| The state of politics - It isn't our fault, or is it? 13:56 - Nov 5 with 660 views | wkj |
I have a number of American friends and family members and I asked them, depending on how they vote, what could they tell me about their candidates election manifesto.
Shockingly none of them could say much beyond simple buzz words like
"Covid", "The Economy", "Biden/Trump is bad for the country"
I really think we would do ourselves so much good demanding political candidates to talk more about their manifestos and plans and less about how crap the other candidate is.
Compared to the last election, the manifestos pretty much were about getting brexit done, stopping brexit.
Down with tribalism, demand more from our representatives. Politics should be about people lying to us about giving us a better future, and less about putting out figurative fires. |  |
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| The state of politics - It isn't our fault, or is it? on 15:06 - Nov 5 with 596 views | Darth_Koont |
It’s certainly weak, lowest-common-denominator stuff for the most part – on both sides of the Atlantic. We’ve got to start demanding more from politicians but perhaps most importantly we need to demand more from the media industry that supports them.
They have an important role to play in a) speaking truth to power and b) representing other voices/alternatives. But, overall, they’re utterly useless at both and have actively encouraged much of the nonsense in our politics. Not just the usual right-wing or tabloid villains either, the BBC and the Guardian have been lamentably bad too often as well.
Maybe now that people are rejecting them, and their business models are suffering, we might see them work a lot harder to regain trust and a purpose? |  |
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| The state of politics - It isn't our fault, or is it? on 15:20 - Nov 5 with 570 views | SpruceMoose |
Sadly, people don't want to hear policy details and I don't think it's being driven by politicians, I think it's politicians giving the people what they want.
You have candidates like Elizabeth Warren who are incredibly policy oriented (which I personally find extremely interesting) and they get poked for being a 'wonk'. Meanwhile you have Trump clapping his cheeks on Twitter and the masses are fixated. Similarly in the UK, thoughtful politicians like Ed Miliband get written off as weird, while Johnson obtains cult hero status off the back of racism and waffle. If there's not a spectacle, there's not any interest.
I think there is a fundamental problem with the education system in both countries, but certainly within the US. If you take a massive lack of critical thinking skills among a population with barely a high school diploma to their name, and add to that the cesspit that is Facebook etc. you get radicalisation. [Post edited 5 Nov 2020 15:23]
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| Pronouns: He/Him/His.
"Imagine being a heterosexual white male in Britain at this moment. How bad is that. Everything you say is racist, everything you say is homophobic. The Woke community have really f****d this country." | | Poll: | Selectamod |
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| The state of politics - It isn't our fault, or is it? on 15:23 - Nov 5 with 564 views | tractorboy1978 |
It's all very 'Cult of the Personality' these days. People pick the person or party they like and everything that comes out of their mouth is good. Everything that comes out of the opposition's mouth is bad. It's about who said it and not about what is said. The media and social media propagate this even further. We end up with headline politics with people not interested in any of the nuance or detail behind it. There is little desire for collaboration, finding middle ground or common good. [Post edited 5 Nov 2020 15:23]
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| The state of politics - It isn't our fault, or is it? on 15:25 - Nov 5 with 549 views | SpruceMoose |
| The state of politics - It isn't our fault, or is it? on 15:23 - Nov 5 by tractorboy1978 |
It's all very 'Cult of the Personality' these days. People pick the person or party they like and everything that comes out of their mouth is good. Everything that comes out of the opposition's mouth is bad. It's about who said it and not about what is said. The media and social media propagate this even further. We end up with headline politics with people not interested in any of the nuance or detail behind it. There is little desire for collaboration, finding middle ground or common good. [Post edited 5 Nov 2020 15:23]
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Yup. It's like supporting a football team where you excuse your midfield enforcer snapping someone's leg in a wild lunge while simultaneously being outraged that a player for the opposition has done the exact same thing.
Like you say, what's being done doesn't matter, who is doing it does. [Post edited 5 Nov 2020 15:26]
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| Pronouns: He/Him/His.
