This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/may/20/steve-hilton-privilege-chumocracy-left-elite
The article has changed 3 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 1 | Version 2 |
|---|---|
| Steve Hilton’s privileged view of our chumocracy must not be dismissed | Steve Hilton’s privileged view of our chumocracy must not be dismissed |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| ‘Democracy is in crisis: it seems to serve the people no longer, but rather vested interests.” The more money you have, “the more government pays attention to your concerns”. And, of course: “Our democracies are increasingly captured by a ruling class that seeks to perpetuate its privileges.” No, I’m not regurgitating quotes from old columns: these are the ruminations of Steve Hilton, David Cameron’s former adviser, a man who left the prime minister’s court in 2012 with a demand to slash £25bn from social security. | ‘Democracy is in crisis: it seems to serve the people no longer, but rather vested interests.” The more money you have, “the more government pays attention to your concerns”. And, of course: “Our democracies are increasingly captured by a ruling class that seeks to perpetuate its privileges.” No, I’m not regurgitating quotes from old columns: these are the ruminations of Steve Hilton, David Cameron’s former adviser, a man who left the prime minister’s court in 2012 with a demand to slash £25bn from social security. |
| Related: Ex-No 10 guru Steve Hilton provides David Cameron with food for thought | Related: Ex-No 10 guru Steve Hilton provides David Cameron with food for thought |
| Not, then, the natural new posterboy for a left that is traumatised by the recent Tory victory. It’s easy to dismiss his utterances as those of a self-serving rightwing ideologue who helped craft the programme of a government shovelling wealth and power to those at the top, who is now masquerading as an anti-establishment insurgent. But in a society where there is all too little scrutiny of the powerful – that, of course, is reserved for those at the bottom of the heap – any excuse to refocus our attention towards those at the top should surely be seized upon. | Not, then, the natural new posterboy for a left that is traumatised by the recent Tory victory. It’s easy to dismiss his utterances as those of a self-serving rightwing ideologue who helped craft the programme of a government shovelling wealth and power to those at the top, who is now masquerading as an anti-establishment insurgent. But in a society where there is all too little scrutiny of the powerful – that, of course, is reserved for those at the bottom of the heap – any excuse to refocus our attention towards those at the top should surely be seized upon. |
| To find some common cause with Hilton is perhaps not all that surprising. He refers to both Occupy Wall Street and the Tea Party movement as symptoms of popular disapproval with an elite that is – to coin a phrase – all in it together. At the height of both, a Venn diagram circulated. Occupy Wall Street believed that “large corporations have way too much power”; the Tea Party said “the government has way too much power”. But there was an overlap: “Large corporations lobby for the government to have more power, and in return the government enacts laws and regulations favourable to large corporations.” | To find some common cause with Hilton is perhaps not all that surprising. He refers to both Occupy Wall Street and the Tea Party movement as symptoms of popular disapproval with an elite that is – to coin a phrase – all in it together. At the height of both, a Venn diagram circulated. Occupy Wall Street believed that “large corporations have way too much power”; the Tea Party said “the government has way too much power”. But there was an overlap: “Large corporations lobby for the government to have more power, and in return the government enacts laws and regulations favourable to large corporations.” |
| There are critiques of our system that both the libertarian right and the radical left subscribe to – crony capitalism, “socialism for the rich”, whatever you want to call it, even if the solutions diverge radically. Both opposed the bank bailouts, but while the libertarian right would have let the banks fail, the radical left would have nationalised them under democratic control. If rightwingers help give this diagnosis a wider circulation, giving the left space to respond with our own solutions, then so be it. | There are critiques of our system that both the libertarian right and the radical left subscribe to – crony capitalism, “socialism for the rich”, whatever you want to call it, even if the solutions diverge radically. Both opposed the bank bailouts, but while the libertarian right would have let the banks fail, the radical left would have nationalised them under democratic control. If rightwingers help give this diagnosis a wider circulation, giving the left space to respond with our own solutions, then so be it. |
| The radical left and the libertarian right are both critiques of the same thing: socialism for the rich | The radical left and the libertarian right are both critiques of the same thing: socialism for the rich |
| What needs to be exposed is the self-evident hypocrisy of the “free market”, which all too often in practice means the state propping up private interests while leaving those at the bottom to fend for themselves. Globally, fossil fuel industries can benefit from subsidies worth $10m a minute, while the poorest are compelled to scrabble in the dirt to eat. | |
| “The corporate bosses, the MPs, the journalists … all go to the same dinner parties and social events; all live near one another; all send their children to the same schools,” cries comrade Hilton. He has a point. The talented former Telegraph deputy editor Benedict Brogan – sadly now purged – told me of journalists (whose theoretical job is to challenge those with political power) dinner-partying, drinking and going on holiday with MPs – or even becoming godparents to their children. | “The corporate bosses, the MPs, the journalists … all go to the same dinner parties and social events; all live near one another; all send their children to the same schools,” cries comrade Hilton. He has a point. The talented former Telegraph deputy editor Benedict Brogan – sadly now purged – told me of journalists (whose theoretical job is to challenge those with political power) dinner-partying, drinking and going on holiday with MPs – or even becoming godparents to their children. |
