Which conspiracy do you prefer?
The first conspiracy I came across was the Chinese conspiracy: it seems the Chinese invented and distributed the coronavirus - deliberately - in order to spread it across the world and put an end to the USA's position as the world's only super power.
Well, Trump said so. He kept planting the idea in the minds of Americans (which in some cases seem to be quite susceptible to suggestion) that this was a 'Chinese virus.' If this is where the virus came from, the Chinese made a terrible mistake: they should have spread the virus across the USA, not in Wuhan and Hubei province. And they definitely shouldn't have sent in the People's Army - medics and engineers - to treat the sick and build hospitals to contain the virus. Successfully.
Then came the US conspiracy: apparently, the USA invented the coronavirus and spread it around China to stop the Chinese becoming the world's number one superpower.
So much of the USA's economy is already owned by China that it's hard to take this seriously. And then there's the success the Chinese have had in halting the spread of the virus. Why would they bother if they wanted to destroy the US economy? Myself, I think Trump is quite capable of doing that himself without any help from the Chinese.
Then there's the freedom conspiracy: this seems to be a European concern. It seems the aim is to cause a war within Europe. Our democratic rights will be threatened by the appearance of police and armed troops on the streets when the virus takes hold.
Certainly, there isn't a single country in Europe with an army that could put up a decent fight in a pan-European war right now. For that, you have to pop across the Mediterranean to Israel or Turkey (both financed by the USA). That's deliberate. Europe has had enough wars in the last century or so. But that doesn't stop some of us getting agitated about 'troops on the streets.'
Frankly, I'm hard pressed to decide what would be worse: a few million workers rioting because their government has taken years of taxes off them, denied them any kind of job security and union representation, up against a police force with no reason to love the Tories backed up by working class troops who know they are just as likely as anyone else to be chucked on the scrapheap.
The Tory Westminster government - although it's hard to tell with an administration led by Boris Johnson, who seems to be acting on a 'know nothing - tell nothing' basis - is totally lacking in any logic. Their actions just don't make sense. Since the days of Thatcher (may she rot in hell), the idea has been that the employment market should be 'fluid' - meaning that nobody should be able to depend on their job for security, or sick pay, or a pension. Lots of people should be self-employed. The 'social contract' - 'I work, my boss rewards me for my work' - is no more.
And it was all going swimmingly till Covid-19 virus struck.
Now we have to work out who the Tories are most afraid of.
On the one hand, we've got Richard Branson, Britannia Hotels and Wetherspoon man ranting about the needs of business - actually, about their personal needs - and trying to squeeze even more money out of the UK economy. And then we've got a couple of generations of workers raised to think they are entitled to a good wage which they won't be getting for the next few months (and that's being optimistic). UK workers are no longer what you might call street fighters.
But if we add into the mix something that just never existed in the UK before Thatcher: impatience. People don't accept 'their place in life' any more. They see lots of other folk getting on and doing well, with less skill and less hard work than they're putting into life. So where is their reward?
That is new for the Tories. Let's see how they shape up.
.
Well, Trump said so. He kept planting the idea in the minds of Americans (which in some cases seem to be quite susceptible to suggestion) that this was a 'Chinese virus.' If this is where the virus came from, the Chinese made a terrible mistake: they should have spread the virus across the USA, not in Wuhan and Hubei province. And they definitely shouldn't have sent in the People's Army - medics and engineers - to treat the sick and build hospitals to contain the virus. Successfully.
Then came the US conspiracy: apparently, the USA invented the coronavirus and spread it around China to stop the Chinese becoming the world's number one superpower.
So much of the USA's economy is already owned by China that it's hard to take this seriously. And then there's the success the Chinese have had in halting the spread of the virus. Why would they bother if they wanted to destroy the US economy? Myself, I think Trump is quite capable of doing that himself without any help from the Chinese.
Then there's the freedom conspiracy: this seems to be a European concern. It seems the aim is to cause a war within Europe. Our democratic rights will be threatened by the appearance of police and armed troops on the streets when the virus takes hold.
Certainly, there isn't a single country in Europe with an army that could put up a decent fight in a pan-European war right now. For that, you have to pop across the Mediterranean to Israel or Turkey (both financed by the USA). That's deliberate. Europe has had enough wars in the last century or so. But that doesn't stop some of us getting agitated about 'troops on the streets.'
Frankly, I'm hard pressed to decide what would be worse: a few million workers rioting because their government has taken years of taxes off them, denied them any kind of job security and union representation, up against a police force with no reason to love the Tories backed up by working class troops who know they are just as likely as anyone else to be chucked on the scrapheap.
The Tory Westminster government - although it's hard to tell with an administration led by Boris Johnson, who seems to be acting on a 'know nothing - tell nothing' basis - is totally lacking in any logic. Their actions just don't make sense. Since the days of Thatcher (may she rot in hell), the idea has been that the employment market should be 'fluid' - meaning that nobody should be able to depend on their job for security, or sick pay, or a pension. Lots of people should be self-employed. The 'social contract' - 'I work, my boss rewards me for my work' - is no more.
And it was all going swimmingly till Covid-19 virus struck.
Now we have to work out who the Tories are most afraid of.
On the one hand, we've got Richard Branson, Britannia Hotels and Wetherspoon man ranting about the needs of business - actually, about their personal needs - and trying to squeeze even more money out of the UK economy. And then we've got a couple of generations of workers raised to think they are entitled to a good wage which they won't be getting for the next few months (and that's being optimistic). UK workers are no longer what you might call street fighters.
But if we add into the mix something that just never existed in the UK before Thatcher: impatience. People don't accept 'their place in life' any more. They see lots of other folk getting on and doing well, with less skill and less hard work than they're putting into life. So where is their reward?
That is new for the Tories. Let's see how they shape up.
.
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