The third in a series of unpublished blog entries; this one is from December 2009.
I'm supposed to become more right wing as I get older - most of my friends have - but instead I'm just becoming more commie than I've ever been before (despite having some fascist and ecological tendencies). I wouldn't pass up the opportunity to be a champagne socialist, but frankly I've managed 47 years without any substantial money behind me, so no point in changing that now, eh?
I can't bring myself to vote for a party that calls itself Labour at the moment. I wouldn't vote Conservative under the threat of death and torture and voting for anyone else is just a pointless exercise. So, voting in this country is not really about freedom now, just our preference for the vagina du jour of government.
Every day I see political incompetence, whether its from central government or from local, jobsworth organisations. Politics is now almost a joke; but it can't be because the country and the planet are far more important than a bunch of short term 'I'm all right Jack', fly-by-night defilers!
I've toyed with the idea of entering politics for years, but as I've got more extreme I realise that the world is out of tune with the way I think. Yeah, I have like minded people around me, but what are a bunch of people with a bit of common sense when you have entire branches of the civil service made up of people who couldn't find their own anus with a map and a torch?
If I stood for anything now it would be Common Sense (with a bit of a mix between popular and unpopular, because you can't be a politician and please all the people all the time; plus a touch of the Draconian because we live in a society that needs a kick up the arse); but also for the future, not just of the planet, but of the country.
The way I see it is a manifesto outlines the keys things a political party will do in specific areas of government: health & welfare, the economy, education, defence, home and foreign, social and law and order. There are myriad more things in a proper manifesto, but lets stick with these to start:
The main problem with any administration is there's never enough money. I sit and look just about every aspect of this country as we struggle to get out of a recession and what do I see as a solution? Throw money at it. The problem is there isn't any, so clever politicians (an oxymoron if ever there was one) try and come up with ways of funding things outside of government. Surely, and if we're going to be controversial, why not kick off with a doozy, the pull the troops out of everywhere; I'm fed up with this country trying to be the policeman of the world; let the bloody Yanks do that, they want the job. Turn Britain into a country like Holland or Norway or Finland - have an army, but one that defends our own shores, throws a few thousand troops at the UN and generally keeps it's nose out of other people's business. How often do you see the Dutch Home Secretary standing up pontificating about the injustices of the world, saying that his government will throw the full weight of their army into Afghanistan or Iraq or Iran or...
Can you imagine the money this country will save if it didn't have a nuclear warhead policy; if it didn't pour billions of pounds into an Afghan war that can go on for ever? Can you imagine how much work a year's worth of Afghan funds would achieve in run-down urban areas? How much it would go to supporting the haemorrhaging National Health Service? In fact, if we just became like any other country, we'd be rolling in it. And before you start spouting off about how we will suddenly become vulnerable; that's bollocks. How vulnerable is New Zealand? How much of a threat to the rest of the world are the Kiwis - unless it involves a rugby ball? The world is a different place - it might not be as safe as it once was, but we can have a home defence that protects us but doesn't go pissing off every other culture or race because of our allegiances.
So that's Defence and a big chunk of the budget taken care of. If the armed forces don't like this totally new idea of running our country, they can bugger off and be mercenaries somewhere if all they're interested in is fighting and propagating the belief that we're always a few minutes from doomsday.
Law and Order and Social Health and Welfare are things quite close to my heart and there's no easy fix in a country that still perceives itself as a group of haves and have nots. Some areas that I would concentrate on initially would be getting the police to actually solve crimes. I'd offer traffic police the choice - become a proper policeman or go and join the Transport Police, because they're going to be in charge of our roads from now on. I want police doing the job they have to do. Solving crimes, preventing civil disobedience, community policing and rebuilding the respect that people once had for the people that kept us safe. With the money saved from the defence restructuring and other savings I'm yet to unveil, I would be shovelling money at urban projects and rural ones too. I would be rebuilding the community infrastructure of estates and areas and if adults or children do anything to prevent this work from continuing and doing good for communities, then they will be punished, isolated and ostracised. If people want to fight the system then the system should be allowed to sanction people to the extent where they have to conform or they'll starve to death. Harsh, but for God's sake, you have to push human rights to a limit if you want a society with useful contributors in it, not worthless spongers, drug addicts and criminals with no intention of working or participating. If people in run down urban areas fight against the renewals, they get benefits stopped; they have amenities removed; they have restrictions placed on them and their families until they accept that they are in the minority. If they can't conform to a harmonious society, they get evicted; they get penalised and the only options they have is to either knuckle down and work at it or bugger off to another country and see how they get on there.
