I’m always astounded people vote for them. If you have a six figure income, they represent some of your interests. Seven, or eight, and they’re your party. Everyone should have the chance to vote for a party that represents their interests. If you don’t (which is the vast, vast majority) they hold you in utter contempt and are screwing you seven ways to Sunday. It’s obvious, and yet people vote for them. Why? Why? It should be impossible for them to be in power. Laughable that they even try to get people to swallow this bullshit. And yet they are. Why, in a democratic society, would people consistently vote for an out of touch, un-representative, privileged and wealthy elite. How? HOW are they scamming votes out of people? I’m beyond incredulous.
And yes, it was always obvious they’d go after EU employment perks as soon as they could. Particularly JRM, who would like nothing better than to bring back the workhouses. I live in hope that someone will expose him to sunlight and he’ll crumble into Victorian dust, but it hasn’t happened yet.
People with less leisure time spend more money on it, keeping the capitalist merry go round spinning and the money flowing up the pyramid. Especially if they are unhappy at work. The last thing you want is people with enough free time to make moral choices that are a bit more work (like shopping at independent farms, cycling to work or making things themselves) or having good enough work-life balance to enjoy their leisure time just being around their families and friends without adding value with paid-for experiences. Lockdown made people value simple pleasures that were not making money for Tories, like dogs, their gardens, walks, local countryside and baking with their families. It made people search out small producers and local food with short supply chains - you couldn’t get on a milk round or near a gale shop, here. No money in those for JRM and Co. So get them back to work for the sake of it, back to commutes, away from families and homes. Limit that leisure time so they’ll spend, spend, spend. And make sure they’re dehumanised and undervalued at work to encourage them to shop to boost their self esteem.
Never mind protesting, we should stop shopping. We should strive to keep every penny in our own communities and going to people like us, not vast corporations which benefit a very few already-rich people. I don’t mean we need to revert to a pre-war lifestyle. Online it’s easy to buy things from small producers now. It’s just a bit more time consuming and a bit more expensive. So you need people who have leisure time and surplus funds to make good choices. Oh!