As a grass roots community and environmental worker over the last forty years, I can say with confidence that the main cause of of lack of trust and waste of time and resources on both sides of the pond and the political devide are the political party systems and the absence of proportional representation which they protect like gold. This in turn acts as a template for the corporate financial and business systems.
I have met throughout my life only a small number of politicians and businessmen and civil servants who i can really say i trusted and even fewer who I still trust. The rest are at best unreliable, many are personally motivated and some have little concern for anything other than personal power and financial advantage over others. Especially when in a Party or a corporate body a good individual tends to be swamped by the collective desire for power, influence and advantage. and the majority close ranks when anyone strays from the local orthodoxy. The same applies when someone commits a criminal act, or merely displays complete lack of ability or reliability.
The Party and Corporate system always looks after itself and those who toe the party line. Good is swamped and bad is protected against exposure. Large political majorities only breed arrogance and high handedness. and when I got the opportunity and challenged our former "leader" Tony Blair in a live radio phone-in, a couple of days before the 2000 AD election, his only excuse was that it would only give power to minorities. Events since then have only proved that we really do need more power in minorities and PR as this would actually increase democracy, force proper debate and prevent bad legislation and the outrageous conduct of the Tories in the Thatcher Era and and the Labour party in the Blair era.
The parties are still at it. They exaggerate as a reflex action to defend their policies and telling lies has become a virtue. Not suprisingly greed and dishonesty are now being elevated to virtues in this far from Brave New World. Thatcher and the Tories promised prosperity and property ownership but only to the few and to the detrement of the many. She also released control to the financial and banking systems, paving the way to the Credit Crunch and the chaos we are now experiencing. In the process she virtually closed down industry in the North of England and transformed the UK into an unsustainable service economy. When Blair was elected after many wonderful promises, he merely picked up Thatchers baton and ran with it to the detriment of the elderly, the sick and disabled and of course the unemployed with helped him finance his war mongering.
As long as we continue with the Party System and First Past the Post, we will always be at the mercy of clever marketing, ruthless politicians and our own weakness. Its time to introduce PR as in the Scotiish Parliament and make it possible for more independent candidates. Only then will we be able to lecture the rest of the world on the meaning of Democracy and of course restore the badly needed trust in our political and financial system.
I have met throughout my life only a small number of politicians and businessmen and civil servants who i can really say i trusted and even fewer who I still trust. The rest are at best unreliable, many are personally motivated and some have little concern for anything other than personal power and financial advantage over others. Especially when in a Party or a corporate body a good individual tends to be swamped by the collective desire for power, influence and advantage. and the majority close ranks when anyone strays from the local orthodoxy. The same applies when someone commits a criminal act, or merely displays complete lack of ability or reliability.
The Party and Corporate system always looks after itself and those who toe the party line. Good is swamped and bad is protected against exposure. Large political majorities only breed arrogance and high handedness. and when I got the opportunity and challenged our former "leader" Tony Blair in a live radio phone-in, a couple of days before the 2000 AD election, his only excuse was that it would only give power to minorities. Events since then have only proved that we really do need more power in minorities and PR as this would actually increase democracy, force proper debate and prevent bad legislation and the outrageous conduct of the Tories in the Thatcher Era and and the Labour party in the Blair era.
The parties are still at it. They exaggerate as a reflex action to defend their policies and telling lies has become a virtue. Not suprisingly greed and dishonesty are now being elevated to virtues in this far from Brave New World. Thatcher and the Tories promised prosperity and property ownership but only to the few and to the detrement of the many. She also released control to the financial and banking systems, paving the way to the Credit Crunch and the chaos we are now experiencing. In the process she virtually closed down industry in the North of England and transformed the UK into an unsustainable service economy. When Blair was elected after many wonderful promises, he merely picked up Thatchers baton and ran with it to the detriment of the elderly, the sick and disabled and of course the unemployed with helped him finance his war mongering.
As long as we continue with the Party System and First Past the Post, we will always be at the mercy of clever marketing, ruthless politicians and our own weakness. Its time to introduce PR as in the Scotiish Parliament and make it possible for more independent candidates. Only then will we be able to lecture the rest of the world on the meaning of Democracy and of course restore the badly needed trust in our political and financial system.
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