{"id":700,"date":"2007-05-01T02:55:07","date_gmt":"2007-05-01T06:55:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/s265039441.onlinehome.us\/philpaine\/?p=700"},"modified":"2018-08-17T11:43:44","modified_gmt":"2018-08-17T15:43:44","slug":"tuesday-may-1-2007-crown-and-parliament","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/?p=700","title":{"rendered":"Tuesday, May 1, 2007 \u2014 Crown and Parliament"},"content":{"rendered":"

I heard some good music (Ivo Evans Band; The Enor\u00admous Sizes) at a pub called The End, in a not-very-pros\u00adper\u00adous part of Cardiff not far from the Uni\u00adver\u00adsi\u00adty. I felt more com\u00adfort\u00adable there than at the Pen &<\/span> Wig, the reput\u00aded hang\u00adout of Sci\u00adence Fic\u00adtion fans in the city. I popped into that one, briefly, but it looked a bit expen\u00adsive for me, and no one I saw gave off the tell-tale signs of SF<\/span> fan\u00addom. I felt more com\u00adfort\u00adable at The End, where I could afford a cou\u00adple of pints, and I seemed to fit in with the clientele.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Cosburn<\/a>

Cos\u00adburn Street, Cardiff<\/p><\/div>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

Most homes in the U.K. seem to be too cramped to do much social\u00adiz\u00ading in, so the pubs pro\u00advide a sort of com\u00admu\u00adnal liv\u00ading room, where almost all social life is con\u00adduct\u00aded. Unlike the noisy and uncom\u00adfort\u00adable bars in Toron\u00adto, they pro\u00advide phys\u00adi\u00adcal com\u00adfort, much like any domes\u00adtic liv\u00ading room. They are not mere booz\u00ading joints, or high pres\u00adsure hunt\u00ading grounds for sex\u00adu\u00adal part\u00adners, as they seem to be back home.<\/span><\/p>\n

Nev\u00ader\u00adthe\u00adless, by suck\u00ading up a lot of cash, they con\u00adtribute to one of the fun\u00adda\u00admen\u00adtal prob\u00adlems that faces the human race: the ten\u00adden\u00adcy of every soci\u00adety to bleed away any kind of sur\u00adplus that might be accu\u00admu\u00adlat\u00aded by the aver\u00adage per\u00adson, so that fun\u00adda\u00admen\u00adtal improve\u00adments in lifestyle and secu\u00adri\u00adty are dif\u00adfi\u00adcult to achieve. No mat\u00adter how many sky\u00adscrap\u00aders rise on the hori\u00adzon, the aver\u00adage per\u00adson makes lit\u00adtle eco\u00adnom\u00adic head\u00adway. High\u00ader salaries are invari\u00adably accom\u00adpa\u00adnied by high\u00ader accom\u00admo\u00adda\u00adtion costs, and the only real improve\u00adment seems to be in the avail\u00adabil\u00adi\u00adty of some con\u00adsumer goods, or more choic\u00ades in entertainment.<\/span><\/p>\n

Com\u00adpared to me, the Bol\u00adlas (my hosts in Cardiff) have huge amounts of mon\u00adey pass\u00ading through their hands, but the small coun\u00adcil house they live in pro\u00advides no bet\u00adter hous\u00ading than my apart\u00adment in Toron\u00adto. The coun\u00adcil rates they pay for this very mod\u00adest row-house swal\u00adlow most of their income.<\/span><\/p>\n

More than a cen\u00adtu\u00adry ago, in North Amer\u00adi\u00adca, the inven\u00adtion of bal\u00adloon-frame con\u00adstruc\u00adtion cut the cost of hous\u00ading in half. Plen\u00adty of open land, and the legal frame\u00adwork of home\u00adsteading meant that huge amounts of pub\u00adlic and pri\u00advate infra\u00adstruc\u00adture could be built, and at the same time, per\u00adson\u00adal effort could be trans\u00adformed into sav\u00adings, or per\u00adson\u00adal invest\u00adment cap\u00adi\u00adtal. This trig\u00adgered the most phe\u00adnom\u00ade\u00adnal improve\u00adment in liv\u00ading stan\u00addards in human his\u00adto\u00adry. For sev\u00ader\u00adal gen\u00ader\u00ada\u00adtions, the gap between the lifestyle of Cana\u00addi\u00adans, Amer\u00adi\u00adcans, Aus\u00adtralians and New Zealan\u00adders one the once hand, and the rest of the world was obvi\u00adous and dra\u00admat\u00adic. The image of these places as gold\u00aden lands of oppor\u00adtu\u00adni\u00adty for the com\u00admon man and woman was fueled by this ben\u00ade\u00adfi\u00adcial ratio, as well as by sub\u00adstan\u00adtial gains in polit\u00adi\u00adcal democ\u00adra\u00adcy, and the reduc\u00adtion of class bar\u00adri\u00aders. Even the Great Depres\u00adsion made only a tem\u00adpo\u00adrary dent in this gen\u00ader\u00adal trend of improve\u00adment. After World War II<\/span>, the gap was huge.
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

