Party Political

We've all been encouraged to vote today.

It's the European elections, which we all tend to be a bit cynical about over here. GB is part of Europe, so we have this other elected body that makes European Union legislation. Do we trust it ? Hell no. A lot of the time, it seems like the laws made there are :

Crazy - as in batshit crazy nonsence
Nationally motivated - usually to advantage one country and disadvantage another
Not widely adopted - some countries pay lip service to the EU law, some like GB adopt everything

It seems sometimes like our law here is dominated by the law coming out of Brussels, the centre of the European Parliament. And it's usually law that hurts GB citizens and lessens our quality of life.

However ... and this is where you have to be very careful with politics : the opinion we have is formed by the media we watch. Our media outlets are incredibly biased. They have a vested interest in telling us what to think and how to think. They don't have an interest in people thinking independently, it might mean their money and votes aren't going the way they want.

The most valuable lesson I learned at school was in history. We had an amazing teacher who taught us to seek the meaning hidden behind the evidence. To seek out all the evidence, not just the stuff that's handed to us on a plate. To always question how believable things are that we're told.

And that is great to take through to work as well. We do a lot of negotiating with contractors and other people providing us services and we have to always ask : Are they telling us the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth ? Often they'll leave things out where it's not to their advantage. Or they'll just blatantly lie where things like cost are involved. Except it won't be a lie, they'll just be economical with the disclosure of what's actually included.

So - politics.

The system here is somewhat bankrupt. It should be a mix of ideology and personality. The parties should have conflicting ideologies, with the electorate picking the most appropriate for the condition of the country at the time. Personality should have its way too, with MPs reflecting the interests of their constituents. However ... the ideologies have merged and the personalities get swamped underneath a demand for them to conform to the ideology. There are currently no personalities I would consider worthy of my vote. (Except Boris Johnson, he's amusing)

Who are the parties ? The major ones are :

Labour - who were born from socialism but who have gradually gone right over the years. They are however, still dominated by the unions (with a puppet in charge at the moment) and they usually wreck the country after they've been in for a while.
Conservative - who put the country back together again after Labour but they are a very elitist bunch and end up looking after the elitist interest at the expense of the common citizen. No pay rise for more years than I can count - yet they vote themselves in above inflation pay rises for themselves.

There's not actually that much to choose between them now, as their ideologies are merging.

Liberal - who try to come up with different policies but what they come up with is either touched with insanity or totally unaffordable. They'd bankrupt the country faster and harder than Labour ever did. Plus they ditched all their promises on day 1 of the current coalition. They have no credibility any more.

UK Independence Party - this is a bunch of incredibly dangerous people. They have the protest vote at the moment. But I think they have that because of the "None Of The Above" factor. And because the media like them at the moment. If you look behind what the media concentrates on, you find some utterly crazy policies and representatives who are utterly corrupt or detached from reality.

There's also the Green Party - who focus on the environmental aspects. They're a bit too small to make a difference though.

It would be quite nice to have a "None Of The Above" box on the election forms. Spoiling the voting paper or abstaining doesn't really achieve very much. Even though I have written off the 5 major parties here, I did vote earlier although as usual I'll not say who I voted for.

Enough of the politics though. It's a bankrupt system that's lost its credibility due to a lack of personailities worth voting for. But it's our system ... and it mostly keeps the criminals off the streets and away from hassling us. It would be nice though for :

A universal remote control would be a good thing. Especially if could add a zero or two to the bank balance or get that Pretty Lady to turn her head and spot the grin or other good things.