By Lucy Hall
Machiavelli once famously said ‘the end justifies the means.’ And it is as relevant now as ever in history, as the suffering of millions of Britons is once again defended in the pursuit of a 'thriving economy'.
The priority right now, should not be cutting the deficit as quickly as possible, but keeping the hurt and damage to human beings at an absolute minimum, even if it does take us twice as long to abolish the deficit and the Bankers can’t get their bonuses. The end achieved through means of large-scale suffering, will be no real end at all
The cuts the coalition will shortly be making are going to hit the poorest the hardest. Those on incapacity benefit will suffer as Osborne slashes at welfare. Many of us are already quivering, waiting for the NHS to dwindle into near non existence as private healthcare is encouraged to dominate, to serve the well-off and to hell with the rest. And as the free market breaks loose into these areas of welfare the inequality gap is only going to rise and make life harder for those at the bottom.
Cameron’s arguments about reducing inefficiency do not touch on the ideological quest he has undertaken; that of reducing the state and letting unregulated capitalism reign. Moreover, his right wing assertion that reducing the deficit, and implementing cuts will be worth it in the end, even if it were true, does little to console those who will suffer as their access to healthcare and education is diminished.
And when eventually the deficit is reduced, and when the economy has restarted, what then? Those who have been demoralized and hurt and brushed aside, what benefit will they have from this 'thriving free-market economy where bankers reign and trade unions protecting the rights of ordinary people have no say?
The message of Cameron, Clegg and Osborne is Machiavelli's: The ends justify the means. 'Just go through this pain, and everything will be better again.' they promise. But there is no use for a dynamic economy if the welfare of ordinary people is not protected. Cuts are necessary to a certain extent, yes. The deficit must eventually be reduced, yes. But as Ed Miliband continually emphasizes in his leadership campaign, the Tories are trying to convince us that the only thing that matters is the deficit, and that is just not right.
The damage Thatcher did to the country still resonates profoundly. Driving through Manchester just before the election, I had never seen so many ‘Vote Labour’ signs in my life, because the misery the Iron Lady put them through will never be forgotten; they know more than anyone the injustice of rightwing economic policies.
A friend recently said to me, in a discussion about the coalition spending plans, that she thought it was ‘the right time for rightwing economic policy’. Rightwing economic policy, let me tell you now, will result in rightwing social policy. Rightwing economic policy will hurt millions of people and ruin lives. Sitting in a cosy middle class suburb of London, it is very easy to step back from it all and talk about the spending cuts as though we were in an economics A-level class, but taking economic policy in isolation will never come near the human damage that will be done.
.
Machiavelli once famously said ‘the end justifies the means.’ And it is as relevant now as ever in history, as the suffering of millions of Britons is once again defended in the pursuit of a 'thriving economy'.
The priority right now, should not be cutting the deficit as quickly as possible, but keeping the hurt and damage to human beings at an absolute minimum, even if it does take us twice as long to abolish the deficit and the Bankers can’t get their bonuses. The end achieved through means of large-scale suffering, will be no real end at all
The cuts the coalition will shortly be making are going to hit the poorest the hardest. Those on incapacity benefit will suffer as Osborne slashes at welfare. Many of us are already quivering, waiting for the NHS to dwindle into near non existence as private healthcare is encouraged to dominate, to serve the well-off and to hell with the rest. And as the free market breaks loose into these areas of welfare the inequality gap is only going to rise and make life harder for those at the bottom.
Cameron’s arguments about reducing inefficiency do not touch on the ideological quest he has undertaken; that of reducing the state and letting unregulated capitalism reign. Moreover, his right wing assertion that reducing the deficit, and implementing cuts will be worth it in the end, even if it were true, does little to console those who will suffer as their access to healthcare and education is diminished.
And when eventually the deficit is reduced, and when the economy has restarted, what then? Those who have been demoralized and hurt and brushed aside, what benefit will they have from this 'thriving free-market economy where bankers reign and trade unions protecting the rights of ordinary people have no say?
The message of Cameron, Clegg and Osborne is Machiavelli's: The ends justify the means. 'Just go through this pain, and everything will be better again.' they promise. But there is no use for a dynamic economy if the welfare of ordinary people is not protected. Cuts are necessary to a certain extent, yes. The deficit must eventually be reduced, yes. But as Ed Miliband continually emphasizes in his leadership campaign, the Tories are trying to convince us that the only thing that matters is the deficit, and that is just not right.
The damage Thatcher did to the country still resonates profoundly. Driving through Manchester just before the election, I had never seen so many ‘Vote Labour’ signs in my life, because the misery the Iron Lady put them through will never be forgotten; they know more than anyone the injustice of rightwing economic policies.
A friend recently said to me, in a discussion about the coalition spending plans, that she thought it was ‘the right time for rightwing economic policy’. Rightwing economic policy, let me tell you now, will result in rightwing social policy. Rightwing economic policy will hurt millions of people and ruin lives. Sitting in a cosy middle class suburb of London, it is very easy to step back from it all and talk about the spending cuts as though we were in an economics A-level class, but taking economic policy in isolation will never come near the human damage that will be done.
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Comments
I suppose you like the idea of a "choppy" recovery (to qoute George Osbourne), higher tuition fees, job losses, strikes, a slowing economy and our highly valued public services coming under serious threat do you?!
Sarcasm..lowest form of wit.....