Received wisdom tells us that we should all vote. Most of us do. Many feel they have to exercise their democratic right! The problem is that these people don't think the parties that they vote for are democratic at all. In the States the vast majority (into the 90s%) of voters believe both the Republicans and the Democrats are a dangerous threat to their democratic republic. So why vote for them?
The veneer of choice? In communist countries you could vote but there was only one party. In the UK, you can vote but there is only two heads of the same party. It is clear that big business control both parties and they are indecipherable where it counts. Brits, like Americans like to believe they have democratic choices so they are given the charade of choice. The parties serve the same master and so you have a corporate party with 2 wings. The London system is completely corrupt and that's why we've seen decades of pretending to clean up politics. They won't!
British elections can't offer real choices and so you have to face a circus of meaningless policies. Tabloid driven nonsense like binge-drinking, ASBOs, and all the things that neighbours like to complain about - no substance though.
The Lib Dems are not so umbilically linked to big business and have some meaningul choices. People feel that finally they have some kind of choice but that won't be allowed to happen. Today The Telegraph leads with a convenient exposé of a corrupt Nick Clegg:
Nick Clegg, the Lib Dem donors and payments into his private bank account.
Was he set up? Always useful to have something on a man just in case the corporate party falls by the way side and the people feel powerful again. Some will tell you The Telegraph is MI5, I couldn't possibly comment. Clearly though, the LibDems will have to have a 'prawn-cocktail' offensive ala John Smith before they'll get a sniff of power.. The dogs have been let loose and the yellow party will be back where they were a few weeks ago.
Elections are painful to watch. Political anoraks pouring over mountains of irrelevant data, two parties fighting over the chance to serve their corporate patrons and millions of people, tired of spin going out to do their part in pretending that they are participating in democracy.
There's no real debate about economics or war. Just spin about recovery and garbage about security and terrorism. The debate is entirely framed to comfort the elite corporate class who are the ones who will decide which of their lacky politicians will best suit their needs. If the people get in the way there is a huge armoury of weapons that can beat them into submission. The people are not the masters - they are merely bank serfs now. And even if you look at alternative media many blogs just rehash nonsense from the corporate press.
The system can be challenged in Scotland via independence. The problem is that the SNP are naive. They don't really understand the game they are playing. They have been lured into the corporate politics game of New Labour and Tony Blairitis. Cheap tacky policies are presented and the substance dropped. And if only they understood that the economy is in systemic failure rather than 'recession' they could do a lot of damage but they are managers of devolution and unwitting panderers to the corporate elite. Jim Sillars is right, the SNP leadership need to start taking politics seriously.
So, enjoy the circus. Here in sunny Spain I don't get saturation coverage but I've smelled enough to know that it's all bull.
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