Written by Geoffrey Bastin

 

It seems strange that, after such a long time being told we could so easily catch and die from a viral infection which, if caught, gives us a 99.97% chance of survival, to now discover, with the latest figures from the ONS, that death and suffering are more disorganised than ever by the NHS that is supposed to be our saviour.

Last February the waiting list for urgent surgery and procedures stood at 4.4 million and currently stands at around 5.5 million with the Health Secretary admitting that it could easily reach 13 million before the numbers begin to recede.

If it’s not our health service it’s our petrol forecourts that are being starved of attention.  By now many cars are gasping for a few pints of E5 if not E10 to keep their inner workings in daily usage.

The same goes for some food shelves that according to Warburton’s may seem somewhat deserted because despite having 160 HGV drivers they still can’t satisfy the demand for their products.   But whatever I do I mustn’t say “Don’t Panic”, otherwise there won’t be any food in the shops for Christmas and It’ll be my fault according to all the psychologists.

So this is the problem.  It’s all about supply versus consumption – so what is the answer because, if you listen to the mainstream media, there is no short term solution.

“We are still a land of plenty” are the reassuring words of government but that is no comfort if what you need to support all normal daily activity is shut away in a warehouse or storage tank.

This situation has been coming for some time with the obsession with the “just-in-time” mantra.  It leaves no room for error and means relying on a hand-to-mouth existence. Of course, that is fine until the proverbial rainy day comes begging and then we’re all stuffed.

So welcome to the world of the stuffed, the unreliable media, government waffle, traffic chaos, highly-priced energy, hardly any fuel where it’s needed, panic, and utter frustration at a situation that is of our own making.

Now I say “our” but of course, that is disingenuous to all those, including me, that believe none of this is our direct fault.

I’m pleased to say I didn’t vote for this government in December 2019, neither did I vote Labour but as we know that doesn’t really count towards possible beatification in a few hundred years time.

With Frau Merkel about to leave the political stage perhaps we should look to Germany to provide one possible answer with their electoral system.  I seem to remember that at their last national election it took them four months to form a new coalition government and yet life in Deutschland seemed to carry on quite nicely without one.  Israel is another example.  There is no removal lorry waiting at the back door in those countries with an unholy rush to expel the outgoing leader whilst ushering in the new unqualified incumbent, so perhaps the economist Milton Freeman was right when he said ‘Government is the Problem’, or as any classical liberal would say “just stay away from me and let me live in peace”.

So the thing that seems to upset the apple cart the most is government interference in our daily lives.  I often wonder how people in Russia at the breakup of the USSR and their indebtedness suddenly learned how to barter to stay alive.  Hopefully, that will never befall the people of the UK but perhaps the lessons of the last twenty months could well begin a period of reflection over what could happen when the government lets us down big time.

Those that can, normally put something away for a rainy day but this and successive governments have spent and borrowed up to the hilt and when each emergency situation begins there’s simply a rush to restart the printing presses.  Now with the cost of living rising in leaps and bounds, driven by massive public debt and money at its cheapest, there is literally no room for manoeuvre.

Some are predicting another financial situation (crash) that will begin with the Bond market before spreading to Equities. Quantitative Easing can’t continue much longer as it does nothing but slowly destroy the value of Sterling resulting in a massive increase in the Cost of living.

Whatever they may claim – this government is not libertarian. Now we realise we were encouraged to elect a bunch of control freaks in December 2019 along with many others that were never elected such as Messrs Whitty and Vallance.

Many of us believe that the role of government is to facilitate the natural entrepreneurial spirit of the nation, not try and micromanage it – but how, without a complete change in our political leadership and thinking can that ever be accomplished?

You don’t need to be a fly on the wall looking on in amazement to see how these wonders of managerial and political incompetence attempt to extricate themselves from the consequences of their own making because with each passing day the realities are staring us in the face.

Off with their heads, I hear you say.

 

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