by ITV Report: Pupils ‘have not eaten for two days’ and parents 'too poor' to buy new clothes, teachers say Britain is one of the richest countries in the world - for some!The left neoliberals gave up on socialism and went for 'free markets' instead believing that freedom would liberate people. Some left think tanks, like The Centre of the Stateless Society, believe that it is corporations and the governments (that they own) work together to keep workers wages low. But there is nothing socialist about free markets, and these groups are not on the economic left.Clair Fox was a member of the of the Revolutionary Communist Party and she embraced liberalisation 20 years ago saying that a completely privatised economy was Marxist as it gave power to the ordinary person. She wanted more
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ITV Report: Pupils ‘have not eaten for two days’ and parents 'too poor' to buy new clothes, teachers say
Britain is one of the richest countries in the world - for some!
The left neoliberals gave up on socialism and went for 'free markets' instead believing that freedom would liberate people. Some left think tanks, like The Centre of the Stateless Society, believe that it is corporations and the governments (that they own) work together to keep workers wages low. But there is nothing socialist about free markets, and these groups are not on the economic left.
Clair Fox was a member of the of the Revolutionary Communist Party and she embraced liberalisation 20 years ago saying that a completely privatised economy was Marxist as it gave power to the ordinary person. She wanted more Thatherism, but she still maintained that she was a communist.(in her dreams).
It all sounds very nice:
No 'big bureaucratic government' and only individuals who know what their local society really needs. Like all propaganda this is true to a point, but when it leaves a third of the UK population in terrible poverty while causing mass poverty around the world then you know you've been sold a pup.
It is true that government can be inefficient, but super efficient healthcare is good at making profits but lousy at providing healthcare as the motives are all wrong.
It is true that the government gets corrupted by the wealthy, but that is not an argument to do away with the government, but an argument instead to make it better.
Some new ideas by councils in Britain is to get the public involved more and even to give them shares in state run industries as well as providing them with low cost public services, then the public don't want expensive privatised services. Members of the public sit on the board of these companies and ensure that they are run efficiently. They keep the services run locally which helps with employment, but they only do this if it cost efficient.
In the book, The Private Abuse of the Public Interest: Market Myths and Policy Muddles, professors Lawrence D. Brown and Lawrence R. Jacobs, show how privatised services cost two to three times more to run than they did as public utilities. One reason is because it takes a lot of government resources to ensure these companies are providing a proper service because left to themselves they will continuously cut back until the service is in danger.
Free markets have their place and do provide terrific services and goods for the public, but it's about getting the balance right - a mixed economy. MMT is about getting the government more involved in public provision which also makes good economic sense.
Free markets are good for things that can be easily judged for their worth, like food, cars, Hi-Fi, phones, etc, but when it comes to schools, pensions, health care, etc, the public can be easily hoodwinked. A team of specialists and academics working on behalf of the government can negotiate much better prices for health care, etc, and as they will be buying for the population they can bring prices right down. Plus they will go through all the small print.
Governments did get conned on the PPI contracts but they more savvy now.
In the book, In Government We Trust: Market Failure and the Delusions of Privatisation, the professors of accountancy, Warwick Funnell, Robert Jupe, and Jane Andrew show how in Britain privatisation has made services more expensive.
ITV report on child poverty.
ITV Report on UK Child poverty/
The Independent: Poverty-hit pupils so ashamed of worn-out clothes and lack of equipment they skip school, teachers say
‘It is truly shaming for the UK – one of the richest countries in the world,’ union leader says
Center for a Stateless Society: A Left Market Anarchist Think Tank & Media Center
https://c4ss.org/