OAPs & Empire

I saw the news earlier in the week with Dave Prentis of Unison and Digby Jones on the CBI going head-to-head about pensions. Basically Jones was saying that the pubic sector get paid too much and get too good pensions that that the private sector cant compete with the packages on offer. He went on to say that we all needed to tighten our belts to deal with the looming pensions crisis. Now I know there is a problem, but to be lectured by a guy who is filthy rich about 'we all tightening our belts' sticks in the craw. I don’t think he’ll be tightening his belt as I bet his time as a Captain of Industry has netted him a fair wedge. This is also the guy who campaigned against the government putting any controls of fat-cat director pay. He saying its ok for the government to stamp on workers pay in the public sector to stop the low pay of the private sector looking bad – but they can't stop the elite from being paid OTT wages, cause that would be wrong. What an eejit.

Also of note is the full-on revelation of empire. If US soldiers burning and desecrating the bodies for their victims in Afghanistan, the erosion of the right to protest and Bliar telling the Labour party conference that it don’t matter what you think – he’ll do as he wants. There was a chant on protests post-Seattle 1999, 'This is what democracy looks like' – to me it is being replaced with 'This is what dictatoship looks like'.