Do you think that Gove will have to report the Tory Party as a bunch of extremists as well as Trump and the majority of the GOP??
Looks like we’ll have to wait til Autumn to be rid of this incompetent, corrupt slime!
How the hell did the extreme right-wing nutcases of the ERG and MAGA Tea Party get to take over their parties?? How did the more sane Tories and Republicans allow these far-right ideologues to take control? These obnoxious fascists have gone mainstream and are now setting the agenda!!
Is this the end of democracy?? The end of civilisation?
They’ll be cosying up to Putin, Yung Un and those crazy rifle-totin’ evangelists! Liz Truss is already out there preaching to the white supremacists and Christian fascists.
What happened to intelligence and reason?
Is there hope??
Opher, don’t be so sure we’ll even get a chance to be rid of them in October. I wouldn’t put it past them to trump up (ha!) some “national emergency” that will give them a chance to keep themselves in power, perhaps in a “government of national unity” or some such. Labour, of course, would fall over themselves to jump in bed with them; they’re just two sides of the same paintbrush.
Lol Neil. Good to hear from you. I hope you are keeping well. How’s that book? Do you need any help publishing it on Amazon?
I’m not quite with you on this. I think there is a big difference between the outcomes of the two. Labour do maintain good public services and don’t patronise the rich. They are also nowhere near as corrupt. Your experiences have made you cynical.
Hi Opher, I am indeed keeping as well as is possible in my late youth.
The book about my brass band is done. It’s not intended for a mass market, so we’re only printing 250 copies, and Biddles will be doing the printing. If you’re interested, I might even be able to find a copy that “fell off the back of a lorry.”
Yes indeed, my experiences with Labour have made me cynical. Just as have your (and my) experiences with Christianity.
A seriously deep thinker once told me about the “three P’s” that are responsible for most of our problems: Politicians, Priests and Professors. You and I both have seen through the Priests. You have seen through some of the Politicians, but I have seen through them all. I’m still working on seeing through the Professors. I’m getting there!
Good to hear that you are well.
Well I agree with the Priests and Politicians and Some of the Professors but what about the three Bs??? I’d definitely add Business executives, Bureaucrats and assorted Bastards!
It’s actually the Tyranny Party.
Well, to be fair, it’s a mild form of tyranny compared to Putin or Yung Un, or Xi.
I’d add the three S’s, too. Sadists, Sycophants and (P)sychopaths.
That’s surely the Tory Party Neil!
Oops, the one about the Tyranny Party should have come down here. The Tories are just one wing of it.
The Tories aree all about greed and wealth. That’s their mantra and raison d’etre.
Sometimes it does feel like the end of democracy.
Perhaps it was always a mirage?
In a way, yes definitely.
We either make it work better or bring in an alternative. Got any ideas?
Personally, I think it’s time for an alternative. There’s no way to make this one work.
Benign dictatorship?
No, I think it’s time for a system where everyone has equal opportunity and benefits not just the rich.
A good socialist system then!
Pooja and Opher, you are both right. Democracy has never been any more than a “bag on the side” of the state. At best, a band-aid where a tourniquet was needed. And the whole idea of voting is a blind alley. As Mahatma Gandhi put it, “In matters of conscience, the law of the majority has no place.”
The problem is not so much the particular players within the political system, as the system itself. The monarchy – what a silly system, and what a bad man! – has got to go. The parliament, in which 95% are objectively criminals, has got to go too. I for one won’t be mourning “democracy” when it is finally replaced by a system which gives, to every individual who behaves up to basic human standards such as peacefulness, honesty and respect for human rights, the peace, freedom and objective justice he or she needs and deserves.
So who would enforce that?
I used to believe in human nature – not so much these days. Too many people are greedy, selfish and violent. We need a political body to keep order and pass laws to create an orderly society. I’m no anarchist these days.
I so agree, the problem is with the system. Democracy as a system is deeply flawed.
Opher, there would still be judges, but unlike today they would not be politicized. They would be held to objectivity and justice by a strong quality assurance system. As to who executes the judgements, I’d say anyone who has a legitimate interest in the matter.
But who would make the laws the judges preside over?
Those “laws” would be, as near as we can make them, a reflection of how it is natural for human beings (civilized ones) to behave towards another. Perhaps a bit like how the English common law evolved. I am reminded of John Locke’s one-sentence statement of this law: “Being all equal and independent, no-one should harm another in his life, health, liberty or possessions.”
Yes, but modern life is far too complex to have such a vague definition as that. Even traffic lights and parking would become insurmountable problems.