Review: The Establishment and how they get away with it by Owen Jones
This is a non-fiction book about the British establishment (essentially the government) and the connections that exist between the rich and the powerful across the country. It was first published in 2014, but it still rings true today, as I can’t imagine much has changed at all, let alone for the better.
Jones chronicles the many connections between politicians, media moguls, the police and the richest parts of the British elite. I found this really interesting and frightening. I’m not British, nor do I live in Britain, so you could say why should I care. But I can see these things happening all over the world, including in my own country (Denmark), at least to some degree. The extent to which the government is in the pocket of the rich is insane, and the way the population is manipulated into giving the rich more and blaming the poor and the immigrants is a masterpiece of deception. Anyone decent seems to be chewed up by this machine, coming out the other side as a staunch supporter of the 1%. Jones details just how this machine uses all means necessary including the police and the media to get their way and stay in power.
I will say that most of the chapters where a bit tough to get through. There are a lot of names and numbers and connections to keep track off and not really knowing too many of these people made it a bit of a slog. A few chapters were more easily consumed, like the one about the police and their many methods of keeping the dissenters down. I think it is worth slogging through those chapters though because the extent to which this government charade is played out is mind boggling. I had some inklings of it, but some of the methods described in this book I honestly thought were bygones.
I gave this book 3,5 stars, because of the need to slog through a lot of names and numbers.
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