A friend of mine described the sit\u00adu\u00ada\u00adtion of his par\u00adents, who were retirees in a small Cana\u00addi\u00adan town. His father, with min\u00adi\u00admal edu\u00adca\u00adtion, had worked at a sim\u00adple fac\u00adto\u00adry job, the sort of work where you are respon\u00adsi\u00adble for mon\u00adi\u00adtor\u00ading some gauges and doing some rou\u00adtine pro\u00adce\u00addures. With this mod\u00adest effort, he was able to build a very nice house (for which, on retire\u00adment, he was pay\u00ading off a mort\u00adgage of a few dol\u00adlars a month), send his son to uni\u00adver\u00adsi\u00adty, and pro\u00advide for a com\u00adfort\u00adable life in retire\u00adment. He had great trou\u00adble under\u00adstand\u00ading why his son, bet\u00adter edu\u00adcat\u00aded, and work\u00ading as a pro\u00adfes\u00adsion\u00adal engi\u00adneer, had trou\u00adble mak\u00ading ends meet. This pro\u00adfound con\u00adtrast became nor\u00admal after the 1980, when the pro\u00adgres\u00adsive leap for\u00adward of North Amer\u00adi\u00adcan life began to run out of steam. Cana\u00adda and the Unit\u00aded States now oper\u00adate more or less like the rest of the world, with the aver\u00adage per\u00adson drained of what\u00adev\u00ader income they earn at the rate it is made, most\u00adly to pro\u00advide roofs over heads. Con\u00adsumer cred\u00adit pro\u00advides most of the \u201cextras\u201d, depend\u00ading on antic\u00adi\u00adpat\u00aded improve\u00adments that may not come. The sta\u00adtis\u00adtics tell a sad sto\u00adry: the aver\u00adage Cana\u00addi\u00adan or Amer\u00adi\u00adcan works longer hours now than a gen\u00ader\u00ada\u00adtion ago, and rather than accu\u00admu\u00adlat\u00ading sav\u00adings, accu\u00admu\u00adlates debts. This was the essence of the \u201cRea\u00adgan Rev\u00ado\u00adlu\u00adtion,\u201d which was, like most \u201crev\u00ado\u00adlu\u00adtions\u201d basi\u00adcal\u00adly an empow\u00ader\u00ading of the rich by dis-empow\u00ader\u00ading every\u00adone else.
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

Where has the mon\u00adey gone? In the Unit\u00aded States, it has been squan\u00addered on a vast mil\u00adi\u00adtary estab\u00adlish\u00adment, which throws it away in immense\u00adly destruc\u00adtive and pur\u00adpose\u00adless impe\u00adri\u00adal\u00adist wars, and on the build\u00ading up of an Old-Euro\u00adpean-style aris\u00adtoc\u00adra\u00adcy. This is a process that began in earnest with the Viet\u00adnam War, and the growth of the pro\u00adfound\u00adly un-Amer\u00adi\u00adcan cult of the Presidency.<\/span><\/p>\n

Amer\u00adi\u00adca\u2019s lev\u00adel of per\u00adson\u00adal and pub\u00adlic debt is now so high that it is dif\u00adfi\u00adcult to imag\u00adine any degree of eco\u00adnom\u00adic dynamism that could ever pay it off. Amer\u00adi\u00adca is essen\u00adtial\u00adly bank\u00adrupt, liv\u00ading for the moment on cred\u00adit that will, soon\u00ader or lat\u00ader, be cut off. Yet, at the same time, there is a grow\u00ading lay\u00ader of per\u00adma\u00adnent\u00adly priv\u00adi\u00adleged wealth that lives in unbe\u00adliev\u00adable lux\u00adu\u00adry, with lit\u00adtle pro\u00adduc\u00adtiv\u00adi\u00adty to jus\u00adti\u00adfy it. In short, Amer\u00adi\u00adca has become Vic\u00adto\u00adri\u00adan Eng\u00adland, and it won\u2019t be long before Amer\u00adi\u00adcans are cring\u00ading before their \u201cbet\u00adters\u201d, doff\u00ading their caps, and mur\u00admur\u00ading \u201cbegin\u2019 your par\u00addon, Squire\u201d to an assort\u00adment of aris\u00adto\u00adcrat\u00adic jack\u00adass\u00ades. This, no doubt, will be dressed up in the lan\u00adguage of the \u201cmar\u00adket econ\u00ado\u00admy\u201d to which it is a fun\u00adda\u00admen\u00adtal con\u00adtra\u00addic\u00adtion and violation.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I heard some good music (Ivo Evans Band; The Enor\u00admous Sizes) at a pub called The End, in a not-very-pros\u00adper\u00adous part of Cardiff not far from the Uni\u00adver\u00adsi\u00adty. I felt more com\u00adfort\u00adable there than at the Pen &<\/span> Wig, the reputed \u2026<\/p>\n

Read more \u00bb<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wp_typography_post_enhancements_disabled":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-700","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-a-blog","category-at-blog-2007"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/700","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=700"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/700\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9080,"href":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/700\/revisions\/9080"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=700"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=700"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=700"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}