Owen Jones's teeth baring book, 'The Establishment And how they get away with it' is a comprehensive account of the seemingly omnipresent establishment, who it involves, and more importantly, how it operates.
Corrupt bank rolled politicians, their respective parties, the media, the police, lobbying teams and the wealthy elite can't escape Jones's scathing criticism of an exclusive selection of factions that insure positions of real power are coordinated from a closed shop.
The book is conducted through a mixture of historical research and interviews with ex and current members of the Establishment, punctuated with quotes and statistics that paint a damning picture of democracy in Britain. Jones no nonsense tone accompanies throughout, commenting and summarising the points raised in an eloquent and thought provoking way.
We are given insights into the thought processes of outriders such as Madsen Pirie, powerful individuals that have helped reshape politics, accused of manufacturing the use of 'neoliberal dogma as common sense' and championing right wing ideology.
Jones depicts a startling picture of the unapologetic 'Westminster Cartel' compromised of career and corporate politicians who've become unashamed lobbyist for private interests. He explains their justification for the expenses scandal and highlights examples of expenses bashing MP's who benefit directly from the state, claiming their hypocrisy is admitted and even deemed acceptable. To emphasises this point we are told of the Top 50 public trade firms in the UK have members of political elite as shareholder or director revealing the thin line between political and corporate world and the power that finance has on British democracy.
The book demonstrates how the political representatives are out of touch with what people want, illustrating how mainstream politics deals in nuances when it previously entertained grand clashing ideas from the left and right. Jones states 'Language is a crucial tool in marginalising political dissent' and those who go off the free market script are classed as 'odd balls' partly due to the legacy of Thatcherism which still dominates today.
He claims the ideas of the Establishment are virtually unchallengeable with capitalism reigning supreme, invoking free market globalisation scare tactics to ignore the electorate, basically the idea that we have to appease the 'wealth generators' or they will leave the country and invest elsewhere.
Any attempt to infiltrate this Establishment is difficult, states Jones. It's beyond the financial means for low income families to fund their children's interest in politics or journalism. Previous routes through Trade Unions have been weakened leaving only unpaid internships that only the wealthy can afford.
What Jones calls 'Mediaocracy' features heavily in the book, detailing instances of scapegoating on asylum seekers and immigrants, secret unsupervised meetings with media tycoons, and media lobbying used to win elections. Interviews from journalists who tried to make a stand detail the harassment promised and endured when they fought against the structure makes sober reading. The rise of 'churnalism' and lack of diversity amongst the ownership and journalist in the media display that 'newspapers are 'toy things of their owners' employing dishonesty and myth making' to encourage wide spread prejudice and insecurities of the public, promoting ignorance, airbrushing reality to skew public perception therefore making it easier to enforce drastic cuts on welfare. It would seem the media protects those in power, deflecting scrutiny from themselves to us.
The scroungers narrative, tax dodgers and tycoons and the illusion of sovereignty is also ruthlessly examined.The ideas presented are overwhelming. Despite this it does include words of hope and an urge towards a democratic revolution.
The book is one that needed to be written and Owen Jones was the man for the job.
I highly recommend this blood boiling and enlightening read.
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