Proceedings of the Castle Aching Parish Council, 1905

[Tom Burnham]

I guess announcing Big Ideas and staging photo opportunities is more congenial to the campaigning sort of politician than monitoring progress and looking at outcomes to check whether they are in line with what you hoped for. We see this in a developed form in the US Republican party - or at least a faction of it - where actually managing the business of government is seen as a sign of weakness.

I don't follow affairs north of the border in much detail, but I wonder whether the apparent softening of support for the SNP is due to voters looking beyond the Big Idea and assessing their actual outcome related performance in government?

[Nearholmer]

At a more local level, I call it  “getting the bins emptied” politics …… it was having a vast number of huge ideas, while failing to concentrate on that which always made Ken Livingstone look like a tightrope act at the GLC, and an exactly opposite administration in the next council over from here falls into the trap too, their big idea being to slice council tax to the bone …… which the causes howls from locals who only get their bins emptied half as often as we do. 
 

 

 

Edited October 17, 2023 by Nearholmer

[Compound2632]

34 minutes ago, Nearholmer said:

their big idea being to slice council tax to the bone …… which the causes howls from locals who only get their bins emptied half as often as we do. 

 

And no doubt howls if it was proposed to increase their council tax to a level commensurate with an adequate service level. Our local government is in an impossible situation where rising levels of need are not being met by corresponding levels of taxation, locally and by government grant. While some council bankruptcies are due to financial mis-management, I'm sure we are going to see more over the next year brought about by sheer inability to make ends meet.

 

On the question of bin collection though, there's an argument to be made that less frequent collection will encourage a reduction in waste. Equally, filling in pot-holes on suburban roads merely encourages speeding.

[Nearholmer]

Less frequent collection tends to encourage fly-tipping as much as it encourages thrift, if it does that at all, IMO.

 

Councils have been “set up” by central government, so that they’d in a completely invidious position - I take my hat off to anybody who stands as a candidate (except rabid ideologues who are too stupid to understand what they’re getting themselves into), irrespective of party, because it’s tantamount to standing naked in a public place and asking passers-by to hurl rotting vegetables at you.

[Compound2632]

1 hour ago, Nearholmer said:

Councils have been “set up” by central government, so that they’d in a completely invidious position

 

Very true; but this is because the party currently in power has never liked local government or any form of government with any degree of independence from its own inner politburo.

[uax6]

Being a sitting member on the local Parish Council (which still surprises me!) I find that the views of many are that everything should be done for them, at no cost.

We, and many PC's locally in the land of the Fens, are struggling to find anyone who wants to get involved, and we were at a stage where we actually only had enough members to be quorate, so we all had to turn up, which was lucky that it was at part of the year when my 'box shifts actually allowed me to be there! We have picked up a few more people, but I'm still the youngest, and we still have 4 vacancies. 

I've never known it like this...

 

Andy G

[Caley Jim]

7 hours ago, Tom Burnham said:

I don't follow affairs north of the border in much detail, but I wonder whether the apparent softening of support for the SNP is due to voters looking beyond the Big Idea and assessing their actual outcome related performance in government?

I never have and never will support independence, but if the SNP can't manage their own finance, what chance would an independent Scotland have in their hands?  We'd be back to the reason for the union in the first place!

 

Jim

[uax6]

The scary thing is this: If the SNP win in Scotland, and then ask for IndyRef 2, what could happen is that the rest of the union could ask to have a ref too, with the question being whether they want to be in a union with Scotland.

Although I would vote to remain in the union, I can see that a lot of people down here would vote to break the union. It could be that Scotland could get independence without even voting for it....

 

As they say, be careful what you wish for...

 

Andy G

[monkeysarefun]

While meanwhile in the US an individual  who actively supported the January 6th insurrection and thus the abandonment of the US Constitution, something he'd sworn to uphold, and who has continuously refused to recognise the outcome of the 2020 election as legitimate is in the process of being elected as speaker of the  US House Of Representatives.

[Edwardian]

On 17/10/2023 at 17:18, uax6 said:

The scary thing is this: If the SNP win in Scotland, and then ask for IndyRef 2, what could happen is that the rest of the union could ask to have a ref too, with the question being whether they want to be in a union with Scotland.

 

 

We could call it 'ScotFree' 

 

Unfortunately, I don't see any benefit to England of Scottish independence. We'll still get blamed for everything and I'll have to pay even more for our short measures of Islay malts.  Better together, I say!

[Compound2632]

I'm against letting Scotland go. It's a vital resource for England - our penultimate colony. Just think of all the scientists, doctors, teachers, poets, lady novelists, and prime ministers we have extracted from it to our national benefit (some of the time).

 

Edit: forgot dentists.

Edited October 19, 2023 by Compound2632

[rocor]

On 17/10/2023 at 10:14, Compound2632 said:

 

 

On the question of bin collection though, there's an argument to be made that less frequent collection will encourage a reduction in waste. Equally, filling in pot-holes on suburban roads merely encourages speeding.

