Back to an Illiberal New World Order?

 

Back to an Illiberal New World Order? 

The harsh reality of political choices and the indeterminate harm from “unintended consequences” of those choices, is one might think, beginning to infest the dubious veracity of the strength of persuasion used to fool the many that did not have the intellect to discern the reliability of the assembled specifics applied to the requirements in deciding those choices taken. Many of which were taken purely as a means to an end of pretentiously gaining sovereign powers to be exercised by the elements of the educational privilege affluent steeped in the golden tarnished days of empire commonwealth and their deserved class distinctions with little regard for the sovereign or subjects. This has, in ones irrelevant opinion, moved to the opening pages of an additional chapter of the shape of things to come. Taking a very broad scope on the elements of the pressure that will bear on the shape of such things can raise a list of highlighted contenders, some very obvious and are currently prominent in ‘headline attracting’ terms and some not so striking as they reside in the 2nd and 3rd world or are not politically of value in 1st world priorities. For now one is not going to lay out a list of future shape forming issues (some already covered) or potential scenarios that could bring some into play, it serves no useful purpose to open speculation when others can have an equally valid view on the importance or not of what they may hold as essential influential issues that will play out into the future, although it could be an entertaining mind game to track them out and map them up for comparison if any.

However just as an indication of what sudden changes can occur from of obvious festering power points; out of the murky blue sky comes the event on 6th Jan 2021 in the USA the impending inauguration of the new President Biden and the storming invasion by Trumpian insurrectionist of Capitol Hill senate house played out to the worlds media. Superlative visual or verbal depiction offered by the media coverage, simply do not do justice to the astonishment of the occurrence inflicted onto the America psyche as a nation or the individually held assumptions that colour ‘the American dream’ and its assumed political global status position. One’s mind can stagger in bewilderment and run out of suitable descriptive or infuriating expletives and still not really convey the cultural and political abnormity of the event. As a challenge to the long standing partisan splintered representation that runs through the USA byzantine electoral democratic process, the event was aided by festering misleading claims that some states were attempting voting eligibility manipulations, (it does go on) and the claim that the outturn count was inaccurate. These legally defeated fabricated claims were used as an additional nudge force to validate rebellion action, irrationally encourage by Trump and then threaten the very stability of The US Constitution, (section 1) by force, (1). This may have been unthinkable as a likely event to rational people, yet it happened.

That an overthrow of the election result was avoided may have been pure unscripted period luck which potentially saved it from internecine catatonic civil war. However the shock of seeing how easy it was to attempt such takeover, the scramble to save Senators lives, the rampant destruction in the building and the killing of 2 people with the incidental death of 3 others was enough to astound stupidity into action, all played out for the world to see. As a nation that prides itself as being the leading nation of the world, a beacon of democratic processional unity, under one flag; collides with the passing of the Trumpian years which has done irrepressible damage, that can only be honestly seen as the causal influence leading to the assaulting affront on the nations self respect. Many leaders of countries around the world must have stood open mouthed at the spectacle and even those countries whose leaders would have had some merriment in the sight, were vocally circumspect. What is interesting during the build up to the USA capitol hill pandemonium, substantially caused by the failing egocentric president leader, looked on by other foreign country leaders, knowing how irrational the Trump person is and not knowing how events might unfold; is neither Russia, China or Iran made any move to immediate make military political play, out of the ordinary, to a military offensive defensive positions, so it is just as well that the event was short lived. And one may think like many others, that the roots and stem of this event will outlive the spectacular day that could so easily been considerably worse, perhaps; had it not been for the reverence in which The Constitution is held and the fact that the USA is a glorious (intemperate) gun culture. Sense just prevailed and no one was willing to move down that rabbit hole. Read all about it eventually and maybe see the film.

