Every Thing Is Going Up .

[cuttsie 1,090]

20 minutes ago, Anna B said:

Basically they're never going to come down, so a lot more people are going to be plunged into poverty, unless wages rise, which also fuels inflation. Viscious circle.

 

I said prior to 2008 we were moving into third world status (which is actually a measure of the gap between rich and poor) because of the move to Free Market Economics, but was met with howls of indignation and info about the geni index, 'We'd never had it so good' etc. but the evidence was already there on the ground and in the fact that we were having a worldwide financial crisis, which at the time was being squarely blamed on Labour. 'Occupy' was also villified even though they were right and have now been proved so.

 

It's hard to remember now, some people have very short memories, but the writing was on the wall back then. But then some of the people on this forum were probably only kids at the time. The downfall of the West through greed and the siphoning of money upwards was predicted back then..

It it not only the West Anna , The Russian and Chinese are just as greedy . perhaps its just a human frailty.

[Anna B 1,409]

11 minutes ago, cuttsie said:

It it not only the West Anna , The Russian and Chinese are just as greedy . perhaps its just a human frailty.

I'm sure they are, but it's going to cause a clash between Capitalist and Communist cultures, and that is very worrying.

 

Personally I don't think normal people are that greedy, they just want a decent standard of living for themselves and their family and some security. And there are enough resources in the world and enough money and technology to provide that for everyone. It really doesn't need to be a battle for survival anymore.

 

But unfortunately the world powers don't see it that way. I think it's more a battle of egoes when you get to a certain level and the Sociopaths take over. Back in the day they used to argue amongst themselves on a battlefield with swords and axes involving relatively few numbers. Now wars involve entire populations, go global, and could go nuclear. That way lies misery for everyone. 

Edited December 13, 2021 by Anna B

[crookesey 632]

There will never be a Capitalist/Communist clash because the two cultures are narrowing so quickly that we’ll soon be unable to see the difference. I see great problems escalating  in the Middle East and am attempting to envisage how they will effect the West, answers on a postcard please.

[Anna B 1,409]

48 minutes ago, crookesey said:

There will never be a Capitalist/Communist clash because the two cultures are narrowing so quickly that we’ll soon be unable to see the difference. I see great problems escalating  in the Middle East and am attempting to envisage how they will effect the West, answers on a postcard please.

I hope you're right. 

I mentioned Nuclear, but there are better ways to kill us now without the damage to valuable real estate. Germ warfare has now gone up a fair few notches, and if one country is doing it in its Labs, they all are. Which is keeping the conspiracy theorists busy at least.

 

But how much is theory and how much is actually fact? Do you see why there's such a mish mash of information and disinformation coming out as they seek the truth, and desperately try to convince others?

Just as I did when I finally 'woke' to the message of Occupy, and started to try and learn about what was going on in the world, not just what I was told was happening, there's a big difference.

 

As it said in one James Bond movie, we don't even know who the enemy is anymore.

But follow the money and see  and who is trying to make a quick buck out of it. The emphasis has moved away from the Arms manufacturers and onto Labs, Pharma and China. I'm not saying I side with the CTs but I do try to keep an open mind to most possible ideas.

 

Once I thought an economic crash of the world economy was nigh on impossible. 'Safe as the bank of England' I thought.... I was wrong and started to do my homework. Boy did I learn some things! The world is not what I thought, if you haven't got a strong stomach you might be better off not knowing.

I haven't gone down the rabbithole yet because I'm old and have seen a lot of life, but the youngsters haven't, and believe me, it's easy to get sucked in.

 

Free Market Economics = Neoliberalism, affecting us all now, and it's going to get worse affecting more people - check it out.   

Edited December 13, 2021 by Anna B

[L00b 441]

40 minutes ago, Anna B said:

I'm sure they are, but it's going to cause a clash between Capitalist and Communist cultures, and that is very worrying.

(…)

China is not ‘Communist’, has not been for a long time, and is probably more capitalist than most (including the US which, after all, does not operate slave factories…corporations just contract out to those in China).
 

It is a single-party autocracy, little different from the UK under the current Tory-Leave-UKIP party, just longer-lived.

40 minutes ago, crookesey said:

(…)

I see great problems escalating  in the Middle East and am attempting to envisage how they will effect the West, answers on a postcard please.

‘Progressives’ there want, and will continue to want, to move into Europe for socio-economic betterment.

 

’Retrogrades’ there (e.g. Talibs & assorted other wahabis) want, and will continue to want, to keep people there and backpedal them all fast as they can into mass obscurantism, whilst using ‘the West’ as their ideological punching ball (just like autocrats, they are in constant need of a mortal socio-theologico-economic enemy).

 

Until and unless ‘the West’ should eventually start to engage constructively with these countries, with a careful balance of trade-based cajoling and sanctions-based caning.

 

None of which will contribute to lower any prices in the short to medium term, I’m afraid.

