Building the Radical Counter Consensus Narrative.

 John Penney from Crewe Left Unity examines building a radical counter narrativeAcross the mass media a ”big lie” message is currently being pumped out, ie,  that the Tory/Lib Dem economic strategy is working and the recent upturn in the UK GDP figures shows the UK is “on the road to recovery”.  As evidence of this supposed recovery the extraordinary rise in property prices in London (up 10% in two months !), and a much smaller rise in some other areas of the country, is cited. The rising GDP stats are also flourished as evidence, as are the “new jobs created” statistics. The point of all this, entirely bogus, propaganda is twofold ;  firstly to create a superficial “feelgood factor” and indication of economic competence to improve the Tory and Lib Dem chances in the 2015 General Election, cutting directly against the real life experience of most UK citizens outside of the top 10% of earners , of static or falling wages and rapidly rising inflation, and collapsing welfare/NHS provision. And secondly the chimera of “economic recovery” is intended to convince the public that all the “Austerity medicine” of the last few years has made the UK economy more fit for purpose vis a vis world competitiveness – rather than just redirecting public money into the pockets of the superrich.

On the Left , particularly via Left Unity ,we need to nail this big lie, and create a coherent radical “Counter Narrative”. The current claimed “economic upturn” is a purely artificial debt and property bubble – which does of course have a short term positive impact on GDP statistics. Unfortunately GDP figures themselves  say nothing about the long term usefulness to the economy of such crude GDP growth – in this case yet again a GDP growth entirely achieved by the government  pumping in cheap funding for mortgages, and stoking up illusory property prices, and the growth of entirely peripheral service industry activities – particularly estate agencies of course ! As with the remarkably similar Blair/Brown era  property and debt bubble which was a key component of the  US/UK centred great Crash of 2007/8, this “economic upturn” actually leaves entirely untouched the chronic lack of investment taking place in the UK manufacturing economy (still 25% below its 2007 peak), and the directly related fact of the UK’s extraordinarily low productivity compared to international competitors. It also signally fails to even try to start that much promised “rebalancing of the UK economy” so beloved in the cynical rhetoric  of the politicians of the main parties – ie,  away from an ever greater predominance of the financial sector – towards high tech manufacturing – that is the ONLY chance the bulk of the UK working population will ever have of the prospect of a high quality, well-paid job. In fact the trend is all the other way – ever more towards a grossly overlarge parasitic financial sector run on high risk “casino capitalism” lines – providing grossly overpaid jobs for a few wide-boy City types – and ever more of the rest of us are left long term unemployed or stuck with “zero hour” contract casualised employment for tax-dodging multinationals.  And as with the pre 2007/8 “bubble” this current one is absolutely guaranteed to burst in a year or so – with yet more speculative debt incurred by the banks left to be picked up by the public purse.

Against the overwhelming cacophony of mass media propaganda putting over the “economic recovery” Big Lie dominating the public ideas space , it’s always good to read the occasional “rogue” article in the mainstream press nailing the Big Lie and telling it more “like it is”. Surprisingly, bizarrely even, just such a significant “ counter mainstream” article was included in the Times of Saturday November 16^th – by of all people, one  Stephen King, the “Chief Global economist of HSBC”.  In his useful article, “Is the Economic Recovery Built to Last:  Instead of a Germanic economy built on manufacture, our recovery risks resembling Spain’s property boom” Mr King succinctly contrasted the empty repeated  promises  of   both New Labour and Coalition politicians to “rebalance the economy” and “say goodbye to housing booms and debt-fuelled consumer recoveries – and hello to export and investment-led growth  – to a more “Germanic” growth and development – based on balance of payments improving and quality jobs- creating, nuts and bolts  cutting edge manufacturing” , with the reality . King then details the complete failure of the Tory/Lib Dem housing/property and debt bubble to address ANY of the UK’s long term fundamental structural problems, ie, the manufacturing v Finance sector imbalance,  grossly inadequate productive investment and directly related disastrously low productivity, an ever larger low paid, low skilled labour force – and (surprisingly for a Big Banker) acknowledges that the complete  lack of wage growth in recent years also undermines the possibility of creating sustainable long term, economy boosting, consumer spending – rather than  ever greater unsustainable debt-funded consumer spending as at present.

