There are lies, damned lies and politics. We
have arrived in the age of deceit, where elected figures now behave in the
exact ways their worst critics always alleged that they were capable of. Distortion
and twisted interpretation are no longer sufficient, politicians have learned
that they can use blatant lies to suit their aims and that there will be no
repercussions. It’ll even get them elected or promoted.
It’s very dark out there, bleak in fact.
Where do we go from here?
Envisaging a world where our leaders are so
divorced from reality that they believe their own blather means we’ll end up
with legions of Trump-a-likes. Cartoon characters who dominate the media
because they say outrageous things and polarise opinions.
Sometimes it’s hard to believe we live in a
civilised society, the evidence firmly suggests otherwise. Our representatives
in power bicker over who can be the most extreme, pandering entirely to a small
section of society who once lodged a protest vote because they have no
understanding of the real world. Rather than rise above it, they embraced the
distraction and relished the opportunity to blame someone else. Claimed it as a
mandate when it was the scarcest majority, influenced by distortions and lies.
Once we leave the EU and barricade all
ports and other points of entry, who will we have to blame? Our Governments are
so short-term in their thinking that they’ll no doubt have engineered another
media-dominating crisis for us to argue over. Perhaps the Russians are coming,
the ones that don’t already own all our property. I wonder if we’ll expect an EU Army to defend us?
We’ve allowed this to happen. Giving our
attention to legion upon legion of scare-mongering prophets of doom declaring
the end of times without ever being challenged on the actual facts. These grey
blaggard under-achievers getting in our heads with their insane and inane
ranting, blurring the boundaries of truth because they were never anywhere near
it.
We’ve already moved so far from reality
that we will have trouble finding our way back. Once upon a time there were
joke candidates on ballot papers, like the Monster Raving Loony Party. Now
they’re all raving but it’s harder to tell the real ‘loons’ from the criminally
deluded.
It takes special skills to ignore all expert advice and relentlessly pursue your own agenda,
particularly when that route is to the detriment of those whom you are elected
to serve. To additionally make public that you’re avoiding the ‘experts’
because they’re the wrong nationality or we’re all bored of them shows breath-taking arrogance.
We exist in a headline-based, soundbite news
vacuum, an echo-chamber of repetitive vapidity. It’s acceptable to the majority
because we don’t care enough and each have our versions of perception bias. We
only identify with the news pieces and opinions that already reflect our own
and gravitate to individuals with those sympathetic viewpoints.
Never have facts been easier to check or
fewer people willing to bother.
It often seems pointless to argue since no
amount of ‘logic’ appears to change a staunchly held opinion. Witness the women
standing up for Trump, arguing that he ‘loves women’. I’m sure he does, in his
own unique and manipulative way.
I have long argued for evidence based
politics and been called naïve as a result. Numbers can be crunched quicker,
analysis and expertise has never been more available but still we pursue empty
sloganeering and point-scoring policies.
This is the era of post-truth politics:
where the packaging is the most important factor.
In Britain we can blame a weak opposition
but when people have a slapdash attitude to facts, how can they win? In an
endless blame-game is anything actually achieved?
Our chosen politicians can spout a few
passages of bile and as long as it resonates with a section of the population
it’ll be enough. No-one will hold them to account anyway, not in this election
or the next.
Take a few pointed examples. Why did people
vote UKIP members to the European Parliament when their expressed intent was
our absence from that organisation? Why did UKIP members pick up those salaries
when they’re opposed to the ‘wasteful bureaucracy’ of the EU? We’re blind to even
the most obvious hypocrisy like Trump’s ‘Make America Great Again’ merchandise,
manufactured overseas. Wake up!
Logic has no place here, contrasting
opinions will not be heard. When a crisis emerges they’re obscured by smokescreens
like grammar schools, things for which there is no mandate, no budget, no need.
Dominate the news agenda with something new and controversial to avoid any
analysis of real issues, not that it was forthcoming anyway.
We have some real issues in the UK,
everyone is avoiding them. Let’s just pursue the path of least resistance and
make no positive or hard-thought choices. Deal with the here and now and don’t
think about the future – we don’t own it anyway; our souls are sold to the
lowest bidder. Remember to turn off the lights on your way out.
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