Politics and Politicians

There is a lot going on in politics at present and it is difficult to choose a specific topic to write about.  However, with the goings on with secretary of states in the UK, I thought that might be one topic of interest.

Dr Liam Fox, secretary of state for defence, or now ex-secretary of state for defence, fell foul of his friend's involvement with his official position.  Dr Fox's friend had posted himself as his advisor although he had not been officially appointed as such.  He was photographed attending various official meetings with him.  It was reported in the press that he had also arranged some of these meetings.  Pecuniary arrangements for this friend was rather dubious.  It was claimed that Dr Fox's political sponsors were supporting him financially.  Dr Fox's friend claimed to have special interest in the arms trade.  The unanswered question remains whether these sponsors were arm traders or not?  Dr Fox has now resigned his government position but will this stop the speculations or further revelations.  We shall have to wait and see.

Today, it has also been revealed that another Cabinet Minister has been photographed on several occasions dumping official government papers in public litter bins in St James's Park in London.  I am not going to speculate, he may have just been offloading himself of the weight.  I shall leave the speculating or revealing the true reasons, if there is one, to the media.

Going back to politicians, governance and political influence.  There was a time when politicians and politics was about national interests.  However, this has long gone and no politicians or political parties are immune to it. And this is not only a UK position, it is a worldwide issue.  Although governing a country is about working in the interest of the whole nation, this is no longer the case.  The governments only really work in the interest of about 20% of the nations and these are the plutocratic investors and industrialists.  Legislations are always in favour of these minority groups, and this include TAX avoidance legislations.  Whereas legislations for the remaining 80% is punitive and negatively weighted.  The current austerity measures of high taxes, low wages, increasing living costs and pension changes also only apply to the majority 80%.  Whilst this 80% are sweating Calories turning the wheels of industry, the other 20% are putting on Calories and increasing their wealth enjoying the fruit of the former's labour.

I suppose the duties of governments and  politicians nowadays are about helping their financial sponsors who bankroll their prospects of getting elected and political careers and not the nations.  There is also this principle that trade and industry is the heart of the modern world. This being the case, may be politicians are delivering the goods that their wealthy clients have paid for and not acting in the interest of their voters.  How this applies to the labour party in the UK is a bit confusing.  This political party is financially supported by both trade unions and wealthy plutocrats.  The trade unions and trade unionists do not get anything in return but the plutocrats do.  Are the plutocrats support more important, and/or are the trade unions and the trade unionists just taken for granted? 

This whole process calls into question the belief related to elections and democracy in electing politicians and governments, particularly in the western world that boasts about its democratic principles.  Does this reflect the diminishing number of voters who actually turn up at the polling stations?  Do the voters feel that no matter who they vote for the elected representatives do not work in favour the majority voters anyway?

Good bye and good luck until the next time.

Knight Owl

Recent English Public Disturbance; Rhyme or Reason?

The recent public disturbance in England has calmed down.  Perpetrators are being sought and punished.  The victim are trying to come to terms and rebuilding their lives.  The politicians, however, continue to pussy foot around trying to address the situation. Prime Minister Cameron has moved from describing the society as a broken society to a sick society.  He is busy prescribing  remedies without adequately diagnosing the problem.

The problem underlying the uncalled for disturbance in England and the unrest and economic mayhem around the world is a social and economic catastrophe. The heart of the problem lies with the rigid interpretation and application of the Monetarist Economic Policy.  In the same way as the Keynesian policy failed in the 1970s, we have to admit and agree that the Monetarist policy has failed now. The Monetarist perspective that money [and property] is all that matters is the core of the current problem.  It has created a few who has money and masses who haven't. As a result it has also created selfishness and greed. The masses who still aspire and are encouraged to persevere to acquire money find all kind of obstacles put in their way. First and foremost the people who control the money also control the employment and manipulate the market. The market creates the perception that everyone are entitled to and have a right to own goods no matter the cost.  It creates envy and some people use fair and foul means to have these goods. This allows crime to enter the equation.

