I’m starting to think that they expect to get a shit deal, so they’ll postpone it until everyone is panicking over a “hard brexit” in like a week’s time, then introduce the awful shit deal they’re stuck with as a “soft brexit” (even though it’s going to be as soft as a cast-iron skillet to the noggin).
11 Likes
It’s worth remembering what happened in 2014 though. Labour campaigned alongside the Conservatives in the Scottish independence referendum, which was important. In the 2015 election, they lost pretty much every single seat in Scotland (around 50 out of 59) precisely because they were appearing alongside the Conservatives. Meanwhile, the LibDems lost pretty much all of their seats in England in that same election precisely because they had been appearing alongside the Conservatives.
So, what was going to happen when a referendum was called by the Conservatives solely to patch up a rift in the Conservative party (and especially because of a huge political miscalculation by David Cameron who figured that a coalition agreement would negotiate away the referendum pledge anyway)? Do you seriously want to argue that Labour and the LibDems were going to put themselves in the firing line again? If Corbyn had ever appeared on the same platform as David Cameron, he was doomed.
As it happens, Corbyn did do a fair amount of campaigning and speeches for Remain; he even accurately calibrated the level of support in the Labour party for Remain (as being around 70%.) But at the time, no-one in the msm were really interested in him or the Labour party; after all, they weren’t in government and (thanks to the Scottish debacle), they were highly unlikely ever to have a majority again. And since he refused to appear with any Tory Remain campaigners, he didn’t really get much coverage either.
(I would still note that I don’t approve of the decision Labour took to keep their involvement in the referendum campaign low-key, but I do understand it.)
8 Likes
Maybe the Danes will attack again, too.
The Britain can only hope.
6 Likes
I find it ironic that there are two people bemoaning capitalism, when the first person is pointing out that the “communism” idea of only taking what you need seems completely counter intuitive when scarcity is threatened. (Is stockpiling for personal security or profit much different?)
Though admittingly, when faced with some scarcity, that way of thinking of only taking what one needs IS one way to make sure everyone gets what they need. And in lieu of a system where resources are distributed centrally, raising prices IS one way to make sure more items are distributed to more people. If prices for scarce but needed items are kept low, people are more likely to buy more than they need, and thus less people will have a chance to acquire said items. It’s all less black and white when you think about it.
Of course the best course of action is to stockpile some BEFORE there is an issue. Like I occasionally skip a dose (sometimes on purpose, sometimes on accident) and then I have a few weeks extra if needed.
1 Like
He didn’t have to, though. Labour could have learned from past errors and campaigned for Remain separately, promising to address some of their constituents’ reality-based concerns about remaining in the EU by targetted re-negotiation of terms if they were elected.
Any statements he made on behalf of Remain were lukewarm at best, which is particularly shameful if he calibrated support within Labour at that level. Whatever lack of interest in Corbyn there was on the part of the MSM before the referendum, there was a great deal of interest after. Corbyn should have spent every moment after he attained the leadership screaming for a second referendum (which would have put him in opposition to May’s position).
This is a blown opportunity on Corbyn’s part with serious consequences for the UK as a whole. History will see him sharing some of the blame for this disaster.
4 Likes
4 Likes
It is quite hard to stockpile prescription medicines here (UK) I think. They are largely controlled by NHS pharmacists. Yes you can find a pharmacy that might sell to you privately but last time I ran out of my daily needed pills (long story, much idiocy) and could not get a new prescription for 48 hours, the cost of one pack (28 tablets, 14 days’ worth) was extortionate. Stockpiling 3 months’ worth, for example, is prohibitive for all but the wealthy. Assuming you can find a pharmacist willing to sell that quantity. Maybe there are many out there, but I’d simply have to take to the streets and visit one after another until someone said yes. And not knowing me (unlike my local pharmacy who would have sold me a few days’ supply) I imagine most pharmacists would not supply without a duly authorised prescription, which my doctor would not issue unless I was due another three months’ supply.
4 Likes
I would argue that it is much different, unless you are equating making a profit with personal security; like the 1% who can afford bodyguards, huge fences, multiple homes, etc., giving them greater personal security.
However stockpiling for your own use/health to prolong your life isn’t something I would argue with, even in a communist society. Which Britain isn’t.
I know most countries have a rich history of people willing to make their fortunes through the suffering and blood of the people around them; it’s been going on for centuries, and it won’t be stopping now.
It doesn’t make it right, but it certainly makes it to be expected. When the dust settles, and the emergency has passed, the profiteers usually come out on top in a capitalist society.
Because they had gumption, and an eye on the future. They are forward thinkers.
They are opportunistic parasites feeding on the misery and misfortune of their fellow man.
If it were possible to remove profit from the equation (it’s not), profiteers would lack the motivation to drain the supply for their financial benefit, and there would be less of a problem supplying what is needed to those that need it in times of trouble.
So yes, fuck capitalism. Or, more specifically, fuck this brand of capitalism that enables and rewards these kinds of capitalists.
Circling back to this:
The urge to survive, or keep your friends/family alive is extremely strong. It’s hardwired in us. If there is scarcity, and an opportunity comes along to take more than you need – and it’s something you must have in order to live, like certain medicines – it would be a very unusual person no matter what political ideology they follow that would be able to resist taking more than they need in the moment. That would be true even if money wasn’t at all involved.
I would consider someone like that to be a prepper, not a profiteer. They are doing it for themselves and their families, not to turn around and make bank when the shit hits the fan.
4 Likes
Children of Men looks more and more like a documentary every day.
2 Likes
Yea, I’m speculating. I don’t actually know how they make those determinations.
Drug companies need something to sell, or they might not make a grotesque profit. Thus, hoarding is good. If doctors and patients stockpile medicine, they won’t need to buy any medicine at a grotesque mark-up. Therefore, hoarding is bad.
It’s really a vicious circle, if you think about it, in which the poor, poor drug companies are the real victims.
I would imagine that the additional transaction costs required for this would make it a proper disaster; but that sounds like the sort of situation that EU states who haven’t exactly been feeling the love in terms of unemployment and austerity impositions might be interested in unofficially smoothing out a bit.
Greece, say, developing a need for drugs several times higher than anywhere else in the developed world wouldn’t be notably more absurd than Apple being a PO box in Ireland; and they could use the cash.
For some reason, this reminds me of the handy and informative “Protect and Survive” guide from the Thatcher era.
1 Like
Voting has consequences. Who would’ve known that?
2 Likes
Any bets on whether we’ll get some good music and a few harrowing movies out of it this time?
Gritty reboot of Whoops Apocalypse, maybe?
1 Like
What reality based concerns are you proposing could be renegotiated? I’m not aware of any.
5 Likes
It’s a little easier for me to stockpile, I send an electronic message to my GP to say I need more insulin, a couple of days later I get the text from the pharmacy that it is ready to collect. I don’t have to order on a fixed schedule.
So instead of reordering when I am on my last vial, I can just reorder a little sooner.
I’m pretty sure the UK can short circuit the mark up issue, as I believe they are a single-buyer drug market? Meaning at least for the drugs the NHS uses, prices are negotiated well in advance and can’t be raised arbitrarily.
1 Like
From the number of interviews with people the day after the referendum saying things along the lines of “I just voted to leave as a joke, I never thought it would actually win”, I’m going to say: less people than you’d hope.
It’s also good to know that we’re basically beyond satire at this point:
New picture warnings will be needed for cigarette packets as the EU owns the copyright to the current ones
5 Likes
