Poetry – It was Fifty Years Ago Today

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It was Fifty Years Ago Today

It was fifty years ago today

Revolution took to the streets

In Grosvenor Square and Paris

Students sang to different beats.

In Prague too they were coming alive

Digging the jive as establishments swayed,

Responding with an iron fist

As those rebellious songs played.

They used tanks against the Czechs

And armed guards in Ohio

Tear gas in London

And swung clubs in Chicago

Give Peace a Chance

For the Street Fighting Man

As the Unknown Soldier

Asked what was the plan in Vietnam?

Fifty years on from that protest and change

Now the psychedelic colours are muted.

What is the legacy of the great revolution

In simple terms that can’t be refuted?

Environmental movements and Women’s Lib?

Or just fashion, music and wind?

The establishment’s firmly back in control

And revolution’s been binned.

Opher 2.1.2018

Yes it’s like the sixties never happened.

All across the world there was a new vibe. The young were up in arms protesting. They turned their backs on the greediness and warmongering of their establishment thugs. They reached across oceans to unite in the building of a new world. Nations did not matter. Race and colour did not matter. Money was not the be all and end all. We wanted something more meaningful, more tolerant, more compassionate, more real and less hypocritical.

All you needed was love.

When we met up we found we could all get along. Differences melted like summer snow.

There was a vibe of peace and love. There was no need for violence and conflict. We were all people. We all felt the same. We shared, laughed, grew, talked and learnt.

We cared about the planet. We demanded equality. We demanded rights and freedoms. We demanded that we be allowed to enjoy life.

There was a sexual revolution. A drug revolution. A political revolution. A music revolution. A social revolution.

But they bought it off. They took over. They sold us out. They undermined. They misrepresented. They made their profits. They took back control. And our idealistic dream was bought and sold, betrayed and soiled. Now the fascists are in control and it’s like the sixties never happened.

Who are the Establishment and why I’m against them!

Posted on by Opher

The Establishment are a loose combination of all those who have wealth, status and power.

They include the royalty, aristocracy, wealthy landowners and businessmen (plus a few women), Bishops, Generals Politicians and Top Civil Servants.

They are conservative in that they have a vested interest in maintaining the system as it stands – ie. they want the wealth and power to reside with them and not allow the rank and file to usurp them.

They use their power, influence and privilege to buy, coerce or provide them with advantage.

They form a club. To be part of that club you either have to be born into the club or buy your way in.

The badges of their club include privileged schooling (at public schools such as Eton and Harrow and on to Oxford and Cambridge) and membership of other clubs or professions – hence the Generals, Judges, Civil Servants, and CEOs of big companies. You can join the club by invitation through great success at sport, in the arts or business world – or even a rebellious Rock Star like Mick Jagger. You could become a Lord.

There is an ‘Old Boy’ network which operates to give benefits to other members – we’ve seen that in operation during Brexit and the Coronavirus – the inside knowledge and contacts, meant that lucrative contracts and huge profits were generously given out to the few. These establishment profiteers – like Rees-Mogg and Baroness Dido Harding – made a fortune. We see it with the 44 members of Cameron’s cabinet that were shuffled into lucrative jobs. We see it with the revolving door into the world of huge opportunity. We see it with the likes of Cameron and Osborne leaving politics and going on to make countless millions.

This club called the establishment controls everything. It has the money to control markets. It controls the media. It controls jobs.

If an antiestablishment political group forms – such as the original Labour Party – the media create a shitstorm of lies and scare stories. The money markets are carefully directed to create economic failure. The political figures are either worn down or bought off and the threat is removed.

The only way for a party, such as the Labour Party, to become elected is to become an establishment party – as happened with Blair.

Antiestablishment figures such as Corbyn, with their antiestablishment policies of nationalisation, are vilified and ridiculed.

 Conservative statesman Lord Salisbury told parliament in 1866, in response to plans to extend the suffrage. Giving working-class people the vote would, he stated, tempt them to pass “laws with respect to taxation and property especially favourable to them, and therefore dangerous to all other classes”.

They feared that the people might want a fairer country and take away their wealth and privilege.

When working-class people forced the establishment to give them the vote the establishment set about controlling them.

Through the media they spread propaganda, lies and scaremongering. The idea being that they could prevent the working people from electing people who would represent their interests at the expense of the establishment elite.