The masses are also disadvantaged by a failure of governments to promote social well being in the form of good social policy. Society may be broken but we are not instituting social policies to mend this breach.  Instead we are creating policies to worsen this breach, and blame people for not being self sufficient.  We thus promote a criminal underclass which also live by the monetarist perspective that money is all that matters.  Ethics, morals and the law are all ignored or take a secondary position. This is as true in the world of business, for example, the nature of banking and hedge-fund management, and the behaviour of the criminal underclass.

This was summed up by Reginald D Hunter, a US comedian on the BBC "This Week" programme when he said "You cannot tell people who are broke, don't feel hard done by".  We care more about money and property than people and so do our politicians.

I am led to believe that politicians regardless of the parties they belong to ignore the masses in society and side with the few rich who funds their respective political parties and their bid to get elected.  The masses are the naive majority who continue to trust and believe in their politicians just as gang members do with their gang leaders who continue to manipulate them for personal gain.

Good bye and Good Luck until the next time.

Knight Owl

Appraisal of the Public Disturbance in England, United Kingdom

Parliament was recalled from the summer recess yesterday to discuss the disturbance that took place over the last four nights in some major English cities.  The police and other emergency services were rightly praised, by both sides of the house, for the admirable and effective way in which they dealt with the situation and restored order.  They were also rightly critical of the criminals who perpetrated the disturbance and the looting and vandalism that took place.  Series of measures were announced to help the police and the justice system to do their job more effectively in dealing with the problem.  Measures were also announced to deal with the criminals.  Various proposals were suggested to understand the underlying reasons for the disturbance but these were not considered at the time.  These will hopefully be appropriately and fully discussed, debated and appraised in the weeks and months to come and addressed accordingly.  Praise was also given to the communities for their help in clearing the mess and restoring a sense of normality.  Unfortunately the vigilante stance some communities adopted was not condemned.


It is important to understand the underlying causes whether simple or not to be able to avert similar situations in future, and to restore  and instil public confidence.  I believe that the Rabbi who was on Chris Evans BBC Radio 2 show yesterday morning hit the nail on the head with the explanation that he gave for the kind of disturbances that we are experiencing.  And I think what he said explains the situation globally, whether it is in Britain, the Middle East, Africa or anywhere else in the world.  His explanation is that the [ultimate] value  society places on possessions accounts for many of the antisocial, disruptive and criminal behaviours that we endure on a daily basis.  This was reflected by a conservative Member of Parliament, during the parliamentary session today, when he referred to consumerism as the root cause of the ills of society that David Cameron, the prime minister alludes to.  But, Mr Cameron was more concerned about punishing the culprits of the  latest disorder rather than underlying reasons for their criminal behaviour.


There has been an intense emphasis and importance on values that involves money and possessions since the 1970s; and this emphasis has been above and beyond all other values.  This has led to consumerism and greed.  The latter being defined by most dictionaries as:


 "An excessive desire to acquire or possess more than what one needs or deserves, especially with respect to material wealth". 

There are many examples of this in everyday life globally.  The parliamentary expenses problems that we faced recently can be attributed to greed.  Many of our sportsmen and women, people in music and film industry and industry in general use this as their modus operandi.  The bank crisis of 2008 and the global economic crisis, including the fragile and fluctuating stock markets, the recent News International debacle and the pressure put on Prime Minister Cameron to curtail the BBC as per James Murdoch's 2009 MacTagart lecture are all examples and the effects of greed.  The disturbances in the Middle East and the continent of Africa is also highly likely to be influenced by the same emphasis on greed as an important value of humanity.  People, therefore, are using all means available to them to achieve possessions whether foul or fair. There are also plenty of examples where this kind of behaviour is reinforced and rewarded.  These include bonuses, national honours and awards and public adoration.  However, the rewards depend on the social and economic background of the recipients and the context in which it has been achieved.  Some people fall foul of living up to these values and they engage in criminal activities from petty crime all the way up the criminal spectrum including the illegal drug industry. Criminals obviously have to be punished but should we not attempt to change society by revising the values we give so much importance to and may be in future avert these problems that has been created.   

Read my next post for some suggestions to remedy these ills.


