So what is the 1%-system? It is very straightforward. It is the system that is in place in the world that enables the 1% to increase their accumulation of wealth. Through this wealth the 1% increase their power and use that power to influence what happens throughout the system in order to increase their accumulation of wealth. But the 1% do not directly “rule” us it is through power and influence that they manipulate us with the main purpose being their own accumulation of wealth. There was a crash in 2008. Ever since that crash the 1% have increased their wealth; the 99% have lost their homes, suffered austerity governments, and have become increasingly exploited. This is by design and not accidental, it is the 1%-system.

It is through corporations and the finance sector that the 1% control and accumulate their wealth. This control is maintained in two ways – behind the scenes and through influence.

It is important to know that we are not supposed to know who the 1% are. Whilst they exert control the 1% are not interested in stepping into the limelight. How this works I do not know as I am not a member of the 1% but names like the Koch brothers, Rothschilds, Rockefellers, Bill Gates, Walmart come to mind. But these names are by no means a complete list. 1% is not actually a term that is arithmetically correct either, they would be more accurately described as the “superrich” or a “global elite”. Who they are at this stage is not important. What is important is to recognise that it is only this group who are our common enemy – the common enemy of both left and right.

In one way or another the 1% employ all of us, and it is this wage-slavery that maintains their accumulation of wealth. Whether we work for corporations as white or blue collar workers, whether we work for government in the military or civil service (facilitating government) or in the care services such as health and education, whether we work for small businesses whose modus operandi is just trade – making and selling products, or whether we work on the land selling its products, our lives are controlled by the 1% through the 1% control of finance and the market. If we work for a small business then the interests of the boss and the workers are aligned against the 1%.

Previously the interests of these small businesses have not been seen as aligned with other workers. But the small businesses are in competition with the big corporations, and it is the corporations who try to force successful small businesses out of business through takeovers, and tactics the corporations use are carried out by government such as increased taxation and over-regulation. As government is part of the 1%-means of control it should be recognised that dodging taxes and regulation is not simply because corporations are large but also because it is an intended means of controlling small business. “Small” can best be thought of as trading – making a product and selling it. Corporations on the other hand, whilst making products facilitate their business through market mechanisms such as cartels as well as takeovers. For corporations it is not the law of supply and demand that controls where their profits come from – as it does with the small business and small farmers. One aspect of the small business is the close relationship between the owner and the small workforce, there is a level of trust and benevolence involved in the relationship. The owner knows that he cannot make enough to feed his family from the profits if his workforce also does not get enough to feed their families. Working for corporations there is a completely different mentality typified by most employees never having met the owner – the executives!!

Government is controlled by the 1% both in its day-to-day functioning and through the electoral system. Government workers work for the 1%. The 1% does not sit in senior positions within government but over the years they have cultivated relationships so that government is completely influenced by the 1%. This influence is described by the phrase – “revolving door”. When the 1% wants something to happen they use this “revolving door” to make it happen. How? No idea. Is that important? Not at the moment. What is important is for people to have a united understanding that the 1% controls, and that it is in all our interests to end that control – in the final count for all to include the compassion and morality of the 1% themselves.

Significant in that 1%-control is the military. The world is controlled through military power whether directly through dictatorship or indirectly jointly through security agencies and the military themselves. What is very important in maintaining military power is to ensure that the personnel themselves completely accept the military system they are in, and accept the rationales (delusions) that are put forward for their existence – security, nationalism etc. Whilst the 1% accumulation of wealth occurs across international boundaries, in the interests of division it is important that nationalism is promoted with all its consequences of war, jingoism and the exploitation of human lives as soldiers etc. It is also important to note that these delusions of nationality etc. are extremely important for the accumulation of wealth as huge profits are made through wars including drone warfare whilst ordinary people die through the creation of such divisions. The 1% are best seen as a global elite – an elite without national allegiance. Whatever their nationality that nationality means little to these people whose rationale of accumulation of wealth occurs whatever happens between nations. For ordinary people nationhood means a great deal because it is an essential characteristic of their community but as a unifying strategy those community interests need to be fostered without resort to conflict. The 1% thrives on those conflicts increasing the depths of such chauvinism so that they increase profits and accumulation of wealth through the manipulation of these conflicts.

The electoral system is another manipulation. One political activist described universal suffrage to me as occurring only when those in power could ensure that the results would not affect the way people were controlled. Typically our electoral systems are bi-partisan yet both parties work in the interests of the 1%. One of those parties might purportedly work in the interests of the people, as Labour claims in the UK and as the Democrats claim in the US. But in practise the majority of all in the political parties whether Labour, Conservative, Republican or Democrat all perpetuate the 1%-system. I call the people who work for these parties yet purport to have the interests of the people “opportunists”. Whilst their opportunism might produce the occasional benefit for ordinary people, their lust for power is basically used to control what they do. This can be understood in line with “trickle-down” theory. Benefits are “trickled down” to ordinary people as a means of control. When the accumulation of wealth is going well then more is allowed to “trickle down” but such benefits are always limited. These “trickle-down” benefits are essential to maintain the delusion that the 1%-system is working for ordinary people but in reality they are a small part of the cake, most of which lies in personal offshore bank accounts in tax havens. It is an important delusion of our so-called democracies that people believe that elections are concerned with power in a democratic system when in reality they are a façade to maintain control of ordinary people who are required as wage slaves to maintain the accumulation of the 1%.

Within the 1%-system there are echelons of slavery through different types of employment. Within a corporation when does one stop being an employee and becoming a member of the 1%? The higher up the corporate ladder one examines one can see an identity of interest between the employed and the corporate owners, the designation of the description 1% at that stage is not important because the actions are 100% for the accumulation of wealth. Senior government always acts in the interests of the 1% so again the designation is only nominal, however the rewards matter. Tony Blair did 1%-bidding with the Iraq war, and since his retirement has been rewarded with hugely lucrative positions. Is he 1%? Maybe, but his actions certainly are. They need to be seen for what they are, and not what he says.

If we follow the money we understand the system. Market mechanisms Wall Street and the City, fiat money through Federal Reserves, wars and government legislation and regulation all lead to the accumulation of wealth in offshore accounts of the 1%. These are all part of their system. In terms of a unity platform it is so essential to see who is in control. If we work together in Unity against the 1% this financial control and control of the people could be slowly eroded as power devolves back from the few to the many – from the 1% to the 99%.

In my view all of the above can be agreed by all of the 99%, both on the left and the populist right. Hence UNITY PLATFORM. But in practise the 99% are manipulated to fight each other – right vs left, a UNITY PLATFORM needs to work together yet recognise difference. This is difficult but essential if the 99% are to maintain their standard of life – both in terms of quality and material needs.