{"id":2186,"date":"2022-07-29T10:17:52","date_gmt":"2022-07-29T11:17:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/malvinartley.com\/blog.malvinartley.com\/?p=2186"},"modified":"2022-07-29T10:17:52","modified_gmt":"2022-07-29T11:17:52","slug":"surfing-the-zeitgeist-in-the-uk","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/malvinartley.com\/blog.malvinartley.com\/2022\/07\/29\/surfing-the-zeitgeist-in-the-uk\/","title":{"rendered":"Surfing the zeitgeist in the UK"},"content":{"rendered":"

Zeitgeist: \\ \u02c8ts\u012bt-\u02ccg\u012bst , \u02c8z\u012bt- \\: the general intellectual, moral, and cultural climate of an era, or \u2018the spirit of the times\u2019. The spirit of the times in the UK is not exactly flash at the moment. There are long queues at airports and ports all over the UK, especially in Dover. COVID remains a thing, which worries many people still. Inflation is sharply up. Food, petrol and energy prices are sharply up. In fact, the UK has the highest inflation of all the G7 countries, at nearly 10% as of this writing. Winter is around the corner. And now the British public is being shown the spector of two libertarian candidates to lead the Tories for until the next general election. The zeitgeist of the UK is not one for happy campers, unless one happens to have heaps of dosh.<\/span><\/p>\n

Following on from our last look at the candidates<\/a><\/span>, the field had be whittled down to the final two choices \u2013 \u2018Dishy\u2019 Rishi and Liz \u2018Ready to Hit the Ground<\/a><\/span>\u2019 Truss \u2013 the latter affectionately (?) called \u2018the human hand grenade<\/a><\/span>\u2019. Public opinion polls put the two candidates as running a neck-and-neck race to the PMQs hot seat. But there is more to this than meets the eye.<\/span><\/p>\n

The public in the UK, much like the US and many Western democracies \u2013 as they are known or as we like to think of them \u2013 do not choose their leaders. They elect a political party, who in turn select their leader. In the UK this is done behind closed doors in secret ballots solely by Conservative Party members. It is worth taking a look at the demographics of that party membership to get an idea of how this will play out.<\/span><\/p>\n

In 2019 The Guardian<\/em> did an article on Tory members<\/a><\/span> and the following stats stood out: The average age of Tory Party members is 57, with almost 40% being over 66 y\/o, mostly male, most of them having joined after the Brexit vote (This is a most-important point), a third of them live in London or the southeast, with the next-highest percentage in the southwest (this is also important), with a party membership of over 160,000 now. And there is decided racism there<\/a><\/span>, also an important consideration, though they do their best to deny it. From the penultimate article:<\/span><\/p>\n

“If they love their party, Conservative members have an unusual way of showing it. According to a survey by YouGov, 54% of party members say they would rather see their own party destroyed than have Brexit not take place. Sixty-one per cent would prefer to see \u201csignificant damage to the UK economy\u201d and 63% would consider Scotland leaving the United Kingdom to be a price worth paying [as in, if they can \u2018get Brexit done\u2019].<\/span><\/p>\n

As they prepare to select the next prime minister at a time of crisis, the attitudes of this group are arguably more consequential for the rest of the country than ever before. And the makeup of the membership appears to be changing \u2013 and becoming ever more supportive of a hard Brexit.”<\/span><\/p>\n

And to add to the sentiment of party members regarding Scotland, they also feel the same toward Northern Ireland<\/a><\/span>. But in a rather interesting twist, they would rather see the UK stay in the EU if Corbyn had been elected PM. Since Corbyn has been smeared and ousted, the Tories see (or think they do) a clear road ahead for a hard Brexit.<\/span><\/p>\n

Boris Johnson was the result of their choice in 2019, and by and large the Tory members got their wish moving toward a hard Brexit. But he only gave them so much and they now want more. So, here is what we have with this \u2018leadership\u2019 contest: A party that wants a hard Brexit, which has no care at all for regulations, which would like to see them gone altogether, who has no care for the lot of the average UK citizen and who really do not care if the UK in its present form even survives, who would not care if the UK suffered a massive economic downturn \u2013 all for their precious Brexit.<\/span><\/p>\n

Basically, the Tories are an English mob, rather than being representative of the UK. If we subtract the percentages of Wales and Scotland from the total membership (as of 2019), that leaves a whopping 86% of Tory members being English. Northern Ireland does not have an appreciable Tory membership base. Northern Ireland is inconsequential to the Tories, except as it serves their interests. No wonder the Tories don\u2019t care if the UK stays intact.<\/span><\/p>\n