Good Bye and Good Luck until the next time


Knight Owl 

London Burning

It is very disheartening, disturbing and distressing to see many areas of London ablaze.  Rioting and looting has also been taking place in many areas of London, Birmingham, Bristol, Nottingham and Liverpool. The last time such disturbance took place was the early to mid 1980s.  Whether these activities are a result of the politics of the day, political grievance or not, it certainly isn't pleasant and it is not a way of protesting.  These are criminal activities in whatever way they are described.  Although, it is understandable that many sectors of the community feel disenchanted with the austerity measures, and job prospects being extremely poor, particularly for young people.  These activities cannot be condoned and it is highly unlikely that it has anything to do with the shooting of Mark Duggan by the police in London.

It is also distressing to see how inadequate the police and particularly the fire service is.  In Croydon, a very large fire was being tackled by three fire engines.  Under normal circumstances there would have been at least a dozen fire engines if not more.  Many areas report lack of police and fire services.  There has been cutbacks in these services because of the austerity measures.  One hopes that the thin spread of services is due to the number of incidents rather that a lack in service personnel.

The political leaders are all returning back cutting short their summer holidays and emergency meetings are taking place across relevant ministerial departments to assess the extent of the problem and how best to resolve it.  Whatever has triggered these uprisings is not as simple as it seems.  Underlying all the discontent and the despicable behaviour lies predictors and precipitants that are complex and highly likely to be fuelled by the general economic downturn that is affecting most of society.  There is also a gap developing between the rich and poor.  While most middle and low earners and the unemployed are being squeezed, there are some whose affluence is increasing beyond belief.  This is evidenced by the profits of some major companies but even more so by publication of the rich list in the national papers.  Prominent politicians may have also inflamed the situation by stating that multicultural society in Britain has failed.  However, these cannot be used to promote crime.

Whatever the predictors and precipitants, we all have a responsibility.  First and foremost we must utterly condemn these act of criminality.  All of us rich and poor, affected and disaffected should work to resolve the problem together.  Let us not posture and  threaten each other. Let us communicate our grievances in a lawful and responsible manner.  This applies to all of us including the rioters, the communities, the businesses and the politicians.  We are all in some way responsible and we must act in a responsible way.  It is bad enough for the global economy to  be spiralling into decline.  It does affect all of us not only the investors.  We are literally in it together and we all have to unite to get out this mess.  Divisions and subdivisions will only create acrimony, disrepair and despair.  If you wish to protest, remember Mahatma Gandhi, peaceful protest is much more powerful than violence.

Good Bye and Good Luck until the next time and may peace and serenity be with you.

Knight Owl

Double Dip Recession or Depression?

The global economy continues on a downhill trend despite two years of severe austerity measures, increased taxation and low interest rates.  European countries such as Italy, Greece and Spain are relying heavily on being bailed out or face bankruptcy.  In the UK, we blamed the snow last December and April's Royal wedding for our GDP nosedive, although the Royal wedding was meant to boost our economy.  The US indecisiveness last week in agreeing an economic policy and now the stock market turmoil. Added to that we have the US rating downgrade by Standard and Poor from AAA to AA+.  Economists are calling for more austerity measures and further reduction in government spendings.

Jeff Macke, citing Peter Schiff, writes  "The Depression [in the wake of the financial crisis] was temporarily interrupted by a bunch of stimulus which ultimately weakened the economy further,"  He further suggests that  the government's response of stimulating is, probably going to lead to "a complete economic collapse."  I would agree that this was a knee jerk reaction in the sense that while the governments were trying to stimulate the recovery they were also stifling and strangling it by severe cutbacks in the public sector and tax increases.


We blame the governments for interrupting the economic growth because they are borrowing more.  We make lame excuses that there are no jobs because there is no recovery.  The problem is that there is no recovery because there are excessive job losses both in the private sector and the public sector.  In the private sector because there is insufficient stimulus, lack of funds or lack of investments because the investors are being encouraged to invest in China (as per Todd Schoenberger) and India.  In the public sector the belief is to improve the economy, as per eminent economists, we have to reduce public spending.  In addition, we are paying higher taxes either directly or indirectly.


The pitfall is no jobs, no jobs and no jobs, therefore, no recovery, no recovery and no recovery.  And down in the dark hole of depression we disappear unless somebody is brave enough to take the bull by the horn and stop the rut.  Europe is in disarray; the European Union is not working as one. Each country forming the EU is trying to protect itself. Germany and Angela Merkel is strong but for how long? One person needs to stand out and let's hope it's OBAMA.  Go Obama go, let's see what you are made of?


