I'm not sure if I'm the only one, but it seems to becoming increasingly hard to argue politics with a lot of people. Matters seem to have descended into a clear "a or b" stance, and with the Liberal Democrats seemingly safely in the Tories pockets, it all seems to be increasingly like the two party system that they have in the States.
I'll tie my colours to the mast right away. I'm an old socialist with an admiration for people like Tony Benn. I'm not going to go into what I believe in (too boring) but over the past few months, whenever I have criticised the current government, I have been met several times with a sneer and "it's all because of the mess Labour left" or "what, so you'd have Labour back in?"
All I can say in return is that I never voted for that bunch of tossers either. Whatever Tony Blair felt he had to do to make the party electable, he moved it so far from whatever it did stand for to make it beyond the reach of my cross in a box.
Yet the damage has also been done in that to a lot of people, the mistakes between 1997 and 2010 will forever go down as the mistakes of socialism. Now, excuse my naivety here, but as someone born in 1981, I'm fairly confident I've never lived under what I would term a "left wing" government. The cynic in me says I never will, at least not while living in this country.
Perhaps the politics I believe in is a pipe dream, and that as a people, we've chosen our route and have to follow it to the conclusion, no matter how harsh the cost. Having good friends who are social workers, I'm starting to see how Big Dave's Big Society is starting to bite. Caseloads are going up, meaning they get less time with children in desperate need of help. Support workers and admin support are being let go. But nevermind, we as a people will fill in the gaps. Or maybe we won't, after 30 years plus of being encouraged to look after nobody but ourselves and to spend our troubles away.
Unfocused Rant over. Last one to sign on gets the drinks.
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Yet the damage has also been done in that to a lot of people, the mistakes between 1997 and 2010 will forever go down as the mistakes of socialism.
ReplyDeleteThank you. At least someone who shares that with me. It's something I feared it would happen through the final years of the New Labour government. While all the glaz-eyed optimists where enjoying the Blairite binge, I just felt the chicken was going to come home to roost sooner or later...and that whatever atrocity the next Tory government would do the obvious (and frankly fair) riposte would be "you can talk, you started that!". Tuition fees, crapping on disability benefits and messing up the NHS three things that spring to mind.
Trust me, I wish I had £100 for everytime I've read/heard Blair and Brown described as 'socialists'.
ReplyDeleteI'm wary of writing posts like these as I often feel a bit, well, ignorant almost. Which may well be part of the greater problem in that we accept and acquiesce to politicans ("they know more about these things") when it would seem that they don't actually have a fucking clue.