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WTF is happening to the UK?

I've pondered this question before now. It is rarely the answer to any situation in real life that "they" are all stupid and ignorant and "we" are all clever and informed. Life isn't like that. People aren't like that.

Maybe it is a question of priorities; The "immigrant problem" could be a high priority for many people and Boris isn't afraid to sort it out and be tough. He "got Brexit done" and many are grateful to him for that and will overlook his bad behaviour. Maybe in this "dog eat dog" world it makes sense to have an absolute cnut batting for your side.

I do find it hard to fathom. I look at Johnston and can not see any quality that makes me think he has my interests, or the interests of any working person, at heart. Other people must see something different; he will protect my wealth, he likes the stuff I like; beer, cricket, banter. He's jolly and positive.

Let's not underestimate the influence of the popular press in influencing people's priorities and outlook. Would billionaires buy newspapers and broadcast media if it did not protect their interests? Most people just want a quiet life and a simple explanation for how life works. They will get that from Johnston.
Jeremy Corbyn and the lefties were going to take away people's gardens, make friends with terrorists, create a communist UK, have unionism and strikes, power cuts like the 70's etc etc. Boris and the Tories saved us from all that.

Edit: I once read a research piece that said that around 30% of people prefer an authoritarian leadership and society. It keeps thing simple and people know where they stand. The people who liked authoritarianism were also more likely to be racist and xenophobic...diversity is complicated, frightening, hard to navigate and makes their brain hurt.
 
I once read a research piece that said that around 30% of people prefer an authoritarian leadership and society.

I wonder if they just meant a strong leadership and societal rules. Humankind is, I believe, naturally inclined to have a strong leader, whether elected or not. This is and always has been the norm in most animal societies, as in homo sapiens. Furthermore, also as in aliens, as they usually demand, on exiting their spacecraft, to be taken to our leader. Similar cosmic thinking? ;)
 
Maybe it is a question of priorities; The "immigrant problem" could be a high priority for many people and Boris isn't afraid to sort it out and be tough. He "got Brexit done" and many are grateful to him for that and will overlook his bad behaviour. Maybe in this "dog eat dog" world it makes sense to have an absolute cnut batting for your side.

Ive recommend Angrynomics on this topic before because it is useful to help non-economists like myself understand what is really going on. The book talks about justified anger about real issues and tribal anger that has more to do with group loyalty. After the 2008 crash there was a great deal of justified anger at the austerity, poverty and lack of opportunities for many people. Understanding the real causes of that justifies anger is not easy, so tribal anger at easy scapegoats such as immigrants for gaining from the opportunities that austerity had taken away was easily exploited by unscrupulous vested interests like Trump, Johnson and Farage.

When you are angry at everything that has gone before, when someone comes along who says something different by appealing to your tribal instincts, you think, why not, nothing else has worked, no other focker is taking any notice of me. Why not. Let’s give him a go.
 
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I wonder if they just meant a strong leadership and societal rules. Humankind is, I believe, naturally inclined to have a strong leader, whether elected or not. This is and always has been the norm in most animal societies, as in homo sapiens. Furthermore, also as in aliens, as they usually demand, on exiting their spacecraft, to be taken to our leader. Similar cosmic thinking? ;)

Here's the author, Karen Stenner, talking about her work. BBC Radio 4. I think she was quite clear about the link to racist attitudes ( fear of the "other") rather than just a desire for "strong leadership".

"Helen Lewis meets people offering radical solutions to the big problems of our times. Political psychologist and behavioural economist Karen Stenner, author of The Authoritarian Dynamic, explains how research shows a third of humanity is predisposed to authoritarianism. She tells Helen what happens when this predisposition is activated by feelings of threat - and what liberal democracy can do to respond to the challenges this raises"

It's one of the reasons that parents pay to send kids to posh schools isn't it? They come out confident looking and with that accent that makes us plebs think they are worth listening to.
One of my neighbours was very, very posh and it took me quite a long time to realise she was an empty-headed idiot.
 
I suppose the short answer to the question "WTF is happening to the UK?" is:

"The same thing that is happening in lots of other countries. Democracy has been almost fully captured by the super wealthy"

Authoritarianism, populism, Fascism, Boris etc are just the best tools to get the job done. If it starts to hurt the multiple-property owning, comfortably-off, highly-leisured middle classes, who thought they were safely insulated from any nastiness, we might start to see some real opposition and unrest.
 
Why do you think they’ll do that? I mean, obviously there are going to be lots of reasons, but I wonder if you have a view on what the main reasons are. Do they know significantly less about Boris than you do, so their vote is uninformed? Or do they know enough but still think that the conservatives are the best for the job? And if so, how did they arrive at that valuation - what influenced them?

Sorry, this sounds like the Spanish Inquisition.

Anyone reading your contributions to this and other threads would think it’s impossible for rational free moral agents to vote Tory. But here we are, contemplating the possibility that they will on 23rd. So there’s a disconnect between them and you which it would be interesting to account for.

BTW. You appear to have Boris Johnson as your avatar. Are you a fan? Or is it ironic. Or someone else entirely? Just being nosey.
 
given some small samples (my caveat) i still maintain this is primarily a popularity contest. Shapps is our MP, and talking to my neighbours, locals in the pub - all voters pretty much all tory - still vote for Johnson as he is more "entertaining", and "gets stuff done" "oh he might be a naughty boy, but that roguishness is part of the attraction" -

and Starmer = boring, and they have barely heard of the LibDems - it is truely hopeless
 
BTW. You appear to have Boris Johnson as your avatar. Are you a fan? Or is it ironic. Or someone else entirely? Just being nosey.

I was just amused by that photo at a time when someone said that I should choose an avatar (normally I don't bother with avatars.) The photo made him look like Onslow (Hyacinth Bucket's other half.)
 
Political parties and political media set the terms of public debate to a large degree, and they've all basically decided that competing on the basis of substantive policy differences isn't really allowed. That leaves personality or, at a stretch, the value of personality vs dull managerial competence. I notice that a lot of people complaining about this situation also demanded it during the Corbyn era, so...
 
Edit: I once read a research piece that said that around 30% of people prefer an authoritarian leadership and society. It keeps thing simple and people know where they stand. The people who liked authoritarianism were also more likely to be racist and xenophobic...diversity is complicated, frightening, hard to navigate and makes their brain hurt.

Also I think strictness, spite, mean-spiritedness and cruelty appeal to these voters. As long as it only affects "the other".
 
Democracy has been almost fully captured by the super wealthy"

Sounds quite similar to the oligarchs under the dictator Putin; maybe different ways of getting there but similar outcomes. It appears that kicking all the oligarchs out of London has negatively affected the Capital's economic balance; a Chelsea own goal, perhaps?
 


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