Socialism is a philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy, its inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery. — Winston Churchill
Fox News reports: “LONDON — A quarter-million mostly peaceful demonstrators marched through central London on Saturday (March 26, 2011) against the toughest cuts to public spending since World War II, with a small breakaway group smashing its way into a bank, breaking windows and spray painting logos on the walls. Another group of black-clad protesters hurled paint bombs and ammonia-filled light bulbs at police.”
“Organizers of the March for the Alternative said people from across the country were peacefully joining in the demonstration, the biggest protest in London since a series of rallies against the Iraq war in 2003.”
“Commander Bob Broadhurst of the Metropolitan Police confirmed that more
than 250,000 people had marched peacefully, but said around 500 had caused trouble in London's main shopping streets. He said nine people had been arrested, for public disorder and criminal damage.”
“Police said one group of a few hundred people broke away from the main march, scuffling with police officers and attempting to smash shop windows on two of London's main shopping streets. Others threw objects at the posh Ritz Hotel in nearby Piccadilly. Members of protest group UK Uncut later broke into the nearby luxury department store Fortnum and Mason and broke some displays.”
“Britain is facing 80 billion pounds ($130 billion) of public spending cuts from Prime Minister David Cameron's coalition government as it struggles to get the country's large budget deficit under control. The government has already raised sales tax, but Britons are bracing for big cuts to public spending.”
“After the country spent billions bailing out indebted banks, and suffered a squeeze on tax revenue and an increase in welfare bills, Treasury chief George Osborne has staked the coalition government's future on tough economic remedies.”
“As many as half a million public sector jobs will be lost, about £18 billion ($28.5 billion) axed from welfare payments and the pension age raised to 66 by 2020, earlier than previously planned.”
The TUC (Trade Union Congress), the main umbrella body for British unions, says it believes the cuts will threaten the country's economic recovery, and has urged the government to create new taxes for banks and to close loopholes that allow some companies to pay less tax — an argument that chimes with many of the protesters.
"They shouldn't be taking money from public services. What have we done to deserve this?" said Alison Foster, a 53-year-old school teacher. "Yes, they are making vicious cuts. That's why I'm marching, to let them know this is wrong."
“Ed Miliband, leader of the opposition Labour Party, likened the march to the suffragette movement in Britain and the civil rights movement in America. "Our causes may be different but we come together to realize our voice. We stand on the shoulders of those who have marched and have struggled in the past," he told protesters at the rally.”
The Metropolitan police have been criticized for adopting heavy-handed tactics when dealing with demonstrations in the past. In particular, they have been criticized for penning demonstrators up in a small area for several hours without allowing them to leave. Police have said the so-called "kettling" procedure will only be used as a last resort.
“In another incident away from the main march, a group burned a giant model of a Trojan horse made by art students and dragged into central London. The students said the horse was a metaphor for deputy Prime Minister and Liberal Democrat party leader Nick Clegg. Clegg's party had promised not to raise tuition fees during their election campaign but abandoned that pledge when they formed a coalition government with the Conservative party.”
The Telegraph reported: The TUC, which has been organizing the March for The Alternative for months, said it expected a huge turnout of people from communities across the country wanting to show their anger at the Government's ''deep, rapid and unfair'' spending cuts.
“General secretary Brendan Barber said he hoped the Government would take notice of the protest and change its ''damaging'' policies, which have already led to the threat of more than 170,000 job losses in local government, another 50,000 across other areas of the public sector, and cuts and closures of services ranging from libraries to youth clubs.”
He said: ''The thousands of trade union members coming on Saturday from across the country, along with representatives of service users and countless other voluntary and community groups who oppose the cuts, know that the objective of this demonstration is to send a strong message to the Government through our unity and a huge turnout. I want nothing to distract from that. ''I'm confident that our planning and well-trained steward teams mean this is exactly what will happen.''
''Saturday's show of strength is just the beginning and will fire up workers and communities to jack up the pressure and turn the tide on the ConDem cuts.''
“Sara Eades, 54, a midwife from East Anglia, said: ''It is important that we show solidarity with the whole of the NHS and with all of our colleagues. 'I am concerned about the employment prospects for our student midwives. Up until this year, we have been able to employ all of our trainees, but I am not sure if we will be able to do that in future years. 'If we don't hire more midwives, our current level of work will not be sustainable, especially if we receive more cuts. The cuts will dramatically impact the quality of care that we can give to mothers and babies.''
If you read the British papers, watch news programs on the BBC or read material from the London School of Economics you will soon discover that the United Kingdom is and has been since the end of WWII a very socialist nation. Even entertainment programs produced by the BBC are laced with progressive and socialist dialog. This is a mindset deeply embedded in the British psyche. This is a mindset that began toward the close of the 19th century by the Fabian Society.
The Fabian Society is a British socialist movement, whose purpose is to advance the principles of democratic socialism via gradualist and reformist, rather than revolutionary, means. It is best known for its initial ground-breaking work beginning late in the 19th century and continuing up to World War I. They believed that socialism could only come to pass through a continuous and gradual implementation through trade unions, academia and the press. Over the ensuing years by using the school system, the media and government welfare programs Great Britain slowly evolved into a socialist economy and welfare state.
Their loss of colonies after WWII brought two disastrous conditions. One was the loss of captive markets for their manufactured goods and the second being the massive immigration into their once homogeneous society from India, Pakistan, Kenya, and the Caribbean. The British people were lectured to practice tolerance for these immigrants and were anxious to dole out all of the benefits from the government. Many of these immigrants never truly assimilated into traditional British society and with their higher birth rate have posed a greater drain on the national and local treasuries.
Over the years the British government has constructed thousands of public housing units called “council housing”. These housing units are doled out, at little or no cost to the occupants, and have become ghettos for immigrants, ghettos with high unemployment, low education and crime. Over the years some of these council housing units have been destroyed due to their deplorable condition and habitats for gangs and criminals.
Now that the money for all of these public programs with administered by thousands of public sector employees the citizens of the UK are undergoing severe withdrawal symptoms. The National Health Service is falling apart with due to the increased immigration into the nation by people who pay little or no taxes. The college-age students are angry because they are being requested to pay for at least a part of their tuition. The trade unions back the employees of a bloated public service sector even though the membership in their private sector unions is declining due to a decrease of manufacturing in private sector.
The nation is bound to a bureaucratic and dictatorial European Union where contributions from the UK far exceeded the benefits they accrue. Regulations have hampered the way business can operate and the manner in which people can live their lives. In other words Great Britain has become a “nanny state” with cradle-to-grave security and diminishing freedom. From the looks of the demonstrations and protests over this past weekend the Brits want more government guaranteed economic security than they want freedom.
In a previous post “Man’s Quest for a Perfect World” I cited an example from an old WWII British film I saw. In my example I told of “two British Tommies sitting in a foxhole envisioning the world once the war was over and Hitler defeated. They were talking about a world with no more war, no more poverty, equal rights, and jobs for everyone.” Well this world came to the United Kingdom in the form of a socialistic nanny state and now the piper has to be paid and the public coffers empty.
While watching the included video keep in mind that you have seen similar scenes for Madison, Wisconsin and will no doubt see more in this country as we try to get our fiscal house in order.
As Margaret Thatcher once declared, “The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people’s money.”
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