I don't really follow politics. Sure, I blogged about the British elections back in the spring, and I check the New York Times religiously, and when I can I watch Jon Stewart clips online, but I don't know enough about the issues being debated to argue them coherently myself.
That being said, two developments in politics on either side of the pond have been getting me desperately down recently.
Let's start with things Stateside. What the [expletive] is going on with the midterm elections? How did the Tea Party get this powerful? It scares me, it really does. I'm sorry, but I don't think that elected political leaders should be just that - political leaders. They should know the fundamentals of the constitution. They should be sensitive to the racial diversity of the country. They certainly shouldn't - jeez, I can't go on. I'm getting too worked up. But come on, people. Our political leaders shouldn't compare homosexuality to alcoholism or tell rape victims to make lemonade of lemons or - ah! Breathe, Betsy, breathe.
We should probably turn to Britain, where things are much calmer - or are they? The big news of the last week is the massive cuts that the Lib-Con government has proposed. For me and my work, this has the most impact where the axe is coming down on the arts. I actually can't go into too much detail here because at this point I'm not sure how much of what I know is internal information and how much is publicly available, but I think everyone here is pretty aware that the arts are screwed. This is sort of both good and bad for me: arts organizations will be desperate for successful fundraisers and so I am assured of having/finding/keeping employment, but at the same time there will be a lot of pressure to deliver above and beyond projected targets. Yikes.
Anyway, what do you guys think of everything that's going on? And is anyone in DC going to the Rally to Restore Sanity this weekend - I wish I could go!
you should check out the article about cameron's "big society" in last week's new yorker. i applaud him for doing the necessary dirty work of trying to reduce the deficit, but as a believer in big government, i think he's putting an awful lot faith in people to "do the right thing." especially when they either lack the will or the means to do so...
ReplyDeleteas for things here, i can only be comforted by the fact that once these tea party reps get to the house they'll realize that they're freshman and no one cares about their ridiculous ideas because they represent some podunk district in flyover country. abolish the dept of education? please.
I'm with Christian on Cameron's Big Society as presented in The New Yorker. Sounds like he wants to replace lots of paid jobs with volunteers. It might work if the economy was in great shape, but not now. Cameron should read Keynes!As for the US Tea Party madness, Betsy, it's simple. Christine O'Donnell, who hasn't bothered to read the Constitution but expects neverthless to be the next senator from Delaware, has as her campaign mantra "Vote for me. I am you." And most of the you's out there are as uninformed as she is. Further, their primary concern is cutting taxes without thinking about the consequences. Alas.
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