 

There are alternative arguments to be made that these measures lead to increased illegal dumping, and the wider purchase and use of armored personnel carriers    SUV's.

[monkeysarefun]

29 minutes ago, rocor said:

There are alternative arguments to be made that these measures lead to increased illegal dumping, and the wider purchase and use of armored personnel carriers    SUV's.

Here at least one argument for SUV's is  because "you can see over the traffic" so everyone now has one to see over the traffic, as a result "those people"   are back where they started  while I drive around in a permanent canyon of other peoples wheel centres. 

Edited October 20, 2023 by monkeysarefun

[Ramblin Rich]

On 20/10/2023 at 15:25, monkeysarefun said:

Here at least one argument for SUV's is  because "you can see over the traffic" so everyone now has one to see over the traffic, as a result "those people"   are back where they started  while I drive around in a permanent canyon of other peoples wheel centres. 

It's like a weapons race with car sizes, the latest thing is the huge pickup trucks with extra wide wheel arches. No chance of fitting into a standard parking space and have trouble passing oncoming traffic on a standard road. Huge flat front as well which cannot be good for pedestrians in the event of a collision.

[monkeysarefun]

[Edwardian]

On 20/10/2023 at 15:25, monkeysarefun said:

Here at least one argument for SUV's is  because "you can see over the traffic" so everyone now has one to see over the traffic, as a result "those people"   are back where they started  while I drive around in a permanent canyon of other peoples wheel centres. 

 

Having been one of the few men to do the school run each day at a private school, I feel fully justified in my loathing for spotless 'Chelsea Tractors', typically driven by mums who are sub-optimally proficient in their operation and who seem to have very little awareness of the size of their vehicles. Nevertheless, on they trundle, like a Russian in a minefield, until inevitably they hit something.    

[alastairq]

48 minutes ago, Edwardian said:

Nevertheless, on they trundle, like a Russian in a minefield, until inevitably they hit something.    

 Such a shame the outcomes aren't anything like as 'fatal?'  One or two mangle-ations would surely bring all the others up short toot sweet?

 

Such a shame that greed has brought us to the state were it has to take one, two or three mangleations before the powers-that-be decide to actually do something about what we normal 'umble mortals [AKA voters?]...have been clamouring for for years now?

[In other words, nobody wanted to pay enough to obviate the need for alarm & despondency over the state of things.  Far better to ignore stuff until somebody actually dismembers themselves?  Same principle as letting the customer do the quality control?]

[Edwardian]

Meanwhile on the campaign trail...

 

It's good to know that Donald Trump is such a fan of Viktor Orbán, the president of Turkey, and that, once he has beaten President Obama a second time, Trump, unlike Jeb Bush, will not embroil the US (or possibly "us") in the Middle East, thus avoiding the threat of World War II.

 

God bless the Donald, I wouldn't be without him for all the covfefe in Nambia.

 

Indeed, bless.   

 

Take it away, HL Mencken, an American of brilliant, Biercian, satire, albeit with some significantly unpleasant opinions but, nevertheless, astutely prophetic concerning the occasional pitfalls of representative democracy:

 

As democracy is perfected, the office [of president] represents, more and more closely, the inner soul of the people. We move towards a lofty ideal. On some great and glorious day the plain folks of the land will reach their heart’s desire at last, and the White House will be adorned by a downright moron.

 

HL Mencken in the Baltimore Sun, 26 July 1920

 

EDIT: BTW, I am pleased to be able to attribute to Mencken my favourite definition of puritanism, "the haunting fear that someone, somewhere, may be happy"

 

 

 

Edited October 24, 2023 by Edwardian

[monkeysarefun]

1 hour ago, Edwardian said:

God bless the Donald, I wouldn't be without him for all the covfefe in Nambia.

 

Indeed, bless.   

 

 

Indeed, you couldnt make him up:

 

"The former president claimed that his New York trial was preventing him from campaigning for the 2024 election. “I have to be here instead of Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina, lots of other great places,” Trump complained. “They want me to be here., its a disgrace"

 

 

Reporter: Will you be back tomorrow?

 

Trump: Probably not. We’re having a very big professional golf tournament at Doral, so probably not.

[Edwardian]

15 minutes ago, monkeysarefun said:

 

 

Indeed, you couldnt make him up:

 

"The former president claimed that his New York trial was preventing him from campaigning for the 2024 election. “I have to be here instead of Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina, lots of other great places,” Trump complained. “They want me to be here., its a disgrace"

 

 

Reporter: Will you be back tomorrow?

 

Trump: Probably not. We’re having a very big professional golf tournament at Doral, so probably not.

 

And yet the 'plain folk' vote for him in significant numbers.

 

That is the problem our democracies face, electorates are apparently so easily misled. James O'Brien, for those unaware a radio broadcaster in the UK, steadfastly maintains the line 'blame not the conned but blame those who con them."  As soon as "the conned" start sounding off, that becomes increasingly difficult.