"Imagine being a heterosexual white male in Britain at this moment. How bad is that. Everything you say is racist, everything you say is homophobic. The Woke community have really f****d this country." | | Poll: | Selectamod |
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| The state of politics - It isn't our fault, or is it? on 15:35 - Nov 5 with 511 views | tractorboy1978 |
| The state of politics - It isn't our fault, or is it? on 15:25 - Nov 5 by SpruceMoose |
Yup. It's like supporting a football team where you excuse your midfield enforcer snapping someone's leg in a wild lunge while simultaneously being outraged that a player for the opposition has done the exact same thing.
Like you say, what's being done doesn't matter, who is doing it does. [Post edited 5 Nov 2020 15:26]
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Indeed.
This will be unpopular but Raheem Sterling is another prime example. The face of anti-racism in football in this country and done a terrific job of it. But then defends his mate Bernardo Silva over the Mendy tweet thing last year because 'he's not that way inclined'. | | | |
| The state of politics - It isn't our fault, or is it? on 15:59 - Nov 5 with 463 views | wkj |
| The state of politics - It isn't our fault, or is it? on 15:23 - Nov 5 by tractorboy1978 |
It's all very 'Cult of the Personality' these days. People pick the person or party they like and everything that comes out of their mouth is good. Everything that comes out of the opposition's mouth is bad. It's about who said it and not about what is said. The media and social media propagate this even further. We end up with headline politics with people not interested in any of the nuance or detail behind it. There is little desire for collaboration, finding middle ground or common good. [Post edited 5 Nov 2020 15:23]
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I have listened to so much Judas Priest this last 4 years it's unfunny, but yes, Cu*t of Personality seems to be the big ticket. | |
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| The state of politics - It isn't our fault, or is it? on 16:04 - Nov 5 with 451 views | pointofblue |
| The state of politics - It isn't our fault, or is it? on 15:20 - Nov 5 by SpruceMoose |
Sadly, people don't want to hear policy details and I don't think it's being driven by politicians, I think it's politicians giving the people what they want.
You have candidates like Elizabeth Warren who are incredibly policy oriented (which I personally find extremely interesting) and they get poked for being a 'wonk'. Meanwhile you have Trump clapping his cheeks on Twitter and the masses are fixated. Similarly in the UK, thoughtful politicians like Ed Miliband get written off as weird, while Johnson obtains cult hero status off the back of racism and waffle. If there's not a spectacle, there's not any interest.
I think there is a fundamental problem with the education system in both countries, but certainly within the US. If you take a massive lack of critical thinking skills among a population with barely a high school diploma to their name, and add to that the cesspit that is Facebook etc. you get radicalisation. [Post edited 5 Nov 2020 15:23]
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Though maybe the difference between May and Johnson's polling does give us some hope. May's manifesto, whether people agree with it or not, did have substance, depth and 'solutions' to some of the issues of the day whilst Johnson's was full of nothing. On election day May got more votes in 2017 than Johnson did in 2019.
(I know this as I'm a sad idiot who reads every party's manifesto before voting) | |
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| The state of politics - It isn't our fault, or is it? on 16:07 - Nov 5 with 441 views | SpruceMoose |
| The state of politics - It isn't our fault, or is it? on 16:04 - Nov 5 by pointofblue |
Though maybe the difference between May and Johnson's polling does give us some hope. May's manifesto, whether people agree with it or not, did have substance, depth and 'solutions' to some of the issues of the day whilst Johnson's was full of nothing. On election day May got more votes in 2017 than Johnson did in 2019.
(I know this as I'm a sad idiot who reads every party's manifesto before voting) |
Do not talk to me about polls right now  | |
| Pronouns: He/Him/His.
"Imagine being a heterosexual white male in Britain at this moment. How bad is that. Everything you say is racist, everything you say is homophobic. The Woke community have really f****d this country." | | Poll: | Selectamod |
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| The state of politics - It isn't our fault, or is it? on 16:11 - Nov 5 with 432 views | pointofblue |
| The state of politics - It isn't our fault, or is it? on 16:07 - Nov 5 by SpruceMoose |
Do not talk to me about polls right now |
This is going to run and run once all of the legal challenges come to the fore, isn't it? | |
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