TALKING POLITICS
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- Опубліковано 17 кві 2024
- Me, reflecting on a friendship where politics has long been a key feature of our conversation.
This one is just for posterity, so apologies for the glitchy audio. Good job too, or the video would have been twice as long. Might be better if you let this video slide by.
Interesting perspective David. Certainly in Scotland the number of headline-grabbing policies, which have had to be back-tracked, after public feedback is alarming. Shows a distinct lack of forethought and serious examination of issues. I totally agree with you on the over-simplification of complex issues which the general public can't and shouldn't have to grasp.
Honestly Jeff, even though I do this type of video only occasionally, it's ALWAYS gratifying to know that others often feel the same way as I do. The lack of scenario planning (and of the consequences) around policy making is astonishing. We all deserve better than the current (and recent) crop of politicians and civil servants.
The older I get the less I know , Amen to that , I ‘ m very wary of experts , great video
Thanks a lot!
I enjoyed that video David - very relaxing and perhaps reassuring to listen to intelligent thinking aloud. I guess I'm much closer to your friend's political positions than your own- being also a lifelong Labour Party member, usually to the left of the mainstream party on most issues.I found myself wanting to join you and your mate to chew the fat over a couple of beers. Cheers.
Hi Malcolm,
Good to hear from you. Hope you’re doing good.
Politics is such a tricky subject. On the one hand, we usually want to keep the peace and minimise conflict. But how do we do that when (1) politics affects us (often) deeply, and (2) we risk turning our friendships into superficial small talk, finding years later that we barely know each other.
On the other hand, fully engaging in political discussion can leave relationships in ruins, not least because we feel the need to belong to one tribe or the other, and once chosen our tribe comes before the truth (we’re also hopeless at being able to genuinely change our minds).
As I’ve aged (and had more time in retirement to do ‘homework’ on the issues of the day), I’m come to realise that politicians (despite those on both sides often having sincere intentions) are bloody useless at implementation. They (and we) can’t deal with the complexity involved in changing things substantially, and are unable or unwilling to consider the unintended consequences of the change. Shortcuts are taken and a bloody-minded support of ‘the party’ overrides what needs to be done to assure an outcome that was planned or is necessary for people to benefit.
So we lurch from a Centre-Right policy agenda to a Centre-Left one every few years, whilst effective change that benefits the population eludes us all.
Finally, I’ve avoided party affiliation because I feel that, in doing so, there’s a degree of outsourcing of my thinking to party politicians and policy advisors. Like I mentioned in this video politicians are not specialists nor experts, so it’s not my place to be loyal, when I can float between the parties making my own mind up issue by issue. It actually makes it easier for me to be less emotional and positional about the characters involved and focus instead on what drives me nuts about the issues.
Hi David. Interesting stuff. I thought you’d disappeared turns out you’ve been busy..must catch up on your videos. Yeah I’ve always lent to the left, although my family are historically conservative. Where I live Shirley in Southampton is an incredible example of how multiculturalism can work. By 2000 the area was a standing joke (if you Google ‘Mutant Mile’ Shirley is the first thing that comes up 😊 Then young people /families from Poland, Turkey, Rumania etc came over, pumped money into the system, opened shops, completely transformed the area. It’s actually become almost a ‘Cool’ area in the last 10 years. Is there a trade off? Yeah, I’m sensing public services & schools have faced challenges. When Brexit came (meaning about 20% headed home) me & my mates just sat in the pub in silence for about an hour. Probably the worst day of my life, outside of family issues. Will watch your live stream later
I've been out of commission for a couple of months. Back injury. No enthusiasm for making videos until about three weeks ago. Back in it now.
I think my point about the example of immigration was to point out how many factors are involved in enabling or hindering it. Policy makers have the job of trying to manage the issue, whilst making decisions on the necessary trade-offs. There isn't an area of government policy that doesn't involve trade-offs (no free lunch, etc.), so I'm on high alert when politicians suggest simple solutions (they don't exist). So many interdependencies amongst the complexity.
To be fair, I'm sympathetic to the view that we expect too much from politicians, imagining that they can wave a magic wand.
@@davidatkinson-lifematters4826 yes agreed. And Southampton is probably a bit of an outlier. Docks are still healthy & an hour from London, unemployment’s runs at about 2% so we already had a pretty good infrastructure to support 20k people arriving from Europe, compare that to somewhere like Blackpool, that’s a different conversation. As you say complex issue & no magic wand.
The interesting thing to me is that the vast majority of people I know share my political views (more or less). Well, there was this one guy, but that's a different story in so many ways. So, I rarely have political conversations with anyone. It's almost like an echo chamber. Will your friend see this video?
Hi Brian,
Will my friend see this video? He occasionally trips over one of my videos, so he might see this one. We’ll see.
One important thing to note, I guess, is that we made a decision some time ago that our friendship was more important than any perceived or real political differences, so we’ve established a detente of sorts, which we guard with care.
The challenge (of course) is that we’re both, despite our different levels of party involvement, politics nerds. My friend is particularly well-read, and has a long-standing commitment to his politics; but for me, I’m more interested in the persuasion/framing aspects of political communication. We both meet in the middle when we discuss how our politicians move from rhetoric to real-world impact. Implementation, if you like.
