How is Life and Politics in Great Britain?

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JackDaydream
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How is Life and Politics in Great Britain?

Post by JackDaydream »

I am writing this thread because I am aware that there are many threads on American politics (including the current book of the month), so I thought it worth writing one on English politics. I am not particularly patriotic though and feel that life in England, especially in London, where I am living, is becoming increasingly harder. I am sure that changes experienced in England may be related to global issues though, but there are specific issues, such as Brexit.

People in England have the welfare state but it is becoming overwhelmed, with so many on Universal Credit and other benefits. There are so many more people becoming homeless. In London, finding affordable accommodation is becoming so difficult. I am aware of whole families or groups of 4 or 5 people living in one room. There are sharp divisions between the rich and the poor with many having to resort to food banks.

So, I am starting this thread for discussion about life and politics in Great Britain for anyone interested, to chat about Boris Johnson, the future of Britain, or whatever. I am about to go out, but I am not sure if I will manage to get to where I wish to go because there has been a tube strike since Tuesday until Monday, the longest one in 30 years. There are also national rail strikes too. So, for anyone in England, what's your experience of daily life, power structures and changes?
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Pattern-chaser
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Re: How is Life and Politics in Great Britain?

Post by Pattern-chaser »

My experience is that our lives are controlled by the rich, the "1%". A recent attempt to offer voters the choice of genuine socialism resulted in the Labour Party leader, Jeremy Corbyn, being unjustly smeared in the media for 'anti-Semitism'. He was destroyed by the billionaire-owned and -backed media thus, and so UK voters never got a proper chance to voice their opinions on socialism. Maybe they would've rejected it soundly? Maybe not.

Our recent #Brexit fiasco also originated with billionaires. It was billionaire James Goldsmith who founded the Referendum Party, that eventually resulted in UKIP, and the media deceptions and propaganda that persuaded UK voters to vote 'Leave', thus ensuring that the billionaires could get rid of the EU's worker-protection measures. They are beginning to do that now, with the current threat of withdrawing from the jurisdiction of the European Court of Human Rights (although it has nothing to do with the EU, and the UK were prime movers in its creation). Other moves are also in progress.

Our government is corrupt and not trusted, but there is no viable alternative. Our future is unclear to me...
Pattern-chaser

"Who cares, wins"
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JackDaydream
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Re: How is Life and Politics in Great Britain?

Post by JackDaydream »

Pattern-chaser wrote: June 25th, 2022, 11:27 am My experience is that our lives are controlled by the rich, the "1%". A recent attempt to offer voters the choice of genuine socialism resulted in the Labour Party leader, Jeremy Corbyn, being unjustly smeared in the media for 'anti-Semitism'. He was destroyed by the billionaire-owned and -backed media thus, and so UK voters never got a proper chance to voice their opinions on socialism. Maybe they would've rejected it soundly? Maybe not.

Our recent #Brexit fiasco also originated with billionaires. It was billionaire James Goldsmith who founded the Referendum Party, that eventually resulted in UKIP, and the media deceptions and propaganda that persuaded UK voters to vote 'Leave', thus ensuring that the billionaires could get rid of the EU's worker-protection measures. They are beginning to do that now, with the current threat of withdrawing from the jurisdiction of the European Court of Human Rights (although it has nothing to do with the EU, and the UK were prime movers in its creation). Other moves are also in progress.

Our government is corrupt and not trusted, but there is no viable alternative. Our future is unclear to me...
Your view of the government as corrupt and not to be trusted seems to be one shared by so many people in Great Britain. I grew up in Thatcher's Britain, where there was so much negativity and dislike of the government, after so much unemployment. It did seem that there was a spell of brightness in the 1990s that in the early 00s.

After September 11th, the joint war against terrorism with America, optimism in the UK seemed to fade. Life speeded up in the last 5 years and everything became more digitalised, which was not simply this country but everywhere. Everything became more and more competitive..Then, came Brexit, and it was if the government wasn't really prepared for it. Amidst all of it the pandemic arrived, and even Boris had it.

One thing which I am aware of is how, amidst the pandemic, so many Gov.Uk sites came in. Aspects of life have changed as well, like less walk in Job Centres. I don't really consider myself as particularly political, but, at the same time, politics is central to life because social life is built around power structures. If anything, I just hope that what has been good in the past, the welfare state and the NHS don't collapse because, then, the 'Great' would be removed from Britain, leaving a trail of remote heritage of the Crown Jewels, the Royal family and ravens dancing aimlessly around the Tower of London. Some hold onto the ideas of English heritage but the future seems so uncertain with Britain dangling outside of the EU, and possibly in the shadow of America as it has been for a long time, and probably continuing to score nil points in The Eurovision Song Contest.
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Re: How is Life and Politics in Great Britain?

