It is difficult to question that American leftism is enjoying prominence unparalleled in recent years. No longer is left-wing politics viewed as a vote-splitting sideshow, represented by third-party figures such as Ralph Nader or Jill Stein. Much of the Democratic Party, inspired by its activist base and the 2016 primary campaign of Bernie Sanders, has come to accept many ideas previously seen…
Earlier this month, Burger King announced they were releasing ‘Real Meals’ – because ‘no one is happy all the time’. Their options – designed to counter the ‘Happy Meal’ now include the ‘Pissed Meal, Blue Meal, Salty Meal, YAAAS Meal and the DGAF Meal.’ Burger King said in a press release that ‘the brand believes in authenticity and welcomes all guests’ and…
The Uber flotation and the power of imagined futures Entrepreneurial TV shows like The Apprentice and Dragon’s Den are littered with awful clichés. These apparent statements of common sense float about, ready to be called into action to rebuke those who don’t show quite enough acumen. One of those clichés, “revenues are vanity, profit is sanity”, came to mind with the news…
One of the most depressing constants in industrial life in the UK is the life cycle of the average British business. They are frequently born from the minds of one of the country’s exceptionally well-educated workforce in the high-value manufacturing or software sector, before being built up through the efforts of skilled employees. Sadly, their contribution to the economy is often then hijacked by large, usually overseas, investment firms and conglomerates buying the business. At best, the decisions that affect hundreds of workers and the economies of whole towns are now taken in boardrooms in New York or Shanghai. At worst, the company is asset-stripped for its patents, techniques and talent before being wound up. In between this runs the spectrum of profit relocation (or tax evasion as normal people call it), layoffs, the imposition of hostile working practices and decline of quality. Even the largest and most successful of British businesses aren’t immune to this. When Cadbury’s was taken over by Kraft, the entire board resigned and their replacements subsequently shuttered dozens of factories across the world in a cost-cutting exercise. ARM Holdings, who make the microprocessors found in almost every mobile phone, were taken over by Japan’s SoftBank and then saw their Chinese arm sold to fuel Xi Jinping’s government’s strategy of acquiring foreign technology firms to jump-start China’s indigenous high-tech industry.
I spend a lot of time talking with my mum. Sometimes when I’m at the tills, our conversations spin around in my head, oftentimes out of sheer bewilderment, but there’s a modest kind of genius that can only come from parental discourse in your mid twenties. About two months ago, during one such conversation, she made a bold statement – so bold,…
Amidst the surfeit of hot takes tearing into the gilets jaunes, one point is worth stressing: this was, it must be said, a long time coming. Macron’s moniker of ‘President of the Rich’ is nothing new. His approval ratings have been dismal – and dropping – for months. Little time has passed since an aide was filmed donning riot gear and beating…
Intergenerational Justice – Necessary and Difficult. Social democracy is, and always has been, a struggle to give a voice to the voiceless: not speaking for people but giving them a platform to speak. For most inequalities, it is easier to give the marginalised group a seat at the table to advocate their own interests. There is a considerable distance left to go,…
The British state has been starved since 2010: methodically and deliberately. We were told that this was because the crash of 2008 devastated public finances. By now, it is clear this was merely an excuse to justify the ideologically-driven austerity agenda of George Osborne, who hacked away at the state with almost pathological zeal. The damage his actions have done to our…
