Politics- The World according to Dot

 I think most of us want a trouble-free life, with enough money to live on, food in our belly, a roof over our heads and good health.  You can consider yourself very fortunate if you have the complete set.

So I am very fortunate when I say I and my family have never gone hungry, even when I was living alone in a flat at the age of seventeen scrimping and saving to afford the rent each month, I always ate, granted, I was a size 10 back then but I had a full time job (remember them?) and times were different. I have never been homeless and consider myself quite healthy if you  forget the dalliance I had a few years ago with appendix cancer. (Now thankfully all clear). 

 Today’s political climate is full of doubt and uncertainty. Who can say that they are truly happy with the way the world is evolving, how long can our complacency last and rose tinted spectacles continue to be worn?

In my opinion I think the average person in the street is nice, usually a bit left of right and right of left in their political leanings and quite happy in that lane until it comes to an election or referendum when all hell breaks loose. 

The way I understand it is this.  In England the only political parties that stood any chance of forming a majority government used the Conservatives and Labour, now we seem to be heading for a five party free for all where any government is likely to require a coalition of two or more different parties.  Each have their own policies.  The Conservatives believe in individualism and to keep the country’s commerce working with big profits and so the trickle down aids the average person.  The Labour party believes in collectivism, to also keep the commerce moving but to make sure the average man is not exploited and to make provision for the needy, a system not so beneficial for the wealthy and able. The Liberals used to be a much bigger party but today coming up third and believe in the freedom of choice to choose and to look for peaceful, considerate and non violent ways to achieve what the other parties want to achieve.  Reform who have gained much momentum like it or not are to the right of the Conservative party and want to bring in a new brush and change a lot of the way society runs today.  The Greens, mainly want to protect the environment. (The Scottish, Welsh and Northern Ireland seem to have their own areas to Govern so I apologise in omitting them here. How long do you want this blog to be? Don’t get me started on devolution for Cornwall!)

But, politics can divide a nation, start wars and turn people into angry aggressive morons.  Isn’t the aim of all of them in the end to create a better world for all?  I am proud to be British but I hate nationalism.  I love our culture, our countryside and our beautiful cities.  I hate intolerance, violence and thuggery.  I like the fact we have a democracy with a ceremonial and symbolic monarchy, I love all the pomp and ceremony that goes with it, I love the history of it all, and yes, I even like Morris country dancing. Don’t get me wrong there are parts of our history that I am not so proud of, as is true of most countries. But we can we really judge the past by today’s standards?

We are a nation of immigrants going back millennia, Saxons, Vikings, Romans, French, not one of us can say they are not descended from mixed heritage.  I recently found a Madagascan slave as a x10 Gt Grandmother.  Martin’s x2 Gt grandfather came from Italy as a teenager seeking a better life.  We both also have French Huguenots in our family who fled France from persecution in the seventeenth century.  We probably are are related somewhere down the line.

We are one of a few countries that have such a mix of different cultures and with our array of fast food and restaurants we are envied by many, and so diverse you can eat your way around the world just walking down a city high street.  When I was growing up in the sixties I never saw an aubergine, or an avocado and garlic wasn’t to be  sniffed at.

Anyway I digress,  what I really wanted to write about this week is our increasing division over politics. It scares me, I hate the way it makes me feel and I wish it would stop.  Many things need sorting out in this country, all parties would agree.  But the demonising of each party and political opponents should not be allowed.  Let’s be nice to each other.  Everyone is doing the job the best they can according to their beliefs and if someone is corrupt from whatever party, they should be punished to the highest degree.  More safeguards need to be put in place and more external independent supervision is required. 

I can remember my Grandma and family talking about the hardships of WW2.  I have watched the documentaries and the newsreels of that time.  People sheltering in fear from the bombs, not knowing if they would survive to the morning.  The woeful destruction of some of our finest cities.  All because one man in Germany had a vision for a better world, his world, and it didn’t contain some elements of his present society.  That was not a better world for those people.  No one in his country could stop him, after all, they had elected him. I may be talking a little simplistically here but the horrors of that time is manifold, and comparing it with today’s politics I can see similarities and can understand how easily it happened.  Spread hate, divide the nation and gain control. This has become so much easier in this modern world with social media, the monopoly of news media by political barons and not forgetting the rise of the demon called AI.

Are we heading down the same road? I fear there are many observers in foreign lands rubbing their hands in glee and reaching for the popcorn delighting in the self-destruction of the western world. 

Yes, it is easy to get annoyed when you see people take advantage of the benefits system, looking for loop holes and sitting back watching others do the hard work.  Like Jesus said. “The poor will always be with us.” And so I fear will the scroungers.  But for some people genuinely in need of assistance those safeguards and benefits need to be in place.  It is a dilemma that all governments have to address and they need to catch and punish the abusers of the system and at the same time protect the vulnerable.  A hard job to do.  I wish whoever has that responsibility, no matter what party they are from, the greatest of luck.

Peace to all.

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