Post by Gertie »

Pattern-chaser wrote: June 25th, 2022, 11:27 am My experience is that our lives are controlled by the rich, the "1%". A recent attempt to offer voters the choice of genuine socialism resulted in the Labour Party leader, Jeremy Corbyn, being unjustly smeared in the media for 'anti-Semitism'. He was destroyed by the billionaire-owned and -backed media thus, and so UK voters never got a proper chance to voice their opinions on socialism. Maybe they would've rejected it soundly? Maybe not.

Our recent #Brexit fiasco also originated with billionaires. It was billionaire James Goldsmith who founded the Referendum Party, that eventually resulted in UKIP, and the media deceptions and propaganda that persuaded UK voters to vote 'Leave', thus ensuring that the billionaires could get rid of the EU's worker-protection measures. They are beginning to do that now, with the current threat of withdrawing from the jurisdiction of the European Court of Human Rights (although it has nothing to do with the EU, and the UK were prime movers in its creation). Other moves are also in progress.

Our government is corrupt and not trusted, but there is no viable alternative. Our future is unclear to me...
Yep.
stevie
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Re: How is Life and Politics in Great Britain?

Post by stevie »

JackDaydream wrote: June 25th, 2022, 6:40 am ... Boris Johnson ...
:lol:
mankind ... must act and reason and believe; though they are not able, by their most diligent enquiry, to satisfy themselves concerning the foundation of these operations, or to remove the objections, which may be raised against them [Hume]
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Pattern-chaser
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Re: How is Life and Politics in Great Britain?

Post by Pattern-chaser »

JackDaydream wrote: June 25th, 2022, 3:24 pm I grew up in Thatcher's Britain, where there was so much negativity and dislike of the government, after so much unemployment.
I think you came in halfway through. Warlord Thatcher destroyed the power of the working people - the Unions - using the Police and the Army against UK citizens! The coal-miners were the headline 'baddies', but the enemy was the people who create the wealth, earning the money to line the pockets of billionaires. And we lost.

In the 70s, the Unions had a little power. For the first time EVER, the working people had some say in what was going on. And yes, there were some excessive practices, which I consider forgivable considering the history that lead up to it. Why shouldn't the majority, those who do the work, and create the wealth, have some say in a supposedly democratic society?

Thatcher and Reagan introduced what is now the Libertarian Creed: there is no such thing as society. In fairness, these attitudes had been growing for a long time, but it was them that brought it to the forefront.

That's why, when Thatcher died, there was dancing in the streets, and people displaying banners saying "Ding-Dong! The Witch Is Dead!". The divisions she left, particularly in the North East, where there were so many coal mines... There are families there still split over family members crossing picket-lines back then, in the early 80s.
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JackDaydream
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Re: How is Life and Politics in Great Britain?

Post by JackDaydream »

Pattern-chaser wrote: June 26th, 2022, 11:33 am
JackDaydream wrote: June 25th, 2022, 3:24 pm I grew up in Thatcher's Britain, where there was so much negativity and dislike of the government, after so much unemployment.
I think you came in halfway through. Warlord Thatcher destroyed the power of the working people - the Unions - using the Police and the Army against UK citizens! The coal-miners were the headline 'baddies', but the enemy was the people who create the wealth, earning the money to line the pockets of billionaires. And we lost.

In the 70s, the Unions had a little power. For the first time EVER, the working people had some say in what was going on. And yes, there were some excessive practices, which I consider forgivable considering the history that lead up to it. Why shouldn't the majority, those who do the work, and create the wealth, have some say in a supposedly democratic society?

Thatcher and Reagan introduced what is now the Libertarian Creed: there is no such thing as society. In fairness, these attitudes had been growing for a long time, but it was them that brought it to the forefront.

That's why, when Thatcher died, there was dancing in the streets, and people displaying banners saying "Ding-Dong! The Witch Is Dead!". The divisions she left, particularly in the North East, where there were so many coal mines... There are families there still split over family members crossing picket-lines back then, in the early 80s.
I remember clearly the time when people were chanting "the witch is dead'' when Margaret Thatcher died. She was hated so much and brought such a gloomy shadow over the country. So many people are opposed to the government, even beyond Margaret Thatcher. It is also that many people don't like any of the leaders standing and I sometimes see it as being voting for the least of the evils which may result. Many people I know don't vote at all. There has never really been much of an alternative to Conservative or Labour. I have considered voting Green but it may be a wasted vote. I am in a strong Labour area in London, and it was led by Sadiq Khan before he moved on to being the mayor.

