One World

17) The King of the Castle

Posted 26th April 2016

When I was a little boy at primary school, I once played a game where I and about 10 other school friends struggled to get to the highest point on a plinth that was just outside the school gates. Whenever someone reached the highest position on the plinth they would sing, "I'm the king of the castle, and you're a dirty wee rascal!" Seconds later, that child would be forcibly displaced and another child would declare their supremacy. This went on until the school bell rang for us to return to class or we got bored and moved onto some other game.

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There was a time when a large proportion of the population of the United Kingdom lived in villages and small towns dotted throughout the countryside. In these small communities there were farriers, blacksmiths, farmers and farm labourers, weavers, etc. whose businesses were largely focused on the needs of their local community, although they also traded with neighbouring communities. Few people ventured much further afield. Most people spent their time on Earth within a twenty mile radius, say, of the place of their birth. Of course, there were paupers at this time too. They were supported by the local church who managed a local poor fund. The community were glad when these people moved on to the next parish and they were absolved of responsibility for them.

With the advent of steam powered mechanisation came the 'Industrial Revolution'. Large factories were built which could produce large quantities of textiles etc. that could be shipped to meet demand all over the country, and the wider World. People in the rural communities could purchase products at a price much cheaper than what their local producer could afford to sell. Consequently, local businesses started to go out of business. These newly unemployed people needed an income, and the factories in the cities required lots of workers, so there began a mass migration of people from small towns and villages to the cities.

For the factory owners, the competition was fierce. How effectively they managed their operations could mean the difference between huge profits and debtors prison. So, they invested in the necessary machinery and premises to mass produce their products. They also tried to get as much out of their workers with the least amount of payment to them. They often had little choice in this, as they needed to sell their end product at a cheaper price than their rivals. In this way they may reign supreme over the market for another year, and knock their rivals to the ground.

As time went on, the nature of industry developed. The machinery of production became more sophisticated, and the workforce had to learn new skills and be adaptable to change in order to remain in employment. Again, factory owners had to be ruthless in their tactics as their rivals, also vying for market dominance, were doing the same. This meant hard working conditions and job insecurity for the workers, who needed their income for their very survival.

Today in the United Kingdom there are unemployment benefits to support people looking for work, and there are labour unions and laws protecting the rights of workers. However, the underlying driving force of industry remains the same, that is, to win out in the market over rival businesses.

If a factory can automate all its administrative tasks with computer programs such that it minimises its office staff needs, it lowers its overheads by laying those staff off. Now it stands a better chance of defeating its rivals as it can offer a lower price on its end product whilst making a profit. If the factory then invests in robots that can carry out the physical tasks it can minimise its human labour force too, pass on its savings to the buyer and further secure its dominance in the market. As this mechanism of automation is profitable for its adopters, it naturally repeats across the whole World until all production and service industries are largely automated. This leads to the logical destination of where the World is rapidly moving towards now: a scenario where most of the World's population are redundant, having been replaced by machines that can function all day, every day, for much less cost and much more effectively than their human predecessors.

So if most people become unemployed in this way, how do they then buy what these super-efficient factories are producing? They are not given the opportunity to make the money, yet they now represent the majority of the electorate. So, they may insist on being given the money they need to purchase the goods and services they want, that is, vote in a government that taxes the successful businesses and distributes welfare payments to the many unemployed. Where is the profit for the business if they are simply receiving money from customers whose welfare payments they funded through taxes? Eventually good sense prevails, and the government simply take ownership of the unprofitable factories, and thus freely gives the people the items and services they need.

The USA, a large country built primarily on the capitalist ideal, is called by some 'the great Satan'. By others, she is called 'the midwife of the New World Order'. I wonder if the two are one and the same. Capitalism, the essence of the commercial competition described above, a necessarily exploitative and ruthless system, sows the seeds of its own destruction by streamlining production efficiency to the point that it makes its potential buyers redundant, and so it becomes impossible to make money. The masses of unemployed people may then simply democratically vote to be GIVEN what they need from the automated services and production facilities. From that day on, perhaps, we can all return to our small towns dotted throughout the countryside, and enjoy a wise future where despair, want and struggle are consigned to textbooks in the primary school class. That is, perhaps Satan may (unwittingly?) help in the delivery of a new world order. Not a world order of brutality and harsh servitude as depicted in literature, but a world order of peace and happiness borne from our collective experience and agreement that we should use our immense automation capabilities to do what is best for ALL people in the GLOBAL community, and free everyone from bondage for all time to come.

I now think 'the king of the castle' is a stupid game. It's a lot of struggle for the small chance of being at the top of the pyramid. Being at the top is tenuous and fleeting, and means looking down at a World struggling to climb on top of one another to improve their lot. It's ugly, primeval and absolutely unnecessary if everyone simply agrees to cooperate with one another for our common good.

But perhaps it's necessary that everyone play this game in their naive youth, else they may never choose the fruitful path of peaceful coexistence.

It is time for the whole World to consider coming together, and to learn to be a global family, and live happily everafter.

"We just want to make the World dance"