Power
Money
History knows that human societies rise and fall. Often the fall stage is signalled by wide, bitter, irrational divisions. In 2016 the hopeful word there is "irrational" - because that can be corrected; I'll get to that in Blog 40.
As we have seen (Blog 38) religion can divide, and
Law and Order efforts can divide.
This blog argues that the law of money creates the "wealth gap" which underlies most other divides. So let's go there, now.
Money goes where money is.
That means that those who have the most money will amass even more; and those with the least money are doomed to have less.
Are we there yet, Mommy? We're getting there.
In modern times (call that the last 300 years) we have seen the rise of Britain, and the rise of America, (to say nothing of the rise of capitalism, the rise of social democracy, and the rise of technology).
Then comes the fall. Why? Let me suggest that the wealth gap is often the trigger. Here's the pattern.
Step 1. The law of money leads to a point where a few people own most of the wealth in a community In 2016 it was calculated that, in the community we know as Planet Earth, 1% of the people have achieved ownership of 50% of the planets human-held wealth. Earth's population is about 8 billion (8,000,000,000). That means that 80 million (80,000,000) persons own half the world's capital and resources. and the other half is divided among 7.2 billion (7,200,000,000).
Now 80 million is about the size of a medium size nation, say Germany, Turkey or Thailand. By global standards, then, it is not a big group at risk if the 7.2 billion were to turn on them.
History suggests they will. Current events suggest they already have!
In 1770, when the British Empire seemed irresistible as it spread around the globe ("The sun never sets on the Union Jack." they said), Oliver Goldsmith said:
Ill fares the land, to hastening ills a prey,
Where wealth accumulates and men decay.
Or, as my grandfather - a wise old man - expressed it:
"Shirtsleeves to shirtsleeves in four generations."
Step 2. Rebellion/revolution. Revolutions almost always start with the middle class. (The poor are too occupied procuring their daily bread. It is the middle class, educated, but staring down a narrowing tunnel to insecurity and poverty, who look up searching for some one to blame. Occasionally, they even correctly identify the culprits ("Occupy Wall Street", for example). More often they take aim first at their established politicians or rulers.
Foreigners - in language, race, or religion - are often innocent targets.
Step 3. Once the middle class revolution has begun to take off, the poor get involved. They start out accepting the middle class leadership, but then, being more numerous, take over the revolution!!
And while the middle class have grievances to be remedied,
the poorer classes have a bitter history of injuries to be revenged!!
They often latch on to a radical leader who promises them what want to be promised.
That's when the really nasty stuff happens. That's when the policeman - decent, trained civil servant, a family breadwinner on a modest income - becomes a target, and huddles deeper into his, or her, cruiser and body armor, thinking, "A policeman's lot is not a happy one" So they upgrade their weaponry and strike back. And stupid violence escalates in the neighborhood. So much for law and order.
As for religious divisions, they are sharpened by leaders who favour restraint and even poverty. Others favour the "prosperity gospel" ("God wants you to be rich.") Some pump up the violent passages of their scriptures. Things are getting very bad.
But the wealthy ruling few have the most to lose. And since money buys power, they use it. They direct their politicians to "beef up" security, and to drum up wars.
Wars - a tried and true device for diverting dissent. And wars are good for business. Every bomb that explodes, every tank that erupts in flames, every plane that crashes, every building flattened, every coffin buried, requires work to replace it. Work means wages; wages cost money. So governments (encouraged by their masters) create or borrow money. Workers are happy to get it and spend it. The economy booms. (Shareholders, large and small, are ecstatic.) And it takes a few years for all the new money to work its way to the top.
Also, in a war the troublesome discontented from the working class can be persuaded to join the army on the promise of good pay. The troublesome discontented from the middle class - revolutionary leaders, intellectuals, journalists - can be jailed as unpatriotic, or spies or threats to public safety. It is claimed to be win-win-win, all round. And who remains to deny it?
Well, I'll leave with this over-long guide to the real daily news in 2016. So keep your eye on that TV and be questioning and critical. For instance, is China's sabre-rattling in the China Seas a device to divert middle-class unrest at home? And what is fuelling ISIS?
