Surrendering to the Politics of Fear and Hate

I was woken this morning at 04:22 to by a very cheerful blackbird. A brief glance at the news told me today was anything but cheerful.

24th June 2016. The day the United Kingdom became Little Britain.

So how did it come to this?

It was all too easy for the Leave 'campaign'.

At a time of ideologically imposed austerity, ensuring services are cut to the bone, the NHS is underfunded to breaking point, jobs are insecure and low paid, it was an easy lie to tell:

Everything is the fault of the EU.

And, so it seems, as a nation, we fell for it.

Why should that be a surprise? We've accepted the normalisation of 1000+% interests rates on loans when the base rate is 0.5%. We blame the financial woes of the nation on poor people, indifferent to the illegal/immoral activity in the banking sector.  We've been duped into believing our self esteem is based on the 3 ton vehicle we drag our sorry inadequate arses around in.

How easy was it to persuade the nation it was all the fault of 'immigration'? Too easy.  With its very real issues that need addressing, the EU was a convenient scapegoat.

What happened to the Remain 'campaign'? They were stuck between a rock and a hard place:

They could not tell the truth.

From the 1980s (and probably before), politicians have prioritised profit over people. We've had successive governments that have handed tax receipts and control to entities who's sole concern is simply maximising their profit. From deregulation to privatisation/profitisation, politicians served business before people.

How could a government who's doctrine of austerity created the discontent in the UK put their hands up and say: "It's our fault you can't get an appointment with your GP because we've cut 20% from the NHS budget. It's our fault your roads are potholed, because we have we have capped council tax."?

They could not tell the truth. In trying to pacify extreme elements in his party, David Cameron unleashed a wave of discontent of his own making.

We will reap the seeds that have been sown. This referendum has normalised lies, hate, fear, xenophobia, racism and bigotry in political and public discourse.

What happens when the leave voters realise they have been lied to? When that £350 million per week fails to materialise into the NHS, when services are still being cut because public funds become private profit?

Who will we blame?

We are Little Britain.

Resisting the Politics of Hate and Fear

This post has lain in the drafts folder for a while now, but the events of the last few weeks have motivated me to get this off my chest.

There is a strange parallel between the nearmiss-o-meter project and the UK's EU 'referendum'. Bear with me.

The nearmiss-o-meter project has been a great education for me. I've (re)learnt about electronic circuits, sound, Arduino, designing PCBs, 3D printing, how bad I am at soldering small things... The list is huge.

But would you like to know what the biggest education has been?

People's reaction to it. In a strange foretelling of the EU referendum, after describing its function, the first response of far too many people has been to spew vitriol that has absolutely no basis in fact.

Shocked? A little. Disappointed? Absolutely. Some of these people I've known a long time (and used to respect their opinions).

So why do people on bikes or the question of whether or not the EU is a good thing engender such a responses?

Our transport infrastructure systematically prioritises motor vehicles. Successive governments have chosen to make us dependent upon the most inefficient form of transport. This is a deliberate political choice. The question has to be asked, why is our government not working for the greater good?

Similarly, successive government policies have ensured our economy will benefit a few in the short term, but with little regard for the damage it causes to the fabric of our society. Middle incomes are barely affected, but while wealth at the top is still growing during a time of alleged 'austerity', the numbers of children living in poverty grows alarmingly.

These are political choices. As history shows us, the economy will be the economy, the only difference politics makes is the distribution of wealth.

So when a 'cyclists' holds up a 'driver' for a few seconds, they become the scapegoat for a politically chosen transport infrastructure that will never deliver on its promises.

The answer to any question regarding urban mobility is never:

"Add more cars"

Yet that is the default response from politicians desperate to remain in power.

We have become a society where the death of a person on our roads results in a few points on your licence.

This is normal. The police, CPS, judges and juries feel empathy with the driver, not with the victim: "It could have been me who killed that mother/father/son/daughter. That would be awful [for me]."

When jobs are in short supply, or too poorly paid to feed and home a family without support, when public services are underfunded, you can't get an GP appointment etc, etc, it is easy to blame free movement of EU citizens. Yet the vast majority of immigration is from outside of the EU - under complete and utter control of the UK government.

It is a political choice to allow immigration. Why? Because it is good for the economy.

It is a political choice to underfund essential services whilst supporting vanity projects. We each make a political choice to 'save' a few hundred pounds a year in council tax whilst grumbling about potholes. We elect politicians who enable multi-nationals to eschew their tax liability altogether, yet we buy from Amazon, Boots, Cafe Nero while they take from, but never give back to our economy.

Our membership of the EU affects so little of the above. They are all political choices made solely by our elected government and its sponsors.

We have a media that demonises minority groups, based on religion, place of birth or mode of transport, yet we continue to fund the hateful policies of those proprietors by buying their newspapers. Even supposed 'unbiased' media outlets give voice to unfounded hateful rhetoric in the name of 'balance'.

The assassination of Jo Cox was a predictable outcome from the never ending vitriol that spews from our media and so many politicians. Hateful rhetoric has real consequences. As a 'civilised' society we have a duty to educate not indoctrinate, yet the ease with which so many are persuaded with lies suggests our education system has failed to teach critical thinking.

Do I have answers? No. Will I try harder to make a difference? Yes.

I am a grown man and I have no qualms in admitting I shed tears when listening to those who paid tribute to Jo Cox, a mother, daughter, sister and politician, so will leave you with her words:

"We are far more united and have far more in common with each other than things that divide us."

Do not let the hate win.