They set about controlling the markets to safeguard their wealth – hence we have tax loopholes that are never blocked off – and to use this control to undermine any attempt to create more equality.

The establishment regard themselves as superior. They see the rest of the country working to create wealth for the elite. They give them as little in terms of money and work conditions as they can get away with.

Hence the land, wealth and power reside with a small group of people – the establishment.

They have proved very cunning and successful.

Apart from a few blips – such as the post-war Labour Atlee government sneaking in unexpectedly and bringing in huge social change – such as the NHS and Welfare State – the establishment have ruled consistently.

The Conservative party were set up by the establishment to rule for the establishment – which they have consistently done. One only has to look at today – The Johnson government has given huge tax cuts and handouts to the wealthy while cutting public services and bringing in cuts and austerity for the poor.

The Labour Party in order to become elected effectively become watered-down Tories presenting Tory policies and supporting the establishment.

So the Tories represent the wealthy establishment.

The Labour Party ostensibly represent the working-class (but in fact are still establishment).

I’m middle-class. Nobody really represents me and never have!

The working class have been successfully conned. They have been distracted with soaps and gameshows, drink, drugs and gambling, or deceived with propaganda.

They have been controlled with poverty and threats of job losses.

The establishment have been amazingly successful.

Why I am opposed to the establishment

In actual fact it makes very little difference to me or my life anymore. Whoever gets in power (Labour or Tory) my pension is secure. Prices might go up a bit. Taxes might go up a bit. But my lot is secure.

When I worked as a teacher it did make a lot of difference. When the Tories got in there were cuts and pay was poor. When Labour got in there were pay rises and schools had more money.

So I can see a difference. But Labour never disturbed the Tories much after that Atless government. They lost their antiestablishment credentials.

So why am I opposed to the establishment?

a. I believe in fairness. I believe in equality. We live in a society where the bulk of the wealth is siphoned off into the pockets of a few. I think that is wrong.

b. I despise the class system with all its arrogance, privilege and ‘Old Boys’ Network’.

c. I despise the game of privilege.

d. I believe in a meritocracy. I believe the best people should rise to the top. We see all too clearly in this pandemic and Brexit the way that cronyism, nepotism and the establishment network has put incompetent people in charge. The result has been disastrous. Boris Johnson is a clear example of someone who is incompetent and has risen to his position, not through merit, but through privilege.

What I want

The country/world I want to see is one not ruled by a greedy, selfish, arrogant ruthless establishment – an establishment that uses repression and war in order to gain more for itself, who exploits the majority and firmly believes that it is better than everybody else. The establishment believes they deserve it.

My fears

I’ve watched this naked greed throughout my life as it destroys other cultures, starts wars, uses economic warfare to castrate opposition and is destroying nature in the process. It is relentless and immoral.

The end point of all this is too frightening to imagine. The end of the planet??

The other frightening thought is this:

The establishment have needed the workforce in order to create their wealth. They have used and exploited us in their armies, factories, mines and fields.

They no longer need a workforce. A/I and automation have removed the need for a workforce.

We are surplus to requirements.

Opher On Politics

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Opher On Politics

When I was young I was pretty apolitical. As far as I was concerned politicians represented the establishment. The establishment was a bunch of extremely wealthy people who manipulated everything. Who you voted for meant very little because it was always the same people who held the power.

So I did not vote and did not involve myself in their games. I wanted out of the game.

As I became older, and had to work in the system (like most people) I began to see that it was more complex than that.

Firstly, few people were fortunately enough to have a skill/luck that enabled them to work outside the establishment.

Secondly, most people (musicians, writers, artists, actors, film stars, entrepreneurs and celebs) who were successful creatively were soon incorporated into the establishment. They thus had a vested interest in maintaining the system.

Thirdly, there was a practical difference in voting for a political party. They did make a difference to what happened on the ground – within limits.

Fourthly, it was not going to be possible to change the system.

Changing a leader in an institution, a nation or a global body makes a huge difference. In a business, a football club or a school, a leader can affect the whole ethos. They change the zeitgeist. That affects everybody.

I began to look at politics in terms of Four Levels – I called them Macro, Mega, Local and Personal.

Macro Politics

On the macro level nothing changes. A bunch of extremely wealthy people and corporation run the world.

