The Wolfhounds - Cruelty (EP)

I've noticed a few bloggers joining, or rejoining, Labour recently and confess that I marvel at their optimism. The same could be said of a few of the Twitterers I follow.

I tend to focus on Labour and their supporters as they would be, historically of course, the party I voted for. I was at one time a member of Labour and have always been a member of whichever union was pertinent to my work. So you could argue I should be a "Labour Man" so to speak. In much the same way my Dad was, until they lost his vote as well.

But probably the biggest problem I have with most things is not necessarily the ideology so much as the hierarchy.

While it may be true (I don't honestly know) that Labour is perhaps the most democratic of the parties, the hierarchy is still there. At the top there are the Oxbridge educated careerists who will happily jump ship from Westminster to Big Business and back again (obviously the same applies to the ConDems) and at the bottom there are rank and file affiliated union 'members' and party members.

And yet both the party and the affiliated unions appear to be at odds with the the rank and file. All of these should be one and the same thing: the Labour party. So surely the needs of the working class should be democratically bought to the fore under Labours mandate? That is, "the result of many years of hard effort by working people, trade unionists and socialists, united by the goal of changing the British Parliament to represent the interests of everybody."

If Labour are supposed to be representing the interests of everybody then I would hate to see them really ignoring their roots. It's like 13 years never happened. We know that you can all point at the coalition now and say, "oh well, we wouldn't have done that" but you would have. Just in a slightly different way.

Because you are hierarchical and you naturally tend to look after those at the top. Same as the ConDems.

Let's take a look at the current attack on Civil Service redundancy rights and please do remember that Labour started the ball rolling here prior to vacating the building. Don't give me any "Labour would never have done that horseshit." The coalition have just "picked up the ball and run with it" to use an appalling business meeting phrase.

The Labour government knew the shit was being jet propelled towards the fan in the shape of massive public spending cuts and lots of redundancies so in order to save a few more quid they thought it would be a cinch to cut the redundancy pay out terms. Nice. That really represented the interests of everybody.

So naturally the unions waded in and told Labour to "back off! You're not shafting our members" Well, one did, the other five plus rolled over on their bellies and had their tummies tickled (their balls having long since been removed). Thankfully the one that had the bollocks to stand up for its members, the PCS, was also the largest by representation at 70%.

Now you may well say, "aahh! But those other unions balloted their members. See. Democratic." Again, that could be the case but because of the hierarchy the union leaders job is to take care of himself and sell the members for the best price he can get for them. Disputes are resolved by sell out so the top encourages it. "Oh that was the best offer we could get. We recommend a 'yes' vote".

Think of your workplace (unless you are lucky enough to work in a co-operative). Consider the times an e-mail drops into your inbox announcing that various odd-bod senior managers are doing roadshows because "they want to hear from YOU!" Oh they really do. At such events the condescension on the part of the senior managers is matched only by the obsequiousness of the middle managers and the complete indifference from the workers.

I glimpsed a TV program the other day where some senior military type (admiral, wing commander, whatever) was visiting a ship/airbase/whatever when he muttered those immortal words, "I want to know whats happening at a grassroots level" while he grappled with the plums in his mouth. I had a kind of flashback to a bored conference room where droning voices uttered similar horrific, empty phrases.

They couldn't give a fuck about you or your grass-fucking-roots. It's part of the corporate sell-out. Or part of the military sell-out. Or part of the....

It's the people at the top of the hierarchy pretending to care about the people lower down the pecking order but all they are really interested in is consolidation of their own position. Once you introduce positions of power then your structure is fucked. Blame, finger pointing, back stabbing, arse kissing - all present and correct in any hierarchical organisation whether it be business, union or military. The concern is never then "what is best for us" but "what is best for me so that I can retain my position". Hence, unions selling out members, Labour selling out the working class, military men sending cannon fodder into battle or businesses selling out their employees for profit.

There is a scene in "Pan's Labyrinth" where the Doctor, having just mercy killed one of the anti-Fascists fighters who was being tortured, is asked by the villianous Captain Vidal why he did not do as the Captain ordered him (i.e keep him alive for more interrogation). The Doctor replies, in a roundabout way, that he can not follow orders without thinking them through for himself and making his own mind up. Blindly following orders is for men such as Captain Vidal.

So you can give or take orders and abide by the rules of those at the top of the hierarchy or you can think for yourself and believe in something better. I know which I prefer.


The Wolfhounds - Cruelty (EP) (The Pink Label PINKY18T 1987) 320kbps

1. Cruelty
2. I See You
3. Whale On The Beach

Cruelty - pwd: c4ctusm0uth