Premature Relaxation 5: Masked Edition

Mask Day!

I bought one from the shop, had to wear a mask to get it though. Fortunately it now means I no longer have ot use a tatty piece of fabric cut out of an old t shirt.

A few kids tried to get into the shop without masks. Pleasingly they were soundly rebuffed. They should have known better at their age; 16ish I assume. I get the impression they were chancing it. If so that's a bit troubling. Some builders parked up and went into the local bakery. They didn't bother with masks and I guess the bakery either didn't care or didn't care to cause a fuss. Can't really blame them as it's the workers that will bear the brunt of this policy. That's inevitable and it once again demonstrates the exploitative nature of capitalism.

Still, wear a fucking mask yo.

My MP, John Penrose, wrote back to me a couple of days ago. I'd quarantined his response because....you know. Kept it in my satchel which has been outside for the last 4 months. Feels safer that way. I'd contacted him in regard to people facing the possibility of sanctions during the lockdown (and indeed beyond). Here are some choice aspects of his vapid response. I didn't expect anything better.

"As you'll appreciate it was important to act quickly to avoid putting jobseekers and benefits claiants (or staff!) at risj duing the lockdown"

The risk you caused by your ineptitude and intransigence. However these are vulnerable people, as such we have always been at risk. Perhaps not of a virus, but we stand, collectively, on the very brink. The breadline isn't just an arbitrary line on the ground, like a chalkmark. Instead it's the edge of a cliff and the weather is treacherous. The virus has just highlighted this, but it has ever been thus.

"But now, as the economy starts to re-open and we're taking small but steady steps back to normal, it's important to get back to getting people into work (particularly given the extent of job losses that the pandemic is likely to have created)."

Ultimately, again, it isn't the pandemic that is responsible. All it has done is show up the system for what it is.

The extent of job losses is actuall two problems in one: first it's an increase in unemployed people who thus need support. Secondly it's a decrease in the number of vacancies available. A fact the Tories always miss. Getting people back to work is therefore going to be exponentially harder because of this. The more people that are rendered unemployed in this crisis, the fewer vacancies there will be (if any) for them. It isn't as if our cosiety has grown by the same number of people, but the labour market has remained at least the same. So where are these people to find work. That is the real question and the answer is going to be dodgy schemes and programmes that will be used under threat of sanctions. Business as usual.

"I hope you'll agree that it wouldn't be fair on taxpayers to expect them to fund a 'something for nothing' system that didn't expect or require people to make a decent effort to find work. I'm sure you'll remember the fuss about the 'something for nothing society' when Gordon Brown was Prime Minisiter, and nobody wants tot ake the country back to those days"

You mean forward, right?

You lot have bypassed the late 2000's (conveniently given it was your mates, whome you represent, that crashed the economy) and taken us back to the days of the poorhouse! Humility has never really been a Tory strong point. Gordon Brown is no hero of mine but international capital was happy with his handling of the crisis and the economy was picking up again right at the time of the election. Something the Tories variously take credit for or ignore. Either way it's largely irrelevant, I'm not a supporter of capitalist New Labour nor Gordon Brown, just someone that cares about truth. I have no ide what his comments were regarding 'something for nothing society'. This is just a tedious capitalist trope that doesn't address need or poverty.

Look, this idea that people should be required to make a "decent" effort is just a media cliche. It has no inherent meaning and shifts constantly in accordance with how angry the media is that week. Whether there's been a few people caught refereeing footie matches while on the sick etc. Meaningless pablum intended just to wind up people with a view to persuading people to vote a certain way. Propaganda.

In reality most everyone is happy enough to look for work. I don't know what constitutes a decent effort since that is never defined by the state, and, again, is subject to the same propaganda. Universal Credit was introduced under the notion that looking for work should be a 'full time job' (just not one that pays a full time wage, obviously). BUt most people would want to contribute to a decent caring society. Doing something socially usueful under reasonable conditions. But even that is still to tuge the forelock to the capitalist system. The whole concept of a wage is a capitalist mechanism and exists as a fraction of the value you create for your employer. He doesn't hire you if you can't create value and from that value he extracts, like a vampire, his profit. It isn't a fair contract either, as many apologists argue, because the alternative is poverty.

I don't want to go back to the days of New Labour any more than I want to go back to the days of the workhouse and Dickens. I want to move forward. Unfortunately you lot will never understand this.