They operate internationally.

Their focus is power and wealth (interchangeable). They use their money to manipulate markets, buy off politicians, corrupt officials, gain influence through lobbying, donations to parties and even more illegal means.

They create situations that pour the bulk of the world’s wealth into their pockets.

If an anti-establishment party comes to power they manipulate the money markets to starve them of money so their economies fail.

They use loopholes to avoid paying taxes.

They put pressure on through bribes, donations, promises and threats to achieve the legislation they want.

They want growth and more money.

They are prepared to use war, environmental devastation, mass exploitation, poverty and extreme force in order to crush opposition and maximise their profits.

They do not care about the outcomes for ordinary people or the environment.

They want tax loopholes, no workers’ rights, no environmental restrictions and no planning restrictions.

They only give ground if they are forced to.

The establishment run things, run governments and are leading the mad rush for growth that is destroying the planet.

I do not know if they act in unison, as a cabal, or in groups, or as individuals. They are the multinationals.

They control the media and thus manipulate the minds of the masses.

Mega Politics

Mega politics operates nationally. It is what we think of as political parties. The Tory and Labour Party. The Democrats and Republicans.

They all depend on donations. They all need the economy to work. They all require media backing. They all respond to bribes, promises and lobbying.

Without the donations they cannot become elected. Campaigns cost a lot of money.

Without a positive spin in the media they will not be elected.

Without an economy that works they cannot be re-elected.

Without support their policies will fail.

They are all open to bribery and corruption. It’s amazing how many politicians walk into plum jobs or sit on boards for huge sums.

The system is corrupt. The tax loopholes never get plugged. The tax is never properly paid (apart from ordinary people – then every penny is collected). The environmental and workers legislation only ever goes so far. The media is never properly controlled.

Nothing is ever fair. Everything (like the vote, workers’ rights and conditions, pay, equality) has to be fought for. Once won it is then easily eroded.

But, for all that, politics does count for something. The political parties are able to work within parameters.

In order to be elected they have to be pro-establishment (or the media rip them apart and people are manipulated – the economy is undermined in the short-term to get them out of office) so nothing fundamental changes – tax loopholes, taxation, workers’ rights, environmental laws, health and safety.

Within the parameters it is possible to finance the public services, increase workers’ pay, introduce health and safety, and introduce environmental legislation – just as long as it does not take too much wealth away from the elite.

So voting Labour or Tory, Democrat or Republican can make a big difference to the working people, those on welfare and the poorest in society.

It is worth voting even if it does not oust the real masters.

Local Politics

Local politicians can make an impact on how money is spent locally. They are open to the same bribes, corruption and lobbying as the national politicians (on a smaller scale) but they have control of large sums of money and can decide how it is spent.

This can make a huge difference to public services.

Voting for one party or another can make huge differences to what happens on the ground. These things impact on the poorest people in communities and the services they can access. They impact on the richness of the amenities that are available to the community.

Voting locally can make a huge difference.

Personal politics

How one lives one’s life is the politics of self. We can choose how we interact with others. We can choose how we interact with our society, environment or the people we meet, work with and are friends with.

We can make a pleasant environment or a frosty one. We can build or destroy.

We can influence what happens locally and even, to an extent, nationally.

How we choose to live our lives has moral/political implications.

I’m sure there’s a lot more that I can say. I might add to this later.

As Roy Harper (or Tubular Sock) might say – we can’t change the game. It’s always the same bosses. Politics is a game.

As Opher Gpoodwin says – we can still make a difference and democracy does make a difference – even if it can’t change the game.

Opher 11.12.2020

Poetry – Now they sit

Posted on by Opher

Now they sit

Once upon a time the land was ruled

By a bunch of robber barons

Who took what they wanted by force –

A squalid set of felons.

With brutality, cruelty and murder

They terrified every woman, child and man

Built their castles and seized the land.

With sword and dagger they plundered

In an orgy of greed – a despicable band.

The tyrants and thieves terrorised

Taking the best for their own use.

Requisitioning land and taxing the poor,

Dealing out violence and abuse.

Gradually the majority exerted their power

And civilisation was brought into play.

But those Robber Barons still sat on the wealth

They had squirrelled away.

Using their money and through use of their power

They control us until this day.