And just how are the polls among Conservatives for the next illustrious leader, the one who will give them their hard Brexit?: After their latest debate, a snap poll among Party members showed that Truss trashed Sunak in the polling<\/a><\/span>. So, what does the astrology of the two candidates say? The chart for Truss with directions and transits is below (bigger<\/a><\/span>):<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The immediate standouts are the directions, and these are representative of a political victory, involving Venus, Jupiter and Neptune. Neptune rules plebiscites (or Party voting), Jupiter rules politicians in general (as well as actors, like Reagan, Trump and Zelenskyy, for instance) and Venus rules general attractiveness to voters. Truss has it all, even with Saturn involved. Those directions are both by and to natal positions.<\/span><\/p>\n

As to her transits, Truss has had transiting Jupiter trine her Neptune and quincunx her Venus, giving her a boost in popularity. Starting next week, transiting Pluto will oppose her natal Mercury, making her more persuasive, if not more prone to gaffes, not that they would matter to the Conservatives. That transit would also bring out more of her fighting spirit, but also tend to make her over-confident, irritable and with an inflated sense of ego. One gets the sense she thinks she has this in the bag, which could lead to her undoing.<\/span><\/p>\n

The preceding said, ignoring the angles in the chart (because we do not have birth times for either her or for Sunak), the planetary indicators are that if the vote was held in the next couple of weeks, she would win the race to the top, hands down. The polling reflects her astrology. That is confirmed when we look at Sunak\u2019s chart with directions and transits, below (bigger<\/a><\/span>):<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Astrologically, \u2018Dishy\u2019 is looking about as appealing as a plate of cold spaghetti at the moment rather than a tempting huge bowl of Eton mess. There is no help for him from Venus, Jupiter or Neptune. Instead, he has transiting Saturn at the lower square of his Sun, square to natal Uranus and on his directed Vertex \u2013 not a grand omen of success. And anyway, miracles don\u2019t tend to happen with the Saturn transit at the lower square to the Sun. That is a period of starting things anew, with slow, steady progress \u2013 maybe a cabinet position after the fact.<\/span><\/p>\n

With all the preceding astrology in mind now, since we do not have birth times and thereby do not know the angles in the charts, we cannot say definitively who will win the race. And when it comes to the brass tacks, it doesn\u2019t matter who will win. They would both be terrible for the UK, as in the average citizen, and would go on to wreck what is left of the British economy and much of British society, much to the delight of the majority of Conservative Party members. Then again, maybe not. As to why not, we will get to that shortly.<\/span><\/p>\n

Given her astrology and that of \u2018cold spaghetti\u2019 Sunak, along with current polling of Party members, supposing \u2013 just supposing, mind you \u2013 Truss is elevated to the PMQs seat, what then? To begin, Liz Truss went all existential on us recently when she was heard to say, \u201cI want to surf the zeitgeist to where it\u2019s all happening\u201d \u2013 whatever that means. We can see she is firmly in line with Tory policy. We also know the inclinations of the Tories and where their spirit is, probably in a bottle of Beefeater\u2019s, as they toast their upcoming leader.<\/span><\/p>\n

But instead of \u2018surfing the zeitgeist\u2019, meaning the current spirit of the British public, Truss appears to be surfin\u2019 USA<\/a><\/span>, or perhaps surfing with the alien<\/a><\/span>. She may even envision herself to be some version of the Silver Surfer, battling the army<\/a><\/span> (Russian, that is), but she is currently caught up in a fantasy, much like the Tory Party. Song titles and film moments aside, those also carry other meanings.<\/span><\/p>\n

When it comes to surfin\u2019 USA, if the British public had known the extent to which Brexit was funded and pushed behind the scenes before the Brexit referendum by rich Americans<\/a><\/span>, the UK would probably still be in the EU, and the Tories out of power. And speaking of aliens, there are American and Russian resident aliens in the UK who have a great interest in seeing Brexit work. Of course, the Russians get blamed for Brexit too, and there is some connection there, a carry-over from the \u201890s when Russian oligarchs were laundering their theft from average Russians through the City of London, with some of those oligarchs actually moving to London. That is a story that needs a separate treatment, given the heavy anti-Russian sentiment at the moment.<\/span><\/p>\n

However, there is a fascist element in the US that is intent on moving in and privatizing social services in the UK and setting up charter cities across the UK coast. From a recent article<\/a><\/span>:<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe American corporate-fascist network, historically backed by the heavy industry tycoon\u00a0Charles Koch<\/a><\/span>\u00a0and hedge-fund manager\/Artificial Intelligence (AI) pioneer\u00a0Robert Mercer<\/a><\/span>, and now bolstered by the new age\u00a0Tech billionaires finance and insight<\/a><\/span>\u00a0were more interested in Charter Cities up and down the UK. Not just for the unfettered exploitation of the UK\u2019s people and natural resources, that is undoubtedly part of it, but they have their sights set on more than just taking our money.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

