In These New Times

Cailean Bochanan

This last week £75 billion of so-called quantitative easing was announced as well  as the continuation of the bombing of Libya by NATO in a campaign ” to protect civilians” which would be laughable were it not so deadly destructive and boundlessly criminal.

Here we have the essence of the policy of our elites. Protect City of London financial interests at any cost. Destroy all states who challenge these same interests. Could anything be more transparently immoral? Could anything be more transparently self-interested? The average Briton may ask where he fits in to all this. He doesn’t. The British government regrets that, due to the pressures of overriding interests, those enumerated above, they are unable to guarantee the well-being of its citizens. In fact, the well-being of its citizens is antithetical to these overriding interest and must therefore be sacrificed. Pension funds have lost a third of their value in the last three years. They are now going to lose quite a lot more. Quantitative easing means easy money for the banks allowing them to  start another speculative orgy, forcing up prices of basic commodities and foodstuffs and lowering yields on government bonds. The result is inflation and the erosion of investmemts, savings and pensions. You can almost imagine them rejoicing in the “degrading” of our living standards after the fashion of a NATO spokesman talking about the armed forces of a victim country, That after all would be logical: our well-being, our very existence is a threat to those who can only survive by eliminating all obstacles to their monopoly of all wealth and power, here and overseas.

This final phase of financial capitalism has been characterised as corporate power backed by armed force. In essence its even worse than that, even more parasitic: it’s worthless currency, monopoly money, backed by armed force. It’s this that gives it the essential characteristic of empire and underlies the endless wars, abroad, and impoverishment, at home. The defence of the dollar/pound as the global reserve currency requires the knocking out of all alternatives, the Euro, the Libyan gold dinar, the rouble, the yuan as well as the endless devaluation of our own income and savings.

The City of London/Wall street elite have declared war on allcomers including “their own people”. We must rise to the challenge or go under. Take to the streets now or forever hold your peace! Join us! Occupy Glasgow!  George Square, 11 am, Saturday, 15th October.