Featuring Writers’ Island. Have you had a go yet?
Back in the Middle Ages the class structure was simple and straight forward. There was the king and his aristocracy, and there were the serfs, with a fledgling middleclass in between in the form of monk (who offered assistance to the poor) or knight.
During the Renaissance, this middleclass moved into two main areas – enterprise and the intellect. Cities suddenly became predominantly merchant centres richer than the monarch, and the universities powered the new philosophies of the Enlightenment.
The middleclass was on the rise.
And what followed was the most successful revolution in history. Central to its success was the removal of power and wealth from the aristocracy. In some countries, such as France, it was a bloody affair, whilst in Britain, it was much more subtle.
First of all, non-Conformist denominations arose such as the Methodists, removing power from the established Church. Second, philanthropists and philosophers worked towards institutionalized assistance for the poor.
This second point acclimatized the poor.
This was for the institutionalization of the factory, which was soon to follow, kick-starting the Industrial Revolution, and giving the middleclass the economic power base to finally de-stabilize the aristocracy.
Once this was achieved, the revolution was completed by the institution of the middleclass jury to oust the judicial power of the aristocracy, and the growing influence of ‘commoner’ Parliamentarians, finally grasping control of the sovereign power of the State.
This darker side to the story is not often told.
But the reality is, ‘middleclass’ was a revolution aimed at moving power from the aristocracy down to the next class level. And essential to the process was the idea of the ‘individual’.
In this new revolution, anyone could grasp the individuality to better himself. And to allow it to happen, the power of tradition had to be smashed. Now, I tell this story how it is for an important reason. Because the revolution never stopped.
We live, today, in its latest manifestation.
Middleclass intellectualism went on to complete the job of smashing tradition with the rise of political correctness. And whilst the initial phase concerned philanthropists, this second stage brought about freedoms for minorities, but this does not discount the initial urge to power involved in the process.
Political correctness worked hand in hand with a new resurgence of entrepreneurialism, in that it began an assault on the remaining traditions in family and State. This removed ‘meaning’ from people’s lives, which was then provided by the entrepreneur in mass consumerism.
With allegiance to the State in decline, and mass consumerism providing a new economic power to enterprise, the multi-national corporation grew to overshadow the political State, actually funding the politicians of their choosing.
And so we arrive at today. The middleclass has expanded to include most of an advanced population. Yet in doing so, they have automatically become the subservient class to those middleclass individuals who rose high in the corporate world.
Offered supposed wealth and freedoms, this new middleclass has now become the new serf, to the new ‘aristocracy’ of the 1% mega rich. Thus, the revolution is complete, and we have arrived back where we began.
After all, that is what ‘revolution’ really means.
© Anthony North, May 2008
Welcome to my daily Diary post. A summit of world leaders is to meet in Rome next week to discuss the global food crisis. As prices soar, millions face starvation. Immediate aid is being talked about, as well as long term strategies.
This was a Big Biz take-over of the agricultural production of the Third World, destroying indigenous farming methods, and slaving them to western methods and products – at a cost that could not be afforded. It was inevitable it would eventually collapse.
Welcome to my daily Diary post. Britain’s independent schools are getting worried. Demanding that the government scale down its curriculum for the under fives, they say it violates the human rights of parents. Well, it’s good that someone is saying so.
I’d put it down to the liberal style of education over the last 30 years, with the teacher as friend, and morals something to take or leave – which eventually led to the government we have today; a government that is increasingly destroying family and creating the typical ‘State’ child. If it goes on like this, I’ll give it 50 years before the State hatcheries appear.
I’M NOT ALL THERE – Fiction
Welcome to my daily Diary post. A solicitor was recently charged £4,900 for watching three TV programs on her mobile phone while on holiday. Now, you’d have thought a solicitor would understand the small print of a contract, but obviously not. Which is quite worrying. 
Feelings of inadequacy – you’re a sinner, etc – guarantee that you need a higher authority to explain things. Soon, you invest this higher authority with dominion over your life. And finally, you accept only ‘it’ understands higher purpose, and you’re just dumb little serf.
Fiction Xtra – A VISION THING – A tale of confusion
13. What we’re told is reality invariably isn’t. Consider ‘reality television’. Nothing can be further from the truth. It’s a lie. Unless you believe it. Then it’s a psychosis.
This would be understood by the sociologist, Baudrillard. He argued that media is now ‘infotainment’, merging reality and fantasy to such an extent that we no longer know which is which.
5. We also hallucinate ‘reality’. 
The paranormal and science have an uneasy relationship. The occasional scientist is courageous enough to take the plunge into researching the paranormal, but in the main, the subject is anathema.
And science does a marvelous job at doing so. Indeed, many scientists become evangelical in their manic need to show that they are right, and paranormalists – well, mad.
But as God was banished from the universe, it had to change. 
Welcome to my daily Diary post. Cherie Blair, wife of ex-Brit Prime Minister Tony Blair, said last week that it was possible to be a good Catholic and use contraception. Now, I don’t often agree with Mrs Blair, but does she have a point?
Fiction Xtra – HE ISN’T THERE – A tale of persecution
The Eurovision Song Contest is not the greatest musical extravaganza of all time. Indeed, many would argue there isn’t much music there at all. But for decades it has provided a bit of ‘fun’ in Europe.
But it’s much more serious than this. Since the break up of the Soviet Union, east European countries have proliferated, and it is clear that their voting patterns are following a ‘bloc’ mentality.
The paranormal is full of supposed phenomena relating to an afterlife. From ghosts, to possessions, to reincarnation, to mediumship the idea is prevalent that there is life after death, and it interacts with those who are alive.
But this does not imply that the mystery is explained fully with such phenomena. For I am also convinced that there is much more to it.
Emotions seem to follow a similar idea. 
Welcome to my daily Diary post. Have you noticed that, of late, there hasn’t been much environmental news? Following mass exposure recently, do the news channels think we’ve had enough of it? ‘Cos believe me, the news is still happening. We’re just not getting it in the main media.
Which will be met with derision from the growing global warming skeptics. Especially as there is evidence of political skulduggery in the UN-employed IPCC.
