To Rebuild, You First Need Ruins

Those who made our country powerful did so by ruthlessly exploiting others, and kept the vast majority of the wealth to themselves. Cecil Rhodes said; "Remember that you are an Englishman, and have consequently won first prize in the lottery of life." For a while that was true, but the evidence of the loss of that power, starting with the loss of Empire, and continuing as countries caught up, has caused anxiety and fear among many.

What you are, what you feel and what you fear comes from your position in the power structure. The consequence of you, or your country, becoming less relevant is authoritarianism, populism, nationalism, nostalgia for a past which is largely mythical - Trumpism and (in the case of the UK) Brexit. It's a form of nihilism as you struggle to retain your position in the power structure against the inexorable onslaught of co-operation on equal terms. 

Retreating into the past, despite being a powerful and emotive force for cohesion that makes you feel secure, is a mirage that creates imaginary enemies and scapegoats everywhere while spawning conspiracy theories to justify your fear and anger. 

Make America Great Again and Take Back Control are the perfect emotional antidote to actual loss of one's previous position in the any hierarchy, global or otherwise - they hark back to that largely mythical past when everything was rosy in the garden. 

However, to rebuild something you first need ruins, as the prevailing power structures will conspire to prevent systemic change that threatens their position. Cummings knew this - you first have to destroy what you want to rebuild, but the humanitarian cost of that is immense, no matter how Utopian the vision may be, and despite it being under the cloak of a return to a mythical past.

Just as an aside, I don't think Cummings actually realised that his demolition job didn't need to be orchestrated, as he'd inadvertently latched on to the most incompetent and corrupt government in recent British history which was, and remains, quite capable of destroying the country through its own bumbling without the need for any éminence grise behind the scenes.

Those who seek to change the world invariably fail, either through the existing power structures conspiring against them, or the populace realising that the cost is too high. To rebuild with an attendant huge cost requires the vast majority of the populace being behind the plan based on a wide vision - and a detailed plan with an roadmap and outcome that's communicated to the populace, not just slogans. A narrow majority will not suffice to engender the necessary sacrifices, especially as we've become more attuned to individualism.

To change subject just slightly; horse power once ruled the world. This was replaced by coal and then oil. Now it's digital technology. However, there's one common thread behind coal, oil and the digital economy - the banks. And who gives the banks the money to control the world? We all do - hardly anyone doesn't have a bank account. 

The problem now is, however, that the technology companies are more powerful than the banks themselves to the extent that they promise countries countless, low paid jobs to keep the masses employed and docile in return for not being taxed. They subtly shape policy and become transnational governments. The very Illuminati of conspiracy theories. 

Similarly, while politicians were once the servants of the people, they have been seduced by the banks, markets and transnational technology companies and are now the representatives of those banks, markets and technology companies. To politicians, voters are stupid and no more than a means to an end - vacuous promises and obvious lies being the bribes politicians use to gain power and access to money.