What we are witnessing is raw economic warfare by the rich against the poor. So the age-old question comes knocking: why does the decent majority allow itself to be governed by a brutal, antisocial minority? Part of the reason is that the minority controls the story. As John Harris explained in the Guardian, large numbers (including many who depend on it) have been persuaded that most recipients of social security are feckless, profligate fraudsters. Despite everything that has happened over the last two years, Rupert Murdoch, Lord Rothermere and the other media barons still seem to be running the country. Their relentless propaganda, using exceptional and shocking cases to characterise an entire social class, remains highly effective. Divide and rule is as potent as it has ever been.
This is a great read and, while it focuses on budget cuts currently afflicting the UK, the ideas discussed by Monbiot can be pretty much applied across the Western world, swept by neo-liberal policies of war against the poor.
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