In Robert E. Gamer’s book “The Developing Nations” is a chapter called “Why Men Do Not Revolt.” In it Gamer notes that although the oppressed often do revolt, the object of their hostility is misplaced. They vent their fury on a political puppet, someone who masks colonial power, a despised racial or ethnic group or an apostate within their own political class. The useless battles serve as an effective mask for what Gamer calls the “patron-client” networks that are responsible for the continuity of colonial oppression. The squabbles among the oppressed, the political campaigns between candidates who each are servants of colonial power, Gamer writes, absolve the actual centers of power from addressing the conditions that cause the frustrations of the people. Inequities, political disenfranchisement ... Continue reading →

Illustration by Daniel Pudles Modern government could be interpreted as a device for projecting corporate power. Since the 1980s, in Britain, the US and other nations, the primary mission of governments has been to grant their sponsors in the private sector ever greater access to public money and public life.There are several means by which they do so: the privatisation and outsourcing of public services; the stuffing of public committees with corporate executives; and the reshaping of laws and regulations to favour big business. In the UK, the Health and Social Care Act extends the corporate domain in ways unimaginable even five years ago.With these increasing powers come diminishing obligations. Through repeated cycles of deregulation, governments release big business from its duty of care towards ... Continue reading →

Carl Gray, who raises beef cattle on around 340 hectares (830 acres) of rolling countryside near Tewkesbury, was surprised to get the letter. It came from Vion, the abattoir and cutting factory where he sends his organic cattle for processing for Tesco. Vion is a Dutch farmer-owned company that has emerged from a series of takeovers as the UK's largest slaughterer of meat. Although little known to UK consumers, most of us have eaten its products; it supplies nearly all of the major retailers with chicken, beef, lamb and pork.Without ceremony the letter in March informed Gray that Vion would be changing its systems to pay him not through his co-operative as currently but direct in future and asked for his bank details. It also ... Continue reading →

This is, by any measure, an astonishing thing (HT @DeborahJaneOrr) Continue reading →