The Adversarial Society and Consumerism

I thought that I would talk about society, and in particular our society here in the UK. First of all our society is an adversarial one. It consumes us all. From being the best in the school classroom to our government and all points in between. Our governmental system is, and always has been, adversarial. Tory against Labour and Lib Dem against everybody. The fact that the present coalition seem to be getting along is a diversion. The Lib Dems have backtracked on every promise they made in their election manifesto. However, I digress. Due to the system, each and every government we have ever had has failed to put the people first in almost every piece of legislation they passed. Parliament should be working for the people instead of for the party and the mega corporations that support them, and both Labour and Tory are guilty.
We move on to society in general. People call it competitive, but in reality it is most definitely adversarial. Someone makes a product which becomes popular, then someone else makes a similar product that does the same job as the first. The promotions for it read that the first one is outdated and useless and the second one is innovative and looks better when in fact both are equally as good. Don't get me wrong, "competition" is a good thing, but in the business world it is more about squeezing the competition out than providing us with a reliable and long lasting product. Governments today call it "The Free Market." Rubbish. There is no such thing as a truly "FREE" market. Everything is ruled by self interest and exploitation. The workers in what were known as third world countries are definitely being exploited. They are making goods that will be sold in western shops at hugely inflated prices. The only thing that distinguishes one, say for instance, polo shirt from another, is the little label inside with one silly name or another. The people fall for it hook line and sinker. More fool them. I would bet that nearly everyone has had the experience of being elbowed aside in a shop on the first day of the winter/spring/summer sale.
I started talking about the adversarial nature of society and I have drifted off onto consumerism. I will finish there before I move onto sport or religion or something completely different.
That's All Folks.