Chapter 29 in the serialisation of the book 'Insurrection' 4th book in the 'Corpalism' series

29

Greed, selfishness, no care for the weaker.
Sharp elbows and sharp knees, this was the way forward.
People saw the price of everything and the value of nothing.
Glenda Jackson on Margaret Thatcher's England.


The Preacher stared out into the packed auditorium. He didn't register the numbers or any feeling of success; he just felt the need to speak what was in his heart.

"Today I want to talk about power," he said, "what it is, what it means for you and me and who has it." He started to patrol the front of the stage, "The first thing is to know what power is, how it represents itself in our world," he stopped and looked out, "not so easy in the minefield of our so called modern democracy. We are told that we are free because we have freedom of choice," he raised his shoulders slightly, "but do we and what is freedom of choice? If you really had freedom of choice would you choose to spend the best years of your life trapped behind a desk or in a factory working for pennies whilst the rich sit back and live off your labour? Is that really what you would choose for yourself?"

He returned to his pacing, "The way I define power is by asking myself, am I living the life I want to live? Do I live my life fulfilling my potential for happiness?" He quickened his pace and answered his own question, "I have lived a full life, I have had great wealth and I have had the company of more beautiful women than it is possible to recall."

He knew he would be alienating some of those in his audience, the ones who had newly arrived to witness the phenomenon he was becoming, but he needed to say it all, "I have owned vast properties, yachts, planes, I have snorted with the stars, I have been at the top," he paused and the silence was absolute, "but if you had asked me was I happy I would have said no; despite all the paraphernalia that goes with vast wealth I was not fulfilled. I did all of those things because it was the thing you did to fit in. I did it to show I had succeeded, but all I actually succeeded in doing was driving an unbridgeable chasm between myself and my wife and alienating my children." He was clearly groping for a way to describe the contradiction, "Great wealth allows you to choose how you live; my shame is that I chose to live it in a decadent way."

He fell silent for few moments in grave contemplation of the errors made in his previous life. The strength in numbers of his loyal followers, who understood where he had come from, was sufficient to quell any murmurings from newcomers such that the auditorium fell silent with him. Then he spoke again, gravely, "A great many people do not have the luxury of choice. I want you to guesstimate how many people don't have the ability to choose their own life style, who don't have the gift of self determination. Call out your ideas."

When the last offering had died away the air still resonated with numbers and percentages plucked from their imaginations.

He waited for this to fade before he spoke again. "Those who possess real power number only in the thousands, not even 1%. These people control the two key resources to our lives."

He paused a moment then said, "The first is very real; energy. The people who own and control the natural resources of this planet determine your future; they have the power to create recessions or to feed the world. But I have to ask you a simple question. Given that the energy resources on this planet are here for all of the earth's inhabitants, in that they didn't evolve over millions of years with someone's name on them, they are natural and they are there for you, me and every other person on this planet, why is it that only a few get to live off the wealth generated by the supply of energy?"

He raised his hands questioningly, "How is that?"

"The second is money. As we all know, money was introduced to make complex transactions easier. However, now money exists to make more money and we are all slaves to the process. We are always being told that the economy is struggling or that it is booming or that there isn't enough money in the system or perhaps there's too much money, but what is money? Can I mine for it? Can I grow it? Can I pluck it from the skies? No, money is a fiction, it doesn't exist, it's a magic trick and we've all been taken in by it."

He wandered over to his faithful red box, leaned down and took a sip of water from the bottle concealed behind it, "How is it that a few bankers and investors can create a system whereby we trade a fictional resource, one without substance, one they control the supply of, one they have bribed our leaders into accepting as the only valid tender and one we must use, how is it that we sit here and allow them to tell us it is the only way for the world to continue? Bearing in mind that the minute we accept that lie is the minute we pass total power to the banker."

He stared into the audience, "Do you understand? Money isn't real, they made it up but they tell us that without it we have no place in this world, we are skivers and must be castigated yet money is the invisible chain that binds us to the treadmill that keeps the wealthy in place."

No one answered, but it was clear they were thinking this one through.

"So we have two key components representing true power; energy and money. The people who control these also control your lives." He strolled around the stage, still talking, "I want you to imagine a world where everyone has the energy supplies they need, where people have the food they need, where people have the medical care they need, where children have the education they need, where everyone works for the benefit of everyone else, where money has no place and you will perceive Utopia. Humanity's true dream. This world we inhabit now is a beastly business brought upon us by our own weakness and greed, further manipulated by the unscrupulous greedy psychopaths who want to rule."

He stopped and stared out into the audience, "Jesus drove the merchants out of the temple, showing us the true way. Money and the worship of money is a crime against humanity. It is the basest transgression that drives us to sell our services, our labour, our time, our minds and our bodies."

He paused, "Now comes the difficult part, I am going to offer an alternative view of two highly respected and politically sanctified individuals." He waited for a response, nothing yet, "Milton Friedman and Sir Keith Joseph, the men who proposed and propounded our modern day capitalism. It was they who sold the concept of zero state involvement to our leaders; the corollary of that being the creation of a harsh individualist world where money is master and man its servant. Both are of Jewish ethnicity and it is my contention that if they had lived in Jesus' time he would've driven them out into the street."

He pointed out into the audience, "I draw your attention to the presentation made by Milton Friedman in 1972 in which he defines Jewish influence in the market free for all that is modern neo liberalism and neo capitalism, clearly stating that Jews can only survive and prosper in this environment. It is this exact environment he has worked to introduce to the most powerful of the world economies."

He moved slowly around the stage, "This is contrary to what was hitherto the accepted view. Most countries had a culture of support for their own nationals, a culture of nation and society, these have always been the founding bedrocks of any successful society. Even Israel, because a great many social thinkers and revolutionaries come from the Jewish faith, all seeking and espousing social and economic equality. Friedman criticises Israel because he feels that the state of Israel has abandoned what he terms as the Jewish way, it's also why he condemns all Jews who support communism."

The Preacher paused, "This is to miss the point, Israel is a state under threat of attack and the Jews of Israel have discovered the necessity of fostering the belief in nation, of a society that looks after the weak, in order to strengthen and prolong the existence of the many. This is what nationhood does for people, this is what society does for nations but all of these things were rejected by Friedman and Joseph and ultimately our leaders of the day, Thatcher and Reagan. They adopted Friedman's neo liberal philosophy of free capitalism. A 'may the best, aka greediest, man win', survival of the ablest, a dog-eat-dog free for all, which has lead to the massive gulf that now exists between the obscenely wealthy 1% and the, increasingly impoverished, rest of society. Which has ultimately driven the West into economic ruin."

The hall was silent as those present ruminated on his words. He turned and left the stage. Barry might have called it quitting while he was ahead.
 
Cheers for reading

Arun









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