The Political Thread

[TordelBack]

The problem's a lot simpler than that. The problem is that a lot of people believe a lying clique of toffs are somehow genetically equipped to run the estate like it's always been run and keep everyone in their appointed station. Better to live your life in the scullery, let his lordship have the odd grope and watch your kids die of malnutrition than take the risk of seeing some darkies walking about the village like they're actual people.

All you need on top of that mental hellscape is a split of the vote of people who've thought about aspiring to a different life, some concerted media dishonesty picking off the less committed, a ludicrous FPTP system to amplify it all, and hey presto shit city forever.

But look, it's bitter unwarranted vitriol to suggest such a thing, to maintain that people voting for objective c**ts and their c**tish ways is self-harming stupidity: why shouldn't billionaires fuck us all, unassailed by the minor irritation of my whining about it. Or so the forelock-tuggers tell me.

[IndigoPrime]

There's a lot of apathy and laziness too. Lots of friends expressed sadness at my family's situation. Precisely one of them went on the marches with me. For march two, there were lots of excuses about short notice (six weeks, apparently, is not enough). One person was painting their garage. Then for march three, there was a notice period of many months. Still, people were terribly busy. Also, during all that time, no-one wrote to their MPs, because there was "no point". I agree that writing to MPs is usually a waste of time, but imagine five million people had done so, because the situation with citizen rights was so appalling? Things would have changed. Instead: oh, it's so terribly awful that you're being treated like shit. Oh, it's nasty the way you got abused in the street. Tsk, wasn't it awful when she got deported and they had to move to Denmark? And so on.

[The Legendary Shark]

The Douma narrative continues to unravel. Was the BBC involved in constructing a lie that led to air strikes? If so, who or what was behind it, and what should be done?

[Funt Solo]

I realize we're now beyond politics, which is why this thread is so quiet.

[JayzusB.Christ]

I realize we're now beyond politics, which is why this thread is so quiet.

I've found it too bleak to talk about recently.  To quote Dan Ashcroft from Nathan Barley, the idiots are winning.  Decency and common sense are not part of the new system.

[The Legendary Shark]

I'm not sure there can be decency when one small section of society believes it can impose its will on the rest, and I'm not sure there can be common sense when the rest of society sincerely believes the same thing.

[Rately]

I realize we're now beyond politics, which is why this thread is so quiet.

I've found it too bleak to talk about recently.  To quote Dan Ashcroft from Nathan Barley, the idiots are winning.  Decency and common sense are not part of the new system.

A thousand times this! Just very disheartening.

[TordelBack]

It is odd, an overwhelming feeling of resignation. I look at the Trump impeachment and just can't it see making any (positive) difference, I see our own party leaders just sort of accepting that they need to dissolve their not-coalition and ho-hum have some sort of, y'know, election, fairly soon. But no-one really seems to give a shit.

[Tjm86]

I wonder as well if it is also because no one really knows what is coming?  Granted Brexit is now so much more likely to be on the cards but the shape of it is still unclear.  How is it going to affect Ireland?  What sort of trade deals are we going to end up with?  How many of Johnson's ambiguous promises are going to actually come to pass?  Who is going to be holding him to account and how?

If the tin-foil hat are to be believed and Brexit is all part of some grand plan to break up the EU then those behind that plan are, I would have though, most likely to make every effort possible to ensure Brexit is a resounding success.  Those wonderful trade deals that Johnson et al have been harping on about will materialise and expose the folly of Britain's membership over the last couple of decades.

Whether that is insane optimism, delusional thinking or just plain wrong .... Who knows?

[Greg M.]

People don't need to actually be better off to be convinced they're better off, even if that means ignoring the raw evidence of their increasingly squalid existences.

[IndigoPrime]

What's behind it is just hubris. My guess is Ireland will unify (meaning the border issue goes away) and Scotland will declare independence (thereby be creating a new – if very different – border). England will become an isolationist state reliant on the USA, and may at some point come to its senses, elect someone other than the Tories, and rejoin the EU on much worse terms.

[The Legendary Shark]

I wonder as well if it is also because no one really knows what is coming?  Granted Brexit is now so much more likely to be on the cards but the shape of it is still unclear.  How is it going to affect Ireland?  What sort of trade deals are we going to end up with?  How many of Johnson's ambiguous promises are going to actually come to pass?  Who is going to be holding him to account and how? If the tin-foil hat are to be believed and Brexit is all part of some grand plan to break up the EU then those behind that plan are, I would have though, most likely to make every effort possible to ensure Brexit is a resounding success.  Those wonderful trade deals that Johnson et al have been harping on about will materialise and expose the folly of Britain's membership over the last couple of decades. Whether that is insane optimism, delusional thinking or just plain wrong .... Who knows?

I'm more worried about the opposite; that the remaining EU members and supporters will go out of their way to trash the UK so they can say, "You see? You see what happens when you leave!?"

[Professor Bear]

Voter ID now mandaTory.  Well, this is what we wanted, I guess.

[Proudhuff]

I wonder as well if it is also because no one really knows what is coming?  Granted Brexit is now so much more likely to be on the cards but the shape of it is still unclear.  How is it going to affect Ireland?  What sort of trade deals are we going to end up with?  How many of Johnson's ambiguous promises are going to actually come to pass?  Who is going to be holding him to account and how? If the tin-foil hat are to be believed and Brexit is all part of some grand plan to break up the EU then those behind that plan are, I would have though, most likely to make every effort possible to ensure Brexit is a resounding success.  Those wonderful trade deals that Johnson et al have been harping on about will materialise and expose the folly of Britain's membership over the last couple of decades. Whether that is insane optimism, delusional thinking or just plain wrong .... Who knows?

I'm more worried about the opposite; that the remaining EU members and supporters will go out of their way to trash the UK so they can say, "You see? You see what happens when you leave!?"

You see Larry, This is what happens when you met a stranger in the alps...

[Proudhuff]

Yeah, Boris and austerity have fecked the country, and if it all goes tits up it, he'll blame the Remainers, the Trots, saboteurs and refuseniks ,  The whole Uncle Joe thing, my worry is the counrty will end up like the movie 'Children of Men' but without the excuse.