We live in a society that hoards and destroys mountains of food and lakes of wine because it is not profitable to put them on the open market. We pay farmers not to farm their fields and destroy tons of food while millions starve to death all around the world. All of this is done in the name of profit, the real god of the Capitalist system.
We keep coal in the ground and miners out of work because it is not profitable to bring it to the surface. Under this system it is more profitable to import it from abroad. New technology is recreating itself every day. The lap top or desk top computer that you buy in the shops today is already out of date. You will not see today's technology until that is out of date. The reason behind this is that each new development has to make a profit before the next development can be rolled out. So development itself is slowed down by the profit system.
Privatisation is just another example of the corruption of our society by the profit system.
On the London Underground and Network Rail, contracts worth millions of pounds are given to a contractor. That contractor sub contracts the job making an immediate profit without actually doing anything other than exchanging contracts. This can at times be repeated up to four times until the company actually doing the job is on such a tight profit margin that corners have to be cut. Balfour Beatty, the company responsible for Hatfield, has just won major contracts on the tube. Would you employ a company accused of corporate manslaughter to work for you?
This is why we get incidents like the Hatfield disaster and the engine blocks falling off of tube trains.
We have seen energy prices soar to record levels leaving the old and infirm frightened to turn on their heating. You will not see the board of British Gas sitting in the cold. These industries: gas, electricity, telephone, water, were all publicly owned. That is, owned by the tax payer and administered by their elected governments' employees. Thatcher took utilities that were owned by everyone and sold them to a few. Under any system, that has to be theft. Prices have risen and standards have fallen in these industries, just to pay the shareholders a dividend. Bosses are earning staggering amounts while workers can't afford to pay their bills. Bosses get millions of pounds in golden handshakes while workers can't even depend on a pension. Privatisation is the capitalists' last gasp of breath.
We need to nationalise the country's assets: banks, financial institutions and industries, and use the profits for the needs of the people. The wealth that we create should be reinvested in us.
Instead of new technology putting people out of work, it should be used to reduce the hours that we work. If people had more leisure time they would get more involved with the running of their communities. Society would benefit from community development driven by the people for the people. Production for need rather than profit would be the next inevitable step that would transport mankind into a completely new and exciting era. As technology is allowed to develop, cures for all sorts of disease could be found and ways to get even more leisure time for ourselves.
We would have a society driven by the edict, "from each according to their ability, to each according to their needs". The sooner we take power into our own hands, the sooner we can use it.
Imagine a world where farmers were all working their land and the people of the world were being fed. Where there is work for all but plenty of leisure time as well. Where technology is being utilised to cure diseases and heal the sick rather than building weapons. Where large tracts of the Sahara are irrigated by desalination plants and farmed.
These are all possibilities if we take control into our own hands and if we put need before profit. The Americans are so fond of saying, but not supplying, ' A Government of the people for the people'. A government made up of people's councils, representatives of which sit on a central committee of representatives. Members of these committees would be on automatic recall if they break the wishes of their constituents.
