Are We Heading For A Recession Like In The 30s?

[Anna B]

8 minutes ago, tinfoilhat said:

It's getting worse I think.

Yes, I think so too. 

It starts at the top, and trickles down.

 

[andyofborg]

3 hours ago, Anna B said:

I know a couple of good people who were elected onto Sheffield City Council, both with a view to making a difference. 

Did they know what difference they actually wanted to make?

 

There are 84 councillors and with the best will in the world, a couple of people are not going to be able to make a difference. To actually make a difference you need a majority and probably a majority over several elections, to stand a chance of influences anything important you need at least 30. 

 

To build that sort of bloc takes time and commitment. It also needs people to think beyond "single issue" politics and offer a program which covers everything not just their pet project(s). 

 

[Anna B]

4 hours ago, andyofborg said:

Did they know what difference they actually wanted to make?

 

There are 84 councillors and with the best will in the world, a couple of people are not going to be able to make a difference. To actually make a difference you need a majority and probably a majority over several elections, to stand a chance of influences anything important you need at least 30. 

 

To build that sort of bloc takes time and commitment. It also needs people to think beyond "single issue" politics and offer a program which covers everything not just their pet project(s). 

 

That is part of the problem. The Labour party stronghold in Sheffield, formed over years, and within it the small minority in charge who call the shots, consider themselves invincible, unaccountable  and therefore a law unto themselves. It's a powerbase that's almost impossible to break down or break into.

Nobody else stands a chance. 

 

 

Edited August 31, 2020 by Anna B

[andyofborg]

12 hours ago, Anna B said:

That is part of the problem. The Labour party stronghold in Sheffield, formed over years, and within it the small minority in charge who call the shots, consider themselves invincible, unaccountable  and therefore a law unto themselves. It's a powerbase that's almost impossible to break down or break into.

Nobody else stands a chance. 

 

 

It's very possible, the lib dems did it, the greens are making progress but what it needs is people, organisation and a coherent strategy for managing the whole city which makes sense to most people. it also needs time and commitment, you are unlikely to gain influence or even power on the first attempt so you need to keep plugging at it. 

 

A handful of independents, especially single issue/protest independents are unlikely to have any sort of impact. 

 

A collective of independents might work, as long as they are all pragmatic enough to be able to work together and you exclude the loons, nutters and those representing the extreme edges hiding behind the petticoats of mainstream people. 

 

There are all sorts of neighbourhood boards, committees and groups, getting involved in those can help raise image and also start to give you experience of the decision making process and the hard and soft limits of council power.

 

 

 

[El Cid]

25 minutes ago, andyofborg said:

It's very possible, the lib dems did it, the greens are making progress but what it needs is people, organisation and a coherent strategy for managing the whole city which makes sense to most people. it also needs time and commitment, you are unlikely to gain influence or even power on the first attempt so you need to keep plugging at it. 

A handful of independents, especially single issue/protest independents are unlikely to have any sort of impact.

But it just takes too long, with first past the post. The Liberal Democrats are back down to 8% in national polling.

It will be really difficult to get back to a three party system. Even then, its an unfair system.

[apelike]

27 minutes ago, andyofborg said:

A collective of independents might work, as long as they are all pragmatic enough to be able to work together and you exclude the loons, nutters and those representing the extreme edges hiding behind the petticoats of mainstream people. 

I agree with that and have in the past also suggested that is how all local councils should be run instead of using  the outdated political way of management.

[Anna B]

11 hours ago, andyofborg said:

It's very possible, the lib dems did it, the greens are making progress but what it needs is people, organisation and a coherent strategy for managing the whole city which makes sense to most people. it also needs time and commitment, you are unlikely to gain influence or even power on the first attempt so you need to keep plugging at it. 

 

A handful of independents, especially single issue/protest independents are unlikely to have any sort of impact. 

 

A collective of independents might work, as long as they are all pragmatic enough to be able to work together and you exclude the loons, nutters and those representing the extreme edges hiding behind the petticoats of mainstream people. 

 

There are all sorts of neighbourhood boards, committees and groups, getting involved in those can help raise image and also start to give you experience of the decision making process and the hard and soft limits of council power.

 

 

 

A collective of Independents is a nice idea, (and I would dearly love that to be part of the Parliamentary system,) but I can't see it happening.

How many Independents are on the Council now? I looked for this information on SSC website, but couldn't find it, (nor a list of Councilors,) but that might just be me.

Did find the Consultation Hub though, which I thought was a good. I'll be keeping an eye on that.

Edited September 1, 2020 by Anna B

[El Cid]

34 minutes ago, Anna B said:

A collective of Independents is a nice idea, (and I would dearly love that to be part of the Parliamentary system,) but I can't see it happening.

How many Independents are on the Council now? I looked for this information on SSC website, but couldn't find it, (nor a list of Councilors,) but that might just be me.

Did find the Consultation Hub though, which I thought was a good. I'll be keeping an eye on that.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheffield_City_Council_elections

 

Labour = 49, Liberal Democrats = 26, Greens = 8 and UKIP = 1

Zero = Conservative

Edited September 2, 2020 by El Cid

[Anna B]

14 hours ago, El Cid said:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheffield_City_Council_elections

 

Labour = 49, Liberal Democrats = 26, Greens = 8 and UKIP = 1

Zero = Conservative

So, not one Independent then. Pity.

Thanks for the info.

 

Edited September 2, 2020 by Anna B

[Anna B]

Official figures show a record number of young people are now claiming benefits.

The figure has doubled since the start of the pandemic, to 538,000 under 25s claiming Universal Credit in July, that's over 9% of all benefit claimants.

As a whole, there are now some 5.6 million people on Universal credit. That's before the furlough scheme comes to an end, when the figure is expected to jump dramatically again, and not taking into account the  reported 1 million who fall through the net or who are sanctioned at any one time.  Add to that the onward march of AI and automation taking away jobs and the future is not looking rosy.

 

Where are the jobs going to come from, or are we just going to increase the permanent underclass of unemployed people that formed after Thatcher cut the mines, steelworkers jobs and Northern manufacturing industries?

 

Recession like the 30s? No, much worse...