I hate the word 'sheeple'. The implication that we mindlessly follow trends, that we're incapable of thinking for ourselves and that we're constricted by society.
Not that I disagree, I just don't think we need to talk so negatively about it.
A lot of people get all high and mighty about politics. They make you feel like every time you cast your vote, you're falling into a trap. Women died for my vote and I am going to use it.
It can seem hopeless, like you can't change anything, that unless you vote for a mainstream party then you're wasting your vote. That attitude upsets me: people who vote like that aren't just wasting their vote on policies they don't really believe in, they're wasting my vote too.
There's this great temptation to feel like you 'backed a winner'. The feeling is usually replaced by embarrassment when you realise your party isn't delivering. That in turn makes the people who voted for a losing party feel triumphant. All this 'I told you so' blah, blah, blah.
Then the rhetoric starts again. You fell for it. How stupid of you. You're a big, fluffy sheep.
No, you're a human. And plenty of politicians really believe what they're saying. We pay them tax, they distribute it, and although that currently means hard times and austerity measures, it'll all be worth it. The government well set us right in the end. We'll all have nice things.
They believe it. So why are we stupid for believing them? They're educated people. They've spent a long time studying how they're going to go about doing whatever it is they want to do. They're confident it will work. We want nice things, we put our faith in them. There's nothing stupid about it, it's very logical.
We should have more confidence though. The government exists to distribute our money on the things we care about. It's our tool, and when it's not working properly it's our responsibility to fix it. It's OURS. For us.
If the government declares that it's bankrupt we shouldn't despair. Are we not still working and paying tax? We're generating all the money we need. If they're struggling, we should step in and sort it out. We're one of the richest countries in the world, there is nothing we can't achieve.
I think our biggest fear is that we'll mess up. No-one really likes how capitalism exploits workers, natural disasters and initiates wars... but capitalism has taken us a long way, it has its merits and we just want it to work as well as it used to. We don't want to try something completely different, at odds with the rest of the world because it might alienate us and ruin us.
Really, it won't. Don't forget how much money the employed are generating in our country. We can't BE ruined because we're mostly nice people, who will go a long way to help other people if things start to get bad. But things can't get worse than where they're headed right now. It's the nature of capitalism and it's what happens when the government, our tool, falls out of our hands. There are alternatives, and there are some very, very smart people discussing them, improving them and trying to open our eyes to them.
It's a bit like getting a new haircut. We want to change our old style but we're worried the new one won't suit us. I'm terrible for that, I always end up having the same thing done. But seriously, there is more than one style that's going to suit. More than one colour that looks nice with your eyes. More than one meal that provides us with nutrients.
There's no perfect way to run a country, we need to be discussing different ways. Why are we trying to rejuvenate a system that isn't what we need right now? It gets more and more corrupt, the more we depend on it. I'm not saying forget all your sensibilities and declare yourself a radical tomorrow morning. Why declare yourself anything? Prescribe to a set of beliefs if you want to, but they might not be appropriate in ten years time. That perm you used to have seems hilarious now. When I was little I used to wear my alice band over my forehead - to this day, I do not know what I was thinking.
Don't get too attached to old ideas, always be discussing new ones. If you are unhappy about something and old models aren't fixing it, consider a new solution. We are not sheeple. We have brains, we have great ideas, and we don't need to study economics for ten years before we're qualified to make big decisions. If you're old enough to vote, you're more than capable of making these decisions for yourself. The government is just there to help you. It doesn't tell you what to do, you tell it what you want.
PS. Before you tell someone they're being too 'radical' really hear them out. They probably have the same ideals as you, they're just trying to come up with new ways of representing those ideals. I've been tagging along to various 'radical' political conferences lately, just to hear what they have to say. Even though I don't always agree with what I'm hearing, there's nothing 'radical' about it. They are not a bunch of mad people with absolutely ridiculous ideas. Honest.
Not that I disagree, I just don't think we need to talk so negatively about it.
A lot of people get all high and mighty about politics. They make you feel like every time you cast your vote, you're falling into a trap. Women died for my vote and I am going to use it.
It can seem hopeless, like you can't change anything, that unless you vote for a mainstream party then you're wasting your vote. That attitude upsets me: people who vote like that aren't just wasting their vote on policies they don't really believe in, they're wasting my vote too.
There's this great temptation to feel like you 'backed a winner'. The feeling is usually replaced by embarrassment when you realise your party isn't delivering. That in turn makes the people who voted for a losing party feel triumphant. All this 'I told you so' blah, blah, blah.
Then the rhetoric starts again. You fell for it. How stupid of you. You're a big, fluffy sheep.
No, you're a human. And plenty of politicians really believe what they're saying. We pay them tax, they distribute it, and although that currently means hard times and austerity measures, it'll all be worth it. The government well set us right in the end. We'll all have nice things.
They believe it. So why are we stupid for believing them? They're educated people. They've spent a long time studying how they're going to go about doing whatever it is they want to do. They're confident it will work. We want nice things, we put our faith in them. There's nothing stupid about it, it's very logical.
We should have more confidence though. The government exists to distribute our money on the things we care about. It's our tool, and when it's not working properly it's our responsibility to fix it. It's OURS. For us.
If the government declares that it's bankrupt we shouldn't despair. Are we not still working and paying tax? We're generating all the money we need. If they're struggling, we should step in and sort it out. We're one of the richest countries in the world, there is nothing we can't achieve.
I think our biggest fear is that we'll mess up. No-one really likes how capitalism exploits workers, natural disasters and initiates wars... but capitalism has taken us a long way, it has its merits and we just want it to work as well as it used to. We don't want to try something completely different, at odds with the rest of the world because it might alienate us and ruin us.
Really, it won't. Don't forget how much money the employed are generating in our country. We can't BE ruined because we're mostly nice people, who will go a long way to help other people if things start to get bad. But things can't get worse than where they're headed right now. It's the nature of capitalism and it's what happens when the government, our tool, falls out of our hands. There are alternatives, and there are some very, very smart people discussing them, improving them and trying to open our eyes to them.
It's a bit like getting a new haircut. We want to change our old style but we're worried the new one won't suit us. I'm terrible for that, I always end up having the same thing done. But seriously, there is more than one style that's going to suit. More than one colour that looks nice with your eyes. More than one meal that provides us with nutrients.
There's no perfect way to run a country, we need to be discussing different ways. Why are we trying to rejuvenate a system that isn't what we need right now? It gets more and more corrupt, the more we depend on it. I'm not saying forget all your sensibilities and declare yourself a radical tomorrow morning. Why declare yourself anything? Prescribe to a set of beliefs if you want to, but they might not be appropriate in ten years time. That perm you used to have seems hilarious now. When I was little I used to wear my alice band over my forehead - to this day, I do not know what I was thinking.
Don't get too attached to old ideas, always be discussing new ones. If you are unhappy about something and old models aren't fixing it, consider a new solution. We are not sheeple. We have brains, we have great ideas, and we don't need to study economics for ten years before we're qualified to make big decisions. If you're old enough to vote, you're more than capable of making these decisions for yourself. The government is just there to help you. It doesn't tell you what to do, you tell it what you want.
PS. Before you tell someone they're being too 'radical' really hear them out. They probably have the same ideals as you, they're just trying to come up with new ways of representing those ideals. I've been tagging along to various 'radical' political conferences lately, just to hear what they have to say. Even though I don't always agree with what I'm hearing, there's nothing 'radical' about it. They are not a bunch of mad people with absolutely ridiculous ideas. Honest.
No comments:
Post a Comment