BuccanEar Radio

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❝ Welcome, you're listening to The Bug.❞ 

―Catchphrase

BuccanEar Radio is a radio channel in Watch Dogs: Legion. It is a political podcast hosted by Claire Waters and her co host. They speak about the political state of London, including the takeover by Albion, and often accept phone calls from guests with mixed opinions. Waters is eventually silenced by

Albion after being vocal about opposing them, and the player can find Waters' body inside the BuccanEar Radio broadcasting center.

Transcript

BuccanEar: The Rise of Albion

Tash dives deep into policing for profit and the affects it has on civil rights, while chronicling Albion’s rise to power.

Name: BuccanEar: The Rise of Albion  Author: BuccanEar Network

(music) Tash: This is London calling. I'm Tash and this is BuccanEar, your source for what they don't want you to know. Tash: Today we’re talking about policing, by consent, or by force for profit? Tash: Ever since Robert Peel created the police force as we know it in 1829, London has relied on the Metropolitan Police Service for peace, stability, and justice. Tash: They weren’t perfect, but at least there was some democratic control. Tash: Now, there’s a new sheriff in town. Tash: If you're a victim of crime, or, you just want to silence a peaceful protest. There's a new police force to turn to: Albion. Tash: And they're about as far from the old-fashioned bobby on the beat as it's possible to get. Tash: When Hassani handed over London to Nigel Cass, many people were surprised, but we weren't. Tash: London has been up for sale and privatization for years. The only difference is that now the private companies have guns. Tash: How did it happen? What does it mean? How can we reverse it? And what's the price of justice? Tash: On BuccanEar we conceal everyone's full names for their own safety. Here's Helen, who investigated policing, civil rights, and justice in pre-crisis Britain. Helen: One of the kind of classic hallmarks of a fascist leader is having their own private army or police force, you know. Helen: In a democracy, the state tends to have a monopoly on violence and that's not what happens when a state fails. You know, you end up with people running their own private militias. And- Helen: -we've seen this all over the world. Every kind of Great Dictator in history has had basically their own jackbooted set of guys that they can send in to rough up people who annoy them. Helen: And that's the danger of a force like Albion, you know, you start taking powers to yourself, and actually, who is in charge of telling you "no"? Helen: It's always a worrying sign, when you see, say… a president surrounding themselves with ex-military guys, with five-star generals, or whatever it might be- Helen: -because that sort of suggests that they want to run the country like you run a war. Helen: And in a war, you have to be incredibly hierarchical, you know, you have to be top down. People essentially have to obey orders, because that's the only way that you can make that work. Helen: That's not how it works normally, in a democracy. Helen: And that's the problem really, is you end up in a situation where in normal peace time, checks and balances are suspended and that's really scary. (music) Tash: Is policing ever politically neutral? We spoke to academic Alfie, all names on the downlow, of course, about the politics of law and order. Alfie: I think, it's very important to consider the changes that have happened in public space in London. Alfie: I mean, the honest answer is there hardly is any shared public communal space anymore. Everything is privatized, owned by corporations and companies. Alfie: And it's very difficult to feel that the space is our own to use. Alfie: And essentially, you can be moved on from any area by forces which are employed to police the private area for corporate profit, rather than for a community's overall well-being and shared livelihood. Alfie: Um, so, I think what you're looking at overall, is a situation where it's now completely impossible to distinguish between a kind of state police or a police which operates in the service of the community- Alfie: -and one which operates to protect private interests. Which leads us to the situation we've got with something like Albion today. Alfie: A private police force gives you a very different kind of justice to what you might have in a form of society, such as one with a state or government-run police force. Alfie: And it makes you wonder if, you know, of course it's obvious when it comes to an active police force. If it's enforcing the rules of the privatized state, then it's more likely to act in their interests rather than those of ethics and morality for the greater good. Alfie: But it also makes you wonder about the entire justice and legal system underpinning such a police force, you know. Alfie: Do the courts and justice systems also share the-the ethics and morals of the privatized companies who employ them- Alfie: -and therefore, you know, is a kind of equal and fair ethics or justice completely gone today? Tash: So, there we are. In Britain today the police are bought and paid for. Tash: And there's nobody to roll that back but us. Tash: I'm Tash and you've been listening to BuccanEar. We'll be back soon. Till then, you've got the knowledge. Now use it. (music)

BuccanEar: Fake News

Tash exposes the GBB and speaks with media experts to reveal how authoritarian leaders exploit the spread of disinformation.