But really was it not unexpected?  It would be unwise to assume that the dissent that formulated the attack on Capitol Hill has abated; sure for the moment control has been reset with the begrudged inauguration of President Biden and his more rational balanced considered style to impress onto the new administration. But one can already see that certain parties will not be willing to make it an easy ride for him or his policy agendas. However one thing may be clear to all politicians, republicans especially, something has gone terribly wrong with the theoretical ‘American Dream’ (2), too many do not have it and the numbers are growing. What they have is an altogether anarchic dream ample fed by their own living reality that bears little comparison with the exterior facade that is wrapped around the American Flag of Main Street, Wall Street to Capitol Hill. In all practical reality, The American Dream, for the many, has never existed but it has been immensely useful to sustain the idea of it within the Flag, by those that do hold it close and have the life style to fly it in comfort. Yet its use is also as a barricade, how-ever the flag of The American dream is portrayed it is apparent that with analysis of the decades of the various social, economic, distribution of prosperity matrixes, that the dream has become threadbare with time. The unrequited problems of its shabby facade behind the matrixes problems, is a metaphor for the ‘American Dream’ and its ignominious fall illustrated on the January 6^th 2021 had no doubt a long gestation period amply aided this pass (five?) decades by guided political mendacity and imbedded helpful media, with in the Trumpian term, the idiocy of a few people suckering up to the sociopath the people put in place and in that act alone it does inform its own accommodating narrative. 

Perhaps one is attaching too much significance to the event and being too critical of the uncared for processes one assumes has led up to it occurring, after all it was a short media full event and the corrective follow-up to seek public image / political / legal redress, is under way. This hopefully curative action is important for in this the attachment people have to the American Flag and what it is stands for is seriously iconic which augment the American Dream. Thereby may be a problem; what is the American Dream? The definition is syntax vague but generally comes in the lines of: - ‘being a national philosophy of the United States, with ideals in which freedom gives the opportunity for prosperity and success, offering such for upwards social mobility for all to attain it, via hard work, their dream, without barriers. The conviction is that anyone, disregarding no one, from whatever social position, background, class or where they were born can attain their own version of success in a society in which upward mobility is feasible, not to say desirable’. There are slight interpretations to attack this description one has given but there is little doubt as to the uplifting intension yet it is not consolidated specifically, unambiguously and clearly in congressional / constitutional law! One would offer that due to this (unchallenged oversight) there is an ambiguity that runs through all delineation of describing the American Dream, it is the unspoken and shielded interpretation that has come to resides behind the Flag and with it the dream; the onus principle is entirely on the individual to achieve their own dream to upward mobility and the state nor others need not do anything to help - every wo/man is for themselves. It is, in practice, an ideological corruption of The Dream held firm in the all encompassing or boundless term of “Freedom”, in which it is taken by many people in the US, the government or states, it should in no way interfere. So by extensions there are individual’s freedoms to choose how they live, social groups freedom to choose what they do, business freedom to act to their needs, society freedom to develop as it needs all free of perceived restrictive controls etc. This may be making an undue literal account with the ideal of the American Dream and its merging in with the Flag, for it may be reasonably thought that the idea(s) of the American Dream are clear and well understood and being ‘patriotic’ standing with the national icon is the bedrock of being American, for the dream (such as it is) is enshrined in the three documents comprising the “Charters of Freedom”:- Declaration of Independence, which declares that "all men are created equal" with the right to "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness." and also in the Constitution and Bill of Rights (2) endorses similar freedom, in the Constitutions opening statement: to "secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity"

