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Utopian politics

 R A Butler once defined politics as 'the art of the possible.' Utopians reject that attitude entirely. To them it's possible to establish an 'ideal' society and they are determined to impose their vision on other people - by force, if necessary, but certainly by a combination of political pressure and media influence. Communism, fascism, National Socialism, religious fundamentalism, the ecological movement, political correctness, radical feminism, social conservatism and the 'woke' approach all share this same Utopian conception of the world. As a result they are dogmatic, intolerant and authoritarian and exercise their attempts to enforce their view of the world with varying degrees of tyranny. Of course it's possible to be authoritarian without being Utopian. Military dictatorships in particular are generally motivated almost entirely by lust for power, greed or fear and are complete cynical in their approach to life. On the other hand, Utopian attitu
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Tick box politics

 One of the things that really winds me up is tick box politics. This seems to have been a problem in America for forty or fifty years but in the last twenty years or so the sickness has spread to most of the Western democracies, with Britain being particularly bad. I saw it at its most naked during the Brexit referendum in 2016 and the three years of bitter wrangling that followed. It wasn't just that many Remainers refused to accept the result; it was that they labelled Leavers as being racist, xenophobic, right-wing, moronic and harking back to the Imperial past of Britain. Frankly, this was a load of old moody but it's still trotted out occasionally (though mercifully less so since we left the EU at the end of 2019.  But Brexit was just one area. For instance, there seems to be a whole kind of 'package politics' that you're supposed to buy into if you're on the left and another one you're supposed to follow if you're on the right.  (As a centrist I h
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Thinking outside the box

 I'm sick of the predictability of too many people's responses and attitudes. It's becoming far too common for them to adopt their 'beliefs' on the basis of what other people tell them and thinking for themselves seems too much of an effort for the brainwashed zombies we're increasingly turning out. Who's to blame? The politicians of all parties, the education system, the media, social media and a general almost 'willed' wimpishness among men and entitlement among women. In this blog I'm going to post my own unorthodox ideas on lots of issues.  Hopefully even those who disagree with me will find it worth reading and responding to!
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