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There’s a magic trick at play, and you’re the mark.

It’s an ancient art, perfected over centuries, honed to a fine, lethal edge by politicians, CEOs, and media barons alike. To the point where many of us don’t mind a bit of warm rain. We certainly put up with a lot of it!

It goes like this:

1. Steal from the people.
2. Blame someone else for the theft.
3. Offer a “solution” that makes things worse.
4. Repeat until the whole world is on fire and they convince you that it’s your fault for leaving the stove on.

It’s a con as old as kings and landlords, as obvious as a three-card monte scam, yet it works every single time. Why? Because while they’re picking your pocket, they’re whispering in your ear that the real thief is the poor bastard standing next to you.

The Great Misdirection

Imagine a government that hands out tax breaks to billionaires like sweets on Halloween, then turns around and tells working people they need to “tighten their belts.”

Imagine corporations pulling record profits, CEOs hoovering up bonuses like cocaine in the 80s, while you’re told that wage increases are “unsustainable.”

Imagine the rent skyrocketing, the cost of food ballooning, the basics of survival slipping further out of reach – while the media scolds you for buying an oat milk latte.

Imagine!!!!!

The people in charge are robbing you in broad daylight, but they’ve got the nerve to tell you it’s the immigrants, the single mothers, the minimum-wage workers, or the people on strike who are making life hard.

And some people believe it.

Here are five specific examples of how the UK government has implemented policies that benefit the powerful while diverting blame onto vulnerable groups:

1. Proposed Cuts to Disability Benefits: The government plans to reduce welfare spending, particularly targeting disability benefits, under the guise of fiscal responsibility. This approach shifts the burden onto the most vulnerable, blaming them for economic strains instead of addressing systemic issues. ​
2. Privatisation and Foreign Ownership of UK Assets By adopting economic models that favour privatisation and deregulation, the UK has seen a significant portion of its assets sold to foreign entities. This strategy enriches a select few while the public faces instability and loss of control over essential services. ​
3. Hostile Environment Immigration Policies The implementation of stringent immigration policies, such as the “hostile environment,” has led to wrongful detentions and deportations, notably affecting the Windrush generation. These measures distract from governmental shortcomings by placing undue blame on immigrants.
4. Cuts to Overseas Aid Budget The reduction of the UK’s overseas aid budget from 0.5% to 0.3% of its gross national income reallocates funds to defence (!) spending, neglecting global health and humanitarian initiatives. This shift prioritises military interests over aiding vulnerable populations, both abroad and domestically.
5. Support for Environmentally Harmful Projects The government’s backing of projects like the Heathrow airport expansion under the pretext of economic growth undermines environmental commitments. This prioritises corporate interests over sustainable development and public well-being.

These examples illustrate a pattern where policies favour the powerful, often at the expense of marginalised communities, while diverting public attention through scapegoating and misdirection.

Who Writes the Script?

The news tells you who to hate. They paint targets on the backs of the poor, the foreign, the desperate. Because if you’re kicking down, you’re not looking up.

Governments create crises (by defunding services, deregulating industries, and privatising the essentials of life), then act shocked when everything collapses.

They tell you the only solution is to give them more power, more money, and more control over your life.

Corporations break the economy, then tell you that the real problem is the person on benefits who bought a takeaway on a Friday night.

They blame striking workers instead of the CEOs who gutted pensions.
They blame refugees instead of the landlords hoarding empty properties.
They blame the unemployed instead of the companies paying starvation wages.
They blame you for being “bad with money” instead of admitting that inflation is engineered theft.

And if they can keep you angry at each other, they never have to answer for any of it.

The Playbook Never Changes

This scam works because it’s everywhere. The lie is baked into our politics, our news, our daily conversations. Here’s the formula, simple as a nursery rhyme:

1. Create a crisis. (Economic downturn, housing shortage, healthcare collapse.)
2. Find a scapegoat. (Immigrants, the poor, “woke culture.”)
3. Propose a “fix” that benefits the powerful. (Tax cuts for the rich, more police, harsher laws.)
4. Repeat.

The system is not broken. The system is working exactly as designed: to funnel wealth and power upwards while convincing you that your real enemy is someone just as powerless as you are.

The Billionaire Punchline

Here’s the joke: the people at the top don’t actually care about the things they tell you to care about.

The politicians stoking moral panics and culture wars don’t give a toss about the issues they claim to fight for.

The billionaires funding political campaigns don’t care about your values, your beliefs, or your community.

They care about keeping you distracted while they loot the place.

They do not wake up worrying about the price of bread, or whether their rent will go up, or how they’ll pay for childcare.
They do not sit in traffic to get to a job that underpays them.
They do not skip meals to cover the electricity bill.

They do, however, rely on the fact that you do.

Because as long as you’re busy surviving, you’re too exhausted to fight back.

How to Break the Spell

The first step is seeing the con. The second step is refusing to play along.

• The next time a politician blames the powerless, ask who really benefits.
• The next time a CEO cries about “labour shortages,” check if they raised wages.
• The next time the news tells you who to hate, ask who they’re protecting.

And for God’s sake, stop falling for the same tired lie that “we just need to vote in the right people.”

Politics is not football. There is no team that will magically fix it.

Power is not given—it’s taken.

If you want to stop getting pissed on, step out of the rain and start tearing down the roof that lets them do it.

Because they will not stop pissing up your back and telling you it’s raining.

They will not stop lying.
They will not stop stealing.
They will not stop unless they are made to stop.

And that? That’s on us.