Living as we are in an age of "austerity" that hurts some of us more than others, there are those in the establishment who have begun, if only just begun to notice that something is amiss with society.
A interesting report appeared in the business section of The Times (no link £):
Big business must significantly improve its relationship with society if it wants to ward off the threat of a political "lurch to the left"
John Nelson, the chairman of Lloyds of London will tell a gathering of senior financial figures this evening that the reputation of businesses worldwide has reached a worrying low. That could trigger serious challenges to middle-of-the-road politicians and economic policy.
No sh*t Sherlock.
Just look at Greece and the disaster that became. Spain could face a similar problem and Corbyn represents the extreme of a trend in Britain that started with the scandal of the MP's expenses.
Mr Nelson apparently worries about the reaction of "the man in the street" rising up and asking "what is going on here".
Faith in politicians and big business is at an all time low.
Economic crises always create movements from the extremes of politics, but Mr Nelson should also note it's not just a "lurch to the left" he should worry about. There is a growing xenophobia across Europe that has seen the rise of far-right neo-fascist parties (France and Hungary) and a resurgence of nationalism that could lead to the breakup of national and international stability as we see in Scotland and Catalonia.
What the "man in the street" wants is fair treatment not revolution and social upheaval.
When hard working men and women both working and middle class see their living standards drop while the ultra-rich just seem to accumulate more wealth even when they fail there is bound to be a reaction of some sort.
MP's get a 10% rise. Their low paid civil servants get 1%.
Bankers get huge bonuses even when they don't get results and taxpayers bail them out. Most tax payers can only dream of the amounts of cash going their way.
Nobody except a few recalcitrant communists begrudges wealth as such but those that rule over us do require the proverbial boot up the backside from time to time to remind the establishment that they cannot walk all over us.
People know money doesn't grow on trees but expect that those who contribute more and do more for those less well off than themselves. That's the social contract that our society relies on.
Trouble is will your colleagues listen as they devour caviar and champagne before it becomes too late?
No comments:
Post a Comment