 

Like wise old Obi Wan, I am bound to ask "Who is the more foolish, the fool or the fool who follows him?"

[Nearholmer]

Oodles of people in this world are convinced that they are special/exceptional/above the rules that govern mere mortals, but it takes a very special sort of charismatic person to wrap half the population of a continent into their delusions. He happens to be one such.

[Edwardian]

On 24/10/2023 at 09:46, Nearholmer said:

Oodles of people in this world are convinced that they are special/exceptional/above the rules that govern mere mortals, but it takes a very special sort of charismatic person to wrap half the population of a continent into their delusions. He happens to be one such.

 

Trouble I have is I cannot detect the slightest hint of charisma in this brittle, humourless egotist.

 

Johnson, a parallel self-obsessed charlatan in many ways, does have undoubted charisma. I flatter myself that I see through such people and their charm leaves me cold because I see that they are unconscionable liers and that their charm is merely part of a greater deceit. However, I can perceive the charm of Johnson.

 

Not in Trump, though, which makes me wonder whether there is something else, something uniquely American, going on, yet even then, the go-to for charming 'the plain folk' in the US has been to appear 'folksy', but I don't think Trump has that, either. 

 

Perhaps it is enough to adopt the perceived victimhood of one's intended base, to affect outsider status, and indulge in insult and mockery, where even dishonest insults and humourless mockery will do.

 

I do not wish to be, or appear to be, any kind of snob, intellectual or otherwise, but something like, I estimate, 30-50% of the UK adult population has spent the years 2016 to date working very hard to convince me, against my inclinations, better judgment and prior beliefs, that they are profoundly stupid. Yet, as the deluded, they become the agents and facilitators of the darker souls that deluded them, or colluded in their delusion. The line between victim and perpetrator becomes thus blurred.  

 

In my declining years, it takes me back to notions of sin. I think about the Mediaeval conceit of the Ship of Fools, which rests on the belief that one may sin through folly, as much as through wickedness.

 

 

That always struck me as harsh, and perhaps a more modern way is to think in terms of a distinction between blame and responsibility. Perhaps we should not blame electorates for Trump or Johnson, but insist that thay are, nevertheless, responsible and must do something about it or suffer the consequences, including the move to more authoritarian democracies, of voting for them. The problem is, faced with threats and uncertainties, a more authoritarian style of democracy seems to be what a lot of voters in the global West increasingly want. While the Polish elctorate has recently pulled back from that brink, it still seems full steam ahead to the abyss for Hungry and Slovakia has joined this race to the bottom. Look at the Republican and Conservative parties, once the parties of Lincoln and Peel, now completely dominated by what were once their laughing-stock lunatic fringes, and tell me that this is not where they are trying to take us. I have enough faith in our electorates, or perhaps just naivity enough, to believe these populist authoritarians will ultimately not succeed, and a second Democratic term and Labour government will at least pause the trend. yet, we already far closer than I once thought possible.   

 

 

 

 

Edited October 27, 2023 by Edwardian
spelling

[Nearholmer]

It’s tough, isn’t it? 
 

It’s arrogant in the extreme to conclude that “everyone else” is stupid, in fact it’s the route to exactly the sort of exceptionalism that we are railing against here, but it’s absolutely true that people, every single one of us, are quite capable of making decisions that we perceive to be in our own best interests, but which very definitely aren’t …… so we’re all capable of “stupidity”.

 

Add that to the fact that intelligence and foresight come distributed on something like a bell curve, as do a host of other personal traits such as selfishness, that by no means everyone  is schooled in the relevant lessons of history, that being social animals we are prone to behave as herds or packs, that a lot of people genuinely have been given the sh!tty end of the stick to hold in various ways in the past few decades and are variously aggrieved as result, that there is a growing sense of dread and powerlessness as the non-sustainability chickens come home to roost, and what do we get: the perfect atmosphere to cause many people to clutch for whatever hope is on offer, even if it is false hope spewed forth by charlatans.

 

This is what happens when:

 

- the hope (and for these purposes it doesn’t matter whether it was real

or illusory, because it was “sure and certain hope”) offered by religion withers away; 

 

- it is replaced by the very false indeed hope of attaining happiness through material consumption, which then  reveals itself as not only false but profoundly damaging ; and,

 

- no meaningful attempt is made to inculcate genuine ‘hard work’ thinking and analysis at an individual level.

 

It leaves open the door which the devil steps through.

 

Hopeless people, more than stupid people?

 

 

 

 

Edited October 24, 2023 by Nearholmer

[Edwardian]

2 minutes ago, Nearholmer said:

 

It leaves open the door which the devil steps through.

 

[teaky]

There may be hope for the future:  "New YouGov polling puts support for the Conservatives among 18-24-year-olds at just one per cent."

 

All that is needed now is get this age group to actually b***** vote!

 

Mind you, as a counterbalance to this the popularity amongst the same age group of shallow reality TV, celebrity gossip instead of news and (American) fast food is concerning.