They are ahead of us as usual John.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2012/sep/03/disabled-benefits-claimants-fines-work

Quote:
“The plan to increase the penalty for the sick and disabled follows earlier revelations that the government wants to bring in unpaid and unlimited work experience placements for those in ESA Wrag group”.

“Unpaid and unlimited…”. The comments lack the usual trolling; most people are beyond disgust and rage helplessly at a completely ossified political process.

Yes indeed, good quote stevie.

I must say that what was in my mind when I read Bill’s piece was what is being done to Greece just now.

It’s clear to everyone that Greece cannot possibly recover with the punitive & callous policies insisted upon by the Troika. So their choice is to leave the Euro now or continue in worsening poverty & slavery whilst the elites (incl Greece’s own) loot whatever they can & whilst they can.

Ireland, Portugal & Spain should take note because their turn is coming.

And as Climate Change diminishes the world’s ability to produce food over the next decade or two, the global elites’ response is clear & entirely comparable with the British elites’ response to colonial Ireland. Whilst the media & general public sleep…..

There will be a reckoning one day, a post mortem on this debacle.

If people realized that the real wealth creators are those with grease on their hands, that the finance sector got us into the mess and the engineers got us out, then there would be no more pussy footing around the banks. They would be severely regulated, only allowing finacial instruments that are beneficial to us. Bonuses could be capped and any threat to move overseas would be gladly accepted.

The finance sector is top dog why would it help a potential challenger?

A definition of Neoliberalism that fits with & kind of explains the above.

“There is a lack of critical assessment of the past. But you have to understand that the current ruling elite is actually the old ruling elite. So they are incapable of a self-critical approach to the past.”

Ryszard Kapuscinski

http://jessescrossroadscafe.blogspot.co.uk/2012/08/neoliberalism-rise-of-machine-and.html

Brilliant post Mike. It beggars belief the attitude of the elites from the past, it is a salutary lesson showing what the present bunch of bastards would be capable of if they are allowed to rewind what Michael Hudson referred to as ” The Progressive Era”. I was familiar with Trevelyan`s extreme free market policies, but nowhere near to the depth as described in the article.

As you probably well know there is still plenty of evidence of the famine to be seen & felt on Ireland’s West coast. The drive from Louisberg to Delphi through Connemara got under my skin, as except telegraph poles, tarmac etc, it couldn’t have changed much since that terrible march of starving men, women & children for promised food, only to then be disappointed, & then to march back again with many of them dying by the roadside. An incredibly beautiful place, but sombre, like it’s dark lakes which I think are the English translation for their name ” Lough Doo “.

There were good people around too, notably Quakers & even some good landlords, like the then Marquis of Sligo, Grandfather of Countess Markievicz.

http://multitext.ucc.ie/d/Private_Responses_to_the_Famine3344361812

The Genocide was also happening in India, with much the same reaction from the British :

