As the green shoots herald the forthcoming spring and the re-emergence of the sun fills the air with optimism and the inevitable hose pipe ban, we can also look upon the economic forecast with confidence… Confidence that if we fall into old, bad habits of being seduced into spending that which we don’t have, to fuel a recovery built on debt, on things we don’t need, to uphold a system that doesn’t work, it won’t be long before we are back in the mire.

Surely, we won’t be fooled again into believing the only true value in life is obtained by material possessions and the frippery of excess.

Surely we won’t forget the depths of desperation in which so many have wallowed, whilst the few bathe in the glow of success.

Whilst the many struggle to keep their heads above water (literally, in Somerset) the few have carried on regardless. Is it not a good time to assess the mistakes of the past and avoid making them again?

Capitalism depends on the accumulation of capital, yet the recent boom and bust sequences have been created on debt and borrowing, as opposed to saving and accumulating. In fact the savers and the frugal have few rewards for their efforts with low interest rates and reductions in real terms, with regard to standard of living and quality of life. Scant reward for cautious spending and the discipline of saving, penalised by the very system they bought in to.

Pensions and savings have been plundered in order to plug the holes in the fiscal bucket and uphold a ludicrous system that depends on people getting into debt and consuming more in order for it to have any chance of appearing to succeed.

It can also be argued that capitalism is majorly responsible for climate change. Accelerated mass production of goods since the beginnings of the industrial revolution and the demand for often needless products has increased the amount of damaging carbon in our natural systems. Capitalism does not account for its negative environmental impact, because if it did, the whole world economy would be in deficit.

Successive governments pay lip service to environmental concerns as if the environment is like some dispossessed Third World country that is begging for humanitarian aid when, in fact, the truth is the earth will do fine without humanity. It will live as long as the sun shines and asteroids don’t collide.

We need to stop actively destroying our habitat, and share the Earth’s resources with respect for it and each other. It is high time the population was treated with respect and not as faceless pawns in an endless game of exploitation chess.

With the sad news of the passing of two of the country’s most emblemic socialists, Tony Benn and Bob Crow, it would appear that the odds of anyone speaking up for the workers would seem even lower.

Two individuals from opposite sides of the tracks, proving that it isn’t class that determines if an individual is empathic or not, but integrity and strength of character and no small amount of good old-fashioned honesty.

I’m sure there are many out there who will be relieved that they are no longer banging on about the disparity between the exploited and the exploiters, that their voices of dissent are silenced, and that the callous and greedy will be able to have free reign to milk the masses unabashed and unabated.

For the sake of the majority let us hope that the contribution of these two extraordinary individuals lives on in the lives of the many they have represented so fearlessly and hope that the seeds they have planted bear fruit.

A fruit available to all, to be shared equally, regardless of class.