Well, here we are again. I’d love to regail you with tales of how our veg are coming on (fine, by the way), but I’ve spent the last couple of weeks being fascinated and horrified by our political masters. This isn’t supposed to be a political blog, but when those currently at the helm are proposing to steer a course so completely at odds with everything we believe in, what choice do I have?
The election of Jeremy Corbyn as leader of the Labour party seems to have given the Tories a nudge towards the far right. This week I’ve listened as people claiming tax credits are accused of having no dignity; how benefits should be withdrawn from the elderly “because they probably won’t be around to vote next time”; how young people aren’t productive enough; how immigrants are stealing jobs from ‘honest British’ workers. How removing benefits will teach workers how to be ‘as productive as the Chinese’. Despite having spent tens of billions of pounds to prop up the banking sector, we are all told daily – “you must work harder, longer, be more productive”, to justify the right to what? To live? To have a decent standard of life? Failure to comply will result in the removal of that right. The poor, the elderly, the sick, and the unlucky are being weeded out, in a macabre survival of the financial fittest. Neo conservatism at its ugly best.
So? You may be wondering. The point here is that we are being urged to work from cradle to grave, longer, harder and more productively in order to make some arbitrary government GDP figures look promising enough to stop the world’s financial markets noticing that the UK PLC finances are less than rosy. Our economy is built on debt, and in order to keep the debt coming, you need to earn money, borrow even more money to buy ‘stuff’, and then service that debt with your earnings.
It has come to the point where not participating in this charade has become an act of rebellion. Growing your own food rather than buying at the supermarket, making your own electricity and not buying it from the power company. Those things don’t do a lot for the GDP figures. Neither does bartering some food, or using Freecycle, or eating less meat but buying it free range and local. Spending less money and having less debt mean you could need less money, and so – dare we say – work less. You could even be less productive.
The current government narrative is that you should be proud to be a productive worker. Maybe you are. But you could just as proudly stay at home and teach your child something. Or enjoy a sunny day by going for a walk. Do anything you like, but don’t for goodness sake let these bastards make you feel guilty for not being a Good Worker. Not everyone is fortunate to have a choice, but we need to remember that there is another way, because otherwise this government will have us believe that we exist only to be productive units, rather than free to live our lives as we see fit.
In other news, the potatoes are very fine indeed this season.
If you’re interested in talking about ways to live more independently of the system, let us know, and we can include you in the conversation.
And so say all of us! We’re living in West of Ireland and feeling the same. Not self-sufficient but doing our bit to get outside a system which only tries to pit people against one another. It’s not right. We really enjoy reading about your ventures into various areas. Keep it up!!
Well put Steve and Claire. The importance of narrative, and the multitude that exist, is often over looked. Quality of life over standard of living.
Well said. I have enjoyed following your posts and wish you well with all that you continue to do that provides an alternative lifestyle and mindset to whatever political brainwashing they direct at us.Sometime in the future I would love to visit. Good luck
The “funny” part is that those telling us to fight over bread crumbs to just have a half-decent life are those that earn ridiculous amounts of money. The “Establishment” all over the globe feed on the system (just think or our president here in Ireland stating that a monthly payment in excess of 4 grand a WEEK is justified…). “They” feed us with anxiousness, social envy and fake desires so we buy a new phone every six months (so we can stare at it waiting for someone to send us a text…) to produce enough money for them to spend on drugs, child pornography and child “abuse” (as seen surfacing in the UK and lurking beneath the surface everywhere else).
At the same time the seed of hate against those in need (elderly, sick, “migrants”) is sown everywhere and we (or, rather, those with a telly) are distracted with media events that have “us” argue about the colour of some person’s dress, while others are starving, being raped, abused and enslaved by a multitude of different systems. But all of this does not matter, as long as we’re busy envying the neighbour for his new BMW, his TV set, his x y and z. All of which is merely distracting us from what really matters – compassion, empathy, understanding, meaningful relations and love and light (not a hippie myself, mind you!).
At the same time (see “shock strategy” by N. Klein…) and while we are distracted by the fear that some refugee might steal away the excess bread we’ve discarded anyway, Germany is starting (again) to build concentration camps – and everybody is watching and giving applause, cheering for an obvious and blatant Nazi (Mahler) being released from prison.
The political establishment is like a parasite that had the power to convince it’s host that those without a parasite are worthless. Democracy (and Anarchy) is a good idea in theory, alas, until we (as a species) wake the f**k up it is not working – not for the people anyway (but in favour of those “above” us) and the mould is slowly (rapidly?) coming through the paint we’ve put over dirt…
This good worker naritive is written into social policy at all levels. We are being fed a very careful vocabulary of economic viability from very early in school so that it will be be inculcated through well meaning teachers and educationalists into the very fabric of adult citizenship and acceptability.
Count me in! I’m just so bored of the rhetoric – the fear tactics, the control tactics. If compassion and empathy is for hippies then consider me a convert! Love what you guys are doing, and really want to make it up to visit and learn. I got my husband and his dad a space on the green woodworking course in the summer and they loved it – just writing up a long-overdue blog post about their time now. Big love and respect to you and your tribe!
Cheers Mel, love your blog. 🙂