Now of course Mr King has no solutions to offer in his article to his insightful  analysis of the current fake debt-fuelled economic bubble – – he just crosses his fingers and hopes for the best ! But the mere fact that such a senior analyst  working “in the heart of the beast”  can still see quite clearly just what a con the current “economic upturn” baloney actually is,  when the bulk of the other “economic commentators” across the millionaire owned mass media simply spout the “happy days are here again – the Coalition economic strategy is working “ mantra,  day in , day out : as if the disastrous consequences of the last housing bubble and debt fuelled bubble  which led to the 2007/8 Crash  has simpy been airbrushed from history , merely emphasises just how slavishly the majority of supposed “economic experts” just parrot and embellish the dominant capitalist “part line” most of the time.

Our job , as Left Unity, is to  effectively and coherently build a sustained “radical counter narrative” to challenge the Big Lies constantly pumped out by the mass media to bolster and justify the status quo. To do this we have to go far beyond the patchy and “unjoined up” counter narratives that periodically emerge across the mass media from essentially “rogue” analysts like Mr King (but seldom from Labour politicians of course – so completely  entranced are they by the ideological framework of neoliberalism and the need for Austerity) .  We are starting to do this of course – with Left Unity spokespersons popping up ever more regularly to offer a “counter narrative” analysis across the mass media. Making our media time maximally effective however will require that our spokespersons will soon be in a position not only to offer isolated “soundbite” criticisms of the capitalist status quo, on an issue by issue basis, but will soon be in possession of a much more wide ranging  Left Unity National Economic Strategy, covering ALL aspects of a radical alternative to our current economic malaise. Without access to a “complete package” of economic reform – aimed at completely restructuring our economy  for the public good, our spokespersons will always end up looking like naïve quibblers  – moaning about the harshness of life – but with no concrete solutions to offer.

I have previously contributed an article calling for us to rapidly construct a coherent National Economic Strategy document as a key task of our new party, and there is in fact an excellent  alternative radical UK economic strategy document already in existence, which Left Unity would be well advised to seriously consider for adoption in whole or part – ie, “An alternative economic and political strategy for 21st Century Britain” , Edited by Jonathan White , with contributions from a welter of Left of centre  (I assume Communist Party-influenced)  economists. This joined up economic strategy is well worth a look – on www manifestopress.org.uk – at least as a good guide to the sort of major strategy document Left Unity desperately needs NOW, as we battle to build and disseminate a radical counter narrative  to the “logic” of the austerity Offensive. There is an old, and undoubtedly true old Lenin quote to the effect that “without revolutionary theory, there can be no revolutionary practice”. Today, in the UK, in almost complete working class retreat in the face of the multi-pronged Austerity Offensive, revolutionary politics is simply not on the agenda. Nevertheless the core of Lenin’s old dictum holds true, in that as long as the pro-capitalist, neoliberal ,  consensus dominates the public “mind space” there will be no coherent resistance to the Austerity Offensive.

Today we, as radical , democratic , socialists have to offer a comprehensive counter narrative which is both believable, coherent, attractive to masses of ordinary people who are currently completely unready for any assault on the fundamentals of capitalism,  draws masses of people into both radical resistance activity, and starts to rebuild a belief on a mass scale that radical social change, for the better, is actually possible , as well as desirable.  Hence we have to amend Lenin’s old dictum, to fit the tactical needs of today – to something more like, “without a radical , believable, counter narrative and joined up social and economic strategy – there can be  no radical transformative action” .  We need to work on this comprehensive counter narrative hard as soon as our new party is formed. And , no criticism intended of recent efforts , our spokespersons , at local and national media opportunity level, need to do a lot of “hard facts” mugging up, so that they aren’t caught out by sneery comments and questions from interviewers or right wing debate oponents. Our spokespersons need to know how much tax is being avoided, legally and illegally, by the rich and Big corporations each year. They need to have the facts at their fingertips demolishing the convenient lies and misrepresentations about unemployment, benefit levels, immigration,  NHS spending/PFI, etc, etc. And our spokespersons need to appear authoritative and confident in mass media situations. A tall order – but  just like the capitalist politicians, Left Unity needs to ensure our spokespersons  have undergone media skills training /mock hostile interviews – so that in the important battle of ideas , on TV in particular, Left Unity increasingly comes across as THE organisation in the UK for authorative “counter consensus” radical analysis and real solutions-offering.