The UK general election is today and the likely outcome is a conservative majority. People have been given plenty of opportunities during the campaign to see Boris Johnson for the lying, homophobic, racist, manipulative, double-crossing, floundering, selfish, bully that he is. A man whose own Chief of Staff said of him: "A compulsive liar who has betrayed every single person he has ever had dealings with: every woman who has ever loved him, every member of his family, every friend, every colleague, every employee, every constituent" Yet, people will still vote for him because "get brexit done" That people are stupid is a thought that's been caught creeping around the borders of my brain a few times recently. And as much as it feels distasteful, it's hard not to still believe it.
> Yet, people will still vote for him because "get brexit done" This is because politics involves heavy marketing now. It's becomes like a brand. "Get Brexit done" can be thrown all over social media used in newspaper headlines. It's like click bait. It was the same for the last elections "Strong and stable Britain" uttered by Theresa. The conservatives are very good at marketing. They have had years of introducing the idea to everyone that labour are very bad with the economy. Which is interesting because they have also done a brilliant job at getting everyone to think they are good with the economy. The conservatives since the 2010 have increased our debt. You could argue this is the effect of the crash in 2008. But then you have a government like Germany's who borrowed and invested into the country after the crash. Who initially went more into debt but now they are back to the same levels of debt before the crash. The conservatives have this fisade of being great with money and good for the economy but since 2010 this hasn't really shown to be true. Especially with all the cuts they are making. There is lots of propaganda from conservatives about labour being terrible with money. It works so perfectly when labour bring out their manifesto every election. The conservatives know labour will have some ambitious spending plans. They wait until labour have released there manifesto until they release theirs. This can't be a coincidence it means they can make sure they are not spending more than labour. Then when In a debate they can jump on labour about the spending plans. Labour to me have never really come across as good at marketing and strategizing during elections. They try to give good honest answers. It works for people who like detailed answers and like to try to look into things It doesn't work to the people who are just scrolling through Facebook and see "Labour bad with the economy". Scroll some more "Borris will get Brexit done". Keep scrolling "Vote conservatives for a strong and stable Britain" Unfortunately now online marketing is really important.
The challenge of democracy is not only allowing everyone to participate but to ensure that their participation is informed. Particularly when those who suffer under democracy only need them to vote against themselves. The fact that you guys still have a House of Lords says a lot.
I can't help but feel like that's an impossible goal to achieve on a wide scale for a populace whose educational system has already failed them. At least in the short term. Getting information to people is one thing, but getting them to actually consider it and adjust their views is another. I mean, you don't even have to be "stupid" for that to be true.