A large part of the problem is that the media isn't really independent to anything like the extent of the past. The 'fourth estate' no longer works. Group think is now the general default and similar to how the Soviets would run things, the job of the mainstream media is to all preach the same message.

We now live in an age where lies are common currency and that spells decline. The media, along with the educational system is the main tool to distribute this and any critical thinking that might diverge from mainstream messages are discouraged....something that did not happen in my youth.

Most people have been conditioned via a lifetime to trust their elites based upon the past. But I would wager those past elites.....while flawed as are all humans.....weren't anything like as irresponsibly stupid as these ones.

Politicians tell the voters that they can have jam today and jam tomorrow. They just point out that the other nasty lot just offer them gruel. So being non political most are always going to vote for jam.....hardly difficult working that out is it.

As the names and faces of the politicians change every few years no one ever gets to face accountability for the actual reality of decline. It's out with the old and in with the new.....but importantly there's no underlying positive change to the metrics.....because the unspoken truth of it is that they are all implementing the same managed decline....all they ever had was jam for them and gruel for the plebs.

Most people do not have the time to follow politics, nor the interest to compare today with the past and judge performance. Most people aren't political and that's how it should be. The reason you have a governing class is meant to be based upon merit...proven merit. The best of the best. That should ensure that the life of the common 'man' is improved and not subject to decline.

But for many reasons, that would be a distraction to go into, that natural pipeline was disrupted and distorted and it's with pain that I and others observe the inevitable consequences of it.

The boomers have torn the golden ticket they were given and instead of looking for sellotape they just reach for larger scissors.

Edited by Stirlingsays (11 Apr 2023 10.58am)

'Who are you and how did you get in here? I'm a locksmith. And, I'm a locksmith.' (Leslie Nielsen)

Correction : It's Luzon not Luxon. Supposedly you lived in PI

Responsibility Deficit Disorder is a medical condition. Symptoms include inability to be corrected when wrong, false sense of superiority, desire to share personal info no else cares about, general hubris. It's a medical issue rather than pure arrogance.

China following Russia's lead. Except China has a plan.

No one has the will or force to stop them

"The facts have changed", Rishi Sunak

clever feckers, the Chinese..........or can i not say that anymore cos its racist ?

sometimes the truth needs saying.

[Link]

Edited by PalazioVecchio (11 Apr 2023 12.34pm)

Eze Peasy at Anfield....

This time you are correct. That was a typo. X and y being next to each other on the keyboard. I did live in the the Phil and have visited Manila and other parts of Luzon, although most of my time was spent on Cebu and Bohol.

For the avoidance of doubt any comments in response to a previous post are directed to its ideas and not at any, or all, posters personally.

So no actual answers then. Just more moaning and pontification. Which only delivers high blood pressure.

Do you really think that the media being controlled by the likes of Rupert Murdoch is similar to the control of the Soviets? I think it's the exact opposite. Add to that an independent BBC and there is no government control of the media.

You seem to think, as Trump does, that whatever anyone believes that you don't, is a lie. There have always been differences of opinion and today those differences are both deeper and more strongly expressed, but to describe those you don't share as lies isn't going to help bridge gaps.

Nor is describing the frailties of human nature, and it's capacity to believe undeliverable promises. That's unlikely to change.

We certainly need to try to improve the system so that those with merit can, and do, attain positions of influence on our behalf. That though will not happen unless we first accept the current system is no longer fit for purpose and persuade people to vote in a government committed to change it.

UKIP managed to galvanise enough support to force change, even though the system denied them actual representation. I didn't, and don't, share their cause, but it shows it can be done.

I am not without hope. I can envisage a way ahead that delivers a better future and that what we have now is not inevitable at all.

For the avoidance of doubt any comments in response to a previous post are directed to its ideas and not at any, or all, posters personally.