One may justifiable indicate that in the time these words were written, however lofty the nature of intent, they were words used within a different constraint requirement and a specific sense of place meaning, unaware (obviously?) of the shape and direction of the future Union and is perhaps no longer useably applicable to the modern USA; or in the scribing of them it was a short deliberate concise choice of words, meaning no more than what they said for those that ascribed to the construction of it but in this context the implication of them may have also been meant to stand a test of time and events. Perhaps they were astute to prescience in the construction of the wordings used in the Constitution and DoI, foreseeing the interpretation adjustments that might be applied overtime to lessen their intentions and weaken the democratic demands of the people’s supremacy over all. And in this the right to “bear arms” might have been intended to be the ultimate security of the democratic process against an imposition of any sovereign, dictator, perverted legislative process, or any form of presumptuous administration of the executive overriding the will of the people. However nothing is to last forever and one might note that in the phrase “all men are created equal” has no reference to women or implied pseudo gender alternatives, the implicating being it applied just to men and intended to progress with that indicative. Is it any wonder it has taken so unresolved long for wo/men to take their own equality place? Nevertheless attaching nuanced meaning or interpretation since those words were written and the extracted implications of them, has formed over the last fifty decades, ideals of the USA morphing into the Flag of the American Dream. And throughout that time to the modern economic progressive era of the 21st century, additional and different rationale has inevitable been attached to the Declaration of Independence and Constitution, codifying / clarifying / expanding (?) their importance in the development of the nations identity with and by the shifts of society, business and administrative influencing powers. These shifts have not all been beneficial; in a perverse way reinforcing the singular individualistic idea in which “all men are born equal” but to only be as they are, nurtured into their acquired place but perhaps holding within themselves hazy unrequited (demonstrable?) aspirations. That is as far as the American Dream goes leading to Trumps potent election sales pitch deal, delusion for the dreamers and the permissive rallying abuses with the culmination of the use of the not new powerful entrapment phrase “American First”. (3)

So the American Dream with the power of the Declaration of Independence and Constitution gives individuals ‘Freedom’ to do their best for themselves, if they work hard. The rewards of: "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness." for their “Posterity” offers potential wealth / riches as something everyone can obtain as “all (wo)men are created equal” All of this may have been a reasonable prescription for civil encouragement in just aspiration terms, it is though the foundation ideal of the American Dream. Due to this dreamy ideal it carried enormous expectations acting as soporific faith to everyday reality, disguising what could be actually individually achieved. For some this faithful opportunistic reliance in the American Dream may have been enough to live by, if it was not for the fact that it has become a material fabrication shown up in the exposed division of the wealth and health of the nation. The administrative state, business structures, power lobbies, bought Politian’s, wealth caucuses, racial isolation, deviant partisan attitudes and an economic systems dysfunction that has been allowed to develop, has made it impossible for the majority of the people now to obtain any Dream of “upward mobility”. If the fine words of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution which helped form the ideals of the American Dream were really meant and forcefully implemented with good purpose, lifting the majorities in “equality, justice and democracy” of life; the January event might not have happened.

Expecting the majority to continue to believe in the “Charters of Freedom” the inviolability of the state and its social, corporate and economic institutions, while having allowed over time, the putting in place of frustrating systemic obstacles to give supremacy to the corporate, economic and state over “We the People” intrinsically disbars the dream of affluent mobility achievement; it is an anomic situation.  This dysfunctional of administrative powers, political deviant partisan ideologies and complex inequalities, does not support the American Dream. In some way the intentions of the “Charters of Freedom” have been usurped by the infiltration and evident integration of an economic imperatives in generating wealth, such extracted and appropriated into the hands of a few (corporate and individuals) ultimately directing, with that financial power, the administration of democracy in States for their own needs over the provisos of creating “equality, justice and democracy” for genuine aspirational mobility of the people with the American Dream. Perhaps with this deceit there is a call for the overthrow of invidious government when it might be suggested that were the peoples grievance are not heard the “Charters of Freedom” does call upon them to challenge the Senate – Capital Hill; for the Dream is not being satisfied. See extract from D.o.I. (4). It’s unravelling therefore only required vicarious contentions to be amply massaged by a fêted psychopath or sociopath, to be given opportunity, unchallenged, and events do happen. Unsurprising in a god totting country?

Although one has started this with the first interesting event of 2021as the most striking, it did in peculiar way give an example of how some events can happen fast, albeit that there is often a slow simmering overlooked build up and the potential of the spectacle was one that is not lost on others; residing perhaps in obvious rogue countries that have their own dissenters, tackling the corruption of authorities and militarised administrations, that will be encouraged to not have the same takeover challenge occur, so will keep up oppression. In all likelihood eventually and inevitably, leading to destructive implosions. For others to assume as well that similar cannot happen elsewhere in partial democratic countries when there are analogous pressure causes comparable with the US; seen with:- the civil society abuses and deliberate tension being created between identified class /racial/ religious factions, querying judicial impartiality, criminalising protest and the rising uncared-for inequalities, increasing unemployment (skilled invalidated deemed unemployable), and the evisceration of good employment prospects for the anxious youth, while the financial leeching edifices and those controlling them extract greater wealth from the civil/society body, for themselves; is symptomatic that an event “shock to the system” can and will happen.

