A society 'close to the edge'

The fact that millions of people in Britain cannot cope with everyday life, as revealed in a landmark report today, is testimony to the deeply alienated, dog-eat-dog society that has emerged after three decades of intense globalisation and commercialisation of just about every aspect of society.

What has resulted is a more deeply alienated Britain, with people out of touch with themselves and with others. In a 294-page research study, the Young Foundation’s Sinking and Swimming – understanding Britain’s unmet needs combines statistical data, research based on conversations with citizens as well as professionals, case studies and reflections on both past patterns of need and future possibilities.

The report finds that health inequalities, inequalities of wealth and inequalities of income have widened while a large minority of teenagers (one in eight) remains detached from the education system and the labour market.

It adds: “Over two and a half million people remain on incapacity benefit and employment and support allowance. And the very poorest have seen their living standards stagnate or even decline. Over the last year the recession has raised unemployment, put downward pressure on incomes and will soon be followed by sharp cuts in public spending which are likely to affect the poorest most.”

Between one in six and one in four people in the UK experience mental health problems at some point in their lives. The number of prescriptions for anti-depressant drugs increased from 9 million in 1991 to 34 million in 2007. There are also important “psycho-social needs” – some people have no one to talk to day-to-day or about important issues, the report adds.

Unsurprisingly, the groups most likely to have acute and persistent needs include the unemployed, lone parents and many living with disabilities, as well as half a million irregular migrants, 140,000 child runaways, a third of a million problematic drug users and 80,000 looked after children.

The report acknowledges the “rise of individualism” as a factor and explains: “A more overtly meritocratic society has encouraged people to be more ambitious for themselves, but also made them more vulnerable to failures – and more likely to blame themselves (rather than fate or the class system) if things go wrong. Some of the shock absorbers – from faith to family – that helped us cope in the past have atrophied.”

"The UK [is a] largely happy country, but one with many unhappy people … Too many parts of British society are brittle, vulnerable to shocks, stressed and … close to the edge," says the report, which is backed by 13 charitable foundations. Despite material abundance, society's ability to meet psychological and psycho-social needs "appears to have declined" the report concludes. Among the recommendations are that unemployed teenagers and refugees should be given a mobile phone and internet access as part of their benefits package.

There are, however, no technological fixes to the deep malaise that the report reveals. Alienation is not a psychological construct but a reflection in people’s consciousness of the underlying social and political structures of capitalism. For example, where the welfare state was perhaps more generous and supportive, the modern market state built by the Tories and New Labour is harsh and driven by cost-cutting and driving people into unsuitable, low-skill, low-paid jobs.

The intense individualism and extreme competitiveness that can wreck people’s lives is manufactured by advertising and TV “reality” shows in order to sustain the illusion that everyone can “do well” if they only want to. In practice, a small group have actually done really well while the vast majority have to get by on credit card debt. No longer, however. Most of the research for the report was carried out before the financial crash and economic recession, which has left an estimated 1.7 million people taking a large pay cut or working reduced hours to avoid losing their jobs. With the financial crisis far from over, brittle Britain is heading for a collective breakdown.

Paul Feldman

Communications editor

Clegg sounds the alarm bells

Media pundits made fun of the Liberal Democrats’ new leader, Nick Clegg, when he split his party over the European Union treaty referendum vote. But over the weekend, he defied predictions of disaster by winning over spring conference delegates with a sweeping condemnation of “establishment politics” in a bid to position himself for the outcome of the next general election.

Clegg attacked class divisions in Britain, where “some people are still more free than others” saying that Labour had “sold its soul and became the second Conservative party”. He pointed out that children born into poor neighbourhoods might have a life expectancy far shorter than the rich. Clegg tapped into the growing disaffection with existing political structures, especially the two-party system that has dominated British politics for so long.

Casting himself and his party as rebels against the political establishment, he said, “a new type of government” was needed - “a new system, that empowers people not parties”. He called for a 100-strong citizens’ jury to join forces with parties, churches and other groups in a Constitutional Convention to “redesign the way Britain is governed”. He noted how there is a “vast and growing army of people who want something different than the main political parties” who rejected the two main parties. Clegg also called for a mass movement of millions of people to take action to protect the planet and tackle climate change.

The Lib Dem leader spoke of liberty taken and abused by government officials and “a faceless state”. He referred to Brown’s “obsession” with building bigger and bigger database systems. He denounced New Labour’s pride “that Britain is leading the world in fingerprinting children at school” and “that the identity card database will be the biggest and most complex that the world has ever seen”. He warned of the impact of a US recession on Britain, saying: “We’ve been building castles in the sand. And the tide is coming in.”

All of these things are undoubtedly true. But behind Clegg's bold words and “high-risk strategy”, he is in fact positioning his party for a possible coalition in the event of a hung parliament. When he refers to “the rotten old system”, he actually means the two-party system, NOT the profit-driven, debt-based system of production, which is now spiralling out of control. He is aware that increasing numbers of people know and feel the existing political structures are neither democratic nor representative. But the bottom line is that Clegg is seeking a way of shoring up faith in the present political system, by offering the pipe dream of capitalism with a democratic face. He is sounding alarm bells about the political system with an eye to backing a Tory or Labour minority administration in the event of a hung parliament.

Many observers, especially those far to the right of Clegg, have noted the sea change in Britain over the last few decades, particularly since New Labour came to power. There is a vast alienation from what is seen as “politics” – in other words the existing undemocratic and somewhat corrupt parliamentary system of rule. The Liberal Democrats’ re-positioning is not just speechifying but a desperate attempt to balance an extra-parliamentary movement with one still chained to the old system. It should be seen as a clarion call to develop a truly alternative economic and political vision to bourgeois democracy and corporate power. A World to Win’s next discussion on April 3 will be another step in this direction.

Corinna Lotz
AWTW secretary