blythburgh wrote: ↑Mon Nov 04 2019 9:02amA friend has told me more than once that his parents were rather racist but worked to for the local Labour Party. They did not approve of non white people coming to the country. He pointed out they were friends with a non white couple. "Ah but they are different" was their reply.
This is hardly unusual - particularly when you look back in time. Racism was both endemic and open - and it is an ongoing problem because it has not been destroyed, just suppressed.
It is "tribal" and can seem illogical - many immigrants have complained about discrimination.... and then go on to discriminate against others.
Hmmmm, I'm not so sure - what is undoubtedly on the rise is single-issue voting, but I'm not sure that's an improvement. The vast majority of the UK population are still politically ignorant, because they have never had to grapple with the complexities of politics. You should also have been taught about political origins - because that cuts to the heart of the matter. To oversimplify - at root the major UK parties all stem from an opposition to the status quo, rather than in pursuit of something; the Tories by those who sought to advance the cause of the privileged against the power of the crown; the Liberals by those who sought to curb the excesses of the Tories and Labour to advance the cause of the workers against paternalistic privilege. Beyond this, parties from the left or right, have had little influence - until the arrival of UKIP, etc, which chose to build on a single issue and construct an ideology in deference to that aim.blythburgh wrote: ↑Mon Nov 04 2019 9:02amA woman on the TV said she votes Labour "well I have done all my life because my parents did".
I was taught in my Sociology class about deference voters, I have actually known such ones. Thankfully they are getting less and less.
blythburgh wrote: ↑Mon Nov 04 2019 9:02amBut I am unhappy that a suitable candidate is sneered at for coming from a Public School background. I want the best person for the job. Not a man or a woman or a public or a state school educated person but the best person.
I agree - and a politician should be someone with the independence of mind and the vision to do what he or she thinks best..... not to blindly follow the dogma of their party or the "wishes of the electorate". However, it is unfortunate that those best trained in the political arts often come from an education where debate is taught and valued - and hone their skills on that. A good debater can convince the audience of things they do not themselves believe... it is a learned skill, not a personal value.
