The light at the end of the tunnel

In Sunday's Observer Will Hutton told us that
"The only way forward is good capitalism..." Chance would be a fine thing.

Last year British Executives wages rose by 49%
Another 700,000 jobs are to go in the public sector
Benefits cut again
Public sector wages capped for four years
Private sector wages going down
Longest period of falling incomes (for the 99%) ever recorded
2800 bankers in London earning more than a £1 million a year
In the UK, the richest 1% has seen their incomes double since the 1970s
The average annual income for the richest 10% of British people in 2008 was 12 times higher than the average for the bottom 10%.
OECD says inequality rising faster in Britain than in 22 leading countries
And so it goes on.

Why is British capitalism the international pits when it comes to inequality? The City ... of London. It makes nothing useful, just money, and overwhelmingly for itself.  British capitalism is tied, hand and foot, to the City. Even the British State has been captured. Look at the bail-outs; they did not just compensate the savers and mortgage payers. The state (our taxes) saved the super rich and protected their wealth. Now the City is helping to ruin European economies.

Looking for gooder capitalism at the end of the tunnel is a lost cause. Sorry Mr Hutton but we need a completely different sort of society. Will Hutton was right to say that a crisis of this size will change everything, including our traditional party politics. He pointed out that most of our political institutions are based on a past that is now long dead. But it is not enough.

We need to start thinking about what we, the 99%, do need to help us discuss, plan, organise and then recreate a new way of life. Last time in the 1930s the 1% came up with a National Government.  'Put all the talents together, in the face of our national crisis!' they cried. The 99% cannot afford to fall for that that old sales pitch twice. Last time it led to depression and war.

We need a new political organisation to go with the new politics and behind the new politics, the new realities. No doubt it will come together from many corners of society. It would need to start from the representing the battles already raging. Nobody is yet even close to that. But the 99% will need to stand against the Coalition, and when that falls, fight the new moves for a National government. The 99% will need a Party. A completely different sort of Party ok. But we will need it. And we will make it. Millions will breath a sigh of relief and start to hope again.

That is the light at the end of the tunnel