It's Time to Trim the Fat: Culling the Bourgeoisie

[William Prest]

Not since the dirty '30's has an advanced industrial nation like Britain seen such social unrest. During the height of the great depression, Britain experienced a massive general strike that brought the country to a standstill. Over the last few days since August 6^th, 2011, Britain has once more exploded into unrest as disaffected youth have erupted into riot after a police officer shot to death, a youth in N. London. From there, the rioting, looting and burning has spread to six major British cities. The Prime Minister has cancelled his holidays and declared a state of emergency and is now ordering the military to get involved to bring this to a halt. But, as we know, these mass movements do not just suddenly spring out of thin air, but have behind them a long pent up rage that til now has remained quiet. This has a long history as the once mighty British imperialist order has lapsed into the doldrums of oblivion in the shadows of the US imperialist empire. It used to be said that the sun never set on the British Empire, but now that is no longer true as the US has usurped that place. Since the late 1940's, the British empire has been dissolving. About the only people who are doing well are those like the Rothschild clan and the Royals. The recent spectacular wedding of Royals has only served to demonstrate the radical difference between the ostentation of this display in contrast to what the majority of disaffected youth face in a hopeless future of increasing austerity. Increasing frustration and anger has been seething below the surface for decades and has suddenly erupted forth like an exploding volcano after this seeming insignificant trigger event. But explosions of the largest kind can be triggered by a mere spark. Such is the case here after decades of being pent up and accumulating.

 

“During the 1920s old industries like coal mining were declining. So in 1921 employers cut wages. In 1926 they proposed to cut wages and increase working hours. The miners leader A.J. Cooke said 'Not a penny off the pay, not a minute on the day'. the miners went on strike and appealed to the other unions to help them. The result was a general strike from midnight on 3 May 1926.

 

However the government was prepared. Realizing trade unions might unite and call a general strike they formed the Organization for the Maintenance of Supplies in 1925. Middle class volunteers helped to run services like buses and kept supplies moving. Troops and special constables also helped. The general strike ended on 12 May although the miners remained on strike for another 6 months. In the end they miners went back to work defeated.

In 1927 the Trade Disputes Act made general strikes illegal.”[1]

This is an event that is more significant than was the general strike in the 1920's. It is superior to the 20's, as back in those days, they were not ready to take power. The people appear to be ready to take power and have demonstrated that they can organize to evade the armed police. The very next step now that they seem to be in control of large portions of several cities is to stop burnings and to start occupations. From this vantage point, they will be able to shut off the whole economy at will and ultimately dictate terms of surrender to the ruling elite. If the elite want to dislodge them, they will have to invoke a full scale civil war with resulting huge collateral damage to the properties they so value. There have been threats of this already. This has been exacerbated by the torching of many properties. There have been attacks on peoples' homes in home invasion style attacks. At the moment, the rage is exploding in all directions and needs to be focused on the real enemy. As for the denigration of looters as hooligans, we need only look to the wars sponsored by the same elite to see looting hooliganism on a mass scale. What is going on after this example and decades of ever tightening austerity, is that the expropriators are finally being expropriated.

 

The modern era's problems commenced under Thatcher's destruction of the coal mining industry and unions in 1984-85. The miners went out on strike for better working conditions and the preservation of their jobs. Under Margaret Thatcher, no concessions were given to the miners with the end result that the mines were closed, everyone laid off and coal was shipped in from half way around the world from China where it could be obtained more cheaply [2]. After this, there was a concerted attack on the social safety net long before the current days of austerity. Today's austerity, a reflection of Greece [3], France [4,5] and Italy, has finally caught up to Britain, a once mighty industrial giant.

 

For the days since August 5^th, 2011 and on, the police could do almost nothing as the unemployed youth organized via cell phone networks to evade the police. Where police were confronted, the police pulled back due to the large numbers of the participants in the unrest. Since then, we have learned that more then 3,000 more police were out for the Royal wedding than during the riots. We call for an end of the parasitic monarchy. Bring down the royals!

 

Charges have been stated by the rulers that the mass unemployed uprising is a mob, gangsters and hoodlums when it is the rulers that are the international gangsters and hoodlums terrorizing third world people and their own masses for resources and low payed labour. Unemployed working people need to organize into councils to bring the whole rotten order of corporatists and banksters to judgement. When they do awaken from unconscious response, they will form workers' councils and bring every last exploiter like banksters, corporatists, landlord, and adventurist militarist to be tried, judged and will cull greed from the midst of humanity.

 

This stage is unconscious, but as it develops into awareness, a new leadership will be thrown up from the bottom. There is a crying need for effective leadership if this is to become and effective insurrection. There are no labour fakers as in France to tell the people to go home, as the unions were destroyed and labour fakers sent packing under Thatcher in the 80's. Thatcher also was heavily involved with the dismantling of the welfare state post the USSR demise.

 

 

References:

 

1. http://www.localhistories.org/20thengland.html

 

2. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UK_miners'_strike_(1984%E2%80%931985)

 

3. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-13960947

 

4. http://www.businessinsider.com/french-protest-videos-2010-10

 

5. http://www.wsws.org/articles/2010/nov2010/poli-n10.shtml