Warning: political rant.
I would say that in today’s Labour Party we are seeing the results of a road wreck where the juggernaut called ideology has slammed into concrete motorway support called reality. This was to be expected when you consider the politicians concerned. Most of them have backgrounds consisting of a combination of university political indoctrination, student activism and rebellion against their middleclass roots, or the slide into politics via union activism (i.e. trying to avoid having to work for a living). This mix has been spiced with a reading of turgid left-wing tracts produced by people with a similar background to themselves – similarly lacking any connection with the real world. (Remember, many of these twats have been members of the Communist Party and that madness called CND, and in their past went on jollies to the USSR to sup Vodka with those they considered admirable – the rulers of one of the most oppressive regimes on Earth.)
The constant temptations of wealth and power have been a problem for these politicians. Many of them have gone off the rails as, after years in the wilderness, they’re now kids let loose in a sweet shop. Large mortgage sir? No problem. Large donation to Labour in exchange for honours? No problem. Want to make a little on the side? Just make sure we get that government contract. Ad Nauseum.
Meantime, their approach to ruling was to smash up old institutions and replace them with something that fitted their blinkered fairyland worldview. And of course, being in politics kept them well-insulated from reality (the money helped) because society possesses such inertia that it takes some years of change to fuck it up. Labour has had those years, and now its politicians are beginning to reap the harvest. (Though let’s be honest here, the Conservatives planted similar crops and are now all but indistinguishable from Labour)
Their response, to these fuck-ups, is to try to spin their way out of danger, to manipulate public opinion and the press, meanwhile struggling to put back what they’ve wrecked. Thus we see emphasis on the three Rs and Ofsted to try and patch-up the mess resulting from their reliance on trendy teaching methods, and daft ideas about equality that resulted in pupils leaving their schools equally illiterate and ignorant.
Their other screw-ups have been failed ‘multiculturalism’ (incorporating lax immigration controls) leading to increased racism, and ghettos in which crime (including terrorism) breeds; a soft approach to crime and punishment with emphasis on rehabilitation, which has resulted in criminals holding up two fingers to the establishment and doing what they please because they know they’ll get away with it; flinging money at into the pits called NHS and Welfare to result in a bigger more bureaucratic and unwieldy beasts; going to war in Iraq; and of course the constant application of ‘political correctness’.
(Hey, you bunch of plonkers, just so you know: a racist is not going to suddenly fall in love with the ‘ethnic’ just because you’ve taken away his golliwog and forced him to stop calling a dangerous corner an accident black spot; serial paedophiles and rapists aren’t going to become good citizens after a bit of analysis and psychological counselling – two bricks slammed together in the nether region would have a better effect [Does it hurt? Only if you get your thumbs trapped] but will still do nothing to eradicate their inner scumbag.)
Of course, rather than admit to error, these idiots tighten their grip on the reins of power and want ever more control, but then that is nothing new for them. With political correctness they are already trying to control even what people think. A result of these increasing attempts at control has been a burgeoning parasitic bureaucracy – one we will not be able to afford for much longer. And now, as the politicians see the results of their long hold on those reins, their palms are growing sweaty and the leather is beginning to slip. They play the blame game … but find that too much time has passed for the evil Tories to be blamed (though in reality they are just as much to blame since they’ve been members of the same liberal elite for decades). They turn on each other, squabbling and slavering, ideology pushed out of sight; power, prestige and ministerial salaries well in their sights. Many of the more honest amidst them retreat in consternation and confusion. What went wrong, they wonder.
Unfortunately, too many of them will never actually work out what did go wrong, whilst others think their social-engineering is merely encountering a few bumps along the way. To them the error lies with those they govern, not themselves.
I would say that in today’s Labour Party we are seeing the results of a road wreck where the juggernaut called ideology has slammed into concrete motorway support called reality. This was to be expected when you consider the politicians concerned. Most of them have backgrounds consisting of a combination of university political indoctrination, student activism and rebellion against their middleclass roots, or the slide into politics via union activism (i.e. trying to avoid having to work for a living). This mix has been spiced with a reading of turgid left-wing tracts produced by people with a similar background to themselves – similarly lacking any connection with the real world. (Remember, many of these twats have been members of the Communist Party and that madness called CND, and in their past went on jollies to the USSR to sup Vodka with those they considered admirable – the rulers of one of the most oppressive regimes on Earth.)
The constant temptations of wealth and power have been a problem for these politicians. Many of them have gone off the rails as, after years in the wilderness, they’re now kids let loose in a sweet shop. Large mortgage sir? No problem. Large donation to Labour in exchange for honours? No problem. Want to make a little on the side? Just make sure we get that government contract. Ad Nauseum.
