Welfare Queen
“Whether the British ruling class are wicked or merely stupid is one of the most difficult questions of our time, and at certain moments a very important question.”
- George Orwell
By J.M. Hamilton (8-27-15)
London, England - At first, it didn’t make sense. My sister, forever the Anglophile, insisted that we visit London, England this summer (a/k/a The Big Smoke). The exchange rate sucks, I objected, and several family members noted we should go to Europe, with the weaker Euro. But in retrospect, it all made perfect sense, and the family was glad we visited London. Last year we were fortunate enough to have visited Germany and Berlin. For a student of history, and an American, the two cities are perfect twentieth century bookends.
Two world wars pitted Germany against England, and the Cold War united the two nations, and America. When you think of the history emanating from these two capitols, Berlin and London, the mind reels. Tales of empires won, lost, and thwarted. London England, today, is the Mecca of all things financial (derivatives and swaps worth hundreds of trillions in notional value, and rehypothecation), but geographically a shadow of its former empire; Berlin Germany, today, having won – what it couldn’t take within two world wars – European economic conquest, and hence, European rule. Love it or hate it, German economic and financial imperialism dominates the E.U.
London is a beautiful city, and as similarly observed in Berlin last year, there were more construction cranes in the air then one could count. Building is booming. Like Berlin, London is pristine with little of the grunge or grime one might expect; even the handful of punk rockers I ran into in the borough of Camden were squeaky clean and well behaved. London is truly a city for the elite. The ratio of Audis, Ceds, Jags, Beemers, and Porsches on the road, to ordinary cars and cabs, was possibly one to four. There’s an incredible amount of wealth emanating from England’s capitol, not just from the financial district, but some of it is inherited and legacy wealth (foreign oligarchs and royalty are also in the city). It is expensive to live here. So much so, that many Londoners are fleeing the Island for Berlin, not unlike ordinary Manhattanites fleeing to the outer boroughs and suburbia.
While visiting London, one is quick to observe that the surveillance and police state George Orwell warned us against is very much alive and thriving. The citizen to CCTV camera ratio is said to be 11 to 1. Add in facial recognition technology, and your invasion of privacy is complete. But unlike Germany, where there was, and remains, an uproar over Mr. Snowden’s revelations (typewriter sales were said to have soared, post-Snowden), the British seem okay with sacrificing their freedoms and privacy on the altar of, alleged, greater personal safety. Notably, many Germans disdain the surveillance state, and they suffer no monarch; the British largely, accept the surveillance state, maybe embrace it, and they enjoy the House of Windsor (f/k/a Saxe-Coburg and Gotha). Hmmm.
Politically, England faces two hot button issues: one, what to do with the wave of immigration sweeping through Southern Europe and lapping up on England’s shores; and two, whether or not to continue E.U. participation? Seems, like in America, immigrants are seeking out Western democracies, and hoping to escape the wars being fought in their home countries, whether the wars be of a religious nature or wars from America’s failed drug prohibition policies. This, despite the fact that upward mobility, and the promise capitalism used to deliver – that of opportunity – has been thwarted throughout the West, by crony capitalism, the insider economy, monopolies, and cartels. Ironically, despite immigration being such a hot debate topic in the U.S., many immigrants from South of the U.S. border have returned home, post- 2008 crash.
As for the European experiment, the British shrewdly chose to hang onto their own currency, and that decision has paid dividends ever since. As mentioned, sterling is strong, vis a vis alternative currencies, despite facing similar machinations and manipulations that are in vogue among all the world’s central banks. Alas, like America, London has an economy that is dominated to a considerable degree by banks, hedge funds, speculators, and private equity. And not a few of the larger British banks, also like in America, had to be bailed out and nationalized, as a result of the 2008 crash. Unlike America, Britain didn't fail in giving some mega-bank CEOs the boot.
Today, London has a melting pot vibe, perhaps more so than Manhattan. Maybe because it was vacation season, maybe not, seemed that the number of persons of color was nearly equal to the number of white faces. Remarkably, nearly every person I ran into spoke the Queen’s English, or was multilingual. Impressive. And the Tube, London’s underground railway system, is a dream of cleanliness, punctuality, and modernity compared to Boston’s T or New York’s MTA.
But most amazing of all was our visits to Buckingham Palace and Parliament. The latter is bicameral, consisting of the House of Lords (appointed by her majesty, and historically a hereditary institution), and the House of Commons (an elected body and the house that, thankfully, holds the most power). Rounding out Britain’s democracy is the P.M. or prime minister, and a Supreme Court (which was established in 2009). Seems that the House of Lords used to be the highest court in the land, but like many of this chamber’s powers, this too has been stripped away.
As with any democratically elected government, there are pros and cons/positives and negatives, so let’s start with the pros first. The fact that the P.M. gets up in front of House of Commons every Wednesday, and gets drilled, grilled, and questioned, is absolutely wonderful. One may watch the debate on C SPAN in the states, and it’s incredible. The opposition parties actually verbally abuse and do their best to embarrass, outwit, and shame the P.M., and the intelligence, intellect, and argumentation surrounding the debate is often on a much higher order, than what we see in the U.S. Congress. To put this in perspective, imagine, if you will, Presidents Obama, or Bush, appearing before the House of Representatives weekly, and getting hammered – and hammering back. I love it, and my guess is these debates are both productive and do much to educate the British people. Too bad it only lasts for thirty minutes, weekly.
