Stop Press! Rant
The current supposed disillusionment and disengagement with politics is in reality the direct and desired result of capitalism.
Saw Stephen Fry on telly last night and I can be silent no longer. He seemed to say "Our government is corrupt because we are. Our government is vermin because we are."
Bollocks.
New Labour is not the party of the people. New Labour/ The US Democrat Party of England is the party of business.
On shows like "This Week" and "The Daily Politics" politics is presented as entertainment. Issues are presented along with pop music and graphics which trivialise the issues and distance them from the viewer. Above all nothing is serious in this view. And even if it were serious there is nothing you or I or anyone can do about it. According to the "This Week" view, politics is out of the reach of ordinary people and has it's own coterie of political celebrities who we must worship. It was always thus, and always will be.
Politics is not serious. It's just the way it is. The only parties worth hearing from are the main parties. And who are the main parties? The ones we say are the main parties. Is it government by, for and of the media??
Politics is just parliament, politicians, celebrities and the media.
It is not allowed to be anything else.
(I exaggerate of course. It is supposed to be for effect :)
"A vibrant political culture needs community groups, libraries, public schools, neighbourhood organizations, cooperatives, public meeting places, voluntary associations, and trade unions to provide ways for citizens to meet, communicate, and interact with their fellow citizens. Neoliberal democracy with its notion of the market uber alles, takes dead aim at this sector. Instead of citizens, it produces consumers. Instead of communities, it produces shopping malls. The net result is an atomized society of disengaged individuals who feel demoralized and socially powerless."
Robert W.McChesney.
===================================================