Meantime, their approach to ruling was to smash up old institutions and replace them with something that fitted their blinkered fairyland worldview. And of course, being in politics kept them well-insulated from reality (the money helped) because society possesses such inertia that it takes some years of change to fuck it up. Labour has had those years, and now its politicians are beginning to reap the harvest. (Though let’s be honest here, the Conservatives planted similar crops and are now all but indistinguishable from Labour)
Their response, to these fuck-ups, is to try to spin their way out of danger, to manipulate public opinion and the press, meanwhile struggling to put back what they’ve wrecked. Thus we see emphasis on the three Rs and Ofsted to try and patch-up the mess resulting from their reliance on trendy teaching methods, and daft ideas about equality that resulted in pupils leaving their schools equally illiterate and ignorant.
Their other screw-ups have been failed ‘multiculturalism’ (incorporating lax immigration controls) leading to increased racism, and ghettos in which crime (including terrorism) breeds; a soft approach to crime and punishment with emphasis on rehabilitation, which has resulted in criminals holding up two fingers to the establishment and doing what they please because they know they’ll get away with it; flinging money at into the pits called NHS and Welfare to result in a bigger more bureaucratic and unwieldy beasts; going to war in Iraq; and of course the constant application of ‘political correctness’.
(Hey, you bunch of plonkers, just so you know: a racist is not going to suddenly fall in love with the ‘ethnic’ just because you’ve taken away his golliwog and forced him to stop calling a dangerous corner an accident black spot; serial paedophiles and rapists aren’t going to become good citizens after a bit of analysis and psychological counselling – two bricks slammed together in the nether region would have a better effect [Does it hurt? Only if you get your thumbs trapped] but will still do nothing to eradicate their inner scumbag.)
Of course, rather than admit to error, these idiots tighten their grip on the reins of power and want ever more control, but then that is nothing new for them. With political correctness they are already trying to control even what people think. A result of these increasing attempts at control has been a burgeoning parasitic bureaucracy – one we will not be able to afford for much longer. And now, as the politicians see the results of their long hold on those reins, their palms are growing sweaty and the leather is beginning to slip. They play the blame game … but find that too much time has passed for the evil Tories to be blamed (though in reality they are just as much to blame since they’ve been members of the same liberal elite for decades). They turn on each other, squabbling and slavering, ideology pushed out of sight; power, prestige and ministerial salaries well in their sights. Many of the more honest amidst them retreat in consternation and confusion. What went wrong, they wonder.
Unfortunately, too many of them will never actually work out what did go wrong, whilst others think their social-engineering is merely encountering a few bumps along the way. To them the error lies with those they govern, not themselves.
7 comments:
You are beginning to sound a little like one of my other favourite writers.
http://www.barrybeelzebub.co.uk/
And, not surprisingly, it's all happening over here in Oz as well, but I suspect our political reptiles are a little way behind in realising the extent of the problems. Either that, or they've got their heads so far up Dubya's behind that they can't even see them. And we all know how the yanks sweep their same issues under the carpet or try to hide them behind the flag.
Ah thanks for that, bascule. I was up early this morning (too bloody hot) and soon looking at that blog. Made my day. I nearly wet myself a couple of times: "Make your own catapult and an Armed Response Unit will soon have you pinned down behind the swings"
I'll definitely be revisiting that one.
Colin, it's pandemic.
your views sometimes worry me, alot! Although some you just have to agree with! However, you do write fantastic books, so I guess the spilling over of your ideals into your literature makes fantastic reading, so keep up the ranting!
The way I see it is that any government we have had in the UK for the last few centuries (whatever its political flavour) has had one main function -
to prevent us being ruled by a tyrant on the scale of a Hitler, Stalin or Mao. Judged by this one criterion, even the current lot have been successful by default. After all, none of us here will be hunted down and slung into the gulag for the rude things we're saying about the status quo (as we would in, say, Burma.) Having said that, yes - the bureaucratic muddle, the farcical "war on terror" and the nannyism have
all been highly annoying. But it could be argued that the incompetence is actually something positive. It's like the old Aesop story - we may complain all we like (with good reason!) at the inertia and stupidity of King Log. But would we really want the beady-eyed, razor-sharp efficiency of King Stork?
Very true, Alex, but it seems terrible that the best thing we can wish for is incompetence.
Maybe we will have to wait for true AIs to come into being, before we get competent, incorruptible government. But then, who would program the AIs? There's no easy answer, really.
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