Cameron’s Cuckoos

The Cuckoo's nest
by thewholesoul
Mother Cuckoo weaves no nest
 Instead she leaves unwelcomed guests
 A parasitic cloak-and-dagger egg
 Nestled amongst Reed Warblers’ eggs.

And what a parenthood of hit-and-run
 Once you're gone your job is done
 Why forfeit brooding one’s own progeny
 For evolutionary pro dishonesty?

Because it works? Because you can?
 Am I fair to judge with morals from man?
 Young Warblers just evicted with impunity
 By a covert orphan intent on mutiny

A murderous phony fattened indeed
 By fostering parents whose offspring he killed.
 O natural justice – there’s no such thing!
 Yet man be natural too, sings the Cuckoo in Spring.

Cuckoos are incredibly ingenious – avoiding having to build their own nests. Evolution has led them to take advantage of the labour of others. They survive because of an inate knowledge of what is sustainable knowing that their support network has its own needs. Slavishly and without question the parasitised mother works to feed the baby cuckoo. Her skilled labour benefits no bird but the cuckoo, her own eggs destroyed by the invasion.

© Yuriy Brykaylo

Interesting research on cuckoos has been carried out by Dr Oliver Krüger, University of Bath and is described in this article. Not all cuckoos are parasitic, but those that are may be more likely to become extinct.

Today’s living species are currently in existence only because of past competition. Darwinism has proved that in order for new species to evolve, and to adapt there has to be a surplus of offspring. Capitalists justify their actions, by suggesting that as we are living organisms, competition is natural and acceptable. The idea of ‘every man out for himself’ and The American Dream have roots in this argument. To dream ..”Work and all will be yours.” That might be the answer unless someone can work a bit harder until he or she drops. It might be reward for labour. The dream may be a nightmare if a dishonest competitor wheels and deals, or if you just face misfortune and are too ill to work. Tories thrive on this idea. They love it that can have a little bit more than the rest.

We survive by collectivism; but we are a social and civilised species. We are civilised in that we do not find it acceptable to destroy males in winter as the honey bee kills its drones. There is, in our society a morality rarely seen in biology. Ethics or morals may be expressed through philosophy or religions, many of which are very similar, and yet often oppose each other and constantly contradict. Humanists make sense of the world using reason, experience and shared human values based on the goals of human welfare, happiness and fulfilment.

Tolerance of differences is important for co-existence. I do not see an acceptable face to capitalism, though I can accept that if a cuckoo can co-exist with other birds, then our political cuckoos can be tolerated as long as:

Everyone has everything he or she needs for survival

Equal Opportunities exist

There is no discrimination of Race, Gender or Creed

The Earth’s resources and our environment are preserve

Future generations’ prospects remain unharmed

So, perhaps this is what Ed Miliband was referring to at the Labour Party Conference when he referred to good and bad businesses. We can tolerate some cuckoos amongst us as long as the rest of us get our fair share. If so , it was ambiguous and interpreted as Labour wanting to be “in the Centre of politics” just like New Labour. While surrounded by Blairites, he may have been over-cautious, yet it can be clearly seen that Ed Miliband’s popularity rises when he refers to socialism and speaks out against the right in the party.

Labour’s message needs to be about fairness, it needs to be about full employment, adequate food, water and housing for all, and an affordable and clean transport policy. It needs to be about conquering child poverty and preserving our environment.

Labour’s message is Socialism.

And Labour’s message must be heard.

David Cameron’s big mistake is blind greed. There will be no cuckoos without their unwitting hosts. There will be no wealth without workers. Thatcher’s philosophy was flawed, yet in her cleverness she knew she had to feed the hosts’ chicks too. She lured them with her promises of a quick route to own shares and perceived wealth from privatisation and selling of council houses.

“While the directors of this definitely parasitic policy are capitalists, the same motives appeal to special classes of the workers. ” PARASITISM AND DECAY OF CAPITALISM

Thatcher fed the hungry chicks so well they became known as Thatcher’s children.

The Cuckoo

by Ogden Nash

Cuckoos lead Bohemian lives,
They fail as husbands and as wives,
Therefore they cynically disparage
Everybody else’s marriage.

Ogden Nash

But David Cameron is not so quick witted as the Iron lady, nor as powerful. He is a go-between. The Etonian does not care for ordinary working people and lacks understanding. He is powerless. He, his power and influence have been bought by the very wealthy who are the true ruling class. These are the cuckoos whose nest he attempts to keep well feathered. Today’s world is a plutonomy. The invasion by John Wyndham’s Midwich Cuckoos ominously threatened to destroy all. Ultimately they could not co-habit because they wanted all. The birds nestling in Cameron’s nests know no boundaries, and seek to destroy all. The global capitalism that has cuckolded the working class has overstepped its mark. It is unsustainable. There is a clear choice ahead – a socialism where the needs of all are addressed or extinction of all.

References and Further Reading:

Plutonomy,Richard Murphy

Capitalism has learned to create hosts : Guardian

Cuckoos:

Parasitic cuckoos may drive their own extinction

PARASITISM AND DECAY OF CAPITALISM , Lenin

Prime Minister Cameron’s Euro move shows government’s weakness

Children and Materialist Trap

A capitalist criticises capitalism

Video of drone male bees evicted from hive