This isn't a parallel - and I'm not comparing (much!) - but a while back the BBC did a three parter docudrama on the rise of a certain political party. Very well done - but what stood out for me was how much of that party's rise was a comedy of errors. An action ignored here, misguided support there, a legal process pushed through here, intimidation there.
Boris is a cheeky chappie on HIGNFY and the such, but you have to raise how someone is judged by the position they hold. You have to judge actions based on position. As a PM he's not funny - it isn't a joke. It's dangerous. For democracy to be viable it has to be believed in - and there has to be a basis for that belief. Corrupt politicians, of whichever colour, have to be dealt with severely as their position dictates - as you deal with corruption in any position of power. You cannot have politicians being intimidated, by threatening the refusal of support and funds, within their own party. You can't have politicians openly lying.
I dislike belief - but we all need belief. Law does not work without belief, financial systems do not work without belief - political systems do not work without belief. What is disconcerting in when that 'belief' is misdirected and slowly changed and eroded - spun. Trump was a liar, Boris is a liar. That cannot be allowed to be spun. They are dangerous, not because of their intent, but because of the power they ho[e]ld and their total disregard for/disrespect of due process,
"Power corrupts..." seems to be writ large with Boris. He clearly believes that he can do whatever he wants and can get away with it. He really is become England's Trump. He doesn't lie, he has an alternative truth.
If he is still in place come the next General Election I can see many Conservative voters not voting at all and the Labour party getting in by default. Very similar in many ways to what happened with the Labour party and Corbyn.
I dislike belief - but we all need belief. Law does not work without belief, financial systems do not work without belief - political systems do not work without belief.Â
As Sir Terry Pratchett explained:
“All right," said Susan. "I'm not stupid. You're saying humans need... fantasies to make life bearable."
REALLY? AS IF IT WAS SOME KIND OF PINK PILL? NO. HUMANS NEED FANTASY TO BE HUMAN. TO BE THE PLACE WHERE THE FALLING ANGEL MEETS THE RISING APE.
"Tooth fairies? Hogfathers? Little—"
YES. AS PRACTICE. YOU HAVE TO START OUT LEARNING TO BELIEVE THE LITTLE LIES.
"So we can believe the big ones?"
YES. JUSTICE. MERCY. DUTY. THAT SORT OF THING.
"They're not the same at all!"
YOU THINK SO? THEN TAKE THE UNIVERSE AND GRIND IT DOWN TO THE FINEST POWDER AND SIEVE IT THROUGH THE FINEST SIEVE AND THEN SHOW ME ONE ATOM OF JUSTICE, ONE MOLECULE OF MERCY. AND YET—Death waved a hand. AND YET YOU ACT AS IF THERE IS SOME IDEAL ORDER IN THE WORLD, AS IF THERE IS SOME...SOME RIGHTNESS IN THE UNIVERSE BY WHICH IT MAY BE JUDGED.
"Yes, but people have got to believe that, or what's the point—"
MY POINT EXACTLY.”
Gardening on the edge of Exmoor, in Devon
“It's still magic even if you know how it's done.”Â
Masterchef. I don't think it's the programme that annoys me, so much as the endless adverts that the BBC runs. I am irritated by food programmes on the whole, but I don't watch them, so fine, and the ones that aim to show how people can cook with real ingredients, even though I very much doubt many of the audience do so, have a valid intent at least. But Masterchef is a) constantly on - it seems to be a continuous loop of different versions, and b) entirely amoral with regard to the decadence of the food it shows. I have no doubt there is great cookery skill on display, and maybe within the programme itself there is more discussion about seasonality and food waste and the environmental impacts of different types of produce. I wouldn't know, I never watch it. But the trailers sit very unhappily for me, coming as they invariably do straight after the news with it's articles (e.g. yesterday) about a population in Afghanistan facing imminent starvation, food banks in the UK and climate change threatening agriculture worldwide.
Gardening on the edge of Exmoor, in Devon
“It's still magic even if you know how it's done.”Â
Don't forget North Korea is starving too. The Afghanistan situation though. Half of the population might starve rather than the unthinkable alternative of allowing girls to get an education...
If you can keep your head, while those around you are losing theirs, you may not have grasped the seriousness of the situation.
...belief eh? The ying and yang - for all the good that belief does, it has its opposite effects as well. And sitting in the middle of all that belief, both good and bad, is the seed of doubt. We all are the product of different generations' beliefs - and we impose our beliefs on the world - thinking that we're 'right'.
I stopped watching Masterchef when they kept showing close ups of John Torode stuffing as much as possible into his face. We all know where the food enters the body - we do not need closeups thank you very much.
Posts
“All right," said Susan. "I'm not stupid. You're saying humans need... fantasies to make life bearable."
REALLY? AS IF IT WAS SOME KIND OF PINK PILL? NO. HUMANS NEED FANTASY TO BE HUMAN. TO BE THE PLACE WHERE THE FALLING ANGEL MEETS THE RISING APE.
"Tooth fairies? Hogfathers? Little—"
YES. AS PRACTICE. YOU HAVE TO START OUT LEARNING TO BELIEVE THE LITTLE LIES.
"So we can believe the big ones?"
YES. JUSTICE. MERCY. DUTY. THAT SORT OF THING.
"They're not the same at all!"
YOU THINK SO? THEN TAKE THE UNIVERSE AND GRIND IT DOWN TO THE FINEST POWDER AND SIEVE IT THROUGH THE FINEST SIEVE AND THEN SHOW ME ONE ATOM OF JUSTICE, ONE MOLECULE OF MERCY. AND YET—Death waved a hand. AND YET YOU ACT AS IF THERE IS SOME IDEAL ORDER IN THE WORLD, AS IF THERE IS SOME...SOME RIGHTNESS IN THE UNIVERSE BY WHICH IT MAY BE JUDGED.
"Yes, but people have got to believe that, or what's the point—"
MY POINT EXACTLY.”
“It's still magic even if you know how it's done.”Â
“It's still magic even if you know how it's done.”Â
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.