Good Bye and Good Luck until the next time.

Double Dip Recession?

Global stock markets take a nosedive again and its reported to be the worst for over two years or since the banking crisis of October 2008. The blame is apportioned to the European debt crisis and the faltering US economy. May it also just be an economic reality of modern  stock market  manipulation?

Over recent weeks price of gold has surged, and many companies have announced massive profits.  Share prices have also been steadily going up and the markets have been bullish. There are rumours from the investment world that hedge funders have sold heavily to make a quick return on their recent investments.  No fear, therefore, that they will be buying cheap again soon with a view to the next recessive dip when they take their profits.

Whether it is the European debt crisis and the faltering US economy or the hedge funders, the global governments are following economic policies that are bound to inhibit economic growth. In a time of excessive economic growth and increased affluence among the lower and middle earners this type of policy may be appropriate to stop the economic bubble from bursting.  However, in a time of recession this type of policy is wholly inappropriate. It will not only retain the current recession but also promote further dips along the way. The few rich will get richer and the majority low and middle earners will become poorer.

The policy must change and governments must take control of the situation.  Quantitative easing in real terms needs to be applied and spending power for the majority must be facilitated to promote growth. State expenditure must grow instead of being retracted. The State should be investing more in public services and at this moment in time we need big States instead of big societies. The private sector must also be helped to invest more through government support. Mr Gordon Brown, former Prime Minister of the UK was nearer the mark than what is currently happening.

What is needed is spending power for the vast majority instead of the few. For every dollar spent by the few rich people, at least a, million is spent by the majority lower/middle income earners; but they have to have it to spend it.  They are the people who keep the wheels of industry turning by working in it and buying from it. The others just oil the wheels.

What needs to be done, therefore, are tax incentives for the lower and middle earners and a reduction in value added tax for everyone, rich an poor, to promote spending.  What is needed is not a reduction in spending but an increase.  This was evidenced by the last British Government's reduction in VAT to 15%; the economy was actually growing in Britain.  The current Government policy has actually reversed that trend and the next set of figures are likely to show a negative growth factor. Wages also need to be going up to promote spending and fall when the economy starts to boom.  These can be achieved by increased government borrowings during this period of recession.

The economic policy must be reversed.  In times of recession we need higher wages and lower taxes and in times of  economic boom we need lower wages and higher taxes, and not vice versa. By doing so we shall prevent this continuous boom and bust trend.

Good Bye and Good Luck until the next time.

Knight Owl

News International Saga

The News International saga and accusations of criminal activities continue to fill the British Media. Blame is being tossed like custard pies involving News International, the journalists involved and the Metropolitan Police Officers who helped to cover up the extent of the intrusions in the private lives of all the people concerned. It has also been the main topic in the political arena where past and present governments and ministers are being accused of inaction in the face of allegations and evidence that has been brought to their attention. Various actions are being proposed from wholesale police investigations to judicial and public inquiries. The Metropolitan Police Force are making inquiries to investigate, gather evidence and bring the culprit to bear the force of the judicial system. Unfortunately, although there is general agreement that abuse of power has taken place resulting in criminal activities and offences has likely been committed, there still does not seem to be an agreement on the necessary and appropriate action that needs to be taken. The approach continues to appear softly softly. Are we British soft on such issues compared to let's say the United States or Australia, for example?  Can we be accused of dragging our feet rather than taking decisive action?

News International certainly has been decisive in axing the newspaper involved, namely, the News of the World.  The paper will see it's last publication on Sunday, July the 10, 2011.  However, credit to News International, phoenix like rising from the ashes of the demise of the News Of The World, another British News International's newspapers, The Sun will now have a Sunday issue. Decisive action or what? The question remain, however, that was it the newspaper that was to blame for the scandals or was it the personnel involved in bringing the newspaper and its journalistic approach into disrepute? The latter being the case, should the personnel concerned not be axed or sacked as the case may be and not the newspaper?

Keep you ears to the ground and your eyes open, there may yet be more episodes to this saga.

Good Bye and Good Luck until the next time.

Knight Owl.