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Dec 29, 2021 15 tweets 7 min read Read on X
#THREAD

Throughout 2021, every right-wing “news” media outlet & politician has regularly questioned, attacked, & undermined OUR #NHS.

They argue those with the most wealth should pay more, via private health insurance, than the less wealthy.

Allow me to unpick this argument.
SOME wealth inequality is inevitable.

With caveats around those unable to work - eg carers, through disability, ill-health, age etc - it is only fair that those who work harder, have specialist skills or more responsibility, or are more creative & capable than others, earn more.
This short, accessible 2013 video about wealth inequality - since when things have got even worse - shows how inequality is at its highest point in Britain for 50 years, with the gap between rich & poor at its widest since the second world war.

However, private health insurance is the wrong solution, for two main reasons:

1 It would result in a two-tier health service, with those with the most wealth having quicker access to the best healthcare.

2 The wealthy already often pay more for the #NHS through taxation.
Wealthier people are buying their way out of trouble in significant numbers, meaning they'll be less willing to pay taxes to improve the #NHS.

With public spending under pressure, & key Govt figures having strongly criticised the NHS in the past, OUR NHS is in real danger.
The libertarian-right believe in low taxes, but this would accelerate not only wealth inequality, but also mean less money for a national & equitable health service.

Many other western countries understand that a more equal society is better for the vast majority of citizens.
The principle of a more equal society means far more people have the opportunity to access the best education, a fairer & more functional legal system, better policing, improved local & regional public services etc – rather than just a tiny minority of grotesquely wealthy elites.
For forty years, a tiny minority of already grotesquely wealthy & powerful individuals - supportive of & within successive Governments - have used their power, influence & wealth to push for an even more unequal society, not least in order to preserve their privileged position.
The share of wealth owned by the world's richest people soared during the Covid pandemic, & 2020 saw the steepest increase in billionaires' wealth on record.

Meanwhile, 100 million people sank into extreme poverty.
The richest 10% of the world's population now takes 52% of global income & the poorest half just 8%.

The world's richest 1% have taken more than a third of all additional wealth accumulated since 1995, while the bottom 50% captured just 2%.

wir2022.wid.world
"After more than 18 months of #COVID19, the world is even more polarised.

While the wealth of billionaires rose by more than £3TRILLION, 100 million more people joined the ranks of extreme poverty".

Extreme poverty had been previously falling for 25 years.
The poorest half of the global population barely owns any wealth, possessing just 2% of the total.

The richest 10% now own 76% of all wealth.

The world's 52 richest individuals have seen the value of their wealth grow by 9.2% per year for the past 25 years.
A tiny minority of elites use their vast wealth & power to fund a global network of media outlets, think tanks, institutions & political parties, which relentlessly push a neoliberal/libertarian-right agenda in order to protect & enhance their already considerable wealth & power.
They use their power & wealth to: retain access to the best opportunities; to divide voters through divisive culture war rhetoric; to demonise progressives; to accelerate wealth inequality; & to remove worker, consumer, citizen, migrant & environmental regulations & protections.
Unless voters take action now, I fear that Britain will continue to become increasingly unequal & polarised, & its citizens will be subject to an increasingly unaccountable, authoritarian, antidemocratic & dangerously populist nationalist libertarian-right oppressive state.

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More from @docrussjackson

Oct 10
🧵

Let's not mince words.

A handful of selfish sociopathic billionaires and the populist politicians and media they fund have deliberately divided and radicalised millions of people across the world, solely to protect their wealth and power.
They claim to want to help “save children” while spreading distrust of experts, reputable journalism, climate science, and vaccines — which have saved over 100 million children since 1974.

By dividing the public, they protect their wealth and power.
Rather than justify how their wealth was earned, these elites cultivate scepticism of their critics and of expertise itself.

This deliberate erosion of trust shields their interests while undermining the science that saves lives and protects our planet.

Read 66 tweets
Oct 8
🚨

Robert Jenrick closed his Conference speech with: “Let’s build this NEW ORDER. Let’s TAKE our country back.” Hitler's “New Order” was a vision for an Aryan-led Europe which involved exterminating or enslaving “undesirable” minorities.

Jenrick has a Jewish wife. He knew this. Image
Across mainstream platforms and parliamentary stages, an extremely dangerous rhetorical drift is taking hold.

I've written elsewhere about what Prof Ruth Wodak calls “the shameless normalisation of far-right discourse” in relation to British politics.

In Britain, a group of prominent MPs—including Nigel Farage, Lee Anderson, Rupert Lowe, Robert Jenrick and Suella Braverman—are normalising far-right discourse through three recurring frames/themes: invasion, scapegoating for cultural destruction, and demographic replacement. Image
Image
Read 31 tweets
Oct 6
🧵

Let's talk about chainsaw enthusiast, Musk buddy, and darling of the global free-market right, Javier Milei.

Let’s look at which UK politicians and news media have been most effusive in their praise for him, and at whats happened to Argentina since he was elected in 2023. Image
Milei’s election as President of Argentina in November 2023 was met with enthusiasm from right-wing news media and populist politicians who praised his libertarian, anti-establishment platform as a model for radical economic reform. Image
Support was often framed in the context of Thatcherite principles, with Milei seen as a disruptor against "socialism".

1. Kemi Badenoch celebrated Milei as a "template" for her own potential Government, aspiring to be "Britain’s version of Javier Milei". Image
Read 38 tweets
Oct 5
🧵

A global evangelical Christian ARMY linked to TPUSA/TPUK, "fighting for the Britain whose church missioned & colonised the dark, demonic, heathen world with light, truth & salvation", founded by a former British boy band member addicted to cocaine until he found God?

WTAF!🤯 Image
'The King's Army' is a non-denominational Christian evangelism and discipleship movement launched in the UK mid-2024 - a "spiritual army" of believers enlisted to combat sin, cultural decay, and "darkness" through aggressive street outreach, prayer marches and public protests. 🤪 Image
Drawing on biblical military metaphors, it emphasises "virtue and valor" among Christians, urging them to "stop living like civilians and start fighting like soldiers!"

It targets young men for recruitment, standing against issues like secularism and "immoral culture"! Image
Read 26 tweets
Oct 2
🧵

Two people have died and three are in a serious condition following a suspected terror attack on a Manchester synagogue. Muslim leaders have condemned the attack. The suspect was shot dead by Police.

Some @X accounts are blaming Starmer. What's this got to do with @elonmusk? Image
Since Musk bought Twitter in October 2022 and rebranded it as @X, the platform has transformed from a space for news and debate into a megaphone for hate, disinformation, and extremist ideology.

The consequences are now spilling into the streets.
Musk’s first act as owner was to gut @X’s safety and moderation teams, firing around 80% of staff responsible for enforcing hate-speech and misinformation policies.
Read 39 tweets
Sep 24
🧵

Ellison (~$390bn), Musk (~£385bn), and Zuckerberg (~$260): the three richest men on earth.

Ellison is buying TikTok. He controls nearly 50% of Paramount Skydance and wants Warner Bros Discovery. Carrie Symonds's dad is a director of his Foundation.

Who is Larry Ellsion? Image
For more than a century, some of the richest people on earth have bought up various media in order to shape politics and public opinion in a way that protects their wealth and power from democracy.

Musk, Zuckerberg and Ellison are doing precisely this on steroids. Image
These billionaires are reshaping the world into a dystopia that makes The Handmaids Tale look quaint.

Ellison owns 98% of one of the largest Hawaiian Islands, rolls out his total global surveillance system called 'The Oracle' to ensure 'good behaviour'.

404media.co/larry-ellisons…
Read 31 tweets

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