| But it’s not simply about social connections and piss-ups. “They flit and float between Westminster, Whitehall and the City; regardless of who’s in office, the same people are in power,” reports the revolutionary Jacobin Hilton. In other words, the powerful are bound together by a revolving door. Boris Johnson is now mayor of London, a Tory MP with a cabinet post, and, as a Telegraph columnist, the recipient of a six-figure salary (which he once described as “chickenfeed”) from the undoubtedly grateful Barclay Brothers. David Cameron, Boris Johnson, George Osborne: all recruited their spinners from that supposed hotbed of pinko leftiness the BBC. Major accountancy firms complicit in tax avoidance help draw up tax laws, then help their clients get around the laws they themselves have written: “cases of poacher turned gamekeeper, turned poacher again”, as the House of Commons public accounts committee puts it. | But it’s not simply about social connections and piss-ups. “They flit and float between Westminster, Whitehall and the City; regardless of who’s in office, the same people are in power,” reports the revolutionary Jacobin Hilton. In other words, the powerful are bound together by a revolving door. Boris Johnson is now mayor of London, a Tory MP with a cabinet post, and, as a Telegraph columnist, the recipient of a six-figure salary (which he once described as “chickenfeed”) from the undoubtedly grateful Barclay Brothers. David Cameron, Boris Johnson, George Osborne: all recruited their spinners from that supposed hotbed of pinko leftiness the BBC. Major accountancy firms complicit in tax avoidance help draw up tax laws, then help their clients get around the laws they themselves have written: “cases of poacher turned gamekeeper, turned poacher again”, as the House of Commons public accounts committee puts it. |
| The likes of Alan Milburn can become health secretary, guardian of Labour’s most treasured institution, the NHS, but upon stepping down rake in lucrative sums as a consultant for private healthcare firms. He then savages Labour’s policies on the NHS. It is a reminder that the real threat to democracy comes from above. | The likes of Alan Milburn can become health secretary, guardian of Labour’s most treasured institution, the NHS, but upon stepping down rake in lucrative sums as a consultant for private healthcare firms. He then savages Labour’s policies on the NHS. It is a reminder that the real threat to democracy comes from above. |
| Here are the three strategies employed by the powerful to maintain their position. First, they convince us that what is good for them is good for us all. A tax cut for the richest is an act of munificence for society as a whole: it will start raining wealth for us all. | Here are the three strategies employed by the powerful to maintain their position. First, they convince us that what is good for them is good for us all. A tax cut for the richest is an act of munificence for society as a whole: it will start raining wealth for us all. |
| Second, they argue that anything that challenges their position will be fatal for the prospects of the country. Whatever your position on these issues, the Scottish referendum, the general election, and the upcoming EU referendum have all come with bluster and blackmail from major corporations. | Second, they argue that anything that challenges their position will be fatal for the prospects of the country. Whatever your position on these issues, the Scottish referendum, the general election, and the upcoming EU referendum have all come with bluster and blackmail from major corporations. |
| Third, they persuade us that the real enemies are those at the bottom of the pile. Immigrants, unemployed people: here is where our rage should be targeted, rather than at tax dodgers, bankers who trashed the economy, or employers who pay workers derisory amounts and then expect the taxpayer to pick up the bill with billions of in-work benefits each year. | Third, they persuade us that the real enemies are those at the bottom of the pile. Immigrants, unemployed people: here is where our rage should be targeted, rather than at tax dodgers, bankers who trashed the economy, or employers who pay workers derisory amounts and then expect the taxpayer to pick up the bill with billions of in-work benefits each year. |
| Related: Pay bankers no more than civil servants, says ex-Cameron aide | Related: Pay bankers no more than civil servants, says ex-Cameron aide |
| The Levellers championed the sovereignty of the people in the chaos of 17th-century England, long before such ideas gained common currency. The women, men and children of Manchester paid in their blood when they dared to demand democracy in the Peterloo Massacre of 1819. The Chartists were persecuted and reviled as they fought for the rights of the people in 19th-century Britain. And the suffragettes were treated as despicable anarchist terrorists, locked up with tubes inserted into their noses. | |
| The powerful no longer tend to resort to armed force. In an age when nearly all have the vote, they must employ other means of entrenching their wealth and power – lobbyists, revolving doors, corporate funding of parties, newspapers as playthings of moguls – and a shared ideology that celebrates the concentration of wealth and power. | The powerful no longer tend to resort to armed force. In an age when nearly all have the vote, they must employ other means of entrenching their wealth and power – lobbyists, revolving doors, corporate funding of parties, newspapers as playthings of moguls – and a shared ideology that celebrates the concentration of wealth and power. |
| Yes, attacks on our “insular ruling class” are unexpected from close associates of David Cameron. Still, any opportunity to challenge the powerful is to be embraced. | Yes, attacks on our “insular ruling class” are unexpected from close associates of David Cameron. Still, any opportunity to challenge the powerful is to be embraced. |
| And with Cameron about to let rip on behalf of our shameless elite like never before, we should act urgently on what Hilton says. He was there, at the apex of the chumocracy, so he should know. | And with Cameron about to let rip on behalf of our shameless elite like never before, we should act urgently on what Hilton says. He was there, at the apex of the chumocracy, so he should know. |