Why we get the politicians we deserve

The roots of this rant go back even further than I do, into the dark days of post war Britain. Recovery from the second World War was a slow process with rationing still in effect for many years, and a maintainance of the austerity measures of the War years being retained long after it was necessary. The drive for rebuilding and regrowth spawned an ethos that capitalism was the best way to drive forward, with technical innovation to the fore. The backlash against this was seen through the 1970's in the form of rampant trade unionism encouraged by the Labour government of the period. This had the effect of crippling the industrial base of the UK and limiting our productive and creative advantages globally, additional setting up a national obsession with semi-idolising of entreprenurial spirit. With the coming of Thatcher in 1979 this process only accelerated, giving rise to the greed culture of the '80's and '90's leading to the inevitable collapse of the banking sector in 2008.

At no point in this process did we, as a nation stand up and say "Enough". There were plenty of voices advocating caution, suggesting alternative routes, fighting for fairness within the system, but these were in the main ignored. There are a number of reasons for this but personally I believe that the main driving force for this was the introduction of "spin" to the political system. The media-government complex is a hugely complex beast in which every political move is a story to be twisted to suit the bias of the media outlet concerned. The BBC has shifted from an independent national broadcaster to being afraid to be too outspoken for fear of budget cuts. The mainstream commercial media are hamstrung by their reliance on advertising revenue, so the only place to find journalistiv integrity and balanced reporting is online, and even here, where freedom is almost enshrined in the principle that anyone can utilise the internet, there is a tendency to simply parrot the party line of whichever party the particular commentator favours.

Until such time as we, the people of Great Britain truly understand that we are collectively responsible for the actions and behaviours of our elected officials and act according to the principles of the greater good for the betterment of society as a whole rather than for largely selfish purposes we will continue to get politicians who mirror these values. Sustainable change can only come from weight of opinion, and our first priority as a nature should be to foster and encourage sustainability. We are a nation of innovators and inventors. We should be leading the World in creating solutions to global problems, but instead we are still all driven by the lies of commercial success and ramapnt consumerism at any cost. We get what we deserve, and will continue to do so until we, the people of this great country bring about change ourselves.