Slowly corralling enough people into an invidious life style by neglect, expropriating lawful or assumed rights and doing nothing to correct mal administration is often concealed by increasing administrative control of forces under the guise of protecting the people which has nothing to do with the defending the people, it is all about retaining power for the deserving executive cadre against the forces of change, for to accept change would require a just systemic realignment of where power and wealth lies. Despite the clear, obvious disturbing trends, this is too much of a possible paradigm absolute for established influences to willingly adapt so dictatorial action become easily appealing. To nail this indication in further, one does not have to look too far to illuminate the shape of such things to come. Consider what the UK government (a voluntary dictatorship) did and is still doing: the illegal proroguing of parliament (5) aided by the ‘sovereign’, the Queen; (who by common public opinion is held in historic respect?), did absolutely nothing to object! Also in the intent, to breaking an agreed international law re N. Ireland and endangering the ‘Good Friday’ agreement. Bypassing parliament scrutiny numerous times enacting restraining laws under the aegis of Covid, cronyism largess and in the process hiding the treasury own researched implication of Brexit impact problems all with no effective Parliament in situ to provide scrutiny and extract accountability on  the government. It consistently ignores all the past evidence of festering inequality in the civil, social infrastructures of the country, for one might see that ‘something’ is rotten. One need only look to other countries as well, those of pretence democracy: Poland, Hungary, France, Spain, Italy, Spain, Greece and others to see the shape of divisions moving against cosseted power held assumptions and against the evidential rising mainstream held in social / economic disenfranchisement; so don’t think a ‘6^th of Jan’ could not happen, it already started and it does lead inevitably to.....

For the moment little england is still fighting the pandemic, and like other countries, it’s affect is being counted in lives, lost jobs, some unlikely to be reclaimed, cash and the long term new intrinsic damage; all of which one need not spend too much time on as it has been adequately covered, other than to posit, it is all not going away, it has already been accepted that the rate of mutation will required constant adjustment of a vaccine and it will have to be rolled out every year to those of an vulnerability age until the virus hopefully degenerates to acceptable low level of virility or herd immunity is gained. And the cost, well no one is worried about the magic money tree anymore as Wilkins Micawbers’ economics is held in abeyance for “something will turn up” and well it might but perchance not as desired. 

So not only having to contend with the above, the sovereign year has hardly stuttered into February when the problems of BoJo’s deal starts to play out. Who first is out off the starting blocks comes the that small minority engage in the fishing industry finding that the new documented requirement to meet the terms of trade with the EU means they cannot sell any fished products into the EU. The EU is applying as it always said it would, rules effective as a 3^rd country status requiring proof of origin and quality controls on imports. Effectively proving such fit for human consumption leading to transit delays, losses and EU market share. Administrative requirements are time consuming and costly to do and is raising the price of ‘exported’ fish. Well who would have known that?

Next up are is the farm industry, faced with a similar problem which is especial difficult for small dairy products producers, finding valuable European markets shrinking by the day, for similar landing export cost increase reason. Again who would have known that?

Then there are all the unsung small businesses (which provide most employment!) that exist, some have built up and have relied on selling into the EU market a range of manufactured goods, not only finding the administrative process expensive and onerous in meeting, with documented proof, all the import ‘proof of origin’ standards of the EU but it is also making their exported produce more expensive to buy, losing valuable customer base. Did anyone know this would happen?

In addition problems are coming to light with goods purchases from the EU being hit with new tax customs duty adding some 30% to a UK (internet) buyers, with goods being rejected, returned and EU business then unwilling to sell into the UK. Did no one know how trade and tariffs operated before the EEC/EU?

