It is clear that in the UK we live in a post-industrial society and one where we are now witnessing the collapse of the retailing sector as we decide to shop online more. The only sectors we have that are rising is health, social care and the support provided by so-called charities.

But in order for those sectors to succeed in the long-term they need to keep a high demand for what they provide and so it is not in their best interests to deliver the outcomes of ‘healing people’ as they claim. Instead, it is a better business model to attempt to keep people dependent on their services for as long as possible. And so we have the passivity industry, the big business of keeping a section of the population passive, disempowered and dependent for the sole purpose of keeping the middle class and others in paid employment.

A perfect example of this is the alcohol service commissioned by Coventry City Council called CGL (short for Change Grow Live), a national charity/business designed to keep alcoholics and drug addicts in a state of dependency.

I encountered CGL when I had a period of using alcohol excessively this summer when I was coming to terms with my former personal assistant of 12 years, Flora Lloyd, taking me to an employment tribunal for unfair dismissal after she walked out during a discussion about Brexit and never came back.

My plan was to have a relaxing all-inclusive and therefore alcohol-fuelled holiday before approaching CGL to plan a safe at home detox regime. As future articles are likely to explain, the holiday did not quite go to plan. I did go to CGL on my return and they promised to arrange a home visit, something they said later they had no record of doing.

Events overtook the situation and after being failed 7 times by the NHS over the next week, I finally ended up in hospital with ‘high risk’ alcohol detox. Despite a lot of initial promises in A&E about after-care on the emotional side of alcohol misuse, I was discharged once I was detoxed without any of this being delivered.

So I went back to CGL and decided to give them a second chance to help me by seeing what they could offer. The initial meetings were interesting, but I am unsure they ever had anyone as proactive or complex as myself to deal with. My suspicions that this could be pointless was when I started asking about the psychological methodology they used in their group sessions. When I began seeing myself explaining transactional analysis to them, the professionals, I kinda got the idea they did not have a clue about what they were doing.

I was told by CGL to attend a meeting in their Coventry headquarters and day centre to talk to one of their group leaders. I was somewhat dismayed to be told when I arrived with my personal assistant that he was off sick like it was my fault! Having to wait half an hour to speak to someone else, who gave me no new information. I had an opportunity to get a feeling for the place.

All I could smell was the strong stench of wasted public money. This was not a place that helped people with alcohol and drug issues but rather a day centre to keep them passive, disempowered and most importantly, off the streets so the middle class did not have to see them. CGL has no motivation to really help people with their problems as they need to keep their clients as long as possible.

I was tempted to go to one of their group meetings to see what it was like but I was put off when I was told their ‘breakfast club’ did not actually provide any breakfast, as I was told I may be lucky to get some toast!

While I then made my mind up at that point that getting real help from CGL was impossible and a waste of time to try, the hot weather gave me a further insight into the workings of CGL. My windows at home overlook a major park in the centre of Coventry, and I get to see everything that goes on in the park throughout the year.

The hot weather sadly turns the park into an annexe of CGL’s day care service as alcoholics spend all day drinking and sleeping peacefully throughout the park. Some of CGL’s clients also like to sit right outside my block’s front door. I found this out when one of them left their phone outside and I could return it via CGL.

This is just one of too many examples of how our economy is dependent on passivity to survive. Charities are now big business who depend on retaining misery and despair to survive, relying upon the public’s romantic view of them to get away with these abusive practices.

It is time society wakes up to the realities of the passivity industry.

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