(Mostly negative, but a couple of little positives at the end.)
The trouble is that trying to sort it is going to be affected by the general politics of whoever is in government, and that always involves some sort of compromise with others, particularly powerful influences, except when there's tyranny, and even a dictator needs to keep his followers onside.
And how we interpret it will depend on our politics. I'd describe myself as a 'tactical anti-Tory voter' or 'sort of roughly half way in-between New Labour and Trotskyism'.
So I see what's happening as part of neoliberalism with classic strategies such as Defund, Demoralise, Privatise. Given that, in my opinion, Tony Blair's government went further in terms of privatising the NHS and making social security for disability and sickness harder to access than Margaret Thatcher did, and based on what Wes Streeting has been saying, I see no reason to suppose that if Labour gets elected next time around, Starmer's government would reverse austerity and privatisation instead of extending them.
And pretty much everywhere on the political spectrum, at every level from international politics down to the family, divide and rule is 'the oldest trick in the book'. There's a great Spinner's song Kick the Cat, which is all about how you have to know who's above you and who's below, and if you're at the bottom, then you just have to kick the cat.
Thus policies focussed on making benefits harder to get and putting far more resources into that than into catching mulitimillionnaire tax dodgers has, from a politician's perspective, the joint benefit of keeping their donors & backers happy whilst demonising the poor.
Do I despair? More often than I should, but this much I notice...
Whilst he internet has been used by various political interests to manipulate us, it's also being used to bring people together. This is particularly happening in healthcare.
I believe there's a very good chance we'll end up with an American-style healthcare system, but also over there are patients' organisations, charities, other interested groups who interact and find more affordable healthcare.
And whilst we shouldn't need charities (I think that what we all too often rely on them for is what 'society' should be providing), if our country is run politically by people driven by profit, then those charities and other non-profit organisations that are genuinely people-motivated, community-motivated can be our alternative.
The other thing I'll say is this. Just as extremists and dictators take advantage of the despair of ordinary people, sometimes they back off from it. Example - I believe that the main reason that in the UK (and various other countries) some welfare provision was brought in after WW1 and more after WW2 was a fear by politicians who'd otherwise oppose it, that war-weary veterans could be easily stirred up to revolution. What happens if the vibe they get when they come home is that it was all wasted, they've come home to a country that doesn't give a toss about them? Fine if it's just a few, not good when it's millions.
So politicians can and do back down a bit and be a bit nicer without having to actually be nicer.
I get very politically negative and frightened and then remember these glimmers of hope. I go out of the house and meet people I don't know who are kind and helpful and try to pay it forward.
