The Battle No One Wants to Win

It’s October 3^rd and the last day of one of the better (best) summers of the 21^st century so far. The last vestiges of warmth are there, but the breeze is picking up and despite the 21 degrees, there’s that familiar old friend, autumn, biting at the edges. The temperature is often deceiving because of the air; if you get 21 degrees in March (less likely than October, but not uncommon), it never feels the same as 21 degrees in July; it’s because - during mid summer - the higher air and land temperatures keep everything at a slightly elevated ambient temperature. It’s why you’re more likely to take a thicker top out with you in October than you would in midsummer. 

It is a perfect example of how appearances can be deceiving.

While all this relatively unseasonal weather has been going on, there has been the political convention season; the last one before the next general election. 

Honest. 

There is going to be a general election next year, whether we like it or not, because the expiry date will have run out on this one. 

You might have noticed that none of the two likely parties want it.

The Tories have gone public and said ‘if you’re poor or didn’t vote for us, we’re going to punish you and your families, oh and we’re going to take your civil liberties away and convince you its for your own good.’ Labour have said, “Meh meh meh meh, we don’t have a clue; look we’ve got Ed and Ed so you’ll be sure to try and find an alternative to vote for on the list, look out for us when we get a leader and more of a clue.’

Both party conferences had an undercurrent of fear – not the usual ‘what if they get in’ more of a ‘what if we get in?’ It might have something to do with the fact that most MPs, who are clueless, should be representing their constituents and not their political parties. 

Everyone seems eager to get involved in another Arab (crisis), mainly problem because it detracts attention from what is happening at home, which is the slow erosion of our country, by the establishment, who are trying to get as much as they can before it all goes tits up when the Chinese start reneging on their debts.

The only party that senses they might benefit at the next election, apart from UKIP who probably think they’ll win by a landslide, are the Tories because whoever is left when the dust settles will have carte blanche to make as much money at as many peoples expense as possible. No one seems to notice that companies like Wonga only ever appear when there is a Tory government in power and no one today really seems to care enough that every time the Tories get a sniff of power we end up with higher poverty than ever before (in real terms), less social justice and arguably more of a nanny state than Labour could ever be accused of creating. But, you know, the Tories really do look after the working man, honest guv. I mean, just how many poor people aren't poor now because of them?

Labour seem convinced they’re going to screw up so have avoided doing anything that resembles pointing out that Osborne hasn’t actually done anything to cut the budget deficit, but has done wonders in reducing the living standards of their core voters. Everything about Labour at the moment smacks of Neil Kinnock on the beach falling flat on his arse.

No one really wants power because it means having to make tough decisions, penalising the people who aren’t responsible for the mess we’re in and attempting to keep the money in the country and not scare it away by Draconian tax measures. We’re screwed because governments don’t run countries, corporations do and without the money generated by these corporations everything starts to become unstable and it falls apart. That’s why we can rage against the machine that so-and-so is getting away with billions in tax, but the HMRC is actively pursuing someone who owes £50 with everything from threats of court to, I’m sure, debtor’s prison if the right wing gets one of its secret wishes. 

Not paying your TV license became a criminal offence rather than a civil one recently; that snuck in there quietly without any real attention from the press – one of the corporations that run the country – and the Tories are now talking about abolishing the Human Rights Act, because it prevents them from dealing with terrorism properly and allows them to disagree with Europe; it also allows them to gag anyone they feel could be detrimental to them. 

When examined properly, this alone is reason #1 for never voting Tory again; it impinges on everyone and in such a way that the excuse ‘well if I haven’t got anything to hide’ becomes irrelevant; if you are happy with the government having access to everything you own, everything you say and everything anyone you’ve ever loved is, has, and will be saying, doing and thinking, then welcome to the real 1984 and Maggie must be jumping for joy on/in her grave.

So surely none of the political parties must want power because they are not even hinting that it might get better; no one is even bothered about saying, ‘we’re sorry you’re paying for our mistakes, again’ or maybe they are. Maybe they’re saying subliminally – DON’T VOTE FOR US; we don’t care about you, you will get nothing from us but pain and misery, let one of these nut job parties run the place for a while and you’ll be begging for our unique brand of poverty and misery all over again!

Democracy is dead. Unless there’s a lot of money in your family it’s probably best not to think about having children, unless you want a lot of heartache. The future is bleak. It isn't bright, it's dark, with a cold uncaring heart and it will laugh and piss on your grave, for ever and ever...