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 Emma Goldman (1869-1940) a Lithuanian born American
international anarchist is often credited with coining the above title phrase
which Ken Livingston years later used for his book "If voting changed anything
they'd abolish it" (1988).
This sentiment reflects a left wing critique
of liberal parliamentary democratic systems. It argues that such systems do not
bring about any real structural change in the distribution of income and wealth
and as a consequence political power and influence continues to rest with an
economic and political elite.
Recent global events would appear to give
some credence to such a critique. The current economic system puts profits for
a small elite before the collective need of the whole community especially the
most disadvantaged members. In a report entitled ‘Unequal Britain'1 Professor Peter Hills
shows in stark terms the outcome of the obsession with the free market; ‘Britain's
richest 10% are now 100 times better off than the poorest'.
This is the highest level of income
inequality since the end of the Second World War, with individuals in the top
10% of the population each possessing total household wealth of £853,000.
Moreover, this is a hundred times higher than the wealth of the poorest 10%,
which is £8,800 or below (a sum including cars and other possessions). When the highest-paid
workers, such as bankers and chief executives, are put into the equation the
division in wealth is even more extreme, with
individuals in the top 1% of the population each possessing total household
wealth of £2.6m or more2 .
For thirty years the dominant political and
economic doctrine has been that only ‘free unregulated markets' can meet the
needs of the people. Conservative and New Labour Governments have pursued with
vigour the freeing up and deregulation of the market system, underpinned by
large-scale privatisation of public services.
In 2006 the MCW published ‘Reclaiming Time' a
report which highlighted how many working people had, or were in danger of,
being losers rather than gaining through the ‘freeing' of markets on a global scale.
The report noted that the deregulation of markets had been built on the back of
low pay, casualisation and contracting out of services and that workers rather
than benefiting from an unregulated market had to work harder and longer to
make ends meet. "In the last few years official figures show that 80% of
earners saw very little real extra growth, with most winners in the top
10% .."3
For many years workers and their trades
unions have been told by governments and employers that earnings have to be
based on good performance: There can be no rewards for failure was their
‘mantra'. Yet the reward for a catastrophic failure in the banking sector has
led to the payment of huge bonuses even when the banks are making billions of
pounds of losses. It is therefore no surprise that workers feel a strong sense
of injustice.
In addition those MPs involved in the
parliamentary expenses scandal by their behaviour have created a sense of
mistrust and must bear considerable responsibility for damaging the reputation
of parliamentarians as a whole. However, despite much of the mass media being
culpable in fostering such images it is a gross injustice to tar all
politicians with the same ‘dirty brush'. From personal experience of politics
and as a trade unionist in the public sector
I have met and known decent people who were politicians
from all mainstream parties.
Nonetheless, it is no surprise therefore that
these events have added to the growing disenchantment with politics. Yet even
before the above episodes the turn out at general elections has fallen from 77% to 61%
since 1962. European elections and local government elections in 2009 only
attracted 30% to 34% of the electorate. It is unlikely that this is
attributable to anarchists like Goldman and more likely because of perceptions
that "they are all the same"..."they are only in it for
themselves"..."they have done nothing".
Nevertheless, Livingstone was elected twice
as Mayor for London (2000-2008) and so despite the title of his book he clearly
believes voting can change things and whatever your personal politics some
change was evident during his time in office.
At the time of writing it has been announced that there
will be a General Election on the 6th May
2010 in tandem with local authority elections. Thus, as we are given the
opportunity to elect a new national government and local councils it presents a
major challenge to overcome scepticism and engage with the process as it
exists. Whilst it may be hard to mobilise voters to go out to the ballot box
one thing is certain; the top 10% mentioned above will be voting, every last
man and women of them! We all need to make it ourresponsibility to do the same.
In 1996, the Catholic Bishops' document ‘The Common Good"
cautioned against cynicism towards those engaged in public life whilst reminding us
of the strong Christian tradition ofactive engagement in politics and political parties. With
all its imperfections our current political system is one of the means to have
a political influence.
It is worth remembering that in many countries of the
world millions of people are denied the right to elect their political leaders
and opposition to the political elite is violently oppressed. Even in Britain full
universal suffrage has only existed since 1928, less than 100 years. Our
challenge is to make decisions about whose policies best serve the collective
good. All the major political parties are to a greater or lesser extent wedded
to the free market economy and thus policies will be about managing that system.
Given the level of country's debt, we can expect the next government to pursue massive
reductions in public spending. However,even the International Monetary Fund (IMF), not noted for
supporting Keynesian economics,recognises that huge cuts in public spending will threaten
an economic recovery.
There remains a huge need to confront economic and social
inequality as a question of justice. As the history of Europe illustrates
social and economic inequality can be the breeding ground for extremism and
intolerance. The more extreme parties will be seeking to exploit and push a
nationalist and xenophobic message which sadly will resonate with those who
have not experienced many benefits from the policies of the last 30 years.
The MCW believes that that we have a responsibility to
engage in politics as a legitimate expression of our faith. We are convinced
that there are many women and men throughout the UK (many of whom are members
of MCW) who are engaged in local and national politics for the benefit of the
wider community. They see their political engagement as a response to Christ's
call to renew the face of the earth, building the kingdom here on earth where there
are no strangers, where no-one is excluded and where the needs of all are met
by collective justice. In a world dominated by the globalization of the
economy there is an ever-increasing need for women and men of good will to work
and struggle collectively for the common good of all and not just the few.
1 Released
January 2010
2 The Guardian 27th January 2010
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