A selfish elite of greedy exploiters

Who believe they deserve what comes their way.

Once they were slavers and factory bosses,

Keeping down pay

And never counting their losses.

Once they ran the empire

To extract all its wealth,

Creating wars and division

And ruling by stealth.

People believe they are a thing of the past

Long consigned to history,

But they still exist on the spoils of their crimes.

It’s no mystery.

Once they led the bestial hordes.

Now they sit in the House of Lords.

Opher – 17.6.2020

Down through the centuries the robber barons have ruled. Nothing changes. Their dynasties extend back into the days when they rampaged and slaughtered at will.

Now their ways are more subtle. They use privilege and wealth, corruption and connections, to ensure they have luxury.

They are still exploiting.

Democracy – and how to finally get some.

Posted on by Opher

We live in a democracy – except we don’t.

A democracy is when the people make the decisions – we’ve seen what a mess that is with Brexit.

So we have a representative democracy. We appoint people who are wiser, more intelligent and knowledgeable than ourselves to make decisions on our behalf.

That doesn’t seem to work too well either.

The people we vote into office turn out to be stupid, ignorant and uncaring.

So why do we keep voting them in?

There are a number of reasons for that:

  1. The system – in order to become elected they have to have a huge, expensive propaganda machine behind them. The people who control this propaganda machine want people they can control. People who will put into place the laws and policies that favour them. Political parties are controlled by the establishment. We end up with a limited choice from the candidates the establishment put forward. Nobody else stands a chance.
  2. The media – the media are owned by wealthy establishment figures. Through the spin and propaganda they pour into peoples’ minds they control what the electorate think. We can see that after forty years of anti-EU propaganda and the shit-storm that was directed at Corbyn. The establishment wanted Brexit and they thought Corbyn would be a threat to their privileged position.
  3. The stupidity, naivety and gullibility of us, the general public. Half the population have an IQ below a hundred. Political education is extremely poor – most people do not know how the political parties were formed or what they stand for. The constant stream of lies and spin that comes at us from the media creates a suspicion of all news. We don’t know what to believe. Issues are so complex and interwoven that you have to be an expert to understand them. So we are easily manipulated.
  4. The tendency for sociopaths to fool people and gain power. Sociopaths, because they really do not care – indeed, might actually gain pleasure from hurting people, have a tendency to rise to powerful positions. They don’t care who they hurt. They do not agonise over decisions. They appear black and white and decisive – characteristics that people look for in a leader. Only when they are in power do we realise what mean, selfish bastards they really are.
  5. Power corrupts. Nice people, who were caring, become narcissistic, selfish bastards. They begin to believe that they are indeed better than everyone else and deserve all the wealth and sycophancy that goes with their position. It’s an addiction. It makes them sociopathic.

So how do we make democracy work? I’ve a few ideas:

  1. Educate the people so that they can understand much better what is going on.
  2. Control the media so that it is unbiased and fact-checked. Stop the establishment elite from owning it and using it as a propaganda tool.
  3. Fund election from the public purse on a very limited budget so that the establishment is not in control of it.
  4. Make politicians accountable so that at any point the people can vote them out, not just in elections.

I do not believe we can have a democracy while the establishment are in control of the system and the media!

The Establishment

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The Establishment

 

The UK is the sixth largest economy in the world. It has a gross income of $3 trillion. Yet millions live in poverty – two million British children live in poverty.

One has to question why.

The reason is quite obvious. This country is run by the wealthy for the wealthy. The Eton and Harrow boys are creaming off the bulk in huge salaries and massive multimillion bonuses. This is exacerbated by their tax avoidance schemes. The capital of the country is being siphoned off-shore.

What is left over is not sufficient to adequately run our public services or give fair pay to millions of families.

The reason for this poverty is massive inequality. We are becoming a country of billionaires and paupers.

The ones guiding this society put profit in front of people and the environment. They are supporting practices that exploit people, use child labour, decimate forests, pollute oceans, cause global warming and keep wages low. They also promote wars. There is money to be made.

The Tory Party was founded in 1834 by businessmen to look after the interests of businessmen. It supports this system of unrestricted capitalism.

Successive governments have not blocked these tax avoidance schemes.

One has to ask why?

There is no need for poverty. Every family in Britain could enjoy a very high standard of life. What prevents this is the unfair system based on greed and selfishness.

