2 March

Today conservative parties in the Western world aren't really parties, they're lobby groups for big corporations, with simple messages - lower taxes, lower regulations. Corporations funded the overthrow of these conservative parties, accelerating from the mid-1990s, which is why all of them are in perpetual internal crisis too. Notice how no matter what the issue, these are the proposed solutions - cut taxes, cut regulation. That tells you who's driving. Look at the outcome in the graph, how corporations have been allowed to completely bankrupt the global economy, with proceeds going to shareholders and senior executives. (Note that recently corporations have been engaging in massive share buybacks, to reclaim more of the wealth even from shareholders.) The political battles of our day are nothing to do with Left and Right. If you don't believe me, think about what our countries have actually produced and built in this time. Next to nothing. 'Economic growth' is a bullshit term for manipulating financial instruments for the benefit of these corporations. Not one of them was even charged during the GFC in 2008 - the debt now is even bigger.