'And so, here is the reality of modern British politics. The views of millions of Britons are simply not represented.'



Ok, I admit: I despise politicians with a passion. Parasites and leeches all in for themselves, they are either greedily and selfishly interested, or, completely incompetent. No matter what political party, they all are the same, as groupthink remains a powerful thing. So, obviously, this book pointing to how our political system (for Owen Jones doesn't denounce individuals, but

Ok, I admit: I despise politicians with a passion. Parasites and leeches all in for themselves, they are either greedily and selfishly interested, or, completely incompetent. No matter what political party, they all are the same, as groupthink remains a powerful thing. So, obviously, this book pointing to how our political system (for Owen Jones doesn't denounce individuals, but the system that had led them to power and helps shape their policies once there) was mostly music to my ears!Bashing against the Establishment, though, can be too easy. Sure, the mess we're all in calls for scapegoats, and such a fleeting and elusive concept as 'Establishment', because it is so fleeting and elusive, fits the bill perfectly for whose at the bottom. It's easy, but not helpful. After all, what and who is this 'Establishment' exactly?Well, I confess, the author being way more leftist than I am (I identify as centre right, anyway) I had braced myself for an attack upon the rich and successful, the corporate owners and politicians whose 'bad luck' would have been to come from privileged background; all the while victimising everybody else. In fact, because the author is such a staunch leftist, I had kept away from this book for quite a while, expecting the usual caricatural bashing against the rich. Well, I was damned wrong! And putting this off for so long had been my loss. I am glad I finally read it.Owen Jones, in fact, is the first to denounce such narrow mindedness. For him, the Establishment is indeed everything but only filthy rich middle aged white men, a mistaken view which leads to completely miss the wider picture. As he rightly asserts, it's not about wealth. It's not about class. As a matter of fact, it's not about age nor gender nor race either. It's about a mindset, the mindset of people who think themselves self-entitled to their success, money and power, and, so, will do everything they can to get more money and power with utter contempt for whose not sharing their values -and, so, their part of the pie. Focusing on wealth only is, as he states,The point needs to be asserted, because, populist movements like UKIP or even some fringe of our dominant parties might claim they are anti-Establishment, but, as it turns out, they are everything but.Have you ever wondered why, for instance, no matter who is in charge, no matter the political party, it's always the same difference? Well, there you go: the divide between Right and Left became meaningless, precisely because there is no divide to start with. Our politicians all abide to the same dogmas, the same ideologies, and all are in the same boat sharing the same interests with each others.A threat to democracy it is indeed, for this goes way beyond politics. Here's a powerful expose which outlines in fact a whole culture, one of revolving doors and incestuous relationships between the medias, corporate businesses, financial gurus and politicians. The account is appallingly damaging..Now, there is nothing wrong with a certain demographics sharing the same interests (free market radicalism, deregulations, tax cuts when not tax avoidance altogether...) and, so, lobbying to have their ideas spreading around if not politically adopted. The problem is, in here there is no balance. There is no debate. There is no alternative. There is no challenge to such interest being put forward, simply because, the demographics having opposite interests and goals have been systematically excluded from position of power and influences.Now, here, personally, I go far further than the author. I think that Britain is not really a democracy, but an oligarchy, serving corporatism and a financial market which contributes nothing to society as a whole but is just a playground for brats and bullies to gamble and speculate in the name of greed. Whatever your stance, though, there is no denying that the benefits of the financial sector ought to be questioned:The consequences, of course, have been disastrous as we all know...But before tackling the financial crisis of 2008, Owen Jones reflects upon the particular history of Britain; an history which had seen the triumph of Thatcherism. Such triumph would have two consequences. First, whereas before that the partisans of such free market radicalism were perceived as marginal looney (let's call a spade a spade, should we) they now found themselves in charge. Then, they were not only in charge but went unchallenged, since the merciless war launched against potential opposition (e.g. trade unionism etc.) had been successful beyond every expectation. The triumph was in fact such that, even the Labour party accommodated the new ideology -New Labour owning as much to Thatcherism as the deregulated financial sector taking over. In this context, people not being part of the Establishment would not only find themselves excluded from a supposedly 'democratic' regime (again, I am way harsher than the author on that point) but they will also be ruthlessly dealt with! Tax avoidance might cost 25 times more to the state than benefit frauds, yet it's not the financial barons and corporate moguls which are in the cross hair when politicians get tough in recovering taxpayers money. The fate of the poor, the unemployed, the disabled are harrowing. Beyond the downtrodden, it's also the rest of us suffering through austerity while the culprits got away. It's a terrible state of affair, but there we go:Indeed.The irony is, the total free market paradigm itself is a fraud. It's a con. A scam. A lie. As we all know full well by now, the elites in charge might bash against the state and call for deregulations for capitalistic success, but, in the end, when things go awfully wrong it's always the state which has to intervene. Hence, what we have is in fact, as the author rightly puts it,, or,. The hypocrisy cannot but make you sick with anger.Now, of course, this book is not perfect despite its powerful indictment. In fact, Owen Jones sometimes go too far for my liking, or, use easy targets. The medias might be echo of a political consensus, many, for example, turning prejudices and insecurities into sensationalists tools to serve crass political agenda; but not all. The Sun and The Daily Express might be rags experts in trashy sensationalism, but, overall, Britain still has a decent press, and, above all, I believe readers to have critical thinking. Same with the police. Police brutality is a reality, and so is racism (in the light of the BLM movement, his questioning of the stop-and-search policies are, about, strikingly relevant...). But, despite its at times bad policing, and, of course, corrupt behaviours (he recalls the Plebgate episode...) I think quite extreme to label it as the henchman of the Establishment. Maybe I am naïve, though? As for claiming we sold ourselves to the USA, hence the reason why civil liberties had to be attacked under New Labour, I find this way too simplistic. New Labour emerged from socialism, and socialism can be as much of a threat to liberties than the ultra-liberals governing us. On that topic, I personally prefer the analysis of Dominic Raab in The Assault on Liberty: What Went Wrong with Rights Nevertheless, here is a powerful read, embracing a wide array of issues and topics, maybe repetitive at times, if not outrageous, but never failing to hit right on target. As they said, if you're not offended you're not paying attention. Read on, then, because this will not offend you but make you boil with resent and anger. Would that be a first step towards changing things? Let's hope so!