Tomorrow the UK goes to the polls to vote for change. Or for more of the same. All the parties are claiming that they are the only true agents of change, but really this is like a choice between takeaways; all are superficially tasty with the promise of fulfilment, but bad for you in the long run. Burgers, pizzas or chips - that's the choice - there's nothing radical on offer like vegan, Nepalese or macrobiotic - not even a basic vegetarian option. Nothing that might be hard to stomach to begin with but that is ultimately healthy and life-boosting.
And we've heard it all before Obama said 'Change' and everyone was filled with joy and a new dawn emerged. Frankly being African-American was change enough and it showed that the most blighted political landscape could be changed radically without him even having to sign a bill into law. The fact that he's gone on to be true to his word on big issues like healthcare ensures that he'll be rightly remembered for far more than his skin. We don't have such a candidate - they all say 'Change' and we say 'yeah yeah blah blah.'
The media is slathering that this has been the most exciting and extraordinary campaign in decades, but also point out that even with the emergence of Nick's Liberal Democrats, none of the three leaders are telling the electorate anything they don't want to hear. Like details of the fact that the country is going to have to undergo some very nasty belt-tightening that means none of us are going to feel better off for years. They're not saying that vital investment in environmental development will surely be slashed and that we're all in for a grim old time.
As with politics stateside, there's precious little obvious difference between the parties' policy-wise so we end up electorally lashing out at them all - "a plague on both your houses". The LibDems have done well purely because they are the only ones who haven't been in power since Prime Ministers had big moustaches and MPs wore fob-watches. They're agents for change simply because the other two haven't let them play with the ball since the first world war.
I always used to joke that I'd vote LibDem for a bit of a giggle - it would be funny to see them in power - but the joke is on me now as they do have a good chance of wielding power of some kind and are really the only ones with the chance to deliver some kind of change. Even if it's token gestures here and there. And there's the rub. Until we the people really get involved and demand change as a set of tangible, measurable actions then we'll get the government we deserve and be back here, on the eve of another election, with even less of a choice than before. The prospect of a hung parliament is the opportunity that activists (supine or otherwise) have to grasp and enforce real change, real fairness and real action.
So change will surely come with the new government, but it's not an Obama-esque hope-filled change we might wish for (there's no-one with his charisma standing here); it's a change like The Who sang about...."meet the new boss, same as the old boss....won't get fooled again". Will we?
No comments:
Post a Comment