Tory dictatorship

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Stradageek
Posts: 1651
Joined: 17 Jan 2011, 1:07pm

Re: Tory dictatorship

Post by Stradageek »

cycle tramp wrote: 29 Nov 2021, 7:13pm I do wonder if the lack of public interest in democracy is based on several factors;

That for the majority* our basic living needs gave been met (housing, access to food and safe water, freedom of movement, freedom to seek better employment, and basic health care) (*ie those without disabilities, mental health issues and on a living wage)

That there are too many distractions when not at work, books, magazines, films, theatre, television, website forums.
In Roman times I believe this was known as 'Cake and Circus' - not much progress in 2000 years then :(

As ever, challenging a rich ruling class is very, very difficult. Tales from Bolivia sound interesting - that's the next book on my reading list
thirdcrank
Posts: 36764
Joined: 9 Jan 2007, 2:44pm

Re: Tory dictatorship

Post by thirdcrank »

The received wisdom seems to be that older people take more of an active interest in politics than do the young, which seems odd, but parties seem to focus their attention on older people because they are most likely to vote. Perhaps the feeling that participating in our democracy is futile will increase as people age and those still valuing their vote die off.

I'm cautious about saying this but the Brexit vote has been interpreted by some as a protest against the state of our democratic institutions.
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PS One thing that has just occurred to me is that the introduction of the poll tax was said to have caused a lot of younger people to have actively avoided registering as voters and consequently voluntarily disenfranchised themselves. If that right, there must be a cohort of disenchanted non-voters.
cycle tramp
Posts: 3479
Joined: 5 Aug 2009, 7:22pm

Re: Tory dictatorship

Post by cycle tramp »

Stradageek wrote: 30 Nov 2021, 8:44am As ever, challenging a rich ruling class is very, very difficult. Tales from Bolivia sound interesting - that's the next book on my reading list
Yeah, and probably a lot of hard work and it doesn't sound very fun. But you can arrange your life so its an indirect challenge and more fun, too.
Riding a bicycle, especially for utility trips is such a challenge, as is growing you own veg, joining a local exchange trading scheme is another, buying locally grow produce, buying stuff second hand.
And if you look like you're enjoying all of this then you've automatically generated interest in other people :D
It's time to go :-)
Stradageek
Posts: 1651
Joined: 17 Jan 2011, 1:07pm

Re: Tory dictatorship

Post by Stradageek »

cycle tramp wrote: 30 Nov 2021, 9:37pm
Stradageek wrote: 30 Nov 2021, 8:44am As ever, challenging a rich ruling class is very, very difficult. Tales from Bolivia sound interesting - that's the next book on my reading list
Yeah, and probably a lot of hard work and it doesn't sound very fun. But you can arrange your life so its an indirect challenge and more fun, too.
Riding a bicycle, especially for utility trips is such a challenge, as is growing you own veg, joining a local exchange trading scheme is another, buying locally grow produce, buying stuff second hand.
And if you look like you're enjoying all of this then you've automatically generated interest in other people :D
Well that has cheered me up this morning Cycletramp, I'm already doing all of that :D
KM2
Posts: 1318
Joined: 23 Oct 2008, 5:38pm

Re: Tory dictatorship

Post by KM2 »

It would seem like ministers, not parliament, are being lined up to be able to overturn the judiciary, in the news over the last couple of days.
Stradageek
Posts: 1651
Joined: 17 Jan 2011, 1:07pm

Re: Tory dictatorship

Post by Stradageek »

Suggesting that MP's (elected bods from many walks of life, not always that bright but always opinionated) are regarded as a better judge of what is right and wrong than educated legal professionals.

Much as I dislike lawyers (mostly because they are paid by the hour and not by results) I'd still pick lawyers over politicians.
KM2
Posts: 1318
Joined: 23 Oct 2008, 5:38pm

Re: Tory dictatorship

Post by KM2 »

The implication seems to be that it is not parliament, with discussion, but individual ministers ie the PM.
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[XAP]Bob
Posts: 19793
Joined: 26 Sep 2008, 4:12pm

Re: Tory dictatorship

Post by [XAP]Bob »

KM2 wrote: 6 Dec 2021, 11:37pm The implication seems to be that it is not parliament, with discussion, but individual ministers ie the PM.
Not an implication - it's what they are doing...
A shortcut has to be a challenge, otherwise it would just be the way. No situation is so dire that panic cannot make it worse.
There are two kinds of people in this world: those can extrapolate from incomplete data.
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