Name: BuccanEar: Fake News  Author: BuccanEar Network

(music) Tash: This is London calling. You're listening to me, Tash, on BuccanEar, your source for what they don't want you to know. Tash: This time, we're turning our focus back on the media to look at my former employer, the GBB. Tash: As we know, the broadcaster has been through a lot of changes since the Hassani government gave in to pressure from his corporate backers and privatized the corporation. Tash: Today, the GBB is a shadow of its former self. It's become a tool used by the government to circulate fake news and misinformation. Tash: So how did we get here? Where did it all go wrong? How can we tell when our national media has become state propaganda? Tash: Our experts speak on conditions of anonymity for their own safety. Tash: Here's disinformation and media expert Charles, who’s seen free broadcasters built up by journalists and torn down by demagogues all over the world. Charles: So, before the media fragmented, there was this voice of authority that was trusted and worthy of trust. Charles: Then what we ended up with is a really commercial model, where whether you're talking about and app on a smart device, or whether you're talking about a broadcaster- Charles: -the most important thing was to keep you in that environment for the longest amount of time possible, because that meant money in their pocket. Charles: And in order to do that, a couple of things happened. Charles: One was the use of manipulative techniques around behavioral economics, things that would just keep you scrolling, or keep you listening, or keep you looking for more information. Charles: The second is that that kind of environment favors sensationalism. Charles: And so, you got more sensational headlines and more sensational stories, and it didn't matter whether they were true or not. It just kept people in, and it kept them in the loop. Charles: So, we ended up in a situation where nobody trusted anything, and nobody believed anything at all. Charles: And that is the perfect environment for an authoritarian voice to come in and say: “No, wait, we are the truth”. Charles: So the ground for this environment really got created when we had suddenly authoritarian politicians everywhere, and anything that threatened them or they disagreed with- Charles: -they would call it disinformation. That's disinformation. That's fake news. Charles: And again, we got in a situation where nobody really believed anything. And the trouble is, if you are telling the truth, it's very hard to get your message to cut through- Charles: -all of the noise of all of the disinformation that's there. Charles: So like, you know, you'll remember out on the edges, there was this story about when they would take a house by force, they would take any infants and they would crucify them. Charles: And that's a great, fantastic viral story. And how do you counter that story? Charles: With the truth. The only way you can counter it is by saying: “No, they didn't”. Charles: And of course, no one wants to spread that story. Charles: No one wants to hear that story. They want to hear the sensationalism. They want to hear how people were victims of violence, when in fact they weren't. Charles: Or they were victims of insurgent forces when in fact they weren't. (music) Tash: The news isn’t neutral. It's a battleground. Here’s media researcher and academic Alfie. Alfie: The media has, of course, been perhaps the key-way in which governments have controlled and influenced their populations. Alfie: Totalitarian countries have typically used huge, mainstream media outlets to sell one kind of news, one kind of biased news to its population. Alfie: Of course, the media has always played this kind of key role in methods of state control. Alfie: I think what's happening now is perhaps even more concerning where previously, in pre-crisis Britain, we had perhaps more diverse voices in the media. Alfie: But now with the GBB, you're really only seeing one brand of news and therefore only getting one truth. Charles: So, people end up with a very biased and controlled idea of the reality and the world that we're actually living in. Alfie: There were, of course, many concerns and many problems. But in a way, there was some positive things like that not all information was coming from one place. Alfie: And so, you'd have kind of far-right media outlets developing and then left-wing media outlets developing to combat those- Alfie: -and kind of challenge the mainstream newspapers, TV stations, radios, and make sure people were questioning the validity and truth of the information they were receiving. Alfie: So, whilst the digital afforded more fake information, it also makes us suspicious and skeptical of information and makes us question the information we're getting. Alfie: I think in pre-crisis Britain, it might not have seemed great at the time, but there was something positive about that- Alfie: -that there was a lot of distrust in the media and, and in the different kinds of truths that were being told. Alfie: Whereas now, I think you're seeing a return to a more traditional and older, pre-digital sense, actually, of people just trusting what they're told. Alfie: And that's why we have to we have to be here with radio stations like this to challenge those conceptions. Alfie: Most citizens feel pretty hopeless, I think, and unable to fight back against these kinds of huge mainstream corporations that simply entrench and support the ideals and ideology of the state. Alfie: It can seem very hopeless, indeed. But I think, you know, the fact that you're out there listening, we're in here talking shows that there is still a space to combat these false truths and disinformation that's being sold to us- Alfie: -and that it's never possible really to completely shut down. Alfie: And despite all the technologies that they have at their disposal, and all the financial and corporate power, and all the physical power- Alfie: -that it's never quite possible to shut down people's desire to get to the truth and fight for their own ideologies and values. And you know, we're out here starting that task, so don't give up hope. Tash: You've been listening to BuccanEar with me, Tash, we'll be back soon with more of what you'll never hear on the GBB. Tash: Keep listening, keep sharing, and keep resisting. (music)

