P & O Ferries - 800 workers fired.

What's always worth checking? TBH I found that comment a tad patronising. Maybe we should start a thread on what you meant by a compensation culture.

Yes, I do maintain we've all been warned - and not just in the Guardian. I just happened to find that article. For the last ten years (or so) it's been obvious to those who looked what kind of state we're heading towards. And - yes - the 'alright Jacks' will be just fine.

DaisyAnne

I suppose, FarNorth. The trouble is they take the rest of us with them. Looking at how it is possible to brainwash a whole nation (Russia) I suppose we shouldn't be surprised if some believe the unbelievable.

Interesting that you mention Russia, DaisyAnne, because what maintains the apparent consensus in Russia is not only brainwashing, but also an overwhelming show of force. In fact, I think it's the force more than the brainwashing. The Russian people are being terrorised into compliance.

It's happened throughout history, the power elites have always been afraid of the of 'the masses' turning against them and depriving them of their control and won't hesitate to use force as their ultimate weapon.

I was living in Doncaster during the miner's strike. Travelling south to visit relatives we passed positive armies of police being bussed north to subdue the strikers. Importing police who had no connections with the communities which might cause them to be less 'assertive' with the strikers they were being sent to control.

IMO the Police and Crime bill currently (and shamefully) being passed through Parliament with virtually unlimited police powers to arrest demonstrators on the flimsiest of excuses with draconian sentences for those found guilty of the 'offences' outlined in the Bill is an expression of the fear of the ruling party living in fear of dissent. Will it cow UK dissenters in the same way that Russians are cowed? The police are certainly not averse to putting on a show of force. Look at the squads of riot police rushed to the scene when a few protestors occupied the house belonging to a Russian oligarch...

I feel it's dangerous to appear to be condemning the Russian peoples for allowing themselves to be 'brainwashed'. (Which, I hasten to say, is not what I think you are doing)

But many of the 'I'm alright Jack' people will not be "just fine", Growstuff. The propaganda may tell them so but the work of the New Right Conservatives over 40 years tells us differently.

This government is pursuing exactly what Thatcher set out for them. Those who laud her must believe they are "rich" enough to benefit from that New Right neoliberal ethos. New Right theory sees inequality as natural and desirable. Any model of society which accepts all people as equal would make this extreme view of right-wing economics impossible to put in place.

These ideas and theories emerged in Britain from 1979 onwards. It attempts to fundamentally re-structure the postwar welfare state. The New Right Conservatives have never had more power than they had after the Brexit vote; the power they have been consolidating for 40 years. Johnson sees himself as the person to do this and therefore write himself into history.

Those who believe the attempts New Right Conservatism has made to convince voters of their kind-hearted concern for a reasonable level of social and welfare provision are, if we accept the 40-year trajectory, going to be very disappointed. I can only think they each believe they are the one person in the world whose savings and investments will never go down, that they will never be ill, never need care and never have family members that need these things or are out of work.

Very interesting Maizie. I'll re-read it a couple of times. I think we all hear and know these things but bringing them together changes the picture somewhat, doesn't it.

You are right about me not condemning the Russian people. Indeed, this current event has given me insight into how the German people could "believe" such a skewed view of history and how difficult it must have been to accept the reality.

It scares me enough to check where what I am reading comes from and to keep checking the facts. One thing that gives me comfort is hearing the BBC reporters say "we haven't been able to verify ... " it means I can believe what they have been able to check.