Unfortunately, the money flowing into members of parliament (M.P.) is not limited, but the amount of campaign expenditures are capped (so yes, like the U.S. Congress – the M.P.s too, are bought). However, election for all M.P.s, which includes the P.M., must occur no later than every five years, and the campaign season starts when the Queen dissolves Parliament, or five weeks before Election Day. Imagine, five weeks of campaigning, versus the unlimited campaigning that takes place in the U.S., and that’s an easy positive for British democracy. It appears that the British actually expect their pols to govern, rather than campaign 24/7/365 and raise unseemly sums.
Post Gulf-War II, it appears that the British and their government have lost their appetite for failed nation building exercises, and unlike P.M. Tony Blair, are less likely to be led into another U.S. war. In fact, Britain just reopened its embassy in Iran, and there is even some political opinion (from his own political party, Labour) that former P.M. Blair could be brought up on war crimes. This lack of jingoism, and the sated thirst for war, comes from a conservative/Tory government, no less. Perhaps America can send over some of our Republican leaders for learning and reeducation?
All of this is to say, the commercial conquest of Iran is underway, at least in Britain. Is the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the Business Roundtable aware?
And now for the “con,” or downer side of the British government. I’m sorry, as an American, I don’t get the whole monarchy thing, and the Disneyfication of said monarchy. You know, where we tell every American girl, and presumably British girls, that you too, can and should be a princess. It’s not unlike the Horatio Alger fairy tale we like to tell in America, that with hard work and perseverance, that you too, can be Mr. Donald Trump or an aristocrat. It’s complete tripe. Upward mobility is abysmal in both countries, wage and wealth inequality are growing to unacceptable extremes, and the royals, with all due respect, are symptomatic of the aristocracy and class system that exists in both England and the U.S.
Imagine, if you will, taxpayers paying an American family $60 million – annually (add in several hundred million more for security and special events), tax free, putting them up in castles owned by the state, and asking them to do P.R. work for the government – on occasion? Monarchy and aristocracy are both throw backs to the dark ages, before the age of reason and enlightenment. It’s based upon the premise that by divine, that is Goddess given, right, they are ordained to rule over us mere mortals. That somehow their, historically, inbred progeny are more refined and better than everyone else, and most importantly, above the law. Flies in the face of the premise that all people are created equal… doesn’t it?
It’s the kind of insult and injury that revolutions are fought over.
Some have argued the royals are parasites living in gilded cages - making their living sucking off the taxpayer and the underrepresented worker…. In the U.S., the elite often pass their estates and riches down to “widows and idiot sons,” perpetuating our own class system. The aristos in both America and England living a lie and double standard, heretofore unimaginable… hypocrisy defined and slaves to the crony/insider economy.
The political right in both countries, Tory and Republican, both like to look down their nose at the indigent and those in need of government assistance, with great derision and scorn; and yet, the biggest “welfare queens” are: the British monarchy, and wealthy corporations and plutocrats residing in both countries. Remarkably, the free market deity, Adam Smith, the moralist for capitalism, appears on the back of the Queen’s twenty pound note. Prince Charles reduced to writing black spider memos and pleas to government ministers, seeking favors from the British government.
Austerity is great for the middle class and the poor in both countries, but don't dream of imposing austerity upon the ruling class.
Adam Smith, the Godfather of Capitalism.
Is the American system any
different? Hardly. Both governments run by, and for, the
corporation and the financial aristocracy, and the citizenry are taken for an unpleasant ride. This is what
post-modern democracy has become: Dry rot and decay, a free ride for the rich,
at the expense of the middle class and those truly in need.
What defect residing within human DNA causes many Americans, and British alike, to praise and worship: the royal mafia; CEOs heading up criminal organizations (e.g. Hedge Fund and Private Equity firms); leaders within crony governments – owned and operated by banking cartels; and the House of Windsor?
And more importantly, can it be cured?
Maybe genetic engineering is the answer? Why the need for the public to go gaga over a baby royale, who will – more than likely - grow up to place a Russian oligarch‘s shear rapacity to shame? All the while, one in four children in Britain, and the U.S., live in poverty. Now, there’s a statistic to be proud of, right? What could people possibly be thinking? Why not rally around a flag, or country, or a belief or ideal, like equality, freedom, or justice…. Maybe even the Goddess above? Do something completely fatuous and mad, like fall in love, but to worship the lowest common denominator, the predatory House of Windsor… it’s beyond the pale.
Yes, the crown jewels and Buckingham palace brings in money and tourism, but my guess is that same money would flow into the British economy, w/out an expensive royal family. So why not downsize the House of Windsor, hand out pink slips to the royals, and enhance England’s bottom line? J.M.H. won’t even charge for that word of advice, but McKinsey & Co. would. (If the British want to save more, sack the anachronistic House of Lords, go Unicameral.)
And yet, they, the British people, love ‘em, and more than a few Americans love the royals, too. Pining for a strongman… why not go all the way and worship Putin? Some Republicans do.
In the end, the greatest
tribute I can pay to America’s former master is this: The British seem not to mourn their loss of
empire; they are perfectly content not to rule the world; they are inwardly
focused on their island and appear the better and healthier for it. They appear content and happy, and feel no need
to spend unseemly sums on a military, at the expense of its nation or people.
Conversely, America, embarrassingly, spends more money on the fraud and waste that is our military industrial complex, and surveillance state, than the G-20, combined (gross fiscal mismanagment). And blowback and liabilities from the MIC, and the resulting deficit spending, are mounting, in ways both foreseen and unforseen.
The British are watchful, aware, and on their guard, but appear to have abandoned the Bush/Blair doctrine, or the policies of preemption and certainly, nation building.
And for that, the British deserve praise.
I wonder if Pax-Americana, in her twilight, will recognize that we have something to learn from Britain?
How to behave, post-empire.
Copyright JM Hamilton Publishing 2015
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