All Over – bar the shouting?

The election fever is well and truly over, bar the shouting. We know who won and who lost. Eventually, and most importantly, we will also see who will keep their promises.

In the run-up to the vote, the broadcasts, debates and general political point-scoring generated much more heat than light. We watched and listened as politicians got stuck in to each other.

It is often difficult when watching politicians to distinguish real passion and a genuine desire to make things better from the pumped-up, pretence of electioneering. The pursuit of power can sometimes be indistinguishable from a heart-felt need for effective public service.

Moreover, we do not tend to vote for calm analysis and strategic thinking but go for the boisterous, seemingly confident swagger of those who seem to have all the answers. That is one inherent weakness of democracy.

Another is that we do not like hearing uncomfortable truths like ‘services cost money’, ‘good principles are often in conflict’, ‘difficult choices have to be made’ and ‘we cannot have everything we want, instantly and all the time’.

A thoughtful politician is seen as ‘sitting on the fence’ and one who changes his or her mind is guilty of the sin of ‘making a U-turn’. I guess that is why politicians are incentivised to tell lies and make promises they know they cannot keep and maybe why we vote for them anyway.

But wouldn’t it be great if elected representatives could intelligently and rationally sit down together calmly and work out the best ways of giving people hope, providing public services, guaranteeing security, providing meaningful jobs and tackling climate change?

Or are we all, politicians and electorate alike, addicted to watching and participating in the the noisy, adversarial, rough and tumble sport of twenty-first century politics?

It’s the season of good will, so here is a poem.

 

Clamour

 

This is why my side is true

I shout my case louder than you.

 

This is how she is sure to win

She yells out loud to drown out him.

 

This is when he gets a mention

Raucous noise attracts all the attention.

 

This is what they do to us

Increase the volume to make a fuss.

 

This is where we share the blame

Joining this shrill shouting game.

 

Hearing the same old stale refrains

As we keep on calling each other names.

 

Let us remove this deafening treason

And replace it with a quiet reason.

 

How can we ever heal and recover

If we continue shouting at each other?