Not sure how we teach independent thought to the masses though.
Shouldn't be too hard. Just teach a basic module on political philosophy to kids. You really don't need to learn much.
Democracy doesn't work when so many are in poverty and so many are uneducated/uninformed. It is playing out very well for the tories.
Thankfully they’ve moved the reporting on a bit from it being the Dominic Cummings Show to actually looking at the details of what he’s talking about.
The issue is that the vast majority of the population won't read those stories. We have to wait:
When the media turns against him, things will change. Until that time, the masses will be fed the message and they will believe it.
Looking at the whole setup with Tory donors in the media and business with what they are trying to gain it could be a very long wait.
Shouldn’t be too hard. Just teach a basic module on political philosophy to kids. You really don’t need to learn much.
And that's the dproblem. To do that, you need money and time to teach kids this, which are both in the hands of the ruling party, which don't want to upset the status quo. The same thing with AV/PR, or boundaries, or...
A party with a majority will never vote for anything that diminishes its ability to remain in power. Why would it?
In the current situation the best chance of getting Johnson out is if it’s proved he lied to parliament, i.e. bodies piling up. It’s like getting Capone on tax charges not for being a mob boss, but it’s still effective.
Most things that most of the Cabinet have said over the last couple of years have been provable lies. We're way past the time that lying meant resigning, the idea that somehow the MP has done something to besmirch the " Right Honourable" part of their title.
BJ went past lying to Parliament and lied to the Queen!
He's been sacked from two jobs for lying.
Provable lies to Parliament would be met with the same shrug of the shoulders as everything else he's done. He's "just being Boris", it's what he's like, it's just the way he works, he means well, isn't the vaccine rollout going well, look at that dead cat... Blah blah.
You know what I don’t understand? How we’ve become so complacent.
...
We’ve been screaming about ‘democracy’ for the last five years.
...
Time was, this would’ve driven people onto the streets with milk bottles, a canister of four star and an oily rag. Instead we’re looking up what time Lip Sync Battle starts.
I use my SIL as a barometer for this. I think you've massively overestimated the general populations level of interest. She's by no means the least interested in the country and votes entirely on her own self-interest, personalities, family history etc rather than policy or future commitments. She believes that if she is successful in life, everyone else can be successful and that they should just try harder.
Just teach a basic module on political philosophy to kids.
Then you too can have regular riots down les Champs, occupied airport construction sites until the stupid project is abandonned, sobotaged toll barriers, heaps of manure in front of the town hall, tractors blocking the ring road and (God forbid) properly social democratics candidates in elections (as well as the neo right and extreme nutjobs you'll find everywhere). Great innit.
But seriously, I absolutely agree, Molgrips, it's one of the things that strikes me most when talking to young people in Germany, France and the UK, philosophy in school is ace.
Amongst other things I used to run a General Studies programme in a comprehensive school getting speakers from animal rights, Countryside Alliance, F o I, Palestinians, the occasional politician, ex chair of the Arts Council, a few academics, an ex-coke dealer, ex Chair of the Bar Council. Our centre's papers were used as exemplars at the exam board. Killed off by the Tories.
Citizenship was another vehicle for stirring up an understanding of politics. Killed off by the Tories.
Time was, this would’ve driven people onto the streets with milk bottles, a canister of four star and an oily rag. Instead we’re looking up what time Lip Sync Battle starts.
panem et circenses
panem et circenses
Don't be juvenal
Don’t be juvenal
👏👏👏
She believes that if she is successful in life, everyone else can be successful and that they should just try harder.
I know a few tories at work who think exactly that. When you give them reasons why some people may be a bit hampered on being successful and they have been successful mainly down to luck they quickly lose interest.
panem et circenses
Don’t be juvenal
Who said satire was dead?
[ hats off to you for that one Mefty ]
Amongst other things I used to run a General Studies programme in a comprehensive school getting speakers from animal rights, Countryside Alliance, F o I, Palestinians, the occasional politician, ex chair of the Arts Council, a few academics, an ex-coke dealer, ex Chair of the Bar Council. Our centre’s papers were used as exemplars at the exam board. Killed off by the Tories.
Citizenship was another vehicle for stirring up an understanding of politics. Killed off by the Tories.
Looking back at my school time, *cough* years ago, one of the more useful subjects was O-level history. We were taught to look for biases in the historical sources, to think about what you don't know as much as what you do know, etc, etc. Applying those same filters to contemporary sources is something that I do every day...
The Tories, of course, continually apply pressure to make the history syllabus all about memorising dates. I can't for the life of me think why that would be. :-/
I see Johnsons advisor on the ministerial code has said he didnt break the minsterial code, because he didnt know that someone else had paid his decorating bill.
I always get other people to pay for my 200K flat refurbishments but dont worry about who
Tho Hancock did break the ministerial code, but only a little bit, so thats fine
I think we all knew that Johnson would end up being exonerated, wouldnt do to have sitting PM exposed as corrupt, wouldnt do at all!
Then you too can have regular riots down les Champs
..and you can have an electorate that is prepared to change the government radically when it thinks it's needed, and a system that can provide it. I didn't know philosophy was on the curriculum in France - interesting.
I see Johnsons advisor on the ministerial code has said he didnt break the minsterial code, because he didnt know that someone else had paid his decorating bill.
