I was going to title this ‘crisis what crisis?’ but really, the chance to use Public Enemy over Supertramp was really no contest at all. I am a bit of a late comer to the rap/hip hop party, never really thought it was for me I suspect. Last week though I bought ‘It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold us Back’, old school 80’s rap by Public Emeny, and Roots Manuva’s ‘Slime and Reason’, arguably the best UK Hip Hop act around. I have to say I love them both. Roots Manuva is very laid back in comparison to Public Enemy but then that is probably a reflection on the times they were written in. 80’s American is fairly different from 00’s England in a lot of ways. Both great albums though in their own way and if you haven’t already I would urge you to give them a spin.
One way in which the 80s and now are a little bit similar is that some people in stripy shirts and braces, who work in a mythical place called ‘the city’ and have, until very recently, been getting very fat of wallet for doing very little, are now falling on hard times. We are in the midst of one of those financial crisis that come along once in a while whereby some people put their noses too far into the trough and get stuck only for the governement to come along, pull them out and give a nice bit of rhinoplasty (mainly so we don’t recognise them when it all happens again in a few years time) courtesy of you and I, the good and honest tax payers of this country.
Should we be worried that our banks/markets/businesses/houses/lives/legs are going to collapse anytime soon? I think not. It’s not good but as long as we stay calm we should weather it. The main losers in this will be schools, nurses, public sector employees and pretty much anyone who had a plan that involved some government funding for the next few years because you ain’t gonna get it. The money will be pumped into the banking system, all 50 billion of it, never to be seen again unless you are unfortunate enough to be run over by some total banker in his new porsche that he bought with next year’s bonus, earned presumably for turning a financial crisis (of his own doing) round and saving us all from some unimaginable (except to Robert Peston) financial armageddon.
I think it’s called a depression because it depressing to realise that no matter how hard you work and how frugally you save you are still at some small risk because the people you entrust your hard earned savings to are basically robbing bastards who don’t give a flying fiddler’s for you or your money or anyone or anything really, except themselves.
Money doesn’t talk, it swears.
Obscenity, who really cares?
Propoganda, all is phoney.
Don’t, don’t, don’t, don’t believe the hype!