Does anyone else feel a bit let-down by politics these days?

[Pruners]

Message withdrawn

b) I don't know what to do.

I am sure that there are plenty of politicians who go into politics with the idea of changing things for the better, going in with a passion - but it doesn't seem to end up like that.

I hate all the spin, I'd rather their speeches weren't so polished, that they made mistakes instead of constantly refusing to say anything - just meaningless words so they can't be held accountable for anything.

I'm sick of the non-stop ripping off of the taxpayer while seeming to believe that non of them should be held accountable for anything to the taxpayer - that the populace is nothing and that they are a set above.

I am sick of all this behaviour and amm sure it is what has lead to complete voter apathy - young people, even students in the main have no political drive - no belief that they can make a difference. People believe that voting doesn't matter cos what difference does it make.

This is why the no of those participating in an election has dropped and why parties like the BNP are getting into power.

People want something, something real, a real person they can relate to. And there is nothing - the odd one or two but no party.

I wish I knew how to change it. Something has to change, we can't continue like this.

Message withdrawn

Message withdrawn

But this belief of ours that politicians are all underhand, non to be trusted has not always been like this, it isn't like this everywhere and maybe they should be asking themselves why here and why now.

Can you imagine another Churchill or similar nowadays? I can't. I feel like no politician that can bring such strong feelings is ever going to be seen at the moment.

I think it's a mixture of things - I think it's fairly normal for teenagers and students to be very idealistic and think that their protest/vote/boycott will make a real difference. Then you get a bit older and realise that every generation has protested/voted/boycotted and it's not made that much of a difference overall.

But there's also a lot more "spin" now than there was 20 or 30 years ago, and a lot more awareness in political parties of how to keep as many people happy (or gullible) as possible - so it's far harder to get a "real" reaction from a politician, or to see any difference between the parties.

I think all you can do is try what you can - if you believe that Tesco is a bad thing, or buying clothes made cheaply in China, or whatever, then make you own personal choices accordingly. And tell your family and friends about why you think those issues matter, to help them make informed choices.

But whether you can change the world by doing that, I don't know. Better than nothing though.

Message withdrawn

Message withdrawn

I don't really know how anyone can "make their voice heard" these days - there are lots of organisations you could join, but I don't think the government actually listen to any of them. Politicians just make the right noises then carry on with what they'd have done anyway. Cynical, moi?

I sympathise with you. And it is worse here, I'm in Italy.
I'm not sure I can relate to the need of a "real" person as well. This need has brought us (italians) mr Berlusconi and the northern league. I'm pretty certain that the UK wouldn't reach such lows, though.

An interesting topic. Personally, I can see where you are coming from, though I think it's ironic that this post comes in the wake of one of the more principled stands taken by an MP in recent times (David Davis' stance on 42 days and civil liberties)

Personally, I think the major reason for apathy lies with the Centralist politics that prevails on both sides of the House these days, and personally I am in two minds as to whether this is a good or bad thing.

I think that history has shown that far Left or far Right policies have a habit of a) failing spectacularly and b) alienating a large portion of the population; hence the main Political Parties have learned from their mistakes and now only deviate slightly from the centre ground.

To back this up, the Party system and the Whips make it very difficult to genuinely buck trends, so everyone just ends up falling into line. Depressing eh?

Still - maybe more people can follow Mr. Davis' lead and make a stand now and again - will be entertaining if nothing else

p.s. Re the original post; yes, Tesco is going to carry on regardless of what you do, doesn't mean you have to give them YOUR money though - rampant consumerism has some benefits, and I guess choice is one of them...

Pruni I could have written your post (except I'm 37!)

I grew up in South Yorkshire, not too far away from Orgreave. I have been watching the Andrew Marr history programme, the Thatcher Years one really got to me. How hae we let all that happen? And what on earth do we do now?

Sure I avoid Tesco, try to buy as little "stuff" as possible, recycle and so on. But it just all feels a bit pointless, you know?

Message withdrawn

About the commune - tempting. But my instinct is that the better option is to engage MORE in society. As I was growing up my parents were involved in loads of things - Round Table, Ladies Circle, Rotary, church, hospital fundraising, school governors, business mentoring. And none of it revolved around children's activities, though of course they did all that too.

Seems to me society is weakened now by people having less time/ inclination for these things.

Pruners - Is there a political party that better represents your views? I think it's a mistake to believe that there are only two realistic options.

Our FPTP voting system leads to people casting votes that are not at all representative of their beliefs. I think we should be encouraging people to vote according to their beliefs. If we all did that the voting system would very rapidly change to something more representative. It suits Labour and Tory Governments for this two horse race to continue. Nothing will ever change unless we stop going along with it.

Message withdrawn

a) I think we do get more cynical with age - not surprising really as a greater understanding of society/ economics etc. combined with insight regarding human behaviour means we see how little impact we have as individuals.

b) We can still have impact collectively - thinking global acting local - if you can get involved with local politics it is possible to have a visible impact on your community. I think it depends on your particular community and what issues are exercising the locals if you know what I mean. I have been active in environmantal projects in the past. People are more energised by 'issues' than political parties now I think.

c) Starting a commune isn;'t necessary - but a veg patch, shopping local or volunteering your precious time for the common good actually can be positive (for you as well as those you help). The personal is political as all good feminists know!

God I sound preachy and self righteous sorry.

I was a very politically aware and active teen, I have a degree in Govt and Politics and family members are still very active in party/ revolutionary politics. I just feel that party politics (as based in Westminster) fails to inspire at the moment because there is so little to choose between the parties. I remember how elated I was when lab owon (the first time I had voted in a gen election) - now I fail to see the differnce between lab and tory - and am resigned to the fact that the liklihood is that Cameron will be the next pm.

Global warming, the rise of the Chinese/ Indian economies instability in the Middle East are more relevant issues to be concerned about and no political party is tackling them in a meaningful way.

Pruners - I've just plotted your progress on a graph and the current projection is that you will be a Tory by the time you are 37.5.

Message withdrawn

I am

I consider myself a socialist and growing up as a working class notherner in Thatcher's Britain was the pits

But

The Labour Party are not the party I voted for. In fact I find them more right wing every month. It's starting to get too tory for me.

The Tories have no policies and Dave Snooty and his pals

Lib Dems...don't have any rfelevance to me really

I will continue to vote if only to keep the BNP out

Message withdrawn