I always get other people to pay for my 200K flat refurbishments but dont worry about who
In Johnson's defence (wow, never knew that would ever happen) he is not in the same world as you or me where we are concerned about spend on decorating whereas he just assumes it is done somehow but not a property he owns and one he is just staying in for a few years with costs covered etc,. so probably not really paying much attention to it. Plus he was clearly too busy saving lives.
Very good Mefty 😀
LOL
+1 For Johnathon Pie.
Political satire these days is more depressing than funny.
Welcome to apathy. 🙁
Fancy that..... I get that desperate times need desperate measures, but if it walks like a duck etc.....
BBC News - Government acted unlawfully over firm's £560,000 contract
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-57413115
His failure to provide any actual evidence just makes the whole thing look like sour grapes, and is only going to contribute to the perception of him as being a liar. Unfortunately its probably only going to strenghten the position of the people he was criticising.
Unfortunately its probably only going to strenghten the position of the people he was criticising.
And he's such a scheming, untrustworthy, machiavellian shit that you are always left wondering whether that might have been (at least partly) the point.
Vladislav Surkov would be proud.
Government acted unlawfully over firm’s £560,000 contract
Ah... Gove... Gove... Gove...
I'm still not sure who's the bigger liar but not even Cummings would fake stuff that could easily be proven false would he?
Where does Boris go next?
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-57498845
Where does Boris go next?
A discrete little hotel in the Cotswolds with that Russian violinist?
Hell hath no fury like a lover scorned.
His failure to provide any actual evidence just makes the whole thing look like sour grapes, and is only going to contribute to the perception of him as being a liar. Unfortunately its probably only going to strenghten the position of the people he was criticising.
I think he's playing it quite well, he's let them dig a bigger hole for themselves and dropped some hand grenades in.
Drip feeding is the only way you'll damage them.If at all.
Yup, wait for denials and lies to be formed as a defence, and then undermine them one by one.
Can't see anybody caring that Johnson called Hancock ****ing useless in regards to the testing rollout that he was ****ing useless at.
I think he’s playing it quite well, he’s let them dig a bigger hole for themselves and dropped some hand grenades in.
Yes, I thought that too. Give them the chance to proveably lie in parliment etc.
Can’t see anybody caring that Johnson called Hancock * useless in regards to the testing rollout that he was * useless at.
You’d hope that any journalist worth their salt’s next question would be;
“You knew he was useless, you had the ability to get someone else in post, but you failed to do so. How many deaths do you attribute to your failure to act?”
I don’t know how to feel about this - Boris saying something true wasn’t on my radar.
Misread that first time....
LOL'ed second time.
It also makes Hancock unsackable for the time being at least....... which is a particular circle of hell for everyone.
I like the fact that Hancock ignored 3 calls from Johnson
https://twitter.com/PippaCrerar/status/1405119214197919747
Just remniding hom whos the boss
I think he’s playing it quite well, he’s let them dig a bigger hole for themselves and dropped some hand grenades in.
Drip feeding is the only way you’ll damage them.If at all.
The thing is, he can't replace the government.
But he is, effectively, replacing the opposition. Starmer becomes less relevent by the day.
And, ironically, BJ's position strengthens.
“You knew he was useless, you had the ability to get someone else in post, but you failed to do so. How many deaths do you attribute to your failure to act?”
"Blah, blah, wibble", go into hiding for a couple of days and let it blow over and the news will have moved onto something else.
I don’t know how to feel about this – Boris saying something true wasn’t on my radar.
Not entirely sure how "Hancock is ****ing hopeless" registers as news really.
Next week, Cummings reveals what bears do in woods
But the PM's official spokesman insisted Mr Johnson has full confidence in the health secretary.
Thats the death knell right there. Soon as this phrase gets used its a sure sign whomever it concerns is getting dumped.
Cummings is 49. I don't really know much of his background - does he need to work again?
Who is ever going to employ him? What do you do for the rest of your useful years if you are Cummings. Anyone vaguely centre or left of centre will never employ him as he is a turd. Anyone to the right will not employ him because he's called all their wet dream fumblings a bunch of turds. And he's a backstabbing snark who has done the very definition of curling one down on the bosses desk as he left the building in the most public of ways. Who'd employ that?
He not very interesting to listen to, he can't stroke kittens, I don't see him dancing on ice - what's left?
I don’t really know much of his background – does he need to work again?
He is married into the aristocracy odd as that might be to believe for someone who loved railing against the elites and his family aint exactly poor either.
I lurk on a very long running twitter thread with 30odd Ayn Rand, Brexit & Tory worshiping forex traders & armchair economists, they are currently in love with GB news
Cummings was their idol- a genius who understands how dangerous the EU elite bureaucrts are etc , now they tweet that he should have an 'accident' if he releases any more Johnson whatsapps
now they tweet that he should have an ‘accident’ if he releases any more Johnson whatsapps
I am not overly opposed to that idea so long as he releases everything first or his estate does on his behalf.
“Blah, blah, wibble”, go into hiding for a couple of days and let it blow over and the news will have moved onto something else.
This. Maybe have a word with the chums in the media to do a story about illegal immigrants or something, to keep the pillocks happy in the interim.
Hancock won't go anywhere unless pushed. Remember this lot left self respect at the door when they chose to use a palpably stupid political act to advance their own careers, which would have, rightly, faded into obscurity if it wasn't for the collective stupidity of the audience.
🇬🇧🍆💦🇬🇧
There's not a minister that hasn't broken the ministerial code, let alone Johnson himself
The culture wars Cummings help create mean that they're competence as a government is largely irrelevant