Time it changed!!!

The Reasons for Brexit, Trump and the rise of Fascism

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There has been a huge swing towards extreme Right-wing policies in Europe and the USA. We have the re-emergence of the Ku Klux Klan and White supremacists, heartened by the election of Trump, we have the resurgence of Fascist parties in France, Austria and Holland and left-wing/centralist governments being under threat from right-wing groups, emboldened by the potential break-up of the EU. In Britain we have had Brexit and now have the most right-wing government since Thatcher. Labour is trailing 20 points behind in the polls. Things look dire.

So what has gone wrong for the whole dream of equality and liberalisation? Is it over? What about empathy, compassion and equality?

Well if we are going to get back to a compassionate liberal society we have to look at the reasons why people have turned to fascists like Trump and believed the lies of Boris, Gove and May. Things have not been right. Mistakes have been made. The establishment has been complacent and has not addressed the underlying issues.

Here are some of the major issues that I believe should have been addressed and dealt with:

  1. The wars in the Middle East which have resulted in mass migrations of population and sparked fundamentalism and terrorism. (carried out ineptly and without thought to any future outcomes).
  2. Handling the mass migration with compassion and sensible policy so that there was not a huge influx of predominantly Muslims into Europe.
  3. Mass migration of Eastern Europeans into Britain and other more affluent countries as cheap labour.
  4. Globalisation and the loss manufacturing jobs to third world countries with cheap labour and costs.
  5. Automation requiring less skilled and unskilled workers.
  6. The working class loss of high-paid skilled jobs in the likes of steel, shipbuilding, mining, car production and their replacement with low paying jobs stacking shelves or unemployment. (Loss of income and self-respect).
  7. The influx of cheap goods from abroad (China and third world) on an uncompetitive market putting home manufacturers out of work.
  8. The corruption of MPs who have lost all respect with the public and are seen as just feathering their own nests.
  9. The vast inequality with the establishment imposing austerity on everyone in the lower strata while increasing their own pay and bonuses.

A great swathe of the public in Britain and the USA feel completely abandoned and disenfranchised. They can see no party representing them or saying that they will address these issues – so they vote for Trump, Brexit and fascists.

If we are going to get back on track these problems need addressing. They are complex and there are no simple answers but there are answers and they are not the vicious, divisive ones put forward by Trump or the economically damaging solution offered by Brexit.

War, mass migration and inequality need dealing with. Fundamentalism needs wiping out. The working class need valuing, given well-paid jobs and retrained in worthy careers. The old industries need replacing with non-polluting new industries.

Instead of funnelling all the money into profits for the extremely wealthy and bonuses for the overpaid why not funnel the money into public services and employ more nurses, doctors, teachers, teacher’s aides, social workers, counsellors and the like – reduce their hours and make the job doable – invest in the future – look after people properly – and make people happier. Increase pay, reduce hours, reduce class sizes, reduce waiting times, improve help for the elderly and ill – retrain the unemployed and displaced to do valuable, well-paid jobs that make people’s lives better. Invest in infrastructure to improve roads, rail and housing. Invest in Green technology.

There are plenty of uses for the money that would be preferable other than stuffing it in the bank accounts of a small elite to spend on yachts, penthouses and champagne.

Instead of ignoring the war and mass migration why not use the UN to put pressure on regimes, use soft and hard power, and fund it properly to do the job? Put a stop to people being driven out of their homes by slaughter, put the displaced in proper temporary housing, bring in policies to prevent overpopulation and provide work. Why not educate and give hope?

We are picking up the tab for a corrupt system where the establishment has looked after its own, sought to profit out of war, poverty and inequality and prefers division, chaos and war to peace, order and stability. They make more money out of it.

I think there is only so much that people will take. In the end they lose their cool and either riot or elect fascists!

The establishment stinks. Its greed, selfishness and lack of compassion is its downfall. Meanwhile we suffer with Trump, Brexit and May! We are swapping one stinking system for an alternative that is far worse! Fascism, as history demonstrates time and time again, always holds out bright hope and solutions, and always ends in pain and horror!

What fools we are!

Democracy and the media controlled by the establishment.

Posted on by Opher

can we ever have democracy?

