Divide & Conquer

Over a cup of tea with my neighbour this afternoon I said "if we (the people) refuse to be divided then we cannot be conquered", the usual run of the mill conversation between neighbours in the Peoples' Republic of Grangetown. He replied "We wont refuse to be divided though, we all want the biggest telly or the biggest car". "We don't" I motioned in our direction. I haven't had a telly for ten years and it was never that big when I had one. I don't need a telly to get a feel for what is going on. I anticipated this Labour Party nonsense back in December and lo it has come to pass. Comrade neighbour said "that eventually everyone would have to end up living like him. They wont like it but they are going to have to cut back and count every penny".

I concurred. The days of the bright shiny things are over. Our big topic of the day was cars! Cars need to come off the roads. There are streets in Cardiff, terraced streets with four cars belonging to one family. Is this greed or need? Does every member of the family need a car? No but they want one for convenience sake. I can say that this is my car, this is my possession. There are too many cars on the roads of Cardiff. The traffic is getting like London and the cycle infrastructure isn't good enough or safe enough to offer a viable alternative. Aspirational wealth leading nowhere. I would vote for a Government that limited cars to a maximum of two per family. I would vote for an administration that re-introduced 'rationing'. There is too much choice in the supermarkets and too much waste. Packaging is ridiculous. This unlimited growth when it stops as it will might come as a real shock to some. Those who live like their governments, in an utopia of short-termism worrying nought about the legacy left to future generations. "We'll be dead anyway so what do we care". Why do we eulogise Business and the Economy? Why don't we start celebrating community living, sustainable living? perceived by the comfortable and complacent as a quaint hobby. Capitalism is a lifestyle choice and it is burning out! We have to embrace the alternatives now before we become the death star.