[Chekhov 488]

2 hours ago, L00b said:

Same as most everywhere else, tbh, so the UK would still have borne costs associated with these Covid measures across all its imports irrespective, even if it hadn’t shut down any aspect of its economy and/or let everyone live on JSA for months on end.

I'm not sure what you are saying here.

[altus 540]

24 minutes ago, Anna B said:

I hope you're right. 

I mentioned Nuclear, but there are better ways to kill us now without the damage to valuable real estate. Germ warfare has now gone up a fair few notches, and if one country is doing it in its Labs, they all are. Which is keeping the conspiracy theorists busy at least.

Biological warfare might leave the buildings intact but it still leaves the germs/toxins/etc. around which would still be a problem. Autonomous drones with AI are where it's heading and they scale easily from one drone to a swarm of millions.

Quote

What if a despotic leader could programme a swarm of drones to kill a set of identified targets with just the push of a button? Due to ever expanding AI capabilities this extreme dystopian vision may not be technically unfeasible. In this second of a four part series responding to this year's BBC Reith lectures from Stuart Russell, Adam Rutherford and Hannah Fry unpick the role of AI in warfare.

 

Joining them to help them navigate the battlefield of information is Ulrike Franke, a senior policy fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations who specialises in the future of warfare.

 

Together they will be investigating 'lethal autonomous weapons' - these are weapons that can find, chose and kill human targets without human supervision. We will be discussing how advanced this technology actually is - some think the world may have already experienced the first ever autonomous strike in Libya. What are the repercussions of this technology for safety on the battlefield , and what are the wider geo-political ramifications?

 

Stuart Russell has deep concerns over the development of these types of weapons and Rutherford and Fry pick apart some of the ethical debates this technology raises. Who would be responsible if a system malfunctioned and killed a civilian? What's to stop it getting into the wrong hands? Should we even be creating these weapons in the first place - do we instead need a convention banning them? And is that even possible?

 

[Anna B 1,409]

26 minutes ago, L00b said:

China is not ‘Communist’, has not been for a long time, and is probably more capitalist than most (including the US which, after all, does not operate slave factories…corporations just contract out to those in China).
 

It is a single-party autocracy, little different from the UK under the current Tory-Leave-UKIP party, just longer-lived.

‘Progressives’ there want, and will continue to want, to move into Europe for socio-economic betterment.

 

’Retrogrades’ there (e.g. Talibs & assorted other wahabis) want, and will continue to want, to keep people there and backpedal them all fast as they can into mass obscurantism, whilst using ‘the West’ as their ideological punching ball (just like autocrats, they are in constant need of a mortal socio-theologico-economic enemy).

 

Until and unless ‘the West’ should eventually start to engage constructively with these countries, with a careful balance of trade-based cajoling and sanctions-based caning.

 

None of which will contribute to lower any prices in the short to medium term, I’m afraid.

China has adopted western economics in that it is Capitalist, but the lack of freedoms and human rights which is Communist.

I agree that this mirrors the single-party autocracy we seem to have in the UK which is why I wanted Jeremy Corbyn as leader of the opposition to give us real choice and fight for the common man.

 

As for human rights we are still relatively free, but can you see why the young especially are kicking against Covid restrictions etc? Our rights are being quietly but systematically being done away with, no doubt about that. 

Unions were all but finished by Margaret Thatcher resulting in fewer working rights than ever, resulting in and our 'gig' economy.

Covid restrictions have finished off a lot of Independent traiders making them easy meat for Corporate Raiders.

Privatisation is in every area of our Utilities and  infrastructure, especially the NHS.

Our rights to protest were recently savagely curtailed. 

We are being taxed to the hilt with little in return.

And more and more you now require permission from the government to do things, which require licences and permits. Ker-ching.

Plenty more to come ...

Edited December 13, 2021 by Anna B

[Chekhov 488]

It has occurred to me inflation isn't just because they shut down much of the economy whilst at the same time pumping Billions into people's pockets, plus Brexit (as another factor, though minor by comparison), it's also the ridiculously low interest rates. People aren't stupid, they must be thinking what's the point on saving when the value of my money is actually going down all the time ? I might as well just spend it before the prices go up even further (hence pushing the prices up even more...) !

[nightrider 13]

On 13/12/2021 at 15:01, Anna B said:

I'm sure they are, but it's going to cause a clash between Capitalist and Communist cultures, and that is very worrying.

 

 

 either china nor russia are communist! Both capitalist. The difference is democracy vs authoritatinism now., the economic argument has long since been won by capitalism.

[Anna B 1,409]

Inflation now at 5.5% and rising....

[Dromedary 166]

1 hour ago, Anna B said:

Inflation now at 5.5% and rising....

And it is rising everywhere also across Europe and the rest of the World! Hardly surprising given the mess we are in from the pandemic panic caused by covid.