To be fair, I have a tiny handful of friends where we can discuss such matters (including politics academics/professors), and can disagree with gusto. But most others in my friendship network keep their politics to themselves, and so we’re all about music, drinking, cycling, hiking, and football (the real kind!). That’s all good with me.
Nice to listen to a friend ramble a bit, you are looking well mate and as I am not massively into music to hear you talk on other subjects. I am not a floating voter and have no time for the likes of labour or the greens. The uk conservatives have made a terrible mess and I feel sorry for the uk voters and their poor choices in the next election. Here in Australia we have similar issues with our poor politicians and a system that almost always gives disproportionate power to the minority groups like the greens. Like you I have little time for politicians after spending far too much time in the company of some Aussies pollies of all parties, they are only interested in themselves, money and power, not the good of the country.
Howdy Simon. Good to hear from you, although I’m profoundly disappointed in your not loving my ramblings on music!
“A plague on all their houses’ is my 2020-2024….motto. My expectations about what politicians and their parties can actually achieve are rock bottom. There are some venal characters in the political game, no doubt, and also some good people. Throw them together and you don’t have a functioning system, at least one that addresses the needs of the population.
I’ll cast a vote at (most) elections, but it’s through gritted teeth because I know the system can’t deliver, and there are some evil characters in positions of power that I would love to see being dragged ‘kicking and screaming….’
What I find appalling is that politicians brave enough to go on camera are all to frequently found to know next to nothing about the subject they’re pontificating on. As soon as someone pushes back with a difficult question they accuse them of being a shill for the opposition. The truth is is that politicians are incompetent (see Dominic Cummings’ damning assessment of the skill set of politicians and senior civil servants), and are not worthy of trust.
Note that many years ago I learned that research on trust carried out by Mari Sako in Japan, that I used in my Procurement career, determined trust having three components:
GOODWILL Trust - can I trust them to have good intentions and want only good for me and others?
COMPETENCE Trust - do they have the skills and capacity to do what needs to be done?
CONTRACTUAL Trust - can I trust them to keep their promises….WILL they deliver?
ALL THREE components need to be present before ‘trust’ can be declared ‘sound’. Try applying that model to our current crop of leaders and their parties. 😂
@@davidatkinson-lifematters4826 Hi Dave, I think we would find a lot of common ground when discussing politics and the widespread loss of trust in all politicians, I for one am trying to minimise the time I spend reading about their incessant failures. I remind myself that I only get one vote every few years so should not waste the emotion on them between elections. We are focusing on exploring the outback and have just returned from an 18-day trip across to Western Australia, we had a great time and are looking forward to the next trip across to Victoria later in the year. Laura is getting a hip replacement (thanks to her Roller Derby days) in June so we will be having a break from road trips while she recovers. All the Best
@@setildes Man, you two are living the life. 👏🏻
I'm sure we'd share that disdain for politicians. I would be all for putting politics on the back burner if the bastards stayed out of my life 😂 There is so, so much interference from governments now under the pretext of saving the planet, 'democracy', and the feelings of people; it's like they all forgot how to fix the roads, facilitate economic growth, and stay out of people's personal lives. It's hard to ignore it, and yet it's impossible to influence it, other than to expose the venality and their collective God Complex simply by sharing what I can. The daft thing is is when elections come around its then that I switch off. 😅
I'll enjoy the next one!
Don't blame you!
Off topic but I bet that Volvo has a decent sound system.
Which model is it?
It does! But still nowhere near a good home system or quality headphones.
@@niebuhrsongs T8 Hybrid
Hey David! Forget the potholes, watchout for the landmines! I try to stay away from the topic. Since 1976, I have always voted for the party, not the man. Over that time period the split has been 50/50. And that is the good and bad of it. One administration comes in and they set their policies/programs, then their successor comes in and dismantles much of what the predecessor accomplished. One step up, two steps back.....
Hi Steve,
I think there’s a difference between lending your vote to a party at an election (and to switch next time) and declaring loyalty to a party for the foreseeable future (or for life). I don’t want to be part of any party’s tribe, especially given that the gap between what they declare in their manifestos and what they have the competence and intention to deliver is HUGE!
I try not to sit on the fence, and if that means that no party can be assured of my vote, then that’s the way I like it. My sympathies lie not with those who have good intentions, but with those that have demonstrated they can get things done.
How do we trust politicians who are unable to deliver? To me, we don’t.
‘Sceptic’ is my middle name these days.
@@davidatkinson-lifematters4826 Oh, there isn't a politician (on either side) whom I trust. But I do know that one party is closer to my values than the other. So I dance with the devil I know. Cheers!
Nice words and video, im around same age and since my voting started around the devastating Thatcher regime, my life, has apart from 12 or so years, has been blighted by Tory government for the best part of 40years.
an opinion only...
Thanks for your comment Brendan, but rest assured, my thoughts on all of the political parties are pretty scathing. Enough for me to disregard high expectations (or the worst criticisms) of any of them.