We are quick to comment on the uprisings in such countries as Somalia, Egypt, Libya, Syria, Tunisia, Iran, Sudan and Emirates. We hear the rulers refer to their protesters as criminal elements, insurgents, armed gangs, religious zealots, left/right extremists and anarchists. This nicely puts a tag on the “symptoms”.

We hear very little about the fact that protesters are typically poor, short of food, few prospects, no jobs, little education, oppressed, low healthcare, powerless, state dependent, disenfranchised and generally denied social equity and justice, the “causes”.

Their rulers are a mix of dictatorships of military, clerical and benign (royal and ruling family) elites. Their subjects see little difference between any of these ruling classes. They see only their own misery whilst observing their ruling classes gaining wealth and privilege at their expense.

It is clear in the UK that “some” in society feel exactly the same as those driving the “Arab Spring” and perhaps rightly so. They suffer the same symptoms and more concerning still, the government pulls a convenient label off the shelf for the symptoms, criminals and thieves. True however, this is precisely how dictatorships deal with discontent, and protest caused by the lack for some, of social equity and justice. So what is the difference?

Their might also be similar discontent brewing amongst those in UK society who are educated, work hard, save for retirement, generate national wealth and typically don’t protest. These sections of the electorates are however, feeling disenfranchised, powerless, hit hard financially and ignored. They too feel at this level, that they are victims of lack of equity and justice. The reasons for this may be numerous however, a catalyst for discontent is the unjustified pain and fabricated gains imposed by the raft of carbon dioxide mitigation legislation being enforced by politicians who refuse to either answer or listen, whilst at the same time they very publicly feather their family interests from the same policies that disadvantage their electorates. Again, what is the difference?

Cont’d

Cont’d

It is now public knowledge in the UK that Miriam Gonzalez (wife of Clegg) is CEO of Acciona, Spain’s largest wind farm and solar energy consortium. Cameron’s wife is a former Greenpeace activist whose father, Sir Reginald Sheffield is a recipient of state largesse provided by public investment and energy tariffs paid by the public. The ruling elites have their snouts in the trough. So what is the difference between the ruling elites in power in Arab dictatorships and the UK and for that matter, the rest of the EU?

There are some very serious challenges to renewables in the UK where the government is being forced into inquiries against wind farm development applications by Peel Energy. These include Scotland, Wales and in particular Frodsham Marches in Cheshire.

Is the UK government now also courting increasing protest activity from sections of the electorate that are eminently capable of bringing down the Sword of Damocles upon the UK’s “ruling elites” and their careers?

In Australia we consistently allow our attention to be drawn by our media, to the “symptoms” which allows that same media to conveniently label such symptoms. What we rarely get is any meaningful analysis of the “causes” which are a stunning match to the fundamentals of the Arab Spring.

I suspect very few Australians have any idea of the lurch to progressive politics in the EU in general and the UK in particular during the last fifteen years.

So could this happen in Australia? With the greatest respect Graham, it already is and for the very same reasons. Our government is lurching to the left and ignoring public sentiment.

spin doc quote..""We are quick to comment on the uprisings in such countries as Somalia, Egypt, Libya, Syria, Tunisia, Iran, Sudan and Emirates.""

but have we 'gone so far' as to do
the planning for then to crush out diss-cent?

ie showing them how to shut up complainers
will they dare to ever complain
if we tear gas or fire rubber coated munitions into these 'children'

yes we are experts at making freedom LOOK real
but with the media prats..doing the masters bidding
and the two party set up voting 'system'...we will lead the way to bonded serfdom for the deliberatly dumbed down[ignorant]

yes...uk lead the way
to global oppression...for those still with a colonisation adgenda

for those who DEMAND
instant obediance..from their shattle

well done mr camera on

""We hear the rulers refer to their protesters as criminal elements, insurgents,..armed gangs,..religious zealots,..left/right extremists and anarchists...This nicely puts a tag on the “symptoms”.""

