And, breathe. The American mid-terms finally came around and the reckoning actually happened, with Trump’s already-splintering Republican party losing both houses to the Democrats.
True, this doesn’t stop his foreign misadventures. And if Shumer and Jeffries simply change titles from Minority to Majority Leaders, it won’t present the transformative change that was demanded.
Nevertheless, it’s a fresh and significant demonstration of how people power is still a thing. Hot on the heels of Serbia’s unlikely bloodless ousting of the ruling class by a bunch of students and non-political backers.
More students in France getting policy change from a beleaguered government, with similar protests rising across Europe. It’s not quite 1968 all over again, but those Boomer forerunners will be gladdened by the sight of their descendants stepping up.
What’s uniting so many is that inescapable fact that the disconnection between the rulers and the ruled has become intolerable. The myths of trickle-down economics, privatisation and inexorable march of technology are finally being called out.
In the UK, on 31st January 2027, our copper wire telephone system is being switched off. Permanently. Every phone in the UK from then will operate solely using internet-based tech.
If as a result of cyber-attack, or system failure, nobody’s phone will work. “Landline” or mobile. The only people you will be able to speak with are the ones in your street. Think about that for a moment. A disaster happens and you can’t call anyone.
There was no referendum on this. Nobody voted for it. It was a decision made by politicians behind closed doors with corporate business. None of whom I’m sure will be inconvenienced too much if the phone system fails.
And how about all these data centres? Land is commandeered. These AI hives springing up to take the place fields, urban and rural sites, impacting agriculture and local town & village environments. The gorging of water supplies as droughts remain in place.
And who voted for this? Well actually, we did. The Labour Party manifesto of 2024 (seems so long ago now, eh?) contained a specific pledge to relaxed planning laws to enable the build of data centres. Planning decisions would be made by ministers in Westminster, rather than local councils or committees.
Interestingly the Lib Dems were on board with this, along with Reform. The outgoing Tories made no mention.
It’s probably fair to say that this didn’t feature much in the election debates. Particularly against the backdrop of the Westminster pantomime and lack of awareness of what all this data centre building would actually mean. Now that we know, we don’t like it.
Which brings us back to the new dawn in America. The billionaire/trillionaire cabal are insulated for many generations, but their bought-and-paid-for political influence has been cancelled for now. The sharp fall of tech stocks showed even Wall Street knew that even if the game wasn’t quite up, at least the impartial referees were back.
So if the voice of America now demands a moratorium on data centres, the reversal of inequality, tax-free existence for the super-rich – other democracies can take heed and heart.
The power we hold is most pronounced at the ballot box. But we hold it in many ways in our everyday lives. Where and how we shop. Where we put our savings, when we insist on paying in cash, and many other tiny acts of self-determination.
The future is not inevitable. The ones with power, influence and money rely on us thinking it is. They want us shrugging our shoulders and saying, “That there’s nothing we can do about it.” Might as well go along with online banking, AI creeping across every aspect of life, a cashless society, a permanent small ruling class and a mass of have-nots serving them.
And of course, everyone’s pet hate – never being able to speak to anyone after you’ve pressed [1] [3] [6] and waited for an hour listening to turgid music.
Although if Putin & Co manage to nobble our new online phone system, you won’t be able to talk to anyone at all.
Your servant
MC
