |
The next on my list of anti-johnkind are the previous holders of the number one position: advertising people. I have despised most any advertising from childhood on. There are a minority of ads which practice what I would deem 'acceptable advertising'. These are the ads which simply say, "Here is the product, it does this, has this vibe, buy it if you want." Fair enough. Unfortunately, almost every ad I see goes a good distance out of its way to manipulate me, the viewer, to cloud my judgement, to make me think I need the product, to have me associate the product with love/money/power/fame/social inclusion/beauty/sex/happiness/etc. The more subliminal the better. With every ad thrown in front of me I feel myself becoming more braindead, more confused, and with my mental and personal space ever more violated. The ideas of love, family and happiness are becoming commercialised and wrapped up in purchasing power. As a society, as human beings, we should sanctify these things. Any attempt to manipulate how we interact with those ideas should be seen as an affront to our better nature. We are above that. We should be above that. BBC and SkyPlus: johnkind.
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This machine kills Capitalists |
One thing I have noticed going through a life filled with advertising and a recent few years filled with recession is the general lack of johnnish views among the others dandering through life at around my own age. Whether they don't really understand the economy (who does?) or they are just used to advertising (everyone is), I find my stand on these issues can often be a lonesome one.
These are issues avoided by my generation for the most part but, make no mistake, when an advertisement on TV orders you to "Call now!" - it is ordering you to put your hand into your pocket and hand over your money. When a billboard associates a car/perfume/drink/loan with sex/happiness/sunshine/beauty/love, the company behind it is stealing these things from our possesion and free availability and making them obtainable only through their product, sullying them. When you open a magazine and see a model/sports team/lifestyle behind a logo - you are looking at an attempt by men and women in boardrooms and suits to limit your personal choice, attacking your natural freedom.
And when you hear on the news or read in a paper about how a multinational corporation, or worse, a tax-payer-owned bank, is giving bonuses to its high-level employees while laying off those at the bottom, that is an affront to your human rights. When you see the government closing accident and emergency facilities in your city (as has just happened in Belfast) it is because money which should be spent improving the world we all share is lining the pockets of millionaires and billionaires. This should not be approached as an issue of what system works, what drives 'growth', or who benefits the most from our economy. This is a moral issue. These are quality of life issues. There is always a better way.
Mate, as much as I love your blogs, how can you say the fact that governments closing accident and emergency facilities are due to the fact that this money is lining the pockets of millionaires and billionaires? This recession is the fault of bankers, governments, credit rating agencies and the general public. This notion that banks are the only organisations to have pushed the world economy to the brink is due to what the media companies are publishing - and they will publish what sells. Look at the power the BBC has over the stock markets. If you look at initial collapse in 2007/2008, each blog posting by Robert Peston is followed by an immediate dip in the markets. So many factors have caused this recession, to solely blame the millionaires and billionaires for the closing of A&E facilities isn't right.
ReplyDeleteI hope you don't mind me commenting mate but you are an intelligent guy so I thought you could rationally argue my point!
Hope you are taking it easy mate,
Chris
Yeah that's a fair point. The recession as a whole was caused by a variety of factors. But what I am trying (clearly not very well) to point out with that statement is what the recession has highlighted - which is that the rich control our wealth and the rest of us lose out. The bad guy there isn't the recession per se, but the laissez faire politics of the British government. There are other places in Europe and elsewhere where the healthcare system isn't taking the hit it has here, but here the system is at the mercy of the private sector. RBS just posted £2bn profit and Belfast, a city of around 300,000 people, now has one A&E unit. Something not right there.
ReplyDeleteBut yeah I should keep my rants more coherent!
Fair point mate. Hope you didn't think I was having a dig, I really wasn't! And your rant was coherent - I always enjoy reading them - but sometimes I wonder are we all looking for a scapegoat at times. Keep the blogs coming mate, you are saying things that need to be said. Been thinking of writing my own off the back of yours.
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