Person voting
Informed opinion, freedom of speech, and the right to stand up for what you believe in are essential in any democratic society.
Open debate and the ability to follow and practise opposing ideologies are designed to ensure that the public as a whole has an influential voice and that no one particular political group has an infinite monopoly.
Of course, there are many countries where citizens don’t have these most basic of rights, which we in the western world take as given.
They may live under a dictatorship, such as in North Korea, where every facet of life is controlled by a murderous despotic leader and his hand-picked henchmen, or they could reside in a different kind of authoritarian nation where democracy is said to be practised but, in reality, elections are rigged, opponents of the regime are suppressed and, in extreme cases, removed from society altogether (prison, assassination, etc); Russia, it could be argued, is the perfect example of the latter; effectively a “mafia state”.
Other countries, meanwhile, have a highly questionable and ineffective political structure and, in some cases, such as Somalia, have had periods of lawlessness where the nation has been literally ungovernable.
Therefore, those of us who live in countries where democracy and human rights are valued and respected (at least on face value), which includes the vast majority of the world’s most powerful nations, can count ourselves fortunate to have the freedom to express our beliefs openly and vocally.
However, with that liberty and all the elements mentioned at the start of this article, comes responsibility and, sadly, it would seem that for all the political rhetoric espoused in nations such as my own homeland, the United Kingdom, and influential nations such as the United States, there is an ever-increasing desire to vote and then “pass the buck” when things don’t go according to plan.
I’m at the head of the queue when it comes to slating what I consider to be the disgraceful, compassionless, “look after our chums” Government currently mis-managing the UK.
As with the David Cameron administration before it, I dislike most of their policies, despise their arrogance and am disgusted at the way they are attacking core services such as the public health system and throwing so many decent people on the scrapheap, whilst at the same time protecting greedy bankers, affluent friends and their own personal business associates.
I’m not saying that any previous administration was flawless, but the current selfish approach is nothing new for a Tory-led administration, as the legacy of Margaret Thatcher‘s divisive regime (benefits for the few and jobs for the boys (and a few girls), whilst entire communities and industries in the north of Britain were destroyed)) historically proves.
I feel perfectly entitled to express my view as I have witnessed and experienced the ill effects of all the aforementioned regimes in a private and / or professional capacity.
Highly critical I may be, but then I never voted for them in the first place. That said, and although I am someone with strong opinions and beliefs, I am not a member of any political party and my views are formed from personal experience. I am, therefore, not bound by a need to toe any party line.
At the same time, I respect the rights of others to have an opinion and express it, as long as it is based on knowledge and/or experience.
Sadly, however, that is where the problem lies: far too many people blindly place their vote based on factors such as political bigotry, family tradition, peer pressure, social snobbery, or even laziness, rather than a clear understanding of what it is they are signing up to.
Others, meanwhile, allow the self-serving bias of megalomaniac media barons and officials to influence their vote; eagerly believing every propaganda-based article they consume whilst supping their morning cuppa.
It’s a sad indictment of a society that now appears to prefer spoon-fed information and being told how to think. For me, however, it is a lazy existence to which I could never subscribe. In short, I like to gather my own information and make decisions based on what I have discovered.
With that in mind, and as previously stated, I have been highly critical of the Cameron and Thatcher regimes. I have also expressed strong opinions about Tony Blair and am also against the current government of Theresa May. The latter, of course, is currently presiding over Brexit, which is, in my opinion, one of the most damaging, irresponsible and potentially devastating decisions to have ever affected the United Kingdom.
The only reason the Brexit referendum came about in the first place was because David Cameron was unable to control Euro sceptic hardliners from the far right of his party and was fearful of losing them to the UK Independence Party (UKIP). Not for one minute did he, I’m sure, ever believe the UK would vote to leave the European Union (EU), but he played with a nation’s future for selfish gain and lost, with potentially grave consequences for the vast majority of the British population.
Now, whilst I clearly don’t agree with Brexit (I couldn’t be more opposed), I respected the right of every individual to vote as they saw fit. I can understand the fears, to a certain degree, about bureaucratic Brussels having too much control (although whilst I don’t agree with certain EU policies, there are others with which I do), and the majority of people who voted based on that particular theme did so, I am sure, out of a genuine belief, as well as looked into the matter beforehand. I don’t agree with them but I respect their right to vote how they saw fit.
However, the people for whom I have no respect are those who voted to leave the EU based on racism, xenophobia and false statistics about immigration, which were driven by a biased right-wing media and politicians who stand to gain greater control over the UK public whilst bypassing the protection of certain elements of the European legislation (human and workers’ rights, for example) I have just mentioned.
Sadly, it would seem that the voters who fit into the second category and were swayed by misinformation and propaganda in publications such as the Daily Mail, Express and Sun newspapers, as well as by self-serving, hypocritical political opportunists like former UKIP leader Nigel Farage, formed the majority and have, as a result, sentenced the UK and future generations to what experts have predicted will be many years of economic uncertainty and downturn and potentially rising unemployment, not to mention strained relations with our European neighbours.
