There is so much hate and anger around in our country today and I plead guilty to feeling far too much hate and anger than is good for me. Cards on the table, I am probably little better than those with whom I have argued or blocked and unfollowed on social networks. I have never felt so much hate and anger in my entire life.
At the head of my list is the political disconnect between many of our leaders and we the people. I am probably unique in that I actually do not believe all politicians are the same, or that they are all bad, but very many of them are much the same and pretty bad.
We now live in a post truth world where it has become acceptable for politicians to blatantly lie in order to secure the results they want. Donald Trump lied his way to the American presidency, the Leave side lied their way to achieve Brexit. This is not me saying that Hillary Clinton was innocent of all wrong-doing, or indeed was anything other than a terrible presidential candidate, a political robot within a vast electoral machine, or that the Remain side covered themselves in glory in the EU referendum by offering nothing but threats and scares. It’s just that truth doesn’t seem to matter anymore. The hate, tinged with a large dollop of cynicism, poisons our entire society and that disconnect threatens the very fabric of that society.
The lies and exaggerations of politicians on all sides in various degrees carry on well above the heads of ordinary people. Some realise that there is a vast swathe of people who have been left behind, who have suffered all the pain since the bankers wrecked the world economy in 2008, who see no chance to improve their lives and fear that their children will not have better lives than they did. And surely the aim of every parent is to ensure that their offspring do better than they did?
This, to me, explains the result of the EU referendum here and the election of Trump in the USA. The EU was seen as an elite, undemocratic vehicle which held back the dreams, vision and opportunities of the disenfranchised, as well as an obstacle to others, by way of an economic elite and by wide scale migration to this country. Whether this is true or not – and I think there are elements of truth, especially in relation to migration – it barely matters. Nigel Farage gained the political victory of his life by leading the UK out of Europe, probably the greatest achievement, if you can call it that, of the far right in our history. Forget the likes of Davis, Gove, Johnson and Fox – Brexit was the victory for the hard right and as Britain, led by a populist right wing politician in Theresa May, hurtles to even more dangerous territory we wonder how it might end.
We are fortunate, at least in the UK, that our leaders are as poor as they are, especially those on the right. The PM appears to be out of her depth, surrounded by yesterday’s men and tomorrow’s nobodies, Farage for all his achievements in helping to destroy our country is not the attractive, charismatic far right leader who really could tip us over the edge. The fear for me is that someone like that could come along. That would change everything.
May, Farage and co have no interest in healing the wounds caused by Brexit, particularly to the working poor, believing, with some justification, that it is safe to ignore the disenfranchised because enough people are doing fine. Our voting system sustains that notion. I do not feel that such a system is ultimately sustainable.
Never forget that no matter popular Margaret Thatcher was with some people, she was hated by many more. Indeed, even in death she remains loathed, even more so than the likes of Rupert Murdoch and Paul Dacre. She did not begin to divide the country – that process had been well underway for many years – but she accelerated the process that, under May, now threatens to allow to run out of control.
I hate what is happening to our country and the world and I am angry at those who enabled it to happen, mainly the shysters of politics and the opinion-makers at the top. The spats on social networks are mere blips, molehills rather than mountains, but as the country threatens to unravel as we become more disenfranchised, angry and devoid of hope, it matters who steps forward. In America, it was the far right bigotry of Donald Trump who answered a country’s needs because he offered something different, no matter how garbled, inarticulate and incoherent the message actually was. In Britain, it was Brexit and as the consequences of that decision become clearer, over many years, I hope someone more serious than Theresa May can come along to begin the process of uniting the nation. If not…