BuccanEar: Dictators and Democracy

Tash examines how the actions of former Prime Minister, Dev Hassani, lead to a nation in crisis and reveals how leaders like him come to power.

Name: BuccanEar: The Rise of Albion  Author: BuccanEar Network

(music) Tash: This is London calling. I'm Tash and you're listening to BuccanEar, your source for what they don't want you to know. Tash: Today we're talking about Dev Hassani our gone, but sadly not forgotten Prime Minister. Tash: It's strange to think that he was just another here today gone tomorrow politician until his infamous “London is drowning” speech went viral. Tash: The forces of darkness he unleashed with that speech changed everything around us. Tash: Was Hassani’s rise inevitable? Could it have been stopped? And what happens when democracy starts to breed the ideas that can destroy it? Tash: Using back channels and underground contacts, we got in touch with political analysts and historians to find out how it's possible for cynical short-term leaders, like our beloved Prime Minister, to give birth to political nightmares. Tash: No full names, as you know, these days telling the truth can get you killed. Tash: Helen spelled out the dangers of populism for major political magazines and websites back in the pre-censorship days. Helen: The appeal of fascist politics is about strong men, and they are usually men. Helen: Because it's about saying there are simple problems that are really easy to define, say immigration, and there are simple solutions to them, stop immigration. Helen: And they are really appealing because they make sense of a world that can often feel really complicated and confusing. And they do offer or seem to offer action- Helen: -instead of what politics can often be, which is a kind of messy set of compromises where no one gets really what they want, everyone gets a little bit of it. Helen: And that's the problem really, is you end up in a situation where it looks like someone is going to do something incredible and transformative. But of course- Helen: -either it never really delivers or it delivers at a huge cost to, for example, dehumanizing people. Helen: And I think you see that in the rhetoric around immigration, if you say: “immigrants, we're probably going to stop them” it's a legitimate political stance for a country to want to control its borders. Helen: But the way that that's done can often end up being very cruel and inhumane because what you have said is: immigrants specifically are the problem. Helen: Not every fascist is a populist, but they are two interlinked styles of government really. Helen: Because what fascists tend to do is rely on narratives of deep change and enemies. I think that's one of the hallmarks of this style of politics- Helen: -where you represent your opponents, not just as people who disagree with you, but as existential threats, as evil people. Helen: So, you see it in the course of the run up to the Second World War, where Jewish people are represented, as you know, rats and a scourge. Helen: You see it with Muslims, where they are represented as coming to take over and replace white people. Helen: So you have big defined groups of enemies, that the person who is trying to convince you to vote for them, or later on simply to support their regime perhaps, needs to defeat. Helen: There is always an enemy to be defeated. Helen: Unfortunately, one of the things we're very bad at as humans is recognizing different things when they don't