yep first vilinise them
them send in the cannons
then send in brute force
[untying the hands of the police FORCE*]
then quasi kangeroo courts...then accept guilty pleas
then fine or jail them...DO AS YOU WISH
any means is justified

next shut down the net
censor you tube

yes well done son..[not you spinner's]
the demons in hell will lord your deeds
mr do it with the cameras on..then use selective footage
to cast slurs..on those who dare say ENOUGH..who are fed up with the double standards

juliar guilelard
would be great at this type of leadershipt

idi amin started the same way
so you leaders are in good company
well on the way to dicktraitershipt

empoversish and silence your peons
how dare they

QA in a previous relationship I watched as a lady did the “Pack the bags thing” with her son…

His attitude, between tokes of whacky-tobacky was she had given birth to him – therefore – she was responsible for him for the rest of his life.

He was sent packing but used to harass her by mobile phone etc

It was a very sad circumstance especially as she had already lost his brother, murdered by a (marijuana induce) schizophrenic

I was fortunate, with my girls it never got to that

But I totally agree with you…. Those with a pretense to endless entitlement need the shock of falling off their own two feet to understand how lucky they are

Antiseptic…. Interesting take of mass transit…. And I have always objected to subsidizing it.

The UK problem is also that you can buy a second hand car for next to nix – if not steal one and immediately go where the action is (everywhere is so close) ….

Assuming the driver attended school long enough to be able to read the street signs….

Or maybe they just drive toward the orange glow in the sky

OF course, in the "good old days" the UK used to ship them off shore to Australia..... and the real bad ones, Australia used to ship to Norfolk island..... not that I would suggest doing the same today.... we don't want them for heaven sake and anyway, the Middle East and the horn of Africa thinks is has the exclusive Australian supply franchise

Welfare expenditures remain highly conroversial. In a typical
argument some people actually blame a great deal of poverty on
welfare, which, they claim becomes a way of life for the poor until
they lose any incentive to escape their plight. There may well be
some truth to this view, but welfare can hardly explain most poverty.
After all, there was far more poverty in the days when there was no welfare; many impoverished people hold full-time jobs; and most welfare recipients are too young, old, sick to work anyway.
Also, the elimination of welfare payments would in effect punish large numbers of poor children who are in no way responsible for their
parents' situation.

As I wrote earlier we should be wary against explanations of poverty that try to "blame the victim." This attitude focuses on the
supposed faults of the poor rather than on the social forces that
create poverty. Again as I wrote earlier - this does not mean, of course, that poverty is "all society's fault." Some poor people
undoubtedly contribute to their deprived circumstances. But poverty
like wealth or indeed any other social characteristic, is the outcome of a complex interaction between individual human beings and the
social environment in which they find themselves.

Over the generations, the human population has constructed castes and classes in society after society. Like other stratification systems, social class in the UK arises out of specific historical and social conditions. Since social stratification is socially constructed it must, in principle, be socially modifiable as well - provided only
that people are conscious of their own ability to change what they
have created. Whether they preserve, modify, or change the system is
ultimately up to the people themselves. And it seems that over the
past 26 years - they tried to do just that in Tottenham. So what
happened to cause this recent upheaval - well, as journalists keep
telling us - opportunists are taking advantage of the situation.

Col Rouge,

I've just come across your post directed at me.

1) Glad to read that your wife can actually
answer your question regarding hamburger
flippers and professional ethos. I suspected
she'd be familiar with the issue.

2) Having servants in impoverished countries
is quite common. I'm sure that your wife's
family knows and understands how the other
half lives."

3) Thanks for the offer of your wife's
beauty therapy techniques. Much as I'd like
to lend her my patronage - I have to
decline as I prefer the well known names in that
industry (same as I prefer designer labels in
clothes). I prefer therapists whose qualifications
are recognised internationally. Not one's who work
out of their homes.

Again - thanks for your concern.

Cheers.