Tories No More
As an outsider, I always wondered how the Conservative Government could keep going on in the UK since 2010. It seemed to become a worse government every year, and somehow managed to hold on longer than some other good governments around the world. 14 years is a long time since Gordon Brown. Keir Starmer and his Labour party defeated the Conservatives by one of the largest landslides in UK electoral history and will form government.
How long is 14 years? From an Australian standpoint, it's longer than the 11 years of John Howard's Liberal government and 13 years of the Hawke-Keating governments of the ALP. It's a shit of along time to be captives to a bunch of clowns that would do such terrible things as the Post-GFC Austerity, Brexit, the Covid Pandemic, Boris Johnson as Prime Minister, and followed by Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak in that role.
It feels like there have been more British Prime Ministers than there have been Dr. Whos in the last 15 or so years. Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II died on their watch, although it's hard to pin that on them, maybe there's something to that anyway. After all, imagine the despair of the late Queen in her dying days when she was presented with a freshly minted Prime Minister Liz Truss. The Truss Prime Ministership, though blindingly short, was enough to drive many to an early grave.
Theres' something in all of that which mirrors the Australian experience from 2010 to 2022. Perhaps if there is a future where history is read, the 2010s will be remembered as the decade when conservatism as a whole got found out to be rather wanting in addressing the needs of the people worldwide. ("Tony Abbott, Scott Morrison and Peter Dutton walk into a pub. The bartender says 'what is this? Some kind of joke?'")
I'm sure Starmer's government will fumble a few things and accidentally drive into the ditch of scandals, but on the whole, that is probably going to be the lesser of two evils when compared to the abject misrule by the Tories through the 2010s and halfway through the 2020s.
Maybe The Truth Is Dawning On People?
I wrote in recent days of just what a detriment having the Hamas leadership has harmed the people of Gaza. There are finally reports this notion is burgeoning in the very people of Gaza.
Open criticism of Hamas has been growing in Gaza, both on the streets and online.
Some have publicly criticised Hamas for hiding the hostages in apartments near a busy marketplace, or for firing rockets from civilian areas.
Residents have told the BBC that swearing and cursing against the Hamas leadership is now common in the markets, and that some drivers of donkey carts have even nicknamed their animals after the Hamas leader in Gaza - Yahya Sinwar - urging the donkeys forward with shouts of "Yallah, Sinwar!"
“People say things like, ‘Hamas has destroyed us’ or even call on God to take their lives,” one man said.
“They ask what the 7 October attacks were for - some say they were a gift to Israel.”
Some are even urging their leaders to agree a ceasefire with Israel.
There are still those in Gaza fiercely loyal to Hamas and after years of repressive control, it’s difficult to know how far the group is losing support, or how far existing opponents feel more able to speak their mind.
At some point, the world ceases to be about what your generation's causes might be. Then we become old men yelling at clouds or Karens in the carpark being annoying.
What weirded me out was that it's written by a guy who wants to discuss feminism and how it is failing to win over young men. I mean, come on. It's not that the men are alienated - it's that they're disenfranchised. They got disenfranchised to give women access. Society used to rob Peter to pay Paul, but feminism made it so Peter AND Paul got robbed to pay Mary. Is this good? Is this better for the world? It's certainly been better for women, ergo in a zero-sum game for social capital, it's worse for men. However in an important way, it spreads the GDP pie better doing it this way, and certainly having women in the workforce participating at all levels has made the economy grow. It's not just an issue of social justice.
What makes me feel old is that this process has been going on for a good 50-60 years but somebody wants to describe this as alienation and as something new for a new upcoming generation. I never understood the men who embraced feminism so actively on campus, but I figured it was a sophisticated line of chat to get laid more than being a boorish, un-reconstructed sexist pig.
There have been experiments that show even monkeys know when they've been treated unfairly and they respond badly. It's not surprising 60% of boys have picked up on something they think is unfair. I don't think they're right to feel put out, but I can see why they feel put out. And that, makes me feel old.
No comments:
Post a Comment