look like previous examples. So- Helen: -I think in pre-crisis Britain, we had an idea that when fascism came, it would look again like the 1930s, it would look like a single charismatic leader, it would look like jackboots in the street and huge flags. Helen: And it didn't look like that: it looked like social media groups, it looked like poisoning the well so that no information could be trusted. Helen: It had its own specific flavor, and that I think blinded people, as did a kind of complacency that things aren't ever going to get that bad ever again. Helen: “That's a problem for the past. We're much more sophisticated now. We know we're not going to succumb to these great moods of emotion where everyone is hysterically listening to a leader”. Helen: Well, guess what? People don't change that much. (music) Tash: Where do authoritarians come from? Before the crisis, Ian was a senior journalist covering the global rise of the strong men. Ian: Populism started to rise as a response to a series of crises. Now, some of these were true. Some of them were false. There was a financial crisis. Ian: People were poorer, they were less secure than they were, they were looking for easy answers. Ian: There was a refugee crisis. I mean, the extent to which that was an actual crisis is frankly questionable. There wasn't actually that many people coming over. Ian: But what you had was mainstream news reflecting a really quite right wing rhetoric- Ian: -portraying what was ultimately a trickle or boat as some major crisis in the country. And once you get into that situation, you are primed for having authoritarian leaders with- Ian: -fictitious but easy answers come along with a populist message- Ian: -and basically say to you: “Look, I will take care of the problem. I will make it all go away”. Ian: So how do populists capture existing political parties or institutions. The truth is, this usually happens in about three different ways. Ian: The first one is the easiest: you set up a party, you win election, you take over. Ian: But that doesn't actually happen that often. The second way is a bit more common, which is that you basically find yourself in coalition. Ian: With usually a mainstream right-wing party. And this is exactly what happened, of course, in the 1920s, in Italy with Mussolini, exactly what happened in the 1940s in Germany with Hitler- Ian: -which is that the mainstream brings them into power. And there they think they can control them, but you can never control this kind of party, they will always take charge. Ian: The third way is the most pernicious and the one that we recognize the least. And that's when basically from the opposition- Ian: -from the media, right-wing populists get their message out against immigrants, against corrupt elites, supposedly corrupt elites, and just pump out that message, pump out these frames of reference. Ian: And by virtue of that they take control to the political dialogue from well away from power. (music) Tash: It's easy to slide from democracy to totalitarianism. It's a lot harder to fight your way back again. Tash: But that's what we're here for. You've been listening to BuccanEar with me, Tash. Tash: Thanks to our guests for having the courage to talk to us. Keep listening. Tell your friends and spread the word. Tash: There's nobody to fix this but us. (music)

BuccanEar: Big Brother Meets Big Data

Tash takes an in depth look at SIRS and how they use data collection to govern from the shadows.

