Saturday 16 May 2015

True Blue?

I voted for the dark side last week. For the evil empire. For the end of civilisation, if you listen to some. Apparently this makes me uncaring, insular, infused only with self interest. Ok then, if you must paint with such broad brush strokes then that is your prerogative, but I absolutely reject your central premise. Now please note that I am not a political animal. I’m just a normal guy with a lovely family with an antiquated desire to work hard, pay my taxes, and do my bit to leave the planet in a better condition than when I found it. That’s it. That’s the master plan. And concerning my local MP, he is a fantastic guy with immense integrity whom happens to be Conservative. Fact is, this is Aylesbury. You could stick a blue rosette on a badger and it would be elected, but that is hardly the point. Getting back on track; I care about other’s, try to lead a good life, and aside from the occasional verbose outburst keep myself to myself. Yet, according to the Liberal left I am complicit in some great societal decay, greasing the engines of doom by daring to vote blue. Thing is, exactly who else was I meant to vote for? What kind of alternative utopian vision was out there demanding my attention? And concerning my own viewpoint, I want to see a society where we are all aware of both our rights and our responsibility’s. I want to see the demise of a culture of expectation and entitlement. Those who can work should work. Those who chose not to should not receive any support. For those in genuine need I want to support and empower them, to enable them to recover to a point where they can stand on their own two feet. And for those who, for genuine and demonstrable reasons, cannot do this, I feel strongly that we should offer financial and practical support. Simply put, I want to draw a clear distinction between those in genuine need and those whom simply choose to live off the toil of others. I think we need to get better at this, and that this message is writ large across society. The genuinely vulnerable are our responsibility, but the feckless and the lazy are not. At heart, I want to see a nation that aspires to be better, for people who ask what they can give before they demand what they can get. I see this as fair, as reasonable, and as worthy. Now I can already hear the cacophony of contempt such a post will inflame, and I am not blind to the past, present, and future failings of this Government. I’m not even going to defend them. I simply assert that on balance, they better fit where I come from in the marketplace of ideas. Do as you will with this.