Deviation Actions
(To the theme tune of The Flintstones)
Norquist! Grover Norquist!
Out of the Republican Party
He was on my TV
Talking about tax policy
Quit while you’re ahead, Bluebell. Norquist was on BBC’s Hardtalk programme discussing an election wots going on in The United States of America. Now as a bogus European wild rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus) it’s really not my place to comment on the political process on a different continent but I’m sure there’ll be an ersatz American Cottontail rabbit (Genus Sylvilagus) somewhere or other to supply you with some fraudulent Lagomorph opinions if that’s what you like. Hey you’ve read this far! Perhaps you do.
Anyhoo all I’ll say on the subject of the US Presidential election is to congratulate that nation on picking some real interesting candidates for that role. Nuff said. However I am entitled to speak of European elections and we have some pretty important ones heading away not least in the French Republic and the Federal Republic of Germany where President Hollande and Chancellor Merkel respectively both face the challenge of movements that can be described (with a very broad brush) as being anti-political; that is of rejecting a perceived political mainstream that has held power for as long as most of the population has been alive. Now in both these cases the challenging parties (National Front and Alternative For Germany) can also be reasonably described as populist, euro-sceptic and anti-immigration like UKIP here in Britain and a host of other parties throughout our continent but the anti-politics trend goes further to include Marxism re-emerging after decades of relatively little activity and even groups fighting (and sometimes winning) elections on comedic platforms . Is this a bad thing? Certainly not! If you believe (and this has been a mainstream belief in western Liberal Democracy) that competition is inherently good then competition for the prevailing ideology of the entire civilisation can only be a healthy, revitalising thing and if these new developments appear ludicrous or even dangerous then you’ve entered the wonderful realm of cognitive dissonance. Don’t worry it’s not as bad as it sounds and really the worst that can happen is you might find yourself imagining despite all appearances to the contrary that you’re a woodland animal or something.
No I have no beef with anti-politics. Who likes politicians? They’re often almost childishly partisan, too willing to take the opportunities for crafty self-betterment that are invariably placed under their noses, too keen to implement ill-thought out, expensive gimmicky policies and too prone to pandering to a herd-instinct news industry agenda. Perhaps, though I should attempt some expectation management as they call it these days to those hoping their kind can be expunged, because what politicians aren’t responsible for (certainly not solely responsible) are the vast changes that have occurred to the global economic system especially since the end of the cold war but are really much much older in development. I’m speaking of the forces that close factories and change vibrant communities into ghost towns and have erased the concept of a safe life-long career for individuals whilst creating glitzy organisations more powerful than nation states that feed the human need for novelty and innovation while simultaneously redesigning the social contracts that have underpinned societies that pre-date us all. See how big all this is? How naïve it is to imagine that any of this can be diverted by not returning a mainstream candidate. Perhaps the single biggest change I can really think an elected politician having made is President Nixon’s opening to China in the early 1970s which may have been intended as a strategic move against the Soviet Union but to put it rather crudely awoke what Napoleon called the sleeping dragon and here we are nearly 50 years later and China’s directed capitalism built on the foundation of Mao’s centralising tyranny is a fact in all our lives. That’s where your factories went. The rise of living-standards of the west may not be so impressive any more but in China, India and the rest of what used to be called the developing world this is an awesome human achievement. Not that it makes me happy. Bunny-rabbit remember.
So take your anti-politics candidate. Put them in the position of making decisions over what may or may not be done by in your nation state and who pays for what and who should be paid for it and then has to juggle all the competing baby-bird mouths demanding their share and there you are; you got yourself a politician right there. Just ask the Greeks what happened to their rebel Syriza government. Same thing if the Americans elect that guy there. He’s got his excuses ready-those clowns in congress etc. Only wars and revolutions really change society and whilst those effects can be positive in the long run, they’re a bummer to live through.
Anyway sorry if the writing goes a bit askew there. I bit off more than I chew and was wasting valuable time that could be spent doing…well anything else. Like drinking tea or sleeping or something. Maybe just sniffing some bushes. I’m going to go and do that. Perhaps I'll clean this up later so it makes slightly more sense.
Apologies also to Andy Zaltzman & co too.