A hidden part of the political order is the institution of the Royal family. However, they are more figureheads rather than an active force in governing the country. However, on a symbolic level they are important in international human relations. In that sense, England has a strong political mythology and it may be interconnected by the elite minority who have ownership and control the country on a hidden level. So many people believe that Princess Diana's death was an assassination.

The cultural history of English history is also important, with the rise of the Church of England, going back to Henry V111. So, the clash of this church with the Catholic one has been a strong undercurrent, although more specifically in Northern Ireland, with the IRA and Sinn Fein. In England there are also the subversive movements of the neo Nazis and extreme groups at the ends of the right and left extremes.
Gertie
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Re: How is Life and Politics in Great Britain?

Post by Gertie »

Pattern-chaser wrote: June 26th, 2022, 11:33 am
JackDaydream wrote: June 25th, 2022, 3:24 pm I grew up in Thatcher's Britain, where there was so much negativity and dislike of the government, after so much unemployment.
I think you came in halfway through. Warlord Thatcher destroyed the power of the working people - the Unions - using the Police and the Army against UK citizens! The coal-miners were the headline 'baddies', but the enemy was the people who create the wealth, earning the money to line the pockets of billionaires. And we lost.

In the 70s, the Unions had a little power. For the first time EVER, the working people had some say in what was going on. And yes, there were some excessive practices, which I consider forgivable considering the history that lead up to it. Why shouldn't the majority, those who do the work, and create the wealth, have some say in a supposedly democratic society?

Thatcher and Reagan introduced what is now the Libertarian Creed: there is no such thing as society. In fairness, these attitudes had been growing for a long time, but it was them that brought it to the forefront.

That's why, when Thatcher died, there was dancing in the streets, and people displaying banners saying "Ding-Dong! The Witch Is Dead!". The divisions she left, particularly in the North East, where there were so many coal mines... There are families there still split over family members crossing picket-lines back then, in the early 80s.
Do you know Adam Curtis's documentaries PC? I thought Century of Self and The Trap were particularly good, they're on youtube if you're interested. Tho I watched em ages ago and might not be so bowled over now, but they're entertaining and engrossing regardless - he digs up some fab old clips. Curtis doesn't make conventional analyses, but ties together things he sees adding up to influential trends which then play out in phenomena like Thatcherism.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Century_of_Self

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Trap_ ... TV_series)
Gertie
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Joined: January 7th, 2015, 7:09 am

Re: How is Life and Politics in Great Britain?

Post by Gertie »

Gertie wrote: June 26th, 2022, 1:00 pm
Pattern-chaser wrote: June 26th, 2022, 11:33 am
JackDaydream wrote: June 25th, 2022, 3:24 pm I grew up in Thatcher's Britain, where there was so much negativity and dislike of the government, after so much unemployment.
I think you came in halfway through. Warlord Thatcher destroyed the power of the working people - the Unions - using the Police and the Army against UK citizens! The coal-miners were the headline 'baddies', but the enemy was the people who create the wealth, earning the money to line the pockets of billionaires. And we lost.

In the 70s, the Unions had a little power. For the first time EVER, the working people had some say in what was going on. And yes, there were some excessive practices, which I consider forgivable considering the history that lead up to it. Why shouldn't the majority, those who do the work, and create the wealth, have some say in a supposedly democratic society?

Thatcher and Reagan introduced what is now the Libertarian Creed: there is no such thing as society. In fairness, these attitudes had been growing for a long time, but it was them that brought it to the forefront.

That's why, when Thatcher died, there was dancing in the streets, and people displaying banners saying "Ding-Dong! The Witch Is Dead!". The divisions she left, particularly in the North East, where there were so many coal mines... There are families there still split over family members crossing picket-lines back then, in the early 80s.
Do you know Adam Curtis's documentaries PC? I thought Century of Self and The Trap were particularly good, they're on youtube if you're interested. Tho I watched em ages ago and might not be so bowled over now, but they're entertaining and engrossing regardless - he digs up some fab old clips. Curtis doesn't make conventional analyses, but ties together things he sees adding up to influential trends which then play out in phenomena like Thatcherism.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Century_of_Self

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Trap_ ... TV_series)
oops that was the wrong wiki link fot century of the self https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Century_of_the_Self
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