What is a Charter City, one might ask? There is a very slick site that describes what they are<\/a><\/span>, via the FAQ format, using words and phrases like \u2018freedom\u2019, \u2018improved democracy\u2019, \u2018care for the disadvantaged\u2019, \u2018not only for the rich\u2019 (that\u2019s a good one!), and so forth. The group\u2019s head of marketing graduated from the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising in Los Angeles, if that tells you anything. Essentially, these cities are monopolies and are autonomous regions within a nation. In one view, they are a slippery slope toward the devolution of a state, reducing its autonomy. Continuing on the preceding quote:<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhat are Charter Cities? Exactly what the name suggests, privately owned and operated cities where everything from healthcare, education and the police force to the legislature and judicial system are ring fenced from the host country becoming a privately operated fiefdom. All these institutions and more are operated by a private company that is accountable to nobody else. There is no independent or legal oversight of these cities, just the rules that they set in their privately owned legislative bodies and enforce with their privately owned judicial system.<\/span><\/p>\n

Paul Romer (professor and mentor to Rishi Sunak who is now spearheading the UK\u2019s Charter Cities plan) first proposed the Enterprise City model, which differed slightly to the Charter Cities plan being rolled out across Britain now.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

That Charter Cities plan is being rolled out by a group calling themselves the TaxPayer\u2019s Alliance<\/a><\/span>, a hard-right group, the members of which probably pay very little if any tax. In fact, they advocate for paying low taxes, which may be music to many people\u2019s ears, but it is a siren song for the average British taxpayer.<\/span><\/p>\n

So, is there a working example of such a charter city today? The simple answer is no. There were attempts at several in Honduras \u2013 Ciudad Morazan, in the city of Choloma; Prospera, on the north coast; and Orquidea, in the southern department of Choluteca, being but a few examples. But they were all scrapped<\/a><\/span>. Why?<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe zones (known as ZEDEs in Spanish) free private investors or business groups from paying duties on imports and exports<\/strong>. The law allowed investors to govern themselves by forming a security force, building schools and even social security systems, according to AP. Xiomara Castro had promised to repeal the law during her election campaign, saying the legal measure would lead to the creation of independent states within the Central American country<\/strong>.<\/span><\/p>\n

The ZEDE scheme was passed during the tenure of former president Porfirio Lobo Sosa and later pushed by the administration of Juan Orlando Hern\u00e1ndez, who is currently in a US jail for drug trafficking charges. Castro has described her decision as \u201chistoric\u201d, adding that the revocation was a necessary step to help her country retain sovereignty<\/strong>.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

For the record, Lobo Sosa was ousted on charges of corruption and nepotism. His wife is in prison for theft of government funds and falsifying records, while his son was arrested in the US on drugs charges and is serving a 24-year prison term. Sosa, his wife and his son got mentioned in the Panama Paters for having registered companies in tax havens. Hernandez was even worse than Lobo Sosa<\/a><\/span>, having been charged with having ties with the Sinaloa drug cartel<\/a><\/span> in Mexico. The cartel has over 100,000 members and very long tentacles. The ZEDEs in Honduras made for perfect vehicles for such an organization.<\/span><\/p>\n

Why is any of the preceding regarding Charter Cities important? Consider that the Tory members represent roughly 0.2% of the British public. Their stated goals run counter to those of the British public. The British public, for example, want the UK to lead the world in the fight against climate change<\/a><\/span>, they want a close relationship with the EU<\/a><\/span> instead of the hard crash-out, they support public ownership over privatization<\/span><\/a>, they want the monarchy to continue<\/a><\/span> (but they are tepid on another King Charles<\/a><\/span>), and they especially want the NHS to stay in public hands and to be well-funded<\/a><\/span> and supported. The Tories want to take a wrecking ball to all that, maybe with a human hand grenade to boot.<\/span><\/p>\n

Given what the British public actually wants from their leadership, we see the Tories are way out of touch with the public, not that the Tories care. The British zeitgeist is about to become the Christmas nightmare of Ebenezer Scrooge<\/a><\/span> for the Tories, in all probability. There is a similarity there between Scrooge and the Tories. Why that nightmare might be is because of the rising unrest in the UK, the growing number of strikes, the growing popularity of people like Mick Lynch, who tells it like it is (there are repeats in the video):<\/span><\/p>\n