Of course all these trading issues are just minor teething problems, the government ministers say, as they are aware of the problems, which they will sort out; in the meanwhile their official advice is to establish a business base with the EU! How can these created impediments be good for the sovereign UK?

This is on par with the government’s frightful ignorance of the London City financial relocation arrangement due to unresolved “Passport” agreement with the EU, thinking it will have little effect on the tax take from the city. One may make a gamble that if any Brexit popinjay minister et al is not worried yet with the uk solvency, they will be within 4 years time.

And but not finally, the nonexistent boarders between N. Ireland and uk is becoming risky and ‘Troubles’- some, as indeed is the porous non border between Eire (in the EU) and N. Ireland  (not in the EU but retains single  market status) that allows goods to move to and from NI to the ROI and the rest of the EU without customs checks (not the uk) and there will be new border check and tariffs on goods moving between NI and the uk and those that flow between the uk and the EU. It is a fraught convoluting mess but which will aid the breakup of the union, given that N Ireland like Scotland rejected Brexit. Who would have known that?

It is comical to note that supportive Brexiteer put all this down to the euphemism “teething problems”, not much to worry about, and as BoJo said “fuck businesses”, they take the relaxed view that businesses will adapt to the new administrative arrangements required to trade with the UKs largest market the EU and N. Ireland / uk borders issues. Now that the government has a majority it does not need the N. Ireland DUP support; so no need to fret about the province, trade will carry on! As is becoming clear, just as in the creeping impacts of Brexit and as in the pandemic ruin, many companies will not be in business, unable to carry overhead cost, absorb new trade cost, having little cash reserves and running out of customers; many simply will not adapt as their market outlet is extinguished. Who knew that?

The Brexiteer are also now progressing to blame ‘Remainers’, moaning about problems beginning to unfold and this of course is also aimed at all those businesses small and large that now realise the additional cost, delays and losses they are to suffer causing their own whinging problems. It is a remorseful state of affairs, the Brexiteer may have been able to pull off the swindle of the century to gain their sovereignty while covering over the Brexit cost of a range of (anticipated) businesses support to be financed via increase debt and PSBR but the fragility of the whole of the personal, social and business reserve resources, exposed through the pandemic and the bank breaking cost has, and should make them think WTF have we done. So they cast around to censure any that point to problems with the implementation of BoJo’s deal while they themselves find it more difficult to defend it or convince of the benefits of ‘sovereignty, getting our borders back, rolling back immigration and global world beating trade’ etc.   

Although one has picked on the above two unfolding 2021 scenarios in two closely aligned politically rightist countries that have had the most recent exposure, what one can see is cultures under social and administrative culminating stress. Similar stress point can be picked up in other 1st world countries focused in the divergence of ideals that highlight the increasing social discomfort being experience by people locked into a degrading economic / quality of life stratification, exacerbated by age, employment, health, ethnicity, available opportunities, gender or less so, lacking religious emancipation. More people are not happy, frustrated, angry, fed up or apathetically disinterested in the directional fate of their country. Such fracturing stress may be containable within repressive nation states, of which there are many, of the likes of China, Russia, Turkey, Egypt, UAE (some European) etc and forceful control may be appealing for a while as it seems to offer stability for corrupted administrations, however long survivability of it depends on what financial availability there is for use to extend and strengthen a base for all supportive civilian infrastructures. Disregarding the requirement of providing for a healthy civil base and ignoring the caustic pressures, which become self evident with overall degradations; chaotic events increase. It is very difficult for those countries that do not have a functioning free legal system with a robust written constitution, for people to appeal too, which suits countries with despotic tendencies; the only recourse is for self help. Occasionally there are moment of unified actions were people pull together to tackle injustice or the weakened amalgamated social networks exposed by increased reliance on charities but in the main in a psychological sense it is every wo/man for themselves. Much of the divisive cultural stress which is visible in all countries and is obviously demonstrated by the above country examples is accepted, as being expected, for they are variable tyrannical in nature and the people have little remedial capacity, no robust free lawful administration structure, constitutional base or civil control over militarised force and have to wait for events to overtake rigidity.

