Entry 2018, on 2019-12-17 at 13:14:09 (Rating 3, Politics)
It has happened again. The left have failed miserably in an election that they should have at least been competitive in, and perhaps won. I'm talking about the recent UK general election, obviously, which surprised almost everyone with how conclusively Boris Johnson's Conservatives defeated the left, represented mainly by Labour. And they didn't just win; they obliterated the opposition.
Despite the title of this post, I'm not celebrating this win. While I have spent a lot of time criticising the left recently, I do identify as mainly leftist myself. But note that I do prefer not to think of myself as belonging to any particular camp, because I see good and bad ideas in every area of politics, and think the left and right are both necessary to keep most countries stable while still improving societal and economic elements which aren't working well.
I have made previous posts on this same subject, where I have presented the opinion that, in most cases, the right doesn't win, instead the left loses. And it just seems to keep happening, because they seem to have big problems in learning from their mistakes. My favourite teacher used to say that "everyone makes mistakes, but only a fool makes the same mistake twice". Well, the left keep making the same mistakes many times, so the conclusion is obvious!
But what are these mistakes? Well, politics is like a game of chess: you must control the center. The left has gone so far to the left, especially on social issues, that they have created a huge space in the center where the right can take over, and the results are obvious.
I hate to harp on about my favourite subject for complaint in recent times, but the primary social effect the left over-indulge in is political correctness. I realised Jeremy Corbyn was going to lose the election when he announced his preferred pronouns (he and him). That might impress a loud and obnoxious minority of social justice warriors, and Corbyn might get a lot of positive feedback from that particular crowd, but I think most people would just sigh and think "not this crap again!"
Just to be clear, I don't see a lot of harm in trans and gender diverse people wanting to tell us what pronouns they prefer, but I think many people are sick of politicians making a big deal out of something which is both rather trivial, and is often weaponised to exert socio-political control over others. They might see this as simple virtue signalling, and I think they would prefer that more important issues might be discussed instead, such as whether the UK should leave or stay in the European Union. Corbyn wasn't so keen on sharing that!
I have to ask myself why the left insists on destroying itself with political correctness of every type. I think they genuinely believe the fantasy world they find themselves in. They really think that most people support their ridiculous ideas, like apologising for the past transgressions of western civilisation, like allowing increased immigration and protecting the immigrants even when they prove to be far from ideal citizens, like giving "disadvantaged" groups special privileges.
And this illusion seems to come primarily from two places: the mainstream media and universities. I try to source news from a wide range of places, yet I don't see a lot of diversity of opinion. Boris Johnson was seen as an amusing buffoon for along time, when as a quite incompetent politician who wouldn't last long, then as a sort of extreme right-winger who could never win an election. Well, none of those things really turned out to be true. He was grossly underestimated and now his party has achieved a huge win.
A similar opinion usually appears when academic "experts" are questioned on subjects related to politics. Academia is grossly biased towards the left, and they don't seem to be capable of looking past that and giving an objective appraisal of the true state of the world. Social "science" in modern universities is often laughable.
So it's no surprise that the left might think their more ridiculous programs are more widely supported than they really are, when the mainstream media and academia seem to be on board. Unfortunately for them, the media and academics don't account for the majority of votes. And while there are plenty of noisy leftists encouraged by this apparent support, there are a lot more voters who can see through the illusion and never have any intention of supporting it.
The parties of the left undoubtedly do their own polling on what they could do to gain more votes, but if they are, then they are clearly getting something wrong. Maybe they are just asking the wrong questions, or not taking enough notice of the results. Whatever it is, they need to change something.
Even New Zealand's own famous leader from the left, Jacinda Ardern, seems to be susceptible to this problem. She is the ultimate BS artist. She has gained a lot of admiration around the world for her compassion, youth, and charisma. But her government is slipping in the polls and she could easily lose the next election, despite the leader of the opposition having great difficulty in gaining much support.
Why? Because she is more interested in appearing on crappy American TV shows, of trying to suppress freedom of speech with her terrible "Christchurch Call", and of acting like a Muslim and pretending "they are us". It's all superficial, politically correct nonsense, and many people have been taken in by it in the past, but clearly that is changing despite the fact that the media still mainly support her. She is a very superficial person, but the voters can only be fooled by that temporarily, and her government might be the next victim of the anti-left trend.
And that would be unfortunate, because the left do have something valuable to contribute. Without them, little progress would be made. Sure, they have some stupid ideas and often go too far, but that's why the right comes back later on to tidy up. As I said above, the two sides work synergistically to create a fair balance.
So I really hope the left can escape their little bubble of PC fantasy and get back to the center, because we don't need any more loony left losers!
Ha ha, you are sounding more and more like an angry old white man.... why so upset over the PM? Plenty worse than her, and take some of your own advice - stop obsessing on superficial events like appearances on American late night TV shows!
Comment 2 by OJB on 2019-12-18 at 09:23:21:
I sound like an angry old white man because I am an angry old white man! But when I say angry that is a bit of an exaggeration, because I don’t take myself too seriously. I’m not really obsessing over the PM‘s antics; I’m just using those things as an example of how superficial she is.
Comment 3 by Anonymous on 2019-12-19 at 12:57:26:
Her superficial behaviour is in response to a system or culture where popularity gets you elected. To say that she is superficial is wrong - she is just playing the game like any other politician. It sounds like you have a more personal issue with her.
Comment 4 by OJB on 2019-12-19 at 17:48:52:
I agree that her superficiality is partly in response to the way politics works. In fact, when the Labour Party was doing badly with Andrew Little as leader, they asked the people on their mailing list what they should do. I said, make Ardern the leader. I knew she was just the type of BS artist they needed. Sort of like a leftist, female version of John Key (just to show I dislike politicians from both sides!) So, sure to be successful you have to be superficial. But even if it's true, I don't need to like it!
Comment 5 by Anonymous on 2019-12-20 at 19:06:59:
No, you don't have to like it - I'm not asking you to. But you are asserting that superficiality is a fundamental personality trait off hers and this simply isn't true. She (like others before and after) is just making use of a flawed system. Nothing superficial about it.
Comment 6 by OJB on 2019-12-20 at 22:39:39:
I don't think anyone can acquire that sort of characteristic to the extent she has. She must have some predisposition towards superficiality to take it on that much as PM. I mean, her qualification is a bachelor of communication studies in politics and public relations, so she is a professional BS artist. You can't get much more superficial than that!
Comment 7 by Anonymous on 2019-12-21 at 14:20:05:
Sorry, but that's just plain rubbish and personal bias...
Comment 8 by OJB on 2019-12-21 at 21:15:28:
You think so? Do you really think any person can step in and act the way the PM has without any pre-existing "skills" in that area? She must have a particular type of personality which allows her to perform the way she does.
Depending on your political views you might not label it "superficiality" like I have. I agree that is a negative way to look at it, although I think it is justifiable. You might also label it more positively, such as being in touch with the people, or being compassionate, etc. Whatever you call it, it does exist.
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