Is what's happening to the economy & society of UK a result of Crony Capitalism?

Great Debates
1

I don’t have a exact understanding of crony capitalism, but in my daily life I’ve witnessed a growing cynicism within British society about the ability of the average guy to change anything that goes against the status quo, and the ability of big businesses to leverage government policy to their advantage so that they cannot be challenged effectively, or fairly. An example of this would be betting shops, who have recently lobbied David Cameron to expand further in poorer areas.

I was discussing with a work colleague of mine about the situation of union power and how it’s really absent from workers, which lead to a conversation about the establishment in the UK and how it’s theoretically constructed a mechanism to take any passion out of the working classes to change things, simple examples of having a welfare system to placate them (a kind of brave new world situation) Or landing them in debt to bind them to employment regardless of whether they have any rights or not, to fostering a culture of contempt and ignorance for any working man to organise people to gain better working conditions etc.

I don’t think it has been done deliberately, or is a conspiracy, as in I don’t think any one or group of people are responsible for this, this goes across the party divide, what confuses me is that if nothing can change this system, if indeed it exists, what alternatives do we have?

2

Being a big fan of UK television and having spent a little time there long ago, it seems to me that class is still a huge issue there and it’s something that isn’t rooted in a socioeconomic basis like it is in the US but is the idea that certain classes of people really are better in some sense than others and therefore deserving of special rights and treatment.

I don’t know how well this reflects the reality and how much is just a reflection of antiquated notions on the part of screenwriters, but I get the feeling that’s it’s a very real issue. If so, I wouldn’t be so quick to dismiss the conspiracy angle - not in the traditional sense of a conscious, organized cabal, but more along the lines of people who see themselves belonging to the privileged classes and who have risen to positions of power as a result attempting to preserve and extent their power and influence.

You don’t need an organize conspiracy to achieve essentially the same ends if you have a group of people who see themselves as allied and working toward the same ends and for the same ideals.