Where parties and governments are bad, as they are in most ages and countries, it makes practically no difference to a community, apart from local ravages, whether its own army or the enemy’s is victorious in war, nor does it really affect any man’s welfare whether the party he happens to belong to is in office or not. These issues concern, in such cases, only the army itself, whose lives and fortunes are at stake, or the official classes, who lose their places when their leaders fall from power.
The private citizen in any event continues in such countries to pay a maximum of taxes and to suffer, in all his private interests, a maximum of vexation and neglect. Nevertheless, because he has some son at the front, some cousin in the government, or some historical sentiment for the flag and the nominal essence of his country, the oppressed subject will glow like the rest with patriotic ardour, and will decry as dead to duty and honour anyone who points out how perverse is this helpless allegiance to a government representing no public interest.
George Santayana - The Life of Reason (1905-6)
Santayana writes here about armed conflict before the Great War, but any country could decline into this state of affairs. Governments always seem to find reasons to ignore the public interest. This key phrase describes very well the UK democratic decline we have seen for years - a government representing no public interest.
Net Zero – represents no public interest.
Forced uptake of EVs – represents no public interest.
Gender politics – represents no public interest.
VAT on private schools – represents no public interest.
Great British Energy – represents no public interest.
Mass immigration – represents no public interest.
For decades, the major UK political parties have have shown no interest in representing the wider public interest of voters, the day-to-day, life as it is lived interests.
For decades, the major UK political parties have have shown no interest in representing the wider public interest of voters, the day-to-day, life as it is lived interests.
3 comments:
As ever, I'm torn between thinking that this is indeed a planned conspiracy to destroy the country and usher in some new form of supra-national control, and good old-fashioned cock up. The latter would mean that Starmer is so crazed by the chance of power that he has assembled a team of complete idiots who have just picked up fashionable ideas like interesting pebbles on the beach. No thought as to whether they can be achieved, are compatible, or even whether they make any sense.
Trivial I know, but in the absence of further evidence I'm tending to the latter. Just because if you were serious about getting anything done at all you wouldn't co-opt Lammy, Nandy, and Rayner to help you. And you wouldn't look like an anxious Toby-jug when addressing the nation.
O/T but we will be making our annual pilgrimage to the north next Friday, and will passing you via the M1 sometime around mid-morning. If you are free...
'Represents no' is too kind to Them. 'Is a deadly attack on the' would be more accurate.
Sam - I tend towards the good old-fashioned cock up too. As you say, Lammy, Nandy, and Rayner don't fit the sinister conspiracy possibility. Behind the actors it looks different, a mix of various pressures some of which are destructive ideological attacks on people like us in the developed world, some of which are a "we know best" conviction."
Mid-morning next Friday would be good for a meet up. We won't be doing much that day because we're off down south the following day. For example, there is a shopping centre not far from junction 28 on the M1 with a huge car park which wouldn't take you far out of your way. If you drop me an email with an estimated time we can arrange to meet for a coffee.
decnine - yes, behind the loons there is an ideology which wants to destroy us.
Post a Comment