The Establishment: And How They Get Away with It
Research
The book 'discusses the political system in Britain and how it has changed over
the years. It discusses the revolving door between politicians in the UK
and big business, quoting for example, that 46% of the most profitable
companies in Britain have an MP on their board of directors or as a
shareholder.' Which causes Owen Jones to suggest that MPs shouldn't have additional jobs. The revolving door is something I would like to experiment with, I have seen the comparison mentioned several times and believe it could create some interesting visual imagery. The book generally suggests that the government has its own interest and profit at heart - which could be shown by business men and politicians colluding, potentially between a 'revolving door'.
'Jones claims that the wealthy people that control much of the press have
interests closely aligned with the establishment, and therefore tend to
promote the establishments views, rather than the views of their
readers, saying, "The British people are not being served by a media
that exists to inform them, to educate them, to understand the realities
of the country they live in and the world around them. Instead, much of
the media is a political machine, lobbying for the often personal
objectives of their owners. The media and political elites are
frequently deeply intertwined, sharing as they do many of the same
assumptions about how society should be run and organised."' This led me to consider several different visual ideas. Firstly the press, is a large theme and is said to carry out politican's wishes rather than the neutral position it should really adopt. Perhaps the cover could be a newspaper clipping, putting political jargon in blatant terms - revealing their true intentions. Or it could be a news reporter, delivering a line to a similar effect - potentially with protestors illustrated behind. The illustration could be youthful to attract a specific young, rebellious audience - as the brief suggests it should. 'The media is a political machine' is interesting, perhaps an actual machine could be made - physically or digitally - churning out content which profits the maker. 'The media and the political elites are deeply intertwined' also conjures some imagery, perhaps there is a way of weaving these two concepts together.
'It describes how recent governments have been privatising previously
public services, including the NHS, by following free-market ideologies,
whilst at the same time, the establishment demonises benefits fraud and
makes cut-backs and imposes austerity measures on those at the bottom
of the financial pyramid.' The financial pyramid could be an interesting piece of visual imagery - perhaps this could be replicated in collage or illustrated symbols. Perhaps it could show a real Egyptian pyramid with many people trying to climb it and only a few sitting at the top.
The book demonstrates 'the complex relationships between the groups which make up the
establishment, and how through common interest rather than any sort of
organised conspiracy, it has become a vehicle to serve the rich and
powerful' perhaps something that simply shows the elite above everyone else - but subtly, people walking past as if they don't notice. There could also be a play on having 'The Establishment' as the people's only option - a ballot paper could have all options as 'The Establishment'.
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