Party Vibe

Any residual faith I had in the so-called democracy evaporated following what happened in Germany after their election.

I may or may not vote (there are some slight differences at “street level” between parties, and there are obvious reasons not to encourage narrow minded conservative parties who would cause problems to our scene) but if I do so I will do so grudgingly and with no faith whatsoever that there would be a long-term positive benefit by doing so.

more worrying though is the stark fact that as more and more people feel they are denied a voice via the ballot box (on both the left and right wings), or they feel that the incumbent politicans are never going to help them, there are more and more would turn to vigilante action, disruptive protests and even the bomb and the bullet.

There are those who think that 9/11 or the Iraq war were/are “successful operations” (depending of course which side they are on!).

OTOH there is a lot of paranoia over “terrorism” from foreign countries and people from far off lands whilst the threat from the anger on our own streets is often ignored.

Tthere have been at least two suicide bombings in the EU by EU citizens with Western upbringings which happened due to internal disputes between an individual and wider society – and more and more often firearms are being used to settle minor disputes on the streets of Britain and Europe.
It does look like society is setting itself up to learn its lessons the hard way.

The most recent general elections in Germany returned a red-green coalition (basically a mixture of centre-left, more left wing socialists and the Greens) to the Bundestag, the lower parliament (that which is elected by the people).

The impression I get from the previous replies is this is the sort of government many people who enjoy parties and progressive lifestyles would desire.

Like Britain, there is also an upper house of parliament (the Bundesrat), this appears not to be subject to as many popular elections but contains nominated representatives from the Länder (like a big county council). This is roughly equivalent to the House of Lords

(The German political system appears to be slightly more complex than that of the UK, but is arguably much fairer with proportional representation and more local elections)

Basically what happened is that although the people wanted a progressive government, the conservative elements within German society wrestled back the power via the Bundesrat – and as both houses need to agree for many laws German society has ended up in virtual political deadlock, with serious damage to the nations social and economic progress whilst the politicans fight and bicker.

Worse still, the extreme right has made gains because of this.

This is what I fear would happen if a real progressive government was ever elected in the United Kingdom, it would be a bit messier than Germany as we have never really suffered the hardship of really oppressive governments or invasion, and have a tradition of narrow-minded conservatism and stubbornness due to our insular mentality.

The only hope I can see for progress in this nation would be to by stealth introduce progressive organisations which operate within the confines of current british society and do not overtly pose a threat to the status quo.

It may seem surprising but I reckon it is possible to do this via what appear to be “free market enterprises” – as “social enterprise” ventures (such as community farms, recycling projects) are not seen as dangerous radical stuff, but obviously spread progressive ideas throughout society..