> If we live in a democracy, then the government is supposed to represent the
> views of the majority. At the moment both parties are so desperate to be
> elected that they would seem to represent the views of the voters they are
> attempting to woo. Yet at the same time, the views they are trying to conform to are the ones produced by 18 years of Tory rule. Hence the Labour Party's out-Torying the Tories. However, even during these times the Government are still trying to dictate to us what to think. Look at the media coverage of the docker's/RTS march. I didn't recognize it from the press coverage (even the Observer's), and I was there. We're still being fed propaganda.
> The CJB was not an attack dreamed up by the government on the E culture,
> radical greens and others. It merely reflected the views of the group everyone
> wants to have on their side - Middle England, and the middle classes in
> general.
As the average age of population gets higher, the relevance of party politics to young people gets lower. Middle England _is_ essentially pedestrian in its outlook.
Credit the Tories for their intelligence, for the last 18 years they've been generating paranoia in the minds of the people of Britain (if you think this is extreme, think about it - we've been exposed to competitive bullshit and don't-trust-your-fellow-citizen on a huge scale. I don't believe people have changed fundamentally in my lifetime, yet today's children are far more wary and shy than I was fifteen years ago). I'm pretty sure this was deliberate - any form of voluntary co-operation is made far more difficult under such conditions, which is exactly what the Tories wanted, as most of the voluntary organisations with a political edge are anti-Tory.
So if the CJB represented the views of the middle class, it was only that section of the middle class who thought as the Tories wanted them to think. I'm "middle class" and I'd never support the malevolent and small minded actions of Michael Howard. I like things like the right to silence, the right to property and the right to protest.
Spin also helps - no-one would have bought the CJB if he'd popped up and said "we want to take away human rights, reintroduce stop-and-search and oppress people more". He got away with it because he played upon the paranoia the Tories generated.
> And the CJB marches are of little importance in the big scale of things. Look
> how quickly the world has forgotten about the student rebellions of the
> sixties. At the time they seemed to be of enormous importance, now the people
> who were involved are themselves probably living quiet middle class existences
> somewhere in the home counties.
Actually, I know quite a few people who marched in the '60s who went along in the '90s as well, including my dad. Many of the ex-hippies think that this Government it worse in many ways than Wilson or Heath.
> Let us not forget that the 60s, a seen as a time of fierce student politics in
> ten years became the 80s, a period of relative political apathy. And those
> rebeliious students now make up part of the middle classes themselves.
Let us also not forget that '60s marches were the templates for those today, that the '80s weren't the political lull you imply (remember the miner's strike?) and the early '90s were the lull.
At the current moment, the gap between rich and poor is wider than ever, the average Briton has fewer freedoms than most First World countries, the disaffection with conventional politics is at an all-time high - none of these were the case in the '60s. This has the potential to be much bigger than the '60s, if the "enviromental underground" protest groups can unite into some sort of coalition.
The environmental debate is growing in pace as living conditions and climatic change start to bite. There are going to be major political changes in my lifetime for better or for worse, not least due to the rapidly dwindling stocks of non-renewable resources.
It's all too easy to say "It won't make any difference this time either" or "It's ultimately pointless". The fact remains that we are living an unsustainable lifestyle, and the sooner that people realize this en masse, the easier the transition will be. If we leave change until we are on the eve of collapse, the crap will really hit the fan.
As more people realise that the Government is ultimately a prisoner of the multinationals (especially with a pernicious piece of legislation currently in progress that will make them accountable to no-one - John Vidal recently wrote a piece about it) and that the multinationals will continue to destroy the planet unchecked, then discontent with the current system will get worse and protesting will be a milder form of opposition. Watch this space, things can only get rougher.
I'm sorry if this isn't the most structured or clearcut arguments ever, but I'm knackered at the moment.
To sum up: the '60s are alive and well (if six were nine). The Government is moving further away from what the people need, and using all its skills in PR to persuade them to behave like lemmings. The environment is being destroyed by a combination of big business and small brains. As far as I'm concerned, if marching helps to counter this even one iota, it's not a waste of time. After all, it's a nice planet. I don't want it vandalized.
Gideon.
