At prep school, as well as fending off amorous prefects and how to climb a tree, I learned one saying that stayed with me: ‘You are not there for the system – the system is there for you.’ When I made it into the Upper 6th some nine years later I took this to the max – as a year group we all took up smoking and tore up the school rule book, doing what we pleased as we pleased. My sideline of rolling the Head Boy’s joints gave me immunity to the law too…
At a personal level I have always followed the maxim. I obey if it suits me, and measure everything against it. Does the system need changing? Change it for you.
RHA believes that we are there for the system
As a writer I focus on some obscure topics in my work. I often write about trucks and the logistics industry, arguably the carriers of the lifeblood of our economy. Whining about the new Toxicity Charge (T-Charge) in London, the Road Haulage Association (RHA) chief executive Richard Burnett said: “We fully appreciate Mayor Khan’s vision for a cleaner, healthier London. It’s a City that is justifiably proud of its position as one of the world’s great business centres and tourist attractions. However, to further penalise the industry that is responsible for keeping the shelves of its stores, restaurants and tourist attractions is not the way to do it. It’s wrong to punish the lorry industry that moves the UK Economy.”
I’m sorry, but the RHA believes that we should have poisonous air (just a little extra poisonous anyway) to feed the national economy. OK, so 40,000 people a year need to die early deaths a year for the economy. Be grateful as you choke your last breath!
The psychopathy of the economy
I’m sure the economy would be deeply grateful and turn up to your funeral to lay a wreath in thanks. Probably not. If the economy were a person they’d lock it up as a dangerous psychopath. Under current measures the economy can only be ‘successful’ if it earns money and grows. Classic economics is based on a lie – where every other science accepts that there are limits to consumption, the first rule of economics is never ending growth. The psychopath is deluded too.
Some questions for you
If something hurt you would you thank it and walk away? You might be gassed by the fumes it creates, or so short on money from your pisspoor job that you starve. You may have to borrow so much money to buy a house that the entirety of your healthiest years of your life will be spent repaying that cash. You may need to borrow from a loan shark company at ‘only’ 1000% a year to buy your kids some shoes from school.
Is money a god?
Why is the excuse of ‘the economy will be harmed’ of such consequence if it harms people? If it is then you obviously worship a deity that doesn’t thank you.
The answer it seems is that for those who control the media, the economy works for them. Today I saw a news article that suggests for many of those living in Weymouth and Portland it isn’t: “Weymouth and Portland has the lowest average weekly wages in the country. The rate is just £282.90 a week according to the latest data from the Office of National Statistics – and it’s still falling. The average weekly pay fell by a whopping 8.3 per cent last year.” While the owners of the Echo may feel comfortable enough they can tip their cap to Richard Drax MP (for whom it works rather well too) I can’t say that the economy works for most of the people in the area…
Is fracking good for the economy? Does drinking the radioactive waste water from it help the economy? Whose pockets does the cash go in? The citizens of Weymouth and Portland or some fat bloke’s pocket in Houston, Texas? It’s certainly good for ‘his’ economy.
If the system does not work, is it broken?
I have to ask, that if the system doesn’t work for you, then should it be fixed? We are for the most part suffering so others can have a life in opulence. Is that right?
Before you say ‘we can’t afford it’ then I need to ask you, who can’t afford it? The people living off the backs of our labour certainly can. Old Dickie Drax’s starving constituents are starving for the economy. Shouldn’t they have dinner on their plates? What about the nurses in the DCH, who just about make ends meet?
I’ll repeat the mantra again: You are not there for the system – the system is there for you.
Rich Shrubb