Poetry – The Establishment and the Flea

Posted on by Opher

The Establishment and the Fleaebola in garden of eden cover

We are fortunate as to be so extremely worthless. Our greatest efforts are not even a pinprick.

I imagine the establishment as a mighty horned dragon. It guards its treasure jealously and refuses to share a single coin.

The establishment like things just as they are. It does not like change. It has the power and ensures the money keeps rolling in. The pile grows ever bigger while the desperation outside is enormous. It cares not.

The dragon devours all who dare to oppose it. It bribes them, includes them and devours them……. Or it destroys them utterly.

No one has the power to oppose its deadly games. We are all toys.

My only weapon is my words.

I fashion extreme weapons of mass destruction but they bounce of his impervious scales.

We are defenceless against his might. We can keep our heads down or fight.

I firmly believe in the gesture. It may be futile but it is at least an attempt.

I aim my words with anger, clarity and perception. I hope that they may hit home; find a way through those scales to the putrefying guts inside. We can but hope!

 

The Establishment

 

I threw my words

Like grenades

Into the belly of the monster.

He took no notice.

I wielded sentences

Like swords

And sliced at his

Softer parts,

But he took not the slightest notice.

He ignore me.

I carefully organised

My phrases

To reach critical mass

And detonated them

In his heart.

It was as if a gnat

Had floated past his nose.

 

Friends told me I was fortunate.

With one lick

He could devour me.

I should desist.

I would be swallowed whole.

But I feel free to do my utmost.

I know I am inconsequential.

 

Opher 8.8.2015

Democracy and the media controlled by the establishment.

Posted on by Opher

Orgreave
To have a democracy there has to be a fair structure. All people about an agreed age should have a vote. They should have free access to all the information necessary to decide who to vote for. They should have a range of political parties to choose from. The system should be free of coercion, rigging or corruption.

Clearly this is not the case. The establishment has organised things to ensure their power and wealth is not reduced by ‘common people’ wanting a fairer share.

The establishment consists of a loose confederation of the aristocracy, politicians, big business, media, police, chosen celebrities and wealthy individuals. Politicians freely move between the worlds of media and big business to walk into incredibly lucrative deals for doing advisory work or TV and radio shows. There is a lot of money to be made cosying up to the establishment. The whole business of who gets selected, promoted or appointed is controlled by an ‘Old Boy’ network. Deals are struck, contracts allocated through secretive ‘behind the scene’ networks such as the Masons.

Without an unbiased media the population is starved of real information. Everything they receive is subject to spin. The newspapers and much of the TV news is controlled by wealthy tycoons who put their own views above the truth. Through smear, innuendo and lies they undermine parties and individuals and direct the views of large numbers of people. Their campaigns have been so powerful that they have successfully been responsible for the election of governments (the Major government, Cameron’s and Tony Blaire’s are three examples – smears on people like Kinnock and Clegg were orchestrated and effective). Presently we have seen the smearing of Ed Milliband.

In Britain we feel that at least the BBC is unbiased but unfortunately even that is not the case. During the Miner’s Strike I saw events at the Orgreave Coke Plant that was what appeared to be a deliberate, politically motivated, misrepresentation of events that seemed fashioned to discredit the miners. There appeared to be no other interpretation.

On the BBC News we were shown extensive scenes of angry picketing miners rioting and hurling bricks are the line of police in violent fury. We saw the police lines open and mounted police coming through to disperse the rioting miners.

Months later a Channel 4 programme used uncut footage taken at distance (for the purpose of long-shots) which showed that BBC representation was what appeared to be incorrect. The events had been edited to reverse events and create a different scenario to apparently deceive the public. It had to be an editorial decision.

It was a hot day. The miners were sitting in the large field. Every time a lorry came they would pour out into the road to picket it. Some lorries turned back. Some went through. At lunch-time they were sitting on the grass peacefully having lunch. The police lines opened, mounted police charged through and into the peaceful miners clubbing and trampling them. The miners tried to escape. They had seen their friends battered, bloody and trampled. They were furious. Grabbing rocks and whatever they could get their hands on they hurled themselves at the police.

Why would the BBC reverse the events to create a different impression?

How can we trust the information we receive in order to make the judgements necessary to elect a government? If the media is biased, owned by the establishment, and directly affecting the views of the electorate we do not have a democracy.