Name: BuccanEar: Big Brother Meets Big Data  Author: BuccanEar Network

(music) Tash: This is London calling. You're listening to BuccanEar, your pirate podcast source for what they don't want you to know. Tash: I'm Tash. And this time we're giving a special shout out from us to the boys and girls at the Signals and Intelligence Response Service, better known as SIRS. Tash: Why not? They're going to be listening anyway. They're listening to everything. Tash: They probably know that you're listening to this show right now. Tash: But don't worry, we're not going to say anything bad about a massive, unaccountable spy organization that uses its powers to stifle dissent and shut down free speech. Tash: Instead, we're going to look at how SIRS became so powerful. And as usual, we'll keep everyone's names and locations secret, so SIRS doesn't come looking for them. Tash: Charles is an expert in the dark arts of surveillance, he worked to set up democratic media in post-communist states. How did it go so wrong in Britain? (music) Charles: You know, we're looking at all the wrong things when we look at Britain's crisis. There's a lot of concentration on data and how that's been used and manipulated. Charles: And what we haven't looked at is the power structures and the profit that lies behind this. Charles: For example, if we examine what actually happened, you know, there's a company that's really very interested in selling passports and making it easy to provide visas for investment and so on. Charles: And historically, throughout the world, they've been working with this big data manipulation company, in order to overthrow governments, and then suddenly, all the chickens came home to roost. Charles: Nobody could find any receipts for what was paid for, nobody could figure out how things were done. But everybody had a feeling that something really stunk, and they couldn't figure it out. Charles: And yet it was standing there in their face the whole time. Charles: There's a couple of different ways that we got where it is that we are. I mean, one, you have a lot of smaller organizations, smaller power groups, companies as well- Charles: -who are bending things just a little: "Oh we'll compromise a little bit, we'll bend the rules a little bit, um and try to achieve what it is that we hope to achieve that's good for us." Charles: And if you add all of that up, what you end up with is a big wall moving in a big way, from a lot of little buttons being pushed. But also, there's this other thing that's going on here. Charles: The gathering of data and the analysis of data has authoritarianism contained within its DNA. Charles: It is by its nature a tool for authoritarianism, and it has been used in that way. Tash: How does big data look into our lives? James covered it for the pre-crisis press. (music) James: We're starting to see the merger of private data and data held by the state, into what are called social credit systems. James: This is where every aspect of your behavior is monitored and totted up by a central system to sort of score you as a person, a bit like a credit card, but predicated on all of your behavior, rather than just the money you’re spending. James: And this can have profound impact. We're starting to see systems emerge which will punish you and stop you from doing things in society based on your behaviors. And this can be as trivial as- James: -if you jaywalk, if you cross the road in the wrong place, you might lose points. If you do some community activities, or, help your neighbors you might earn points and then this can be used to evaluate you as a person. James: And this could mean, for example, better travel privileges, being able to travel first class or being denied from traveling first class, to not being able to travel at all. James: These systems are very real and very possible, because all of the data that is now held on us. Tash: Ian was a veteran political writer and podcaster back in the days of pre-crisis Britain. (music) Ian: Is the world we're living in now fascist? Well, this is what fascism is. It is the complete and total control of the individual- Ian: -that resides basically on saying to the individual: “Nothing in your life matters on an individual basis, you are now part of the whole- Ian: -part of the nation”. And the only meaning that you will find in your life is to become part of the nation. What is a nation? A nation doesn't mean anything, right? Ian: The nation is basically just encapsulated by the leader that takes over that claims that he has this sort of access to the soul of the country, to the soul of the people. He never does, it's just a myth. Ian: But that's what they go for. On that basis they take the right to control every aspect of your life from who you talk to, to where you eat, to where you go to hang out with your friends. Ian: And what we're seeing now is a contemporary iteration of this process where you get corporations and the state operating in tandem basically molded into one another. Ian: But that isn't that rare. I mean, it's exactly the same thing in Nazi Germany. You look at the concentration camps that operated in Nazi Germany, there were private companies- Ian: -in those camps, making use of that slave labor. Fascism often works with corporations and it's doing the same now. That's the way in which they track what you do. Ian: That's the way in which they track who you talk to. They operate as each other's proxies. Tash: So, if your ears are burning, and you think someone might be watching you, you're probably right. They’re watching all of us. Tash: I'm Tash and you've been listening to BuccanEar. Keep listening, keep sharing the show and keep it encrypted. Tash: They're watching us but we're watching them too. (music)

BuccanEar: Human Commodities

Tash reveals how big data is used to control the masses, what can be done, and how our information being collected.

