Kleptopia v Utopia
The real problem is not left or right, or Tories v Labour. The real challenge we have is whether we want a Utopian system or to stick with the current system, Kleptopia.
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kleptocracy
noun
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A government characterized by rampant greed and corruption.
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A corrupt and dishonest government characterised by greed.
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I am not talking here about the Russian state, or some South American dictatorship, I am talking about the UK.
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The UK and its ruling elite have become greedy and dishonest. The UK likes to believe that its different from states like Russia with its ruling Oligarchs and obvious corruption, but that is merely a reflection on how the UK is deceiving itself. This is part of a deception that dates back to the British Empire where a system of dual reality that exists along side each, despite there being many contradictions between the dual realities.
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This is not a new phenomenon. This system of dual reality was used to describe the paradoxes of the Soviet state when everyone knew it was failing, but couldn't image any alternative. A professor of anthropology, Alexi Yurchak called this hypernormalisation. It was the same principle identified by Ernst Fraenkel in his book The Dual State. He stated that there coexisted in the Nazi government a "normative state", which secured the continuation of capitalist society for those Germans not threatened by Nazism, and a "prerogative state", which used legal sanctions as well as brutal violence against people considered to be enemies of Nazism and Nazi Germany.
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In the UK, there is one system, where normal everyday life continues, parking tickets are issued, people take their kids to school and have holidays in Spain. And one where banks, financial regulators, the City of London corporation, politicians, tax havens, lawyers and accountants, all work towards making the super wealthy even wealthier. This world remains hidden most of the time, occasionally it appears and perhaps some middle level person involved in its operation goes to jail, or some corporation makes a disclosure of wrong doing in return for a fine, before it goes back to pretending its normal and not that it has this dual existence in this corrupt other world.
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This is the system where Presidents and TV pundits can claim that everything and anything is fake news. Lies spread faster than the truth and facts and data no longer matter. What matters instead is whether you can state your misleading information and get enough people to believe you. Social media is the ultimate tool and even allows ordinary working class people to join in in the charade, posting pictures of themselves which are totally contradictory to their real lives.
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Is this dual reality a problem for normal working class people in the UK? Yes it is. In fact its the root cause of the majority of problems with this country. It is the reason schools struggle to provide adequate facilities for children. Its the reason our hospitals cannot cope in a normal winter. Its the reason the country is in so much debt and the alleged need for austerity. Its the cause of the £40 billion given to covid track and trace disappearing into thin air, and other covid spending going on PPE that had to be burnt whilst supplier company profits soared. Its the reason Gen Z cannot afford to buy houses and rent is becoming more unaffordable. It is also the reason for lower and lower wages for workers, a falling standard of living for British citizens and low growth and productivity. Its the reason for a massive increase in anti-depressant drugs being used on an ever increasingly unhappy population.
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For the super wealthy, there is good reason for this system, and its one in which no sacrifice is too great, whether thats an individual who threatens the system, or the destruction of the planet in general. And that is why this system is important. Because as resources become more scarce, whether from climate change, or from increased population, they are able to side step and subvert the laws of nation states. They can float around on their yachts accountable to no one. Flying into friendly states, but avoiding anyone when necessary, particularly the working class who may one day turn into an angry mob. They are putting in place the ultimate them and us system, they are essentially taking the life rafts from the Titanic, leaving the rest of us to fight it our for whatever is left.
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This is a swamp that needs to be drained. Its a choice, Utopian or Kleptopian. We can already see the results of one of these systems playing out, its time to change.
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Society, Freedom, Democracy, Fairness, Contentment
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