Cross posted from Witterings in Witney
with Hat Tip to Ian PJ on politics
The editorial in today's Daily Telegraph is headlined "The LibDems are not what they seem to be", a statement that can also be applied to both Labour and the Conservatives. As a piece presumably to 'diss' the LibDems, one has to wonder who wrote this disastrous example that is supposed to be 'journalism' and whether they actually read that which they had written.
Selecting Clegg's apparent belief in 'localism' and contrasting this with his desire to be a member of the European Union does not differentiate Clegg from David Cameron, in fact it highlights the similarity. Likewise the editorial selects Clegg's wish for an amnesty for illegal immigrants as an example of liberalism against what the paper calls the 'authoritarian' idea of herding new immigrants to areas where they are needed. And the difference with this 'authoritarian' idea and that of David Cameron with his vision of a 'Big Society' which includes 'volunteer' groups or a National Citizen's Service for 16 yearolds, is what exactly? Therefore the question has to be asked; just what is the 'raison d'etre' for the LibDems existence? The same question could well be directed to David Cameron and the Conservatives, but I digress.With Labour, whilst one knows that their idealogy means more state control over our lives, thought and actions, what they keep hidden is the degree to which their control will achieve.
It can be accepted that society today functions by one of two methods - socialism or capitalism. In a nutshell Socialism can be defined as government control of people and production and capitalism defined as minimalist government, with the market - a mechanism that decides the best way of accomplishing any given task - achieving prosperity for both people and country.
To attempt embracing both worlds of socialism and capitalism can only lead to indecision and badly planned and implemented policies, exemplified by the Blair and Brown governments. What is obvious is that whoever forms the next government, be that 'fair' (red), 'fairness' (yellow) or 'change' (blue), 'big government' will prevail, not just from our 'national' government in Brussels, but also from our 'toy' government in Westminster who will continue to grant various aspects of 'freedom' - but freedom with strings attached - to the people.
It is a sad fact of this election that the question which should have been debated, has not. That question is: Who governs us? It is a question asked not just with regard to our country's membership of the European Union, but also from an aspect of locally. In a democracy, should not the people be able to govern themselves? The problem from which we presently suffer is that we, the people, have become subservient to politicians and bureaucrats whereas it should be the politicians and bureaucrats who should be subservient to the people. Over decades the politicians and bureaucrats have brain-washed the people to the extent that the people have now lost the will and ability to think for themselves.