The same cannot be said of pretence democracies, cultural stress is due to the breakdown of the reactive democratic process, often fragmented to partisan positions and they have an aversion to recognising what the issue are and taking steps to solve them, if solution may (detrimentally?) challenge their supportive base. For such, no government wants to willingly correct the inadequacies of representation, no government wants to willingly hand more power the people to choose. No government wants to willingly reign in the excesses of the economic and financial sectors, extracting immoral inequitable proceeds leeched from their providing populaces cultivated economy. No government actively fosters the development of administrative democracy. All governments continue to assume that they have the invariable right to know what the people want, without asking, reliant on the weakness of the elective process as authority to abuse governance and specifically those without a written constitution. It can be a mark of approaching systems collapse when governments start to enact powers that start to restrict peoples demonstrating ‘right to object’ on anything, noticeable in pretence democracies. Without robust effective measures to retain, improve and strengthen the democratic processes, it cannot be taken as an established order that will endure, as uniquely and timely expressed by President Biden (6). In incremental stages, all politicians, not intrinsically endowed for retaining good altruistic ideals, find it difficult to fight for what is fundamentally right for the majority being faced with cultural stress. They are captured within a partisan sphere; a bubble that shields them from personal responsibility to take actions which they know will impede their career and are therefore more inclined to acquiesce to demands to follow “a party line” established by the controlling powers. Any governmental injustices that have increased social stress are perhaps able to be fought against via legal redress, if it is freely available however where there is the ability for the state to confound and threaten the legislature, defy / break laws, suppress facts and truth, and have no concise written constitution for plaintiffs to call on (has happens in the UK) it is an indication that for such governments, if they are frustrated in their writs and defeated by legitimate means; rule by autocracy is an attractive endeavour to foster. Thereby beware.

Does any of the above matter, probable not, some events are a nuisance often unforeseen and create new dilemmas to deal with which tend to inundate what may have been thought as the problems of the day but occasionally they do either wholly expose the fundamental issues that might have given rise to an event and offer opportunity to redress them or as is more likely diaphanously avoid shifting political policy ground too much to implement remedial actions. There is ample evidence that arbitrary reductive political decision have allowed inequalities to expand and done nothing of substantial substance to control the festering cause. For many who choose to ignore the stealthy degradation within the society they live in, it may be enough to reside in peace and adequate comfort, blissfully oblivious. Unfortunately ignorance solves little when the symptoms of the problems manifest within and on civil structural short comings, for all too readily see. Even though these issues are not easily resolved being set in the continuance of the extant ‘status-quo’ in all power influencing systems that gives effective and practical control to the few over the majority, change has to occur for natural terrestrial dynamics will demand it. If change is not voluntary, events can stipulate a populace to suffer painful hardships and after enough blood is spilt following an influential (popular?) charismatic, a new structural paradigm is possible. Is it to be worse before it gets better though? It does not have to be this way but it is the usual human way.

Anyway by the time any of this matters, one will have gone home.

  © Renot

     212211703

 (1) www.archives.gov/founding-docs/constitution-transcript

 (2) www.archives.gov/founding-docs/declaration.

 (2) www.archives.gov/founding-docs/billof rights

 (3) Sarah Churchwell’s book: Behold, America. American Dream.

 (4) Declaration of Independence. Extract:-

"That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.-"

"In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people."

(5) https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/cbp-9006/

(6) The US President Biden said, in a live streamed speech to G7/Munich Security Council on 19.2.21

      Neither he nor Europe’s leaders could take democracy for granted.

“In so many places, including Europe and the United States, democratic progress is under assault,” Biden said. “Historians are going to examine and write about this moment as an inflection point and I believe with every ounce of my being that democracy will and must prevail”. “That, in my view, is our galvanizing mission.” “Democracy doesn’t happen by accident. We have to defend it, fight for it, strengthen it, renew it.” “We have to prove that our model isn’t a relic of history”.