Tag: Haiku

 

The world’s in a mess

extremists rise from chaos

what are we to do?

 

by Scooj

 

I have never known anything like it in my life and I am afraid. The extremists (particularly the far right) are seizing power and disregarding/dismembering those who stand in their way. To win at all costs seems to be the narrative and one that is popular amongst ignorant followers who don’t care about detail or facts or collateral damage just so long as they win and get their way, and get to crow that they are on a winning team.

This state of affairs couldn’t be any further away from consensus politics where ideas are discussed on their merits, not on their origins. Good ideas are not the property of one party or another, or at least they shouldn’t be. Had Theresa May been more inclusive in her approach to Brexit and created a cross-party working group from the start we would probably have left Europe by now, but instead she decided to lay down red lines… remember those? Then the chaos began.

In the UK, the worst part of all of this is the dominance of an unelected advisor to the Prime Minister, Dominic Cummings, who is pulling all the strings and playing Boris Johnson for the opportunist fool he is, and what does he get from all of this? He gets the satisfaction of winning, as if it is an intellectual game. He cares not one jot about the outcomes, simply that he orchestrated a win. ‘America first’, ‘win at all costs’, ‘bring back control’ – these are all jingoistic slogans designed to whip up superiority, strength and a winning mentality, while utterly ignoring reason, facts, and the damage inflicted to achieve the win.

My biggest fear though, and the reason for this rant is the way our Prime Minister and his inner circle are attacking and undermining the Supreme High Court and the judiciary more generally, suggesting that they are enemies of the state. Academics and experts have already been relegated as unimportant (Michael Gove has been particularly rampant in this field). I am afraid that the political landscape mirrors some of the darkest periods in European history. Each day trawls up yet another inflammatory or provocative episode that encourages the right wing hoards to gain momentum and confidence. I am afraid for the country I love.