THE NEW TOTALITARIANISM PART ONE
I dislike hyperbole, I
particularly dislike the puerile habit by many on the left, acquired in the
1960’s and never dropped, of calling anyone with whom they disagree a ‘fascist.’
Photoshop pictures of Iain Duncan Smith[1]
dressed as Himmler are not only in incredible bad taste, they also, and this for
me is far more important, damage the argument. Put another way when people see
the argument framed in this way they think it over the top, they switch off, and
they stop listening. So it was with some caution that I began to think about
writing this article, though it in fact follows on from the piece I wrote early
in March on the Tories War against the Poor and Voiceless, (see Politics Of Dancing
8/03/13).
Language, particularly in
the case of English, is an evolving and dynamic element, new words constantly
springing up to describe new phenomenon. I thought of this as I tried to think
of a term to describe the developments currently taking place with respect to state
welfare provision. The best I could come up with, and I am of course aware that
this brings with it the risk of the accusation of hyperbole with which I
started this piece, is the New Totalitarianism. Stick with me though and I
believe I can make a cogent case.
The state is shrinking. George
Osborne openly boasts now of the direction of travel. We are now approaching
the size of state similar to that in the US Western
Europe . What this means
in practice is the disappearance of libraries, sports provision, youth clubs,
free art galleries, subsidized theatre, centres for the disabled or those with
learning disabilities, community and advice centres. Some of these losses can have
an impact on the middle classes and the more affluent working class, but there impact
upon the poor is devastating. This however is not the worst of it; the greatest
consequence of the policy of the shrinking state is to found in welfare
provision, in the support provided for the unemployed, the disabled and the
homeless.[2]
Not satisfied with pushing
you into further poverty, with the benefit cap, the restrictions on increases
in welfare to 1%, (which remember is already calculated at subsistence levels)
and reductions in Housing and Council Tax Benefit, the government now seeks to
intrude into areas hitherto thought sacrosanct. The Bedroom Tax introduces a
wholly new development, the state dictating the exactly how much space a person
can be allowed before receiving financial penalties.[3]
The state involving itself in this way has hitherto been an element restricted
to totalitarian states like the Soviet Union ,
though at least in that case the restrictions applied to all, not just the poor
and vulnerable.
This sense at entering into
the power and control of a faceless machine is now the experience of anyone
falling into the welfare net. Not only do you find yourself plunged into
poverty but you experience a steady stripping away of your dignity, you
suddenly experience the sense of being a second class citizen stripped of
rights, living in a parallel state in which all elements of your existence can
be controlled; what little money you have can be taken away from you on a whim
by some junior dogsbody under pressure to meet ‘targets.’ I believe that Iain
Duncan Smith thinks the term ‘welfare rights’ to be an oxymoron. Those in
receipt of welfare sign away their rights to be treated as free and equal citizens.
The idea that a young jobless woman could take him to court so enraged Mr Smith
he threw a tantrum and resolved to
change the law, retrospectively.
But it is wrong to single
out the execrable IDS, he is merely one individual engaged in a wider
ideological crusade, under the cover of the recession, to redraw the boundaries
of the state and subject those who require welfare to ever greater restrictions
and controls. It is this that I chose to describe as the New Totalitarianism,
it’s an imperfect term, if you can think of anything better let me know.
Of course if you have
money, are a taxpayer[4]
and not one of the working poor who require tax credits, the state will
increasingly leave you alone. You will loose libraries and theatres and some
local public sport provision; you will live in what JK Galbraith called private
affluence and public squalor but the government is gambling that the majority
will ultimately settle for this. That the selfishness of consumerism will
prevail and that what happens to the poor will be of little concern to the
great mass of the electorate. They may be right. If you are reading this and
are not in receipt of welfare support you had better make up your mind whose
side you are on.
One word of warning
however, next time you pass a Jobcentre Plus, a food bank or Salvation Army
hostel do not imagine that such a fate could never happen to you.
[1] As it happens Iain Duncan
Smith is just the sort of person who did rally to the British Union of Fascists
in the 1930’s. More could and should be said about the kind of thinking pouring
out of Smith’s Centre for Social Justice, (a misnomer if ever there was one),
and ideas about the poor disseminated by the far right in The Devils Decade.’
[2] Of course if you fall into
one of these categories you are much more likely to fall into the other two.
[3] Of course the homeless marginalized have always been bullied, pushed
around and denied their rights, but this move represents a real departure.
[4] Or indeed if you are
sufficiently wealthy to evade paying your share of tax.
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