Greedy politicians (they want more than us)

Politicians are not content with a salary more than three times the national median salary. We know they need the opportunity to steal from the taxpayer as much what they want to fund their lifestyles, and they just threw out the changes designed to tighten up on that – naturally. They simply must have the index linked final salary pensions that are too good for the rest of us, and the opportunity to retire much earlier than the proletariat. Now they are off on a three-month holiday while the country is in the middle of its worst financial crisis in living memory. Clearly, they feel they work harder than everyone in this country, and in-spite of all the other benefits they generously award themselves they really need a quarter of the year off.

Corrupt Government ~ Time to change

Recent revelations about corruption in British politics vividly demonstrate some of the flaws in democracy and politics. Power vested in a few is dangerous, because people are easily corrupted.
The best form of government is by many experts with real world experience, each with very limited power and tenure. That form of government will make better decisions and avoid corruption.
Democracy is outmoded, a relic from the tribal past where the big man ruled. We know better now. We need expert government.
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Corrupt Politicians

I am going to spoil my ballot paper in the coming general election.
I am going to write on it “Thieves”.
I wish that many other people would also do this, and then I would like the BBC and all the other media to have the courage to explain this to the world, so that everyone in the world knows how shabby our politicians are.
With great power comes great responsibility, and that requires strength of character, and honour.
Clearly, our politicians are massively lacking in both.
They awarded themselves huge salary rises, and fabulous pensions, but that was not enough, they needed an open chequebook, to take as much as they wanted.
So they created a law to allow themselves to steal from the British people, their own almost unrestricted expense account.
The big money grab going on by our politicians is not recent or limited to the current incompetent party, politicians from all parties do it, none is worthy of power.
Any decent politician would come forward and tell the world what was going on.
I am ashamed of the quality of the people we now have running our country.
There was a time this country valued character and honour, but now it is all gone.
I hope this is the final embarrassment for a country that once had the greatest empire in all of history.
I consider myself insignificant and very far from perfect, but even I would not associate with any of them if they wanted my time; they are a disgrace to this nation.
As much as I am keen to see the back of the current less than useless government, I have no confidence that the next ‘corruption’ of politicians will be any better.
Therefore, rather than endorse any of them I would sooner say no to all of them, and I want the world to know it.
At first I thought not voting was good enough, but that is too feeble, I need to make a stronger statement.
The honest hard-working people of this country need to send a clear message to these self-serving crooks.
I am also very disappointed in our monarch. Presented with a chance for once in her reign to stand up and do something strong for this nation, she seems not to care enough. Why does she not dismiss them all and take back the money these thieves stole from us? She would be so right to do so, and applauded for doing it. She could engage a new government, not composed of politicians, but of honest people, experts in their field, working together for the benefit of the nation over themselves.
A new start.

Tough Times

Big price rises and restricted credit are here and are going to get worse for a while yet. As spending inevitably slows, pay demands grow and sales fall, we can expect unemployment to rise and exacerbate the situation. The whole mess will feel worse as public sector unions organise strikes to get what they feel they deserve, despite the problems we all face. Further, the corrupt politicians will award themselves yet another massive pay rise, while scamming even more from us on bogus expenses claims.

Government has borrowed heavily on our behalf in expectation of continued growth, which evidently was financial bad judgement. They borrowed in the recent good times, running up debt rather than saving for this rainy day. To balance the books now they have three tools: increase our countries already huge debt, which eventually has to be paid for with taxation, raise taxes less but immediately, cut services. Raising taxes immediately is perceived as political suicide, indeed government has just committed us to even more debt to pay for the interim 10p tax concession, so obviously the pay later option will be selected in combination with cuts to services.
These problems show how poor our system of government is: clear financial incompetence, political power placed before good judgement, corruption at the very top. Sadly the incompetence is not limited to the financial aspects of government. It seems impossible for the public sector to keep our information safe or prevent top secret information from being scattered across the country. To top the list of complaints, how did we end up in an expensive and damaging war in two countries that were no threat to us? Was it breathtaking incompetence or an ego trip for our previous PM Tony Blair? Whichever it was Gordon Brown was not seen to be against it.

We need a new form of government. One not based on an adversarial political party system run by the dysfunctional people that are politicians. Politicians tend to be self serving, power hungry, deluded and egomaniacal. Adversarial political party based government is an anachronism, we are all in this country together and we need to work together, not fight each other. We need a new government system that is not party based but formed from people of all views. It must be adaptable and able to respond rapidly to changing world conditions, not based on dogma or ideologies or evolved out of rule by despots. The system needs power to be widely distributed to deny corruption and ego. Positions need to be filled with experts, not friends and family of those with existing positions. Changes are needed to the legal system, so that it does not persecute the innocent, unlucky and misinformed, but targets the criminals. Control of the economy needs to be placed squarely in the hands of the expert with a remit of long term stability for the whole, rather than be used a tool for political party advancement. Accountability needs to be more immediate. One vote every few years for one of a small number of parties composed of dysfunctional individuals is not good enough.

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Power corrupts

The cash-for-honours affair is an example of how too much power rests in the hands of the morally and mentally feeble. We have a governing system that has existed for hundreds of years, yet still our politicians find ways to corrupt and misuse it. They probably think they are clever with their antics, whereas they demonstrate how very ordinary they are. To have a great vision and not be diverted from it by temptation demonstrates a nobleness of character which is lacking in the current crop of politicians. I hope in my life to see a prime minister worthy of the task, rather than these self aggrandising smart-mouthed children. They should feel ashamed of themselves for what they have done, but they will probably write books to make more money from that portray it as clever manoeuvring. I am ashamed for this country, to have leaders with such weakness of character.

Leadership

Current events in Burma remind me of dire situations in many countries. I have to wonder if those countries ever will have a government of hard working, well balanced, honest, intelligent and visionary leaders. It seems that they are always lost to the lowest common denominator in their people.
Western governments too are a very long way from perfect, even though they like to crow about their high moral principles. It is relative I suppose. They very rarely torture or kill protestors and dissenters, or nakedly display the turpitude and corruption of their executive. However, a clear unadulterated vision seems to elude them, lost in the fog of petty bureaucratic hegemony they flounder. I suppose they would answer that things are not as simple as they seem to the uninitiated, but perhaps would also admit that somewhere along the route they strayed.
Is it inevitable and a symptom of human nature that people who end up with positions of power will be corrupted and misuse them? Or is it that the most corrupt and corruptible peruse power most earnestly? Are people improving over history, or not? Or, in this is a dog-eat-dog world, do people on balance tend get what they deserve, after all, their leaders are culled from among them?
I like to think that things are changing for the better, but it is hard to make a good case for the notion. My own country (the UK) recently took war to another country that was no threat to it at all. A shameful state of affairs, however it was arrived at, via incompetence or lies. Can this be the best of all possible worlds?