There's the issue of immigration always rearing its ugly head. Well, the answer is simple - if you're a British citizen you can stay; if you're applying for citizenship and you are offering something to this country, you can stay. If you want to come and live here, you have to follow the same principles if you want to move to Australia or New Zealand - how much money are you bringing with you and which of the following skills off a select list can you bring with you? Don't fill the criteria? Then don't come here. We'd offer limited refuge to asylum seekers, because we're changing our foreign affairs policy in line with our defence. We'll vote the way we see fit on issues and as we no longer want to be America's deputy, we don't want any of the political baggage that comes with sensitive issues like asylum seekers. We'll do our bit, but we're not pissing off every Muslim or communist country in the world just to please some stiff-shirted US president or senator.
So, what am I going to do with all those soldiers that don't want to become mercenaries or stay in the new smaller streamlined British armed forces? Well, youth crime is something that needs attention and the concept of putting most kids in prison is pretty hard to swallow unless they're prolific little shites or have committed a crime that can't be resolved by any other issues. What I'm suggesting is not a Boot Camp or form of National Service; just a number of existing YOIs and STCs be changed into Life Camps, where enforced residents learn about the world - if necessary, the hard way. These camps would put young people into them to work on the areas of their social skills that are either non-existent or haven't surfaced in a discernible way. We're not talking borstal, but we're talking school of life. Plus, with more money for urban regeneration, hopefully crime figures will drop when communities have something to do.
What about the economy? Well, economics was never my subject, but the first thing I'd do on the domestic front is cut taxes for anyone earning under £15k. From £15-30k there would be a sliding scale of taxation. £30-50k would have a higher sliding scale; £50-100k would be higher and so on and so forth and people earning over £250k would be expected to pay more, depending on their assets and equity rather than their yearly income. National Insurance would become a direct income source for the NHS. Pensions would be upped to the standard of living, and extra aid would be given to those that need it, while those who are independently wealthy can opt out of state pensions for tax relief on their savings.
I would instruct councils to start building council houses again, whether they run them themselves or put them out to associations, I don't care, but we need more social housing and with a proviso built in that if they are good tenants and pay on time within a period of time they can buy the property for a fraction of its actual value. Only brown field sites would be used for this kind of regeneration.
I would offer tax concessions to entertainments outlets and gyms - be seen offering better deals for families and the overweight and get cuts to make your deals worth your while. I would try to get councils to build more swimming pools and charge reasonable rates to families - make entertainment and fitness affordable, so that people don't feel tempted to download music and films; so that there isn't a black market. I'd be radical and look at different areas of funding. For all the successive governments drug policies; why not legalise drugs, allow chemists to sell them, cheaper than black marketeers and tax them.
This is where I came to a halt. I started, if memory serves me correctly, to get bogged down by the areas of government that I don't understand or I'm not familiar with.
Also, note that in December of last year, I didn't know who to vote for, but I wasn't suggesting a vote for the Liberals.
Since starting this blog, this and the two other unpublished things are the only pieces of writing that I saved and didn't delete. There has been a little jurisprudence applied in what little editing I did.
I lined these all up to be published throughout the day on December 25th. My intention is that for that day I won't turn the PC on. I will not check emails, but instead I will spend it with the wife (you remember her), the dogs and some peaceful Christmas music, maybe a bottle of wine or JD. Last year, I didn't turn off the computer and ended up spending an hour or so fucking about on Facebook, while the wife sat downstairs waiting for me to finish being boring. I don't intend for that to be the case this year!
So, if you've read one of the 3 X-Mas posts that are scheduled today; then I hope you had a very Merry Christmas and that you had peace on Earth and showed goodwill to all men.
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