Feeling Politically Manipulated.

Back in 2016 DC called in the ref of public opinion to settle the EU dispute within the Con Party once and for all. While DC led Remain effortlessly (i.e. without effort) the Leave Machine in its many guises rose like a rampant PR giant. Sexily branded Brexit it bought in Cambridge Analytica to use Facebook profiling to target manipulable voters with dubious promises, and painted them on red buses, well one bus that moved about. According to numerous polls in the three weeks before the referendum this high-energy campaign increased the Leave vote from 47% to 52%. In the weeks and months that followed it fell back again. It even outfoxed the bookies who had Leave at ~4:1, not bad for a two horse race. And DC bailed to a cupboard somewhere. The Con Leavers, be careful what you wish for, began back stabbing each other leaving only TM (for Remain) to progress the deal to leave. After two depressing years we’re no nearer a solution as good as we had in the first place, and with no deal, far worse. All that’s left is for the Cons to cobble together something they will brand as a success. So why didn’t DC ‘note the (advisory) referendum result’ and call for an analysis of the likely outcomes before proceeding? Why are the dubious money, false claims, false accounting and social media manipulations of the Leave campaign not being pursued or the possibility of them swaying the result being considered?

And where is JC in all this? He might as well be in that cupboard with DC.

Best result:  1/ lock the cupboard, 2/ disband the Conservative Party as ‘unelectable’ in perpetuity and 3/ scrap Article 50, “Sorry guys we had a sort of mental breakdown from being on social media too much.” Oh and 4/ insist on political meritocracy rather than wealthy mediocrity. 

The Great Depression Crime.

We all know mazes. You start at the outside and find your way to the middle. Now imagine being teleported into the middle and having to find your way out. It’s not a simple reversal, for one you’ve no idea how big the maze is or where on the periphery the exit is. The old wife’s wisdom of living within her meagre means is the inward maze where the simple central success is staying out of debt, balancing the books. Once you’re there there’s nowhere to go, it’s the very definition of austerity, ‘the trait of great self-denial.’ The government’s policy of austerity is the obligatory denial of hope and opportunity. No wonder we’re all depressed, it’s government policy. And that comes at a price. The ongoing costs of an ill informed, angry, confused and directionless generation from social media, drugs, crime, vandalism, mental and physical health and welfare, and the lack of skills and motivation to create income far outweigh the savings from denial.

The outward maze is the very opposite. Seeded at its centre with hope, education and optimism we happily acquire skills, confidently seize opportunities and naturally maintain our health and well-being. That was my experience in the sixties. But old Maggie Conservatism closes libraries, impoverishes schools, under funds the NHS and mental health, taxes higher education and reduces social services etc. These are the policies of decadence, and they’re working.