Status Anxiety

4 April 2009

If the greens have their way, this recession will get worse. We should spend, spend, spend

As I write, tens of thousands of anti-capitalist protesters are converging on the City of London to demonstrate against the G20 summit. Marching under the banner ‘Jobs, Justice and Climate’, this loose coalition of anarchists, environmentalists and revolutionary socialists aims to bring the capital’s financial centre to a standstill. ‘We hope to control large parts of London,’ says Ian Bone, the founder of Class War. ‘Whether it kicks off depends on numbers. The poll tax riots were all about 50,000 people who wanted a punch-up. This feels like that.’

Ironically, if the protesters really want to do something about the moribund state of Britain’s economy they should take themselves over to Westfield, the new shopping centre in Shepherd’s Bush. After chanting a few anti-capitalist slogans, they could remove their black balaclavas and go in search of some bargains. Not only would this be a nice gesture of support for the 7,000 people Westfield employs, but it would send the right message to the public. The key to getting Britain back on its feet is to persuade people to start spending again. The slogan the G20 protestors should be chanting is: ‘When the going gets tough, the tough go shopping.’

Umbrella protest movements are always going to throw together strange bedfellows, but trying to link the causes of full employment and environmentalism is a step too far. Take Britain’s motoring industry. Nothing is closer to the hearts of green campaigners than reducing the number of cars on the road. Yet if everyone followed their advice, the 800,000 people employed in Britain’s automotive sector would lose their jobs. The inconvenient truth is that if you care about full employment you should be encouraging people to buy new cars.

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