Politics

This is a subject people love to argue about, and they do so constantly!

Before I say what I think, I will offer some definitions, so you understand my point of view.

Money:

People regard this as a store of value, which it can be, at least temporarily.

It is far more than that.

It is a 'store' or representation, of the authority to allocate, redistribute, and control, resources.

Land, buildings, machinery, workers and raw materials, can all be organised and transformed, by the use of sufficient 'money'.

Money usually bears the emblem, insignia, and other markings of the 'State' from which it originates.

The State, directly or indirectly, controls the creation or allocation of this 'Authority'.

The State:

These are the people who currently hold power, whoever they may be. From the most modest tribal council, to the greatest imperial court, all exist as 'A State'.

Actual Power, the control over laws, policies and agendas, does not vest itself in the appointed officers of the State.

The decision making process lies with outside individuals, who have obtained either great popular influence, or great 'economic' influence.

Countries are always controlled by such gangs or cliques. The people in control, may be benign, wishing only the best for their fellow Citizens, or they may have any number of bizarre, malign, partisan, or simply self centred, policies.

Early attempts to make the distribution of Power fairer,  generally seem to have involved popularity contests.

A would be Politician attempts to gain the support of whoever has been enfranchised with a Vote at the time. At various times it has been just Men, then just Noblemen, next just Men of a certain wealth and standing, and finally, anyone who has survived over a certain number of years, and who has not been imprisoned, or deemed so unable to think straight that Public Officials have been forced to take notice, and action of some sort.

So, at the end of the popularity contest, the reality is simply that the Politician now has to negotiate with who ever holds the real reins of Power at that time. In these days, it would seem to mostly be Men of Business. So, whatever the Politician may personally want to do, he is restricted, by the men in the shadows, who set out very clears limits on what they will allow.

The concerns of the actual Voters fade into the background. If he or she can, the Politician will try to push some popular policy thro so that the Media has something people will like, that can be trumpeted to the Public.

In the background, the Politician will have been told politely but firmly, what Agenda they must follow.

For your elected Politician is but an Officer of the State, and as any Public Servant, he or she obeys whoever the current Boss is at the moment.

The Boss, of course is the State, and the State is a fluid beast, comprising, at any time, probably less than a dozen, genuinely powerful and influential people, who with but a telephone call to a pet politician, can stop dead any law, policy or regulation, that does not suit them.

And in the past, stop dead, could be taken quite literally. In some parts of the world, it still is.

So, you know what I think of the State, and of Money. What do I think of Policies?

Policies:

A political policy, is simply a formal solution to a problem perceived to exist by 'The State'.

A policy, is not necessarily a solution to a problem possessed by the Citizens. It may cause problems for the Citizens, or just some Citizens. This may not be a bad thing, for example, a policy against theft is detrimental to thieves (who are also Citizens) but good for, well, almost everyone else.

A policy does not have to be effective to be embraced as a policy. A policy may just be a sticking plaster, or worse just a soundbite to please the Public audience that day, with the knowledge that the Public will not follow up or check on results.

The State defines political policies.

When a new law is introduced, or a regulation changed, you are given pointers to whom the State is, at that moment.

For example, a tax cut for the Rich, would imply that the current holders of the reins of power, are themselves Rich.

For the cynical it is always noted that the rich always end up with power, and that Politicians, however humble their beginnings, often end up surprisingly well endowed financially. It is as it has often been noted, a funny old world.

People who want a smaller State, ie small Government, don't realise, that the policies they dislike, are the ones enjoyed by the State, and that however few the employed Public Servants, you can be sure the clique in charge, will still have the world the way they want it.

That is why they seek to be the 'State', in the first place. They wish to remodel the world in their own image. Fortunately, for the ordinary folk, the people with Power often have conflicting views, and an inability to apply the policies they would like. This is not for want of trying. Sometimes for lack of intelligence.

The Media, concentrated into the hands of a couple of Oligarchs, has been the perfect tool, for trying to convince the ordinary people to want and believe the things that the State Clique, wants them to believe. Luckily, not everyone reads Newspapers, or watches Television, or indeed, is susceptible to constant barrages of thinly disguised political ideas.

Many people turn off the News, and don't watch lifestyle programmes. I quite like Grand Designs, but I still remember when a three bed semi cost only £30,000 (that seems quite enough), so the high House price to Salary situation currently suffered by ordinary people, is in fact, a reduction in Wages of working people, in terms of property, and Land.

Such a situation really suits the State Clique, you would have to ask them exactly why, I could speculate. Part of the population seems to rejoice in House price rises, without the obvious point that, if they sell a House, they have to buy another one! So they only gain if they trade down. Another term, which implies loss of face, for what might be a sensible change of circumstances.

It is a schizophrenic policy though, as the State Clique make money from consumer sales, and yet consumers now spend more of their wages than ever on Mortgages or indeed Rent.

The transformation of Western society into a Rentier society is another topic, which could be a whole article.

Another day, I might touch on the fantasy world of taxation and accountancy. There's an interesting tool of 'the State'.

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