living with bi polar: OK,
We have 3 party leaders of our main political ...: OK, We have 3 party leaders of our main political parties, non of whom have ever had to live in the "real" world of having to save for a sch...
Monday, 26 September 2011
OK,
We have 3 party leaders of our main political parties, non of whom have ever had to live in the "real" world of having to save for a school trip for kids or wonder where the money will come from for school uniform.
How can we let these pampered & privileged people who haven't got a clue how the people in the street feel or in some cases have to struggle day run the country?
We need people in charge who have had to struggle at times, who remember what its like to worry and even if they are now very wealthy, are willing to look back and remember what it was like.
I'm sure that all 3 parties do have people like that, but they are kept in the dark by those "professional" politico's who have now all but taken over the system and the parties and who decide who gets what job & when, based on who they know or went to school with.
How is this approach good for the country as a whole?
It means we are led by a bunch of rich posh boys who are all looking out for the vested interests of other posh boys.
Lets look at them one by one...
Ed Milliband
Son of immigrants. Nice start, and something always spouted by his supporters as showing him to be in touch with the common man, but lets face it, although immigrants, his father was already as well respected left wing thinker & speaker, so any child was likely to have had a good leg up using Daddy's contacts. Ed's intern ship was with the legend of British politics, Tony Benn.
Its hard to believe that his brief career in journalism made him the best person to lead the country through the problems we have at the moment, any more than writing speeches for other politicians or being part of the government that helped get us in this mess in the first place did.
Nick Clegg.
Another "silver spoon" political leader. Wealthy family, well connected, went to all the right schools and met all the right people. Apart from a couple of very well paid jobs as a lobbyist and a part time teaching job, Nick has been a European politician before he was selected to his current Sheffield seat.
Again, its hard to believe that someone who's job has been to lobby for big business at the heart of Europe, was born with a silver (plated) spoon in his mouth could ever know what its like to be a normal family in the UK today with all the attendant problems. Is all well & good being able to speak English, Dutch, French, German, and Spanish, but can he now speak to the man on the street? I very much doubt he ever could to be honest.
David Cameron
The only one of the three with a genuine, hallmarked silver spoon. A direct descendant of Royalty, he was born into money. Lots of it. He is however the only one of the three to have had a "real" job having been Director of Corporate Affairs at Carlton Communications for seven years. before and after that sojourn into the real world he was in politics all the way. Working at the conservative research centre before Carlton and then afterwards working for any Tory that would have him, and from the looks of it, he was in demand.
So, no doubt I will have people rubbishing me, but the point I am trying to make is that we have three leaders of supposedly very different political parties, non of whom have a clue about the real world.
Why on earth would we vote for them to lead this country? because for years, the political classes have slowly but surely made certain that this is the only choice we have. 3 posh kids who don't care about the man in the street unless he is related to them or their friends.
I love this country. I consider myself to be a patriot. I have served in the armed forces and always tried to make my own way until ill health cost me my business. Rather than sit on my bum & collect benefits, I went back to college, only to have a relapse, setting me back 18 months and now studying with the OU to keep my brain active even if I am unfit to hold down a full time job.
I don't see any political party that I would trust to run the country properly for the benefit of its inhabitants, both rich and poor.
I can hear my own father, a Labour supporter, spinning in his early grave, as well as my Grandfather, a Tory rotating in his.
I Can honestly say, I have only ever met one politician who truly seemed to be in it for others and she was defeated at the local elections here in Leeds earlier this year. Brenda Lancaster was her name & I hope that at the next local election, she comes back into politics.
She was hard working, always answered her phone & emails and was willing to talk to everyone who needed her.
My politics?
I dont follow any party. Never have & firmly believe they are all pretty much the same these days.
We have 3 party leaders of our main political parties, non of whom have ever had to live in the "real" world of having to save for a school trip for kids or wonder where the money will come from for school uniform.
How can we let these pampered & privileged people who haven't got a clue how the people in the street feel or in some cases have to struggle day run the country?
We need people in charge who have had to struggle at times, who remember what its like to worry and even if they are now very wealthy, are willing to look back and remember what it was like.
I'm sure that all 3 parties do have people like that, but they are kept in the dark by those "professional" politico's who have now all but taken over the system and the parties and who decide who gets what job & when, based on who they know or went to school with.
How is this approach good for the country as a whole?
It means we are led by a bunch of rich posh boys who are all looking out for the vested interests of other posh boys.
Lets look at them one by one...
Ed Milliband
Son of immigrants. Nice start, and something always spouted by his supporters as showing him to be in touch with the common man, but lets face it, although immigrants, his father was already as well respected left wing thinker & speaker, so any child was likely to have had a good leg up using Daddy's contacts. Ed's intern ship was with the legend of British politics, Tony Benn.
Its hard to believe that his brief career in journalism made him the best person to lead the country through the problems we have at the moment, any more than writing speeches for other politicians or being part of the government that helped get us in this mess in the first place did.
Nick Clegg.