Name: BuccanEar: Human Commodities  Author: BuccanEar Network

(music) Tash: This is London calling. You're here with me, Tash, on BuccanEar. Your source for what they don't want you to know. Tash: In today's world, we've all had to get used to every move being tracked by the Optik on our temples, by the cameras around us, and with every click we make online. Tash: It seems like everything we do feeds the Big Data beast. Why are data giants like Blume so hungry to get hold of our private information and our metadata? Tash: What are they using it for? Will we ever have real private lives again? What is privacy in the digital world? Tash: And what happens when capitalism and surveillance become one? As you know, we keep all names confidential on BuccanEar. Tash: Speaking from a secure location, here’s new technology strategist, Charles. He worked all over the world trying to keep democracy strong in the face of the data assault. Charles: If you have enough personal data on somebody you are able to predict what it is that they're going to do. Charles: You can tell what they might be passionate about. But mostly you can tell what they fear. Charles: And if you can tell what someone fears, then you can manipulate them and you can move them in particular directions. Charles: Data is collected on citizens in every possible way. Charles: Data is collected through surveillance cameras. Data is collected from television sets. Charles: Data is collected from voter records, it’s collected from how much power do you use in your house, and how much water do you use in your house. Charles: In pre-crisis Britain, we got really used to all of our services being free. Charles: Everything suddenly became free that was digital. But what people forgot is that if you're not paying for it, then you're the product being sold. Tash: If technology brings out the worst in capitalism, capitalism brings out the worst in technology. Tash: Senior academic Alfie tells us how big business repurposes big data. (music) Alfie: Historically, what's happened, of course, is that people have traded their privacy for their convenience as smartphones and other kinds of technology came in and became mass consumed, mass used items and technological objects. Alfie: Gradually, people were so attracted to the affordances of these technologies, that privacy kind of retreated into the background and into a state we've got now where it's essentially gone. Alfie: Having this access to this data makes huge tech companies like Blume so much more powerful than they would be otherwise. And not just in the obvious ways. Of course- Alfie: -there's a lot of worry and fear over what they can do with the data. They can track anyone, find anyone, see what every individual is doing at any point in time. Alfie: But I think there's even deeper reasons why this data empowers these huge companies to control our society and-and make us do things. Alfie: So, lots of predictive technologies, which are implemented by these tech giants, it's not only interested in knowing what we're going to do but influencing the patterns of our movements. Alfie: So, technologies might suggest routes to use in the city, places to go, restaurants to go to, cafes to go to, music to listen to. Alfie: And these suggestions are not just predicting what we might like to do, they're actually influencing the way citizens move, think, eat, meet- Alfie: -and use their city as a space. So, London has become a place where a small group of surveillance capitalist companies like Blume- Alfie: -can control the movements of individuals and orchestrate the way they move around their city and the way they essentially live. The things they do, the things they enjoy and the life they lead. Alfie: So, we're really kind of outsourcing our decision making, I would say- Alfie: - to a huge corporate capitalist company. And there’s something very, very scary about that, indeed. Alfie: All these technologies can be used to not only influence us to act as the perfect consumer, but also to prevent us from doing radical and revolutionary things. Alfie: So, technologies in foreign nations have been using things like heat map features, which show where populations are gathering. Alfie: In-Game rewards can be offered to people to take different routes, things like that. Alfie: Traffic data can be manipulated to prevent people gathering and protesting as has happened in some of the authoritarian regimes across the world recently. Alfie: So what we're looking at is not only a set of technologies, which make people behave as ideal consumers, but ones which actually can be put to use to prevent radical and disruptive behavior in the city, which limits the power of any kind of revolutionary force. Tash: So, if you thought you had a private life, get used to it, you don't, and we're not going to reclaim our lives without a fight. Tash: I'm Tash and you've been listening to BuccanEar, keeping the resistance informed, Keep listening, keep fighting, and remember, nobody owns you, but you. (music)

BuccanEar: Politics of Poverty

Tash explores the dark truth behind shortages, why they happen, who benefits, and how Britain went from a consumer's paradise to a dystopian nightmare.

