The minor majority

As befits so many first past the post elections, a shade over one third of the people appear to dictate the country’s course. 38 Degrees, which apparently prides itself on being an anti-partisan organisation, have opened an opinion board in which members can post their feelings about the election result.

Most of the comments are from very opinionated — and decidedly left-wing — viewpoints, pretty much calling anyone who voted against Labour, traitors to the country. Oh if only it was so clear-cut.

Am I pleased that Cameron is in power? Hell no. Am I pleased that Miliband is not in power? Hell yes. He simply doesn’t have the mettle for it, comes across insincere and empty, and he’d be whipped by the big boys above him the same way Cameron is in their pockets. Perhaps if Ed had stepped aside years ago and there had been someone in his place I could genuinely root for who could stand against the true global elite, things might have been very different. Well, it would if our media permitted me to cast a vote in a way that had some meaning.

I posted my own comment on the 38 Degrees zoom-a-thon. Within seconds it had been swamped by twenty other people writing one-sentence hate-filled remarks towards Tory voters (e.g. I hope you get a debilitating illness and can’t afford to pay for it when the NHS is sold off). So, in the interests of preserving what I said, here’s my comment in full:

For a purportedly apolitical spectrum of people, the overtly negative messages here seem to imply that, had Labour attained 35% of the vote, there’d be no need for 38 Degrees to exist because everything would be fine and dandy. Seriously?!?

A Government — any Government’s — primary interest is a self-serving one. It’s up to us — the people whom they supposedly represent — to keep them in check. If not the NHS and fat cat taxes, we’d be campaigning against overspending and poor education policy like that of the Blair/Brown era. It’s not the politicians that are necessarily the problem; it’s us for letting them get away with what they do. At least 38 Degrees gives us a voice en masse which would otherwise be unheard. We need to grow in numbers, as a unified organisation, to combat corporate overreach.

The reason I’m not bitter about the result is because I was under no illusion that any party would make a measurable difference on its own, whether Miliband’s manifesto was carved in stone or shot into space. They’re ALL dickheads and they need controlling. That’s what we’re here for!

As many here have said:

• Improve the electoral system so there’s a more balanced representation than black/white, blue/red, whatever.
• Stop the private financiers and banks from enslaving the globe with fiat currencies that drives nations like ours into debt: taxation and spending is NOT the path to prosperity.
• Curtail the media stronghold so opinion polls can’t corrupt the voting process.
• Respect the planet.
• Continue to push push push, whoever is in power, as it’s the only way we’ll get anything towards a halfway decent society.

For me, that sums things up. My vote made no difference whatsoever and the only reason I’m not slinging mud like the rest of them is because I’m mastering the serenity mantra: “Give me the courage to change the things I can, the serenity to accept the things I cannot, and the wisdom to know the difference”. This election was definitely something I could not affect. It was bought and paid for a long time ago.

Keep calm and get motivated

I don’t follow the news, I don’t even have a damned TV signal to my house, so those bleating about me being one of the sheople following what I’m told in the media are wrong. No matter who I chose, the media’s blanket coverage of opinion polls ensured the result was between two parties only. Why? Because the majority of those who watched or read the news believed the messages, and our antiquated ‘seat’ system doesn’t support more real-world voting systems. It’s sad that, as it turned out, the pre-election poll for my constituency was inaccurate because it hadn’t taken into account the massive downturn in Liberal Democrat support thanks to having their identity robbed from them in five years of being Tory coalition puppets.

And before you start yelling “Tory wanker” in my direction, nobody can accuse me of being a staunch anything. Ever since I’ve been permitted to put a cross in a box, I’ve pretty much voted for every major and minor party, paying my civic duty in the misguided belief it makes a damn bit of difference. It doesn’t. It hasn’t.

No party fits my worldview 100%. Not one. And I suspect not one exactly matches yours either. In fact, none of the parties come close to even 50% of my worldview; it’s always about best fit, or start your own. Though I don’t understand how someone can vote for one group time and again regardless, I do understand the frustrations of today’s result for people who are staunch supporters of one particular party that are not represented in the next Government. It’s a sucker punch, for sure.

The trouble with public outbursts like those on the 38 Degrees message board is that, from the outside, it gives the group a bad name. We’re seen as mere rowdy troublemakers, not the dedicated grassroots movement fighting for change and justice in the never-ending back-and-forth of people and the planet vs profits and politics.

Any potential people wishing to join may well be put off by looking at the comments and wondering if they’d fit in with this bunch of loudmouth leftie activists who scream foul if they don’t get their own way. I know it’s not really like that. Anger and frustration are difficult to curtail in an imperfect world, especially when such people are simply passionate and spirited in their beliefs — which is brilliant. It just requires a modicum of self-control sometimes. I’m guilty of forgetting that, in the age of sharing everything with the world the moment it happens.

Voting one party in or out isn’t going to change things radically, despite written or carved election promises. Perhaps in a bygone era it was like that, but I’ve never known politicians to be any more trustworthy than car salesmen with targets to meet at the end of the month. Maybe that’s a bit harsh, since they’re living in the same imperfect world where private financiers and bankers call the shots and hold countries to ransom with loans and bonds to print money. Politicians charge taxes to get out of that mire as well as providing services. Imagine a world where the tax money didn’t go to pay off a debt to the Rothschilds or Morgans of the world, but could instead be put wholesale into public services. How much better that would be!

To that end: Left. Right. Blue. Red. Green. It doesn’t matter all the time the country’s hands are tied. The real crooks are those that control the money supply. We need to keep one eye on the politicians so the rug doesn’t get pulled from under us, but the bigger picture is gaining groundswell to challenge the fiscal hegemony. In-fighting and outbursts over which colour rosette is in power is nothing but a diversionary tactic. We need more voices to join, shouting for the little people — us.

A great friend of mine once imparted one of the most important statements I’ve ever taken heed:

I know which one I choose every time because, little by little, there’s always a better way to do things. Everyone can make a difference together. So are you an Inny or an Onny?