PROPERTY LADDER

This expression really makes me cringe. Homes are to live in and should be cheap and easily available. At least that's the theory. But no, it couldn't be that simple. It never is with humans. It seems like humans have a masochistic attitude to life in the way they have to complicate the most simplest and most basic necessities. Money is god and must be obeyed.

Homes are yet another way to make money. That's their primary function. They are to be sold for more than they were bought for, with improvements included to increase the value. The additional value is then used to buy a more expensive property. Hence the ladder humans crawl up.

It doesn't matter to the owners whether anyone can afford to buy somewhere to live. It's all down to greed of the owners and the banks or building societies. Humans have been conditioned to see such a progress as a sign of success and would be unhappy at being labelled as greedy. Some may complain about their property not selling, which obviously could be improved by cutting the asking price but that would be unthinkable to those selling. The property ladder is calling them.

If someone wanted to buy a proprty they can always borrow money and spend much of their lives paying back more than they borrowed. If they later can't pay back, the banks will quickly throw them out of their home and sell it themselves.

 It's the 21st century but there are many who are living in squalor, making a choice whether to use energy to heat their homes or to cook food. When someone manages to get a home, there are ridiculously expensive bills and taxes to pay. The elderly suffer the most.

OPIUM FOR THE PEOPLE. . .

Karl Marx described religion as the opium of the people. He was wrong, it’s money. It’s not just opium but every other recreational drug you could think of.

Like a narcotic drug, the effect depends on how much is taken, with a similar confusion between reality and fantasy. The user becomes convinced that they can do anything, that anything is possible. It numbs the senses, creating a cushioned bubble around them against the difficulties produced by reality.

They become less and less interested in those without money, possibly feeling paranoid about anyone planning to take it from them.

They have allies in governments who have always been on the side of the wealthy. They have created laws to allow them to prosper and to keep away the undesirables.

ARMS TRADING

During the Falklands War, the thing that struck me most was that the Argentineans were using French built Exocet missiles against the British armed forces. No one commented about this, that a supposed ally to Britain was supplying weapons to a country which was then using them to destroy and kill the British forces.

I find the arms trade a strange concept. Because of the resulting wealth they can largely do what they like. Governments become mesmerised by that wealth and the taxes collected from it. That’s more important than human life.

Countries have supplied weaponry all over the world and so it’s highly likely that they could be used to kill humans from those same countries. And no one seems to care.

I couldn’t imagine myself working for a company that produces weapons which were to be used for the taking of human life. Money acts to numb the mind away from such thoughts, to keep reality away.