The potentially negative socio-economic effects are far-reaching, and many Brexiters, it would seem, who believed the false political rhetoric and can now see the potentially devastating consequences, are already regretting their decision to vote as they did.
Meanwhile, and on the “other side of the pond”, the severe implications and signals currently emanating from Washington following the 2016 presidential elections are set to have a negative and dramatic impact on a global scale.
Against expectations, the majority of US voters gave Donald Trump, a man with no prior political experience, his chance to to become the most powerful person in the so-called “free world”.
Similar to aspects of Brexit, he led a campaign based on xenophobia (divide and conquer) and promises to “make America great again”.
Since his inauguration as the 45th President of the United States, however, he has courted conflict, continued to spread his message of intolerance, fabricated stories about his honorable predecessor, lashed out at those who have questioned his motives, and has attempted to discredit and silence the very people and organisations (high-ranking investigators, opposition politicians and the media) who are in a position to hold him to account.
Trump, as I see it, is effectively trying to create his own authoritarian state / dictatorship in the world’s most powerful nation, and given the fact that many highly qualified medical professionals have publicly declared him unfit to govern due to him displaying serious sociopathic and narcissistic personality traits (see one of my previous articles for more information about narcissism), then the future of world stability itself could well be at risk.
In a bid to further highlight the importance of thinking and voting responsibly, I wish to return to the comments I made earlier in relation to the UK Conservative Party (the Tories).
Firstly, I must point out that my stance isn’t because I have been pigeon-holed into opposing their every move or feel a sense of overwhelming loyalty to another political organisation. My opinions are based on what I have seen, experienced and continue to observe overall. It is certainly not fueled by either bigotry or tradition.
To emphasise my point, if you ask me to name the best constituency MP I have ever dealt with as a journalist (and I have interviewed many leading politicians, including the likes of Cameron and Tony Blair), then I would have to say Phillip Oppenheim, by a country mile; a tireless worker for his constituents, regardless of political belief, and a politician with a refreshingly balanced approach, he was a pleasure to work. He was also a respected member of two Conservative governments.
Therefore, whilst I may find many aspects of the Conservative ethos and track record difficult to stomach, I am by no means blindly biased. My views are reactionary and formed through experience.
Of course, there are other parties which offer values with which I can more easily identify. However, at the moment, not one single mainstream UK political organisation ticks enough boxes for me to offer my wholehearted support, so I remain an independent voice and am proud to be so.
However, that’s where my disillusionment with others enters the arena too. You see, whilst I form an opinion based on experience and have always done my research and expressed my opposition to certain policies in line with that, many others don’t.
Instead, they adopt an autopilot approach when sticking their cross in that all important box, often without considering the consequences, and then attempt to blame all and sundry when it backfires.
If there’s anything less palatable than a self-serving politician, then it’s the people who put them there in the first place and then have the audacity to moan about their subsequent actions.
Politicians will always blame the previous opposing political administration for their own party’s failings and it has become like a broken record with the last three governments.
However, what has really struck me recently is the hypocrisy shown by so much of the electorate, both in the UK, US and other countries in the Western World, including Spain, where I know from experience that sheep-like voting based on tradition rather than genuine knowledge and belief is like an epidemic.
In the latter case, several leading politicians in the governing Partido Popular (PP), including the current Prime Minister, Mariano Rajoy, and his defense minister and party secretary general, María Dolores Cospedal, have been implicated in and/or accused of being involved in a scandal (the Bárcenas affair) in which the party’s former treasurer Luis Bárcenas claims to have set up a “slush fund” to divert illegal party donations to senior officials.
The case is still ongoing, but has caused great consternation and debate amongst the Spanish electorate. However, for all the criticism and the opportunity to remove the party at the last General Election, what did the majority of voters do? They handed them the reigns once again and put them back in power, albeit with a necessity to strike a deal with other parties.
The point, however, is that as much as voters moan and complain about issues, you know full well that most of them will once again vote for the very people they are lambasting come the next polling day and that, for me, shows a complete lack of responsibility.
Regardless of their party, politicians are there to serve the public, not the other way around, and any who put politics and personal gain before the best interests of the people should have no place in the decision-making process of a modern democracy.
Sadly, however, and for all their protestations, it is the fault of the people for allowing these very individuals to flourish in the modern system by continuing to endorse their actions at the ballot box.
If things are to change, then the public has to take full responsibility and individuals need to do their research before voting.
In the meantime, the words of all those who continue to vote on autopilot, without knowledge or thought and then moan about the consequences and those they have elected, are both empty and invalid.
They are the people who have allowed it to happen and they must suffer the results of their actions.
As the famous saying goes: “You make your bed, you lie in it.”
The sad thing, however, is that we all have to suffer the consequences with them.
Hypocrisy: a pretense of having a virtuous character, moral or religious beliefs or principles, etc, that one does not really possess…..
Website: www.pauldbull.com
