moderate to well off professional class and dirt poor working class.
Victorian industry bought down many of the inherited land owners and raised up the industrialists while
creating more need for professionals but also crushing the working class under industrialisation.
The 20th century saw the widespread loss of noble inherited wealth as they died off, were wiped out by
taxes or repair bills and married into rich industrialist families.
The industrialists continued to grow in wealth and power and steadily the influence of Title and old wealth
faded as new and very real wealth came to prominence.
The plight of the working class was improved by minimum wages and by mass production lowering costs, the
middle class were fairly comfortable.
Then we come to the post industrial age and the twenty first century.
Here we find ourselves in a different situation.
Robotics are replacing workers, wealth generation has become trapped in the grasp of those who are wealthy.
We no longer have middle class and working class, this is a state of mind amongst people who still think in a
last century mind set. What we have a slight differences in income levels, the slightly better off have nicer
things but the entire group sits either side of the average income and none of them have anything
approaching the ability or influence to change the situation.
In many ways our mindset as a society is still set in the last century, the Information age has raced on and
keeps advancing so quickly that it is difficult for an entrenched mindset to keep up.
Governments therefore are unable to keep pace for the most part allowing multinational companies to
expand without restraint.
Week by week we hear stories of MPs or Ministers caught taking bribes in order to offer advice or to
introduce a bill that favours one industry or another and yet very little is ever done to punish such
crimes or to prevent them happening again.
Changes to employment contracts that would have been burned to ash two generations ago such as
zero hours which blatantly favour the employer and deeply harm the employees are becoming more
commonplace and with them comes a further weakening of influence and freedom.
The overall distribution of wealth concentrates power and influence in a limited number of hands,
80% of the population have little or no disposable income compared to total income which limits their
ability to spend where they want. Rather they pay the bills, the mortgage, the petrol and food costs and
then more often than not just buy the latest popular gadget.
We are seeing this in the UK, people more and more find that they must spend their money paying certain
bills and certain companies; they are being reduced to sources of income, money farms.
Those people and companies with the money or power pull strings, offer bribes, arrange for generous jobs
when an MP or Minister retires and so are able to influence things to suit themselves regardless of the
impact on the population at large.
A Google spokesman says politicians are failing the people, true enough but at the same time that he says
this Google along with all the other tech multi nationals are avoiding taxes and doing whatever they can to
keep costs down often at ruinous cost to their work force.
By restricting the wealth to a limited number of people you achieve several things.
Firstly you distort the entire nature of the economy. Spending a million pounds on a super car generates
some profit for one Car Company and pays a few employees; spending a million pounds buying a number
of new cars and used cars provides transport for many families, income for a number of companies and
puts that money into circulation. As the two new classes of Unemployable and Employed are starved
of spending money the income of organisations dependent on them falls and those organisations and
companies are forced out of the great game of power. Only those rich enough to own or influence
governments of those that supply something that people MUST buy continue to win.
Secondly you encourage graft and corruption. British MPs being a prime example.
Thirdly as you reduce most of your workforce to near destitution you turn them into little more than
modern slaves, unable to resist or refuse because they simply cannot afford to complain.
Fourth you weaken democracy, the voice of the general population has far less power because they have
far less influence. Voting with their feet doesn’t work if people no longer have another choice to walk to.
Money buys influence, influence brings propaganda, propaganda brings control.
The independently wealthy are the next new class, it doesn’t matter where the money comes from or who
they are, what they do or when they do it. They have enough money to be independent, this lot used to be
called rich, now they don’t even fit onto the same graph.
Then there is the super rich, people with more money than some nations make.
Companies or individuals, as they become more powerful that governments the voices of the voters
become weaker and weaker. Shareholders become the new voters but how many of them are rich enough
to own enough shares to influence the big companies, which would be the super rich again.
Governments are intrinsically linked to nations, corporations have a head office somewhere the taxes
are low.
Governments are still tied to voters to a degree, they still stand for elections and face problems if a united
population turns against them. This leads to the next problem, united we stand, divided we are slaves.
People suffer, people have little or no disposable income, jobs are hard to find and unstable when found,
the employed become unemployed overnight with a text. The unemployable grow every year as technology
changes and they cannot.
People fear, they are no longer in control of their lives and this breeds anger. Sadly rather than turning this
anger on the governments and organisations responsible for turning them into wage slaves and tax cattle
they are instead turned by propaganda and lies to hate other groups.
The outsider, the different, ethnic or religious, language or nation of origin. Separate people, give them a
target for their anger and you create hatred, you distract the victims to take it out on other victims.
In many ways we are heading back to a Dickensian mindset and society. Where technology has reduced
the non wealthy to chattels and elevated those who own the technology to the new nobility and gentry.
The wealth divide is in fact heading back to the point where middle ages kings and lords had money and
the majority of the population did not touch a coin from year to year, simply bartering their humble goods
to meet their simple needs.
I have no problems with people being rich, the problem comes when such a vast percentage of available
wealth is held by a tiny number who keep themselves wealthy by restricting the amount of money allowed
to exist.
This prevents others from climbing even the lowest rungs of the wealth ladder.
To a King in the middle ages or dark ages the peasants were a threat to his power, keep them poor, keep
them helpless and under control and he can rule them as he wishes.
The problem comes when we stand in the 21st century and find ourselves looking at the same situation.
When those who are democratically called to represent the people and to act in the best interests of the
electorate become nothing more than agents for the super rich and the super powerful then you reduce
people to resources.
Is the rise of the Global Super Wealthy a problem?
Is reducing people to wage slaves and tax cattle a problem?
What do you think?