The world appears to be topsy-turvy right now. The global economy was faltering prior to the coronavirus-led pandemic. The pandemic has cost millions of lives globally. Things got a little bit crazier last week after Sir David Amess, conservative U.K. lawmaker, was stabbed to death:
Sir David Amess, who has died aged 69 after being stabbed while holding a constituents’ surgery at a church in Leigh-on-Sea, was the Conservative MP for Southend West in Essex. Though he spent more than half his life in the Commons without ever attaining ministerial office, the likelihood is that he would not have wanted it any other way.
He devoted his career to the promotion of his constituencies – first Basildon, then from 1997 Southend West – and to dealing with their voters’ concerns. He had a high local profile and was always willing to meet constituents, advertising his regular weekly surgeries in advance.
Amess espoused a number of rightwing causes. A long-standing Eurosceptic and committed Brexiter, he was also opposed to abortion and gay marriage and in favour of capital punishment. Some of those concerns were guided by his Roman Catholic faith: it was also what contributed to his more recent opposition to the government’s decision to cut overseas aid. His devotion to animal welfare led to him becoming one of the few Tories to support the abolition of fox hunting and hare coursing.
A natural reaction from the public is to ask “Why? What is the motive behind the stabbing?” The motive for the attack remains unknown. What we do know is that the 69-year-old was having a political meeting with constituents at a church in Leigh-on-Sea. He was a well-known conservative figure, who was willing to meet with the public on a regular basis. Amess espoused what the British press considered right-wing causes. He was highly-critical of the European Union (“EU”) and was in favor of Brexit – the U.K.’s exit from the EU.
That said, I would not necessarily consider leaving the EU as conservative. Central bankers around the world have printed money to prop up asset prices, which has inured to the benefit of the investor class. Mario Draghi, former head of the European Central Bank, was particularly aggressive in his money-printing. The U.K. populace openly-questioned by merchant bankers and real estate developers were doing so well after the Financial Crisis, while regular citizens suffered from stagnant wages and rising costs. The complaints of the U.K. populace mirrored the complaint of Maria Chappelle-Nadal (former Missouri State Senator) at Trump And The GE a few years ago.
At the beginning of the above video Ms. Chappelle-Nadal explains the angst regular citizens feel, while the investor class swims in trillions of dollars gifted to them by the government:
When we are taxed, the average person is taxed, the revenue from that new tax goes to a developer, a friend; it doesn’t go back into the community, so you have a lack of investment. When you have a consistent lack of investment in African American communities you this decay, and you don’t see this decay for a year or two. You see it for generations.
In my opinion, Amess’ stance on Brexit was consistent with populist movements around the globe that led to the rise of former President Donald Trump, Beppe Grillo in Italy and Marine LePen in France. It also led to exit of David Cameron in the U.K. The question remains, “Is Amess’ murder a one-off event or a harbinger of the social unrest to come as populations around the globe grow tired of policies that benefit the investor class at the expense of everyone else?”