Another "silver spoon" political leader. Wealthy family, well connected, went to all the right schools and met all the right people. Apart from a couple of very well paid jobs as a lobbyist and a part time teaching job, Nick has been a European politician before he was selected to his current Sheffield seat.
Again, its hard to believe that someone who's job has been to lobby for big business at the heart of Europe, was born with a silver (plated) spoon in his mouth could ever know what its like to be a normal family in the UK today with all the attendant problems. Is all well & good being able to speak English, Dutch, French, German, and Spanish, but can he now speak to the man on the street? I very much doubt he ever could to be honest.
David Cameron
The only one of the three with a genuine, hallmarked silver spoon. A direct descendant of Royalty, he was born into money. Lots of it. He is however the only one of the three to have had a "real" job having been Director of Corporate Affairs at Carlton Communications for seven years. before and after that sojourn into the real world he was in politics all the way. Working at the conservative research centre before Carlton and then afterwards working for any Tory that would have him, and from the looks of it, he was in demand.
So, no doubt I will have people rubbishing me, but the point I am trying to make is that we have three leaders of supposedly very different political parties, non of whom have a clue about the real world.
Why on earth would we vote for them to lead this country? because for years, the political classes have slowly but surely made certain that this is the only choice we have. 3 posh kids who don't care about the man in the street unless he is related to them or their friends.
I love this country. I consider myself to be a patriot. I have served in the armed forces and always tried to make my own way until ill health cost me my business. Rather than sit on my bum & collect benefits, I went back to college, only to have a relapse, setting me back 18 months and now studying with the OU to keep my brain active even if I am unfit to hold down a full time job.
I don't see any political party that I would trust to run the country properly for the benefit of its inhabitants, both rich and poor.
I can hear my own father, a Labour supporter, spinning in his early grave, as well as my Grandfather, a Tory rotating in his.
I Can honestly say, I have only ever met one politician who truly seemed to be in it for others and she was defeated at the local elections here in Leeds earlier this year. Brenda Lancaster was her name & I hope that at the next local election, she comes back into politics.
She was hard working, always answered her phone & emails and was willing to talk to everyone who needed her.
My politics?
I dont follow any party. Never have & firmly believe they are all pretty much the same these days.
Tuesday, 13 September 2011
Is a problem shared a problem halved?
It’s always the way.
You get your head around one problem and solve it when
another comes along and takes its place.
This week has been all about LJHA and its (lack of)
customer service and sensitivity and overcoming the possibility of a move to
the bottom of a hill.
Despite all sorts of calls, it took the treat of a legal
challenge using the Human rights act to get them to sit down and accept that
they do have an awful lot of problems internally with staff.
Anyhow, we resolved all of that by agreeing that they
would put in a gate allowing me (almost) level access to a public footbath and
look into the aforementioned internal problems.
Then I get an email from my daughter who lives in the
middle of nowhere with her Mother and step father asking me about being
Bi-Polar and what it’s like for an “extended qualification project” for 6th
form.
Now, as a sufferer, I’ve only ever written about it from
my point of view and to have to put it into ways that a fairly intelligent 17
year old could not only understand, but also as it’s my daughter in a way as
not to scare her silly, was daunting to say the least.
Anyhow, after clarifying just how much info she wanted
and to make sure it was confidential, I wrote about my problems and how in the
past I had used “unconventional” means to stop the worst excesses of the mood
swings.
It was the telling of these unconventional methods to my
daughter that had me worried.
I am not overly ashamed of what I was doing, but to have
to explain why I was doing it to an impressionable girl was worrying all the
same.
Anyway, I wrote all she needed to know and hopefully, she
will get a decent result and my illness will have at least served some good to
someone other than the legions of social workers and shrinks that seem to
gather whenever a mental health problem arises.
Anyhow, I am later this month starting a writing course
with the OU as part of my degree. I am so looking forward to it. My tutor from
my last course is doing a reading at the Ilkley literature festival in October and
has asked a few of her students if they want to attend.
I can’t wait!
I find her engaging, witty and a very good writer. To
hear her read ahead of beginning to write myself will be a real pleasure. You can
read more about her here:
I really hope one day, someone, somewhere will ask me to
sit on a stage and read from my book of poetry, as its poetry where I feel my
talents lie. Anything else is incidental.
I love reading poetry and I have had some success with
writing it. Things like this are just to get me in the habit of writing free
flow and to see what actually arrives on the page…
I am just starting to get the smell of the chicken I put
in the oven, nearly 90 minutes ago on a very low heat for dinner. Add to the
fact I am doing mashed potato with spring onion and carrot along with broccoli
and dinner for a Tuesday is looking lovely.
This is what I want to be able to do. Listen to the
radio, write, post on twitter and cook
I would be a very happy man.
Perhaps my next gig should be as a food writer?
After all this started out as a freeform writing
exercise, not a blog post, but I’ve decided to share it with those who can be
bothered to read my raving on here…
Thank you for reading.
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