British response

A contemporary print of the Madras famine of 1877 showing the distribution of relief in Bellary, Madras Presidency. From the Illustrated London News, (1877)
The first major famine that took place under British rule was the Bengal Famine of 1770. About a quarter to a third of the population of Bengal starved to death in about a ten-month period. East India Company’s raising of taxes disastrously coincided with this famine[68] and exacerbated it, even if the famine was not caused by the British regime.[69] Following this famine, “Successive British governments were anxious not to add to the burden of taxation.”[70] The rains failed again in Bengal and Orissa in 1866. Policies of laissez faire were employed, which resulted in partial alleviation of the famine in Bengal. However, the southwest Monsoon made the harbor in Orissa inaccessible. As a result, food could not be imported into Orissa as easily as Bengal.[71] In 1865–66, severe drought struck Orissa and was met by British official inaction. The British Secretary of State for India, Lord Salisbury, did nothing for two months, by which time a million people had died. The lack of attention to the problem caused Salisbury to never feel free from blame.[fn 9] Some British citizens such as William Digby agitated for policy reforms and famine relief, but Lord Lytton, the governing British viceroy in India, opposed such changes in the belief that they would stimulate shirking by Indian workers. Reacting against calls for relief during the 1877–79 famine, Lytton replied, “Let the British public foot the bill for its ‘cheap sentiment,’ if it wished to save life at a cost that would bankrupt India,” substantively ordering “there is to be no interference of any kind on the part of Government with the object of reducing the price of food,” and instructing district officers to “discourage relief works in every possible way…. Mere distress is not a sufficient reason for opening a relief work.”[73]
In 1874 the response from the British authorities was better and famine was completely averted. Then in 1876 a huge famine broke out in Madras. Lord Lytton’s administration believed that ‘market forces alone would suffice to feed the starving Indians.'[68][fn 10] The results of such thinking proved fatal (some 5.5 million starved),[75] so this policy was abandoned. Lord Lytton established the Famine Insurance Grant, a system in which, in times of financial surplus, INR 1,500,000 would be applied to famine relief works. The result was that the British prematurely assumed that the problem of famine had been solved forever. Future British viceroys became complacent, and this proved disastrous in 1896.[76] About 4.5 million people were on famine relief at the peak of the famine.
Curzon stated that such philanthropy would be criticized, but not doing so would be a crime.[fn 11] He also cut back rations that he characterized as “dangerously high,” and stiffened relief eligibility by reinstating the Temple tests.[78] Between 1.25 to 10 million people died in the famine.[79][80] The famine during World War II lead to the development of the Bengal Famine Mixture (based on rice with sugar). This would later save tens of thousands of lives at liberated concentration camps such as Belsen.[81]
[edit]Policy influences
British famine policy in India was influenced by the arguments of Adam Smith, as seen by the non-interference of the government with the grain market even in times of famines.[66][65] Keeping the famine relief as cheap as possible, with minimum cost to the colonial exchequer, was another important factor in determining famine policy.[53][65] According to Brian Murton, a professor of geography at the University of Hawaii, another possible impact on British policy on famine in India was the influence of the English Poor Laws of 1834,[65] with the difference being that the English were willing to “maintain” the poor in England in normal times, whereas Indians would receive subsistence only when entire populations were endangered.[82] Similarities between the Irish famine of 1846–49 and the later Indian famines of the last part of the 19th century were seen. In both countries, there were no impediments to the export of food during times of famines.[82] Lessons learnt from the Irish famine were not seen in the correspondence on policy-making during the 1870s in India

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Famine_in_India

Well posted Mike – modernise the words, substitute blight for casino debt and it’s not so different from the spin we are presently suffering.

This is a +must+ read.

“Why is Paul Ryan, an Irish Catholic, praising the dogmas that drove the Great Hunger?”

http://neweconomicperspectives.org/2012/08/why-is-paul-ryan-an-irish-catholic-praising-the-dogmas-that-drove-the-great-hunger.html#more-3031

Nail on the head fellas. Golem’s scenario makes sense because the rentiers know of no other way, coming clean & accepting responsibility just isn’t an option, especially as they seemingly can’t lose whatever happens as they consider they hold all the best cards. I think they will push it too far though, then chaos as the never ending battle between positive & negative reaches breaking point.

“In 1982 the IMF lent Mexico $4 billion, which went straight back out of the country to pay western banks – a perfect mirror of what is happening with so-called bail-outs to Greece and other Eurozone countries today. At the same time, the IMF insisted Mexico introduce radical austerity and liberalisation. There were cuts in every area of government spending.

The economy collapsed and stagnated, many industries shut down, with the loss of at least 800,000 workers altogether. By 1989, the Mexican economy was still 11% smaller than 1981. Meanwhile, the debt doubled from 30% of GDP in 1982 to 60% by 1987.”

http://www.newstatesman.com/blogs/voices/2012/08/thirty-years-mexico%E2%80%99s-default-greece-must-break-sadistic-debt-spiral

It seems as though ignoring what has taken place in poorer parts of the world has caught up with us. As it’s pretty obvious that the modern day plunderers have been fine tuning their campaigns of pillage for some time, a bit like modern day Vikings ? perhaps that’s why descendants of Vikings had the sense to tell them to go f*^k themselves.