Your humble blogger is just reflecting on history. But Blog 40 will be upbeat, practical - and shorter. It will have practical advice and hope for the survival of us all.
As we have seen (Blog 38) religion can divide, and
Law and Order efforts can divide.
This blog argues that the law of money creates the "wealth gap" which underlies most other divides. So let's go there, now.
Money goes where money is.
That means that those who have the most money will amass even more; and those with the least money are doomed to have less.
Are we there yet, Mommy? We're getting there.
In modern times (call that the last 300 years) we have seen the rise of Britain, and the rise of America, (to say nothing of the rise of capitalism, the rise of social democracy, and the rise of technology).
Then comes the fall. Why? Let me suggest that the wealth gap is often the trigger. Here's the pattern.
Step 1. The law of money leads to a point where a few people own most of the wealth in a community In 2016 it was calculated that, in the community we know as Planet Earth, 1% of the people have achieved ownership of 50% of the planets human-held wealth. Earth's population is about 8 billion (8,000,000,000). That means that 80 million (80,000,000) persons own half the world's capital and resources. and the other half is divided among 7.2 billion (7,200,000,000).
Now 80 million is about the size of a medium size nation, say Germany, Turkey or Thailand. By global standards, then, it is not a big group at risk if the 7.2 billion were to turn on them.
History suggests they will. Current events suggest they already have!
In 1770, when the British Empire seemed irresistible as it spread around the globe ("The sun never sets on the Union Jack." they said), Oliver Goldsmith said:
Ill fares the land, to hastening ills a prey,
Where wealth accumulates and men decay.
Or, as my grandfather - a wise old man - expressed it:
"Shirtsleeves to shirtsleeves in four generations."
Step 2. Rebellion/revolution. Revolutions almost always start with the middle class. (The poor are too occupied procuring their daily bread. It is the middle class, educated, but staring down a narrowing tunnel to insecurity and poverty, who look up searching for some one to blame. Occasionally, they even correctly identify the culprits ("Occupy Wall Street", for example). More often they take aim first at their established politicians or rulers.
Foreigners - in language, race, or religion - are often innocent targets.
Step 3. Once the middle class revolution has begun to take off, the poor get involved. They start out accepting the middle class leadership, but then, being more numerous, take over the revolution!!
And while the middle class have grievances to be remedied,
the poorer classes have a bitter history of injuries to be revenged!!
They often latch on to a radical leader who promises them what want to be promised.
That's when the really nasty stuff happens. That's when the policeman - decent, trained civil servant, a family breadwinner on a modest income - becomes a target, and huddles deeper into his, or her, cruiser and body armor, thinking, "A policeman's lot is not a happy one" So they upgrade their weaponry and strike back. And stupid violence escalates in the neighborhood. So much for law and order.
As for religious divisions, they are sharpened by leaders who favour restraint and even poverty. Others favour the "prosperity gospel" ("God wants you to be rich.") Some pump up the violent passages of their scriptures. Things are getting very bad.
But the wealthy ruling few have the most to lose. And since money buys power, they use it. They direct their politicians to "beef up" security, and to drum up wars.
Wars - a tried and true device for diverting dissent. And wars are good for business. Every bomb that explodes, every tank that erupts in flames, every plane that crashes, every building flattened, every coffin buried, requires work to replace it. Work means wages; wages cost money. So governments (encouraged by their masters) create or borrow money. Workers are happy to get it and spend it. The economy booms. (Shareholders, large and small, are ecstatic.) And it takes a few years for all the new money to work its way to the top.
Also, in a war the troublesome discontented from the working class can be persuaded to join the army on the promise of good pay. The troublesome discontented from the middle class - revolutionary leaders, intellectuals, journalists - can be jailed as unpatriotic, or spies or threats to public safety. It is claimed to be win-win-win, all round. And who remains to deny it?
Well, I'll leave with this over-long guide to the real daily news in 2016. So keep your eye on that TV and be questioning and critical. For instance, is China's sabre-rattling in the China Seas a device to divert middle-class unrest at home? And what is fuelling ISIS?
Your humble blogger is just reflecting on history. But Blog 40 will be upbeat, practical - and shorter. It will have practical advice and hope for the survival of us all.
No comments:
Post a Comment