Is it my imagination or did the ballot paper have a decidedly isolationist/right-wing feel to it this year? Whilst I fear the Labour party will do badly in the polls (the public/press are now little more than a pack of wild dogs that can smell blood), I am nonetheless interested in the results as an indication of the state of the nation. What is the mood of the British public?
As I have mentioned before, I don't particularly like democracy. I would no more give the average person the vote than encourage them to start drilling holes in my head. It is, however, the political system we are stuck with, and whilst the decisions are often disastrous (e.g., ten years of Thatcherism), from a sociological perspective it is an interesting indication of the nation's mood:
- Self-interested greedy bastards in the 80s
- Confused in 92.
- Hopeful from 97.
And I think probably:
- Scared in 2009.
Whilst people may talk about voting to give the government, or all the main parties, a 'bloody nose', they are at the end of the day voting FOR something. Seemingly people will be voting in rather large numbers FOR the far right. I was ashamed last year when enough Londoners voted for the BNP for Richard Barnbrook to get a seat on the London Assembly. How ashamed will I be of Britain after today?
Maybe I will be proved wrong. Maybe the electorate who (hypocritically in my opinion) have been ranting about MPs' expenses will vote for the naive idealism of the Green Party rather than the fear of the right. I doubt it.
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