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Thomas Blenkinsop
Lower Sixth
South Town

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The Dictatorship

“There is nothing quite as wonderful as money, There is nothing quite as beautiful as cash.” – Monty Python.

It occurs to me, in these heady modern heights, that never before have we struck out at the British roots (from 1948) of Social Democracy quite so hard. The shift to the right has been subtle, but noticeable; economic capitalism has gradually shifted towards a far more American style. Labour has, since the time of Thatcher, been steadily centralising, ignoring the party’s socialist beginnings (all the way back in the 1890s), and therefore the British populace has been lingering under a wonderfully subtle form of dictatorship. Or perhaps autocracy would be a better word, because I am not speaking from a political sense, a “Marxist attack” as some might say on the wondrous ways of our glorious nation. I am speaking from the perspective of what this country once was; if there is such a thing as a radical right, then perhaps there is a conservative left. I support a return to the more placid structure of the UK, a far more socialist enterprise than we exhibit in this, the 21st century.

The effects of our rise or fall out of socialism, depending upon your political affiliation and benefits therein, are easy to spot: Our banks are not nationalised, nor is our gas, electricity of any kind, our heating, our water. (Fortunately the Health Service is; if anyone advocates an American style healthcare, then I will point out the relative rankings of the healthcares, namely that we stand forty countries above them). The given reason that Thatcher and the Tory administration under her used was mostly that they had become corrupt and inefficient, which was true. However, given our situation at the present time, it would seem that privatising our creature comforts has merely ensured a modicum of time elapsing before it collapsed. It’s important to note that for a long time, the more socialist Britain weathered economic difficulties with greater ease than that of other, more centralist governments.

This has taken a political turn, despite my statements elsewhere, and so I wish to address the current attitude of scepticism that may permeate the current reader’s mind. I am not asking for a Marxist dictatorship of the proletariat, nor am I asking for a completely socialist country (despite my preferences...); I am asking for socialism in economic and social terms, which may not be abolished on the whims of a Tory party desperate to ensure the tax cutting and income reparations for the rich at the expense of the poor. What I am asking for is that we return to a socialist ideal of economics, and nationalise our fuel, our electricity, our water and our banks! By acting upon these ideas we can weather the common economic crisis with more freedom, safe in the knowledge that our basic social and economic needs are supplied by the government, subsidised by the government, and use a higher income tax to pay for it.

Many will claim that we should not support a “nanny state” and should be allowed to foster our own needs. The role of the government is to care for its citizens and interfere for positive reasons. As Aristotle said, we must treat the equal equally and the unequal unequally, so we must learn to create a positive iniquity; to treat those who have been scarred by the economic crisis at the expense of the rich. We should act in this method. It’s similar to certain surgeries; by removing and replacing part of the heart, we save the patient’s life. The patient, in this case, is Britain. And Britain is very, very ill, readers.

We should deny the pact we seemingly have with America, to be more like them, and act in the nation’s interests. As Bentham said, the greatest happiness, for the greatest number. Let us save the economy, through socialism.

15 November 2008

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