Name: BuccanEar: Politics of Poverty  Author: BuccanEar Network

(music) Tash: This is London calling. You're listening to BuccanEar. Your source for what they don't want you to know, with me Tash. Tash: It's hard to believe that there can be shortages of food and medicine in an advanced country like ours. And yet, here we are. Tash: Those old government promises of adequate food turned out to be just another lie. Tash: Today we're short of basic foodstuffs and vital medical supplies, hundreds have already died of conditions that could be easily cured. Tash: The black market means that criminal gangs like Clan Kelley run our cities, and Prime Minister Dev Hassani isn't even around to pretend to care. Tash: How do we go from a consumer paradise to a place of empty shelves and fighting for supplies? Tash: What turns the land of plenty into a wild west of hoarding food battles and black-market barons? Tash: We protect everyone who comes on the podcast by keeping their identities secret. Tash: Here's veteran political reporter Ian on the power behind shortages. (music) Ian: What was the first thing that happened when Britain sealed itself off? The first stuff that got stopped from coming in was fresh food. Ian: I mean, we could live without the fresh food. Everyone's quality of life got instantly worse, but we could live without it. Ian: The most damaging part was when the radioactive isotopes stopped coming in. Ian: Radioactive isotopes, that's what we use in cancer screening and cancer treatment. Ian: Now that stuff, it has a short half-life. Technetium saved-used to save hundreds of thousands of lives just by screening for cancer, let alone testing for cancer. Ian: But that stuff has a half-life of 66 hours. As soon as those walls went up, there was just no time to bring it into the country. And that is when people started dying. Ian: And then the medicines. The thing is there's loads of medicines that you just can't stockpile. Ian: There was a moment before it took place when actually there was some efforts to try and stockpile some of the medicines. Ian: There were some things that could be done. But for a lot of it, there was really nothing that could be done. We had a major problem with drugs for schizophrenia. Ian: So, we saw such an uptick in the kind of attacks on the street and people suffering on their own because they didn't have the mental health drugs. Ian: Because those drugs simply couldn't be stockpiled. Ian: We eventually found the same thing with foods that weren't produced in the UK. Ian: And the trouble with the UK was, we don't produce our own food, we never have. Ian: For hundreds of years, we produce under half of our own food. So as soon as those walls went up, we started having significant material problems in the country. Ian: And Britain always told itself, it had this national myth right, that it would, because it got through the war, that it could go through any kind of hardship. Ian: I mean, that wasn't really the case. Actually, people during the war were far more frightened than some of this historical stuff makes out. Ian: Now what did we see? People don't want to go through that stuff. They were desperate for the things that they had before. And they were scared. Ian: So they went to the black market, the same thing that always happens, and where did the growth of Clan Kelley come from? Ian: It came from people wanting the things that they could previously get legitimately and could now only get through the black market. Ian: Funneling funds towards criminality. And from there, we got to the situation we have now of this bizarre war between criminals and security, that seems to dominate what's going on out there on the streets. (music) Tash: Nothing shakes people's faith in capitalism quite as much as when capitalism fails to deliver. Tash: Here’s underground writer and analyst, Alfie, on the politics of poverty. Alfie: I think what we've come to now is a realization that capitalism has essentially failed. I mean- Alfie: -the one key promise of capitalism that it makes to its citizens is that there will be surplus, that we will have plenty and that's the whole logic for running society in this way, that people will have enough. Alfie: And now, with this kind of huge shortages of everything, you're seeing that system collapse, it hasn't delivered on its primary promise. Alfie: And I think we've really reached the situation where we have to do away with capitalism entirely. Alfie: We're seeing a situation where there's shortages for the many, but for a few individuals there's an elite who are not struggling and short of anything. Alfie: So, there’s this kind of fundamental inequality of a capitalist system, which is no longer producing the goods for most of us. Alfie: Shortages are being used as well. I'm not saying that there isn't a real shortage, there possibly is a real shortage. Alfie: But shortages are being used as an excuse for those in power, those elites to keep what they want, and not give to the rest of us what we need. Alfie: So, the excuse that there's simply not enough to go around is the justification for maintaining a kind of power of the 1% and leaving the rest of us short. (music) Tash: So if you're starving hungry tonight, if your parents can't get their medicine and your brothers and sisters have to steal to eat- Tash: -remember, it's all for the good of Albion, or Clan Kelley, or someone