Political Disillusionment

In my advancing years, I find myself becoming more and more disillusioned with political systems in many of the so-called democracies.  Let me use the example of the UK to illustrate how my views on politics are not at odds with current public opinion.  Here are a few statistics.

Electoral turnout in the UK has fallen from 84% in 1950 to 65% in 2010.

In the 2010 general election, only 44% in the 18-24 age group voted.

The most recent British Attitude's Survey found that two thirds of 16-24 year olds have no interest in politics.

A 2008 survey found that 68% of British respondents were either 'not very' or 'not at all' satisfied with democracy.

A 2012 survey found that 82% of UK citizens said that they 'tend not to trust' political parties.

Membership of political parties has plummeted since the 1950s and as an example, the Conservative party has gone from three million to one hundred thousand members over the last six decades.

So am I just following the crowd?  Well I must admit I didn't know the above stats until I did some research for this post, but there has been plenty of anecdotal evidence of growing political disillusionment.  I am a thinking person with an avid interest in the news, including political events, so I like to think my disillusionment has developed objectively rather than jumping on a bandwagon.

The comedian and activist Russell Brand, also believes the political system is bust and if we vote, we are providing some sort of endorsement for the system and helping to perpetuate it.  Others argue that people fought hard and lives were lost for universal suffrage and we should, therefore, treasure and use our right to vote.  They also argue that politicians are kept on their toes by knowing that if they fail to perform they will be voted out at the next general election.  Well, on balance, I'm with Russell Brand.  In my view, a poor political system is attracting low-calibre politicians, who in turn add to the poor performance of the system - it's a vicious circle.  In the UK, the problem is exacerbated by the 'elective dictatorship', resulting from the 'first past the post' electoral system, combined with the party whip, which enforces party policy.  This manifests itself in a party with a very small following in the country being able to push bills through parliament regardless - what's that if it's not a dictatorship?!

So what's the alternative?  Well I really think we have to move with the times.  The internet has brought a complete new dimension to communication and people engagement.  People are concerned about issues, many of which transcend party politics and national boundaries.  Consider, for example, climate change, where there is overwhelming evidence that human activities and notably the combustion of fossil fuels, are adding carbon dioxide to the atmosphere at an alarming rate and leading to climate change, the effects of which could be destructive to life as we know it, on this planet.  So what are the UK politicians doing about it?  They are supporting and encouraging fracking projects all over the country to produce shale gas and thereby add to the carbon dioxide atmospheric pollution!  Opinion polls have shown support for fracking has been falling and the latest poll has shown that less than 50% were in favour.  A government poll also showed that 80% of the population were supportive of wind and solar power, rather than nuclear power and shale gas.  But the elected dictatorship continues to ignore public opinion.  Why?  Because they are looking for short-term fixes to the energy supply problem, which might keep the government in power beyond the next election, rather than making the investments that are required to help sustain life on this planet, as we know it.

Thus my disillusionment with the current political system.  There are many issues, like climate change, where the facts are well known, public opinion is clear, but the political system stands in the way of real progress.  There must be a way of running society with policies that reflect the true majority of opinions but I don't see that happening with democracy as we currently know it.

Einstein said: "Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results".  A change to our democratic political system is long overdue.