Please watch and take action. There is nothing radical about asking the President to ban torture.
Tag Archives: Obama
Guantanamo Bay – still there 9 years later
Re-read the title.
A Brit is still there (Shaker Aamer)
So are 146 other humans – suffering
We cannot let this continue for another year – take action
Filed under Human rights, Politics, War
Conservativism and change? A contradiction in terms?
Watch this video and try to work out what Cameron’s conservatives stand for!
Everybody loves the word “change”. Apparently some chap over the pond used it for a bit and it worked rather well. I must insist however, that the two main parties qualify why they are using it. Labour, must do this because they have been in power for 13 years and so by suggesting we need change, they are slightly knocking their own record; and the Conservatives because “conservativism” and “change” is an oxymoron.
Andrew Heywood comments that conservativism can be defined as “a fear of change”. He goes onto say “The desire to resist change may be the recurrent theme within conservativism, but what distinguishes conservatives from other supporters of rival political creeds is the distinctive way they up-hold this position” (“Political Ideologies” pp 71-72).
It struck me as strange that the Tory HQ thought it was a good idea to go full speed ahead with an advertising slogan that is essentially oxymoronic. Why would they suggest that a Conservative vote, was a vote for change?
There has been a widely quoted race for the middle ground by the Tories, Lib-dems and Labour that has made a mockery of the term change. It is ironic then, that it is at this election, where the parties are so closely aligned on so many issues that the term “change” has become such a buzz word!
On the doorsteps I have come across Ex-Labour voters who no longer feel as though Labour has any ideology. Robert Cook in his memoirs (The point of departure) commented that politics without ideology is always going to be short-term. With New Labours second stint in power, no one apart from Giddens is still talking about the “Third way” any more. New Labour has no ideology. Equally, what does the re-branded Cameron Conservatives stand for (Are they one-nation conservatives, neo-liberal or what)?
Ironically the neo-liberal wing of conservativsm changed the face of world in the 80’s and 90’s with a drive towards mass globalisation. Yet, as New Labour increasingly adopted this neo-liberal economic approach, few could see the ideological direction the Conservatives could head in. They advocate change, but to what? The electorate, at least in part, is beginning to see through these grey parties similarities. Equally ideologically speaking, we can see the Liberals swaying to the limits of different understandings of liberalism (from the neo to the classical).
The three main political parties are in a blur. I do not believe that ideology is dead; I think politicians are ignoring it. It is about time that we as the electorate, state that ideologies should play the central role in politics it deserves. I am fed up with air brushed politics, fake smiles and popularity chasing!
Video Launch – Green MP for Stroud
The Green Party in Stroud has launched their official campaign video. It is a short overview of what the Greens in the local area have done, and what they aim to achieve through the elections. More importantly however, it is an attempt to reach out and engage with potential voters who feel disconnected with conventional politics.
With 57% of 17-25 year olds are not even registered to vote. It is more important than ever for political parties to embrace youtube, facebook and twitter (generalising massively). More importantly though, it is essential that politicians embrace these forms of media with a more genuine approach to politics. People are being turned off conventional forms of media because of the spin and lack of honesty. With instant forms of communication such as twitter, politicians have the opportunity to lay their thoughts on the line. We have seen the “airbrushing” of most media forms; in the world of facebook and twitter we have a chance to tell it how it is.
We can also see some politicians using it just because they have been told to by their PR staff who have just finished reading about Obama’s success story. We should approach this with caution. It is better to not tackle the world of You-tube at all, than it is to post tired and uninteresting comments. Equally, we can see some politicians chucking up tweets every week or two (probably after a nudge from their PR guru). No-one should be forcing politicians to come talk to us, they should have the will and the insight to understand that this is the battle ground for the “young” vote, not the high street.
Filed under Gloucestershire, Politics
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