Useful

An interesting article by Anne Applebaum in the Spectator raises the spectre of right-wing propaganda and invokes the notion of a legion of useful idiots, duped into backing a position which may be contrary to their real beliefs and harmful to their fortunes. The Tories are so addicted to Brexit, she says, that they’re making horrific new alliances in Eastern Europe and don’t realise that they are being taken for fools. Says who?

Given Applebaum’s credentials in this area do we believe her? Steeped in the study of Marxism-Leninism and being a visiting professor at that hot bed of socialist thought, the LSE, is she genuinely warning of a grave danger, or this a cheeky, sneaky foray into propaganda on her own part? Is it mischief, or is it genuine or is it – and here’s the rub - driven by her own myopia? I mean, is it more likely that there are many useful idiots, or just the one?

I’m not for one second saying that she’s wrong. The fact is, I just don’t know. And neither do you. We can’t even rely on our own direct experiences because they are seen through the distorting prism of our own beliefs. Faith, social class, education, upbringing and the political background of our formative years all play a part. Give me the child until seven, sayeth the Jesuit, and I will give you the man. Basically, when it comes to separating fact from fiction in the socio-political arena, we’re fucked.

Who do you trust? Michael Gove, from relatively humble beginnings, should resound with the hoi polloi and was probably doing so until he clumsily leapt aboard the Brexit charabanc only to then disembark in equally ungainly fashion when he saw his bread buttered on a different side. As a result he is political poison now. Boris, on the other hand is clearly out for Boris and Boris alone, nobody doubts it; yet he is somehow more credible as a Brexiteer. He has decided to cling to the charade of being a man of the people when he is clearly anything but. And it seems to be working.

It’s all about perception; and that, of course is the entire problem. Do you perceive that you have more freedom as part of the EU, or are you merely accepting restraint in return for the illusion of liberty? Or do you believe that Brussels wraps its red tape around your liberties and freedom can only come with total independence? Will we be poorer or richer outside the EU? The debate currently seems to be between those who believe they will be richer in and those who genuinely don’t care and would rather be poorer out, so long as they are out.

As Theresa May has been firmly told, there are no half measures. In or out, take it or leave it. We voted to leave, but we are now being told different stories. The older people who did so are now dead. The young demand their say and will resoundingly vote to stay. Remainers enraged at the EU’s intransigence will switch to Leave. Almost all politicians want to keep the decision making out of the hands of the populists... except for the populists. And why does the EU ‘care’ so much about whether we stay or leave?

Seriously though, who knows?

Nobody knows the future and anybody who claims to so do is a charlatan. Our own position relies not on facts, but on belief. So, do we know we are being manipulated and are happy to jog along, or do we not know and believe we have autonomy? Is the propaganda really effective, or does it only affect them, those others, the willing dupes? Or maybe, we are quite happy to let the Viktor Orbáns run the show because it plays into our hands, we who see through all the shenanigans? If you’re not confused, maybe you don’t understand the game at all. Who’s the useful idiot now?

You're Nobody Till Somebody Owns You

You’re nobody till somebody loves you, sang Dean Martin in 1965. In politics, you’re nobody until you’re somebody’s useful idiot. And in politics, such is the success of the Useful Idiot programme that everybody is a UI in somebody else’s eyes… it’s just not such a catchy song title. (Although, you never know: “I’m a UI in your eyes”? I might just work on that…)

To anybody on the left, the idiots are lined up on the right, although it’s worth pointing out that the term, supposedly coined by Lenin, was always meant to refer to socialist dupes who believed any propaganda they were fed. The concept is sound enough; say bad things often enough and people will believe you. And although you can tell people good things about your side they are far more ready to believe bad things about the other side. 

Thus the anti-anti-immigration lobby has cranked up the rhetoric, branding everybody who expresses concern for the state of the nation as some sort of rabid racist and brandishing figures showing immigration is overwhelmingly ‘a good thing’. Yet surely, even the dimmest wattage lamps can penetrate the fog of anti-anti-anti-(I lose count)-anti-racist prejudice and see that actual overwhelming immigration can only cause chaos; there are only so many places in the EU lifeboat that Britain is becoming. 

Just look at the numbers. Single Joe Pole comes here next month and takes on the number 50 bus, earning the princely sum of £19,839 a year. After deductions of *£3570.32, he has £16308.28 left to live off. (incidentally £286.72 p.a. better off than last year, but of course, the coalition’s tax cuts for workers 'good news' pales against Ed Miliband's tax cuts for millionaires 'bad news'.) That’s £313 per week. Well done Joe, but we’d need 4.6 of you working full time to cover the costs of a family claiming the same amount in benefits and that doesn't take into account that only (only!) 23% of your deductions go on welfare spending. So put simply, 4.6 of you is not enough – we’d need four times that; let’s call it a round 20 after paying for the bureaucracy to tax you in the first place. 

From my crude maths then, it takes 20 working immigrants to cover the costs of a single non-working British household. We have to create 20 jobs when one, with the right tax regime should be enough. And we need 20 beds and provision for another 20 users of our roads, health services, law enforcement, etc. Forget partisan politics, it just makes no sense at all that we import unskilled and semi-skilled labour in their droves from outside just to allow some of those already here to sit idle. Yes,of course they will spend their money in the economy, but the economy had to make room for them in the first place - that argument is a non-sequitur. THAT is a Ponzi scheme.

It makes even less sense to let people come here and sign up as Big Issue Sellers and thus register as self-employed. The Big Issue was set up as a way of helping the homeless back into work. Not as a tool for allowing uncontrolled importation of even MORE homeless. And none of this even begins to scratch at the problem of bringing whole families over here, who now need houses, schools, a lot more healthcare, etc, and soon learn that they are foolishly earning less than they could by becoming unemployed. 

How deeply ingrained is useful idiocy when even in the face of such stark, obvious economic reality, there is still a clarion call of “Racist!” every time the [big] issue is raised. 

Every movement needs it cheerleaders. And behind every Useful Idiot cheerleader there is a vested interest. Where are the REAL facts behind the things we are forced to pay for? What is the truth about: 

• Climate change and green energy taxes? 
• Infrastructure spending and HS2? 
• The EU and the perpetual welfare state? 
• Forever propping up the failed Euro currency? 
• Giving up our independent national defence? 

Who's fooling who?

Maybe there is no truth any more, maybe there is no use for the nation state, maybe we do have a duty to others before we even begin to help ourselves. But back to the useful idiot racist-anti-racist-hate-hate forum – if my neighbours are increasingly unlike me, why is it racist for me to want to know why?

I'd love to hear your thoughts, so feel free to comment below.

(*Link to a useful tax calculator)