Peaky Blinders

Cecilia S.

I love a good gangster program. I was asking myself why I like them (maybe it’s the hope that they will win against the cops and the establishment) and as I was pondering this question I had another thought, but to put you in the picture, I am watching Peaky Blinders shown on the ABC.

It’s about some Birmingham gangsters that want to run gambling houses set in the 1900s.  Of course as the show progresses they get into other things and ultimately have a desire, because they are making so much money, to create legitimate businesses and to become part of the legitimate legal establishment. There’s rival gangsters to contend with and put in their place and this involves violence because of course no gangster is willing to give up their money making enterprises to another gangster. Brute force is needed hence the violence.

My other thought was this. Who are the real gangsters in our world? The real gangsters are the ruling class doing exactly the same things as the gangsters did in Peaky Blinders and they have been doing it for a long time. How did it happen? 

It came about by a surplus in production created by the people. These surpluses were stolen or manipulated out of the hands of the people and used to create a dominant position for a few. How could they maintain control? They legitimised it through the creation of the State and as a result, they have one thing that illegal gangsters don’t have and that is the ability to make laws created by themselves and a State to make sure they are obeyed. 

The filthy rich capitalists of today are nothing more than gangsters. They have the men and woman of politics, they have the police and they make laws that combined protect them and their wealth.

We have nothing in common with them just like we have nothing in common with anybody who wants to exploit our labour, either through legitimate business or illegal business. We have the ability to crush these gangsters. We have the numbers and we create the wealth. What do we need of the gangsters that rule our world? They have been stealing the wealth we create for long enough.

My program would have ordinary people seizing power from the gangsters through united action such as strikes. They would become the force to be reckoned with and they would create a new society that serves the interests of the 99% not the 1%. Peaky Blinders is only a distraction from the task we have of creating a better world.