I personally feel I live in two parallel universes.
One where life continues as was, exemplified by a wedding in Devon last weekend with friendly, considerate people, all having a very good time celebrating amidst a large gathering of family and friends.
The other life where values and norms, as I have known them during my lifetime, are ridiculed (as seen in the Olympic ceremony) and portrayed as ‘far right’.
So where does this leave me personally?
A person who has always been law abiding, thinking that politicians acted with integrity, and despite not always having similar views to mine, were ultimately trying to improve the U.K.
I am now turning into a person who has a dislike of the political class as a whole and does not trust them to do what is best for the country. This is fuelled by a media, which is biased and sensationalist, stoking anger and resentment in every direction.
And what is the solution?
Speaking up, free speech and open debate are essential for a thriving society.
Respect and a common set of basics values is another one.
Looking forward to the discussions at the Battle of Ideas weekend in October!
I think you make very good points here Claire, but it doesn't quite get to the root cause of the problem, IMHO. We see time and time again that when institutions unilaterally redefine their core mission, normally geared towards the fads and hobby-horses of the liberal elite, the results are deadly and the working class are disproportionately the victims.
A few years' ago, Public Health England redefined their mission towards policing people's personal behaviour with a strong emphasis on smokers and drinkers. When a genuine public health crisis hit in 2020, they were hopelessly unprepared and utterly incompetent. Not being able or willing to wield the surgical tools that are normally used to manage infectious diseases in the early stages, they were left with just the blunt tools of lockdown and restrictions on personal freedoms. We then had a full blown pandemic where the working class were left to meet the virus head-on when keeping society running, whilst the liberal elites were on furlough at home.
The Southport child murders and subsequent disorder are a symptom of the Police abandoning their core mission of maintaining law and order in favour of promoting and defending diversity, multi-culturalism and DEI. They are fully supported and enabled in their new core mission by the media, the institutions and government. The results are grimly inevitable.
Going forwards, I suspect we will see more deaths amongst the poor as the dept of energy and OFGEM have moved their core mission from providing cheap and secure energy to combatting "catastrophic" climate change and promoting Net Zero.
It's is largely the poor(er) members of society who pick up the tab in these situations, it is therefore not surprising to see them taking to the streets. They know full well that voting can't change their situation because the main political parties all have the same narrow "right-on" attitudes. Whatever they do, they will be demonized as being "far right" simply for the crime of opposing the liberal elite's world view.
I have to take issue with your reference to "the poor' who do you mean. I have lived life as 'a just about managing "JAM' my husband and I have worked and saved for our retirement we are not financially 'poor.' We are not financially well off either.
However because of the dropping if the winter fuel allowance and rising energy costs we are now considering how we will meet said costs. We are still a JAM couple but just above the pension credit threshold. I would therefore say that the "poor' are well covered by the welfare system it is the JAM'S of any age that are hardest hit socially and financially. I think personally that it is this group that are reacting angrily to the sociatal changes happening today.
Very good! I don't have an answer, but concur that it seems to be an increasing fashion, when presented with an argument, to launch an ad hominem attack, by pinning a label on someone (climate denier, eco-zealot, bigot, racist, liberal.....) as an easy alternative to presenting a civil counter-argument.
I always love to quote a congressman of a bygone era, as reported by Alistair Cooke in Letter from America: "I never learned anything from anyone who agreed with me".
You see it, I see it, the silent majority see it yet your colleagues in both house are adopting the animal farm script where some are more equal than others… until your voice and that of like minded individuals are listened to, it WILL get worse. The communal sand pit within Westminster they use to bury their heads in needs filling in!
Good point, although my view isn't that Westminster aren't burying their heads, I think that they are fully in on it - everything that is happening they believe is worth it to protect their liberal world-view.
Thank you for this thoughtful article.
I personally feel I live in two parallel universes.
One where life continues as was, exemplified by a wedding in Devon last weekend with friendly, considerate people, all having a very good time celebrating amidst a large gathering of family and friends.
The other life where values and norms, as I have known them during my lifetime, are ridiculed (as seen in the Olympic ceremony) and portrayed as ‘far right’.
So where does this leave me personally?
A person who has always been law abiding, thinking that politicians acted with integrity, and despite not always having similar views to mine, were ultimately trying to improve the U.K.
I am now turning into a person who has a dislike of the political class as a whole and does not trust them to do what is best for the country. This is fuelled by a media, which is biased and sensationalist, stoking anger and resentment in every direction.
And what is the solution?
Speaking up, free speech and open debate are essential for a thriving society.
Respect and a common set of basics values is another one.
Looking forward to the discussions at the Battle of Ideas weekend in October!
I think you make very good points here Claire, but it doesn't quite get to the root cause of the problem, IMHO. We see time and time again that when institutions unilaterally redefine their core mission, normally geared towards the fads and hobby-horses of the liberal elite, the results are deadly and the working class are disproportionately the victims.
A few years' ago, Public Health England redefined their mission towards policing people's personal behaviour with a strong emphasis on smokers and drinkers. When a genuine public health crisis hit in 2020, they were hopelessly unprepared and utterly incompetent. Not being able or willing to wield the surgical tools that are normally used to manage infectious diseases in the early stages, they were left with just the blunt tools of lockdown and restrictions on personal freedoms. We then had a full blown pandemic where the working class were left to meet the virus head-on when keeping society running, whilst the liberal elites were on furlough at home.
The Southport child murders and subsequent disorder are a symptom of the Police abandoning their core mission of maintaining law and order in favour of promoting and defending diversity, multi-culturalism and DEI. They are fully supported and enabled in their new core mission by the media, the institutions and government. The results are grimly inevitable.
Going forwards, I suspect we will see more deaths amongst the poor as the dept of energy and OFGEM have moved their core mission from providing cheap and secure energy to combatting "catastrophic" climate change and promoting Net Zero.
It's is largely the poor(er) members of society who pick up the tab in these situations, it is therefore not surprising to see them taking to the streets. They know full well that voting can't change their situation because the main political parties all have the same narrow "right-on" attitudes. Whatever they do, they will be demonized as being "far right" simply for the crime of opposing the liberal elite's world view.
I have to take issue with your reference to "the poor' who do you mean. I have lived life as 'a just about managing "JAM' my husband and I have worked and saved for our retirement we are not financially 'poor.' We are not financially well off either.
However because of the dropping if the winter fuel allowance and rising energy costs we are now considering how we will meet said costs. We are still a JAM couple but just above the pension credit threshold. I would therefore say that the "poor' are well covered by the welfare system it is the JAM'S of any age that are hardest hit socially and financially. I think personally that it is this group that are reacting angrily to the sociatal changes happening today.
Very good! I don't have an answer, but concur that it seems to be an increasing fashion, when presented with an argument, to launch an ad hominem attack, by pinning a label on someone (climate denier, eco-zealot, bigot, racist, liberal.....) as an easy alternative to presenting a civil counter-argument.
I always love to quote a congressman of a bygone era, as reported by Alistair Cooke in Letter from America: "I never learned anything from anyone who agreed with me".
You see it, I see it, the silent majority see it yet your colleagues in both house are adopting the animal farm script where some are more equal than others… until your voice and that of like minded individuals are listened to, it WILL get worse. The communal sand pit within Westminster they use to bury their heads in needs filling in!
Good point, although my view isn't that Westminster aren't burying their heads, I think that they are fully in on it - everything that is happening they believe is worth it to protect their liberal world-view.