Postal Voting - UK Style

I received some post yesterday, courtesy of the Labour Party, offering me the opportunity to request a postal vote. Obviously it's unfair to cast aspersions. After all, postal voting is perfectly legal. However, these days I almost instinctively equate postal voting with fraud. So my first thought was, "Surprise, surprise, Labour pushing the Biden method."

The fact that they use the coronavirus as a further reason to vote by post making my head shake in disapproval even more.

I'd like to believe that every postal vote is rigorously vetted, but it stands to reason that the more postal votes there are the harder it is to do this. Simply for practical reasons.

The form I was sent only requires a date of birth and a signature. Even the phone number and email boxes are 'optional'. Again, I would hope each application is thoroughly checked, but it doesn't take a genius to see how easy it would be to exploit such a system if things are a little lax or overstretched.

For example, I live in a household with three other adults. So four letters popped through the door yesterday. It wouldn't be difficult for one person to fill in all four and send them back.

Another thing I dislike about postal votes is the way it makes it easier for people to be leaned on in regard who they're voting for. For example, a dominant member of a household or community could easily press others into voting a particular way.

The beauty with the poll booth is that you enter on your own. So no one can see how you vote. A housewife may pay lip service to the politics of her domineering husband at home, but can vote according to her own judgement in the secrecy of the poll booth. Safe in the knowledge that it'll remain private. However, when you're filling in a form at home that's not always the case.

Likewise it's easier to pressure and bamboozle elderly people. Particularly those that are in care homes or that are dependent upon carers.

In the post-Brexit referendum days we started seeing some discussions about an upper age limit on voting. The argument being that we don't allow children to vote as they're not mentally developed enough, therefore the same should likewise apply to older people whose faculties are failing.

When it comes to voting in person though this argument is completely redundant. If someone is mentally capable enough to deliberately get out of bed on polling day and then head to the polling station to vote then they're clearly capable enough to make their own judgement when it comes to politics. Someone not in possession of their faculties wouldn't be capable of this, nor is it likely that they'd think to do so anyway.

So there's no need for any upper limit, as those that are incapable naturally stop voting when they become incapable.

With postal voting though this becomes far more problematic. As a carer or family member can fill in the form and process the application on behalf of a person who is in serious mental decline. It therefore stands to reason that this helper will also be in a position to guide or overly influence the older person's vote as well.

Like nudging a wealthy widow into signing an updated will and testament.

With people in care homes barely allowed to step outside this year it's all too easy to imagine how they'll be pressured into voting by post from this position of 'safety' as well.

Marijuana is the smell of capitalism..

Just a quick post today. I want to make note of something that I thought I'd already mentioned on here, but I must not have. I guess I must have just tweeted about it or something.

As the title suggests it's that marijuana is the smell of capitalism.

Firstly, before I start, I should note that I'm not pro-marijuana. I don't really care what other people get up to in their personal life, but it's not my thing. So I'm generally against the use of recreational drugs. I'm more interested in the economic aspect.

What interests me in particular is that it shows how entrepreneurial normal people can be when a gap in the market presents itself.

As the gap in supplying marijuana can't be legally filled people with less to lose and more to gain step in to take the risk. You'll literally see scruffs from "lazy, jobless" council estates setting up entire marijuana farms in attics and garages. To then distribute it at a profit around the area.

It's essentially just slick and vibrant business. Albeit illegal business.

So whenever I smell that distinctive smell outside. A common aroma on English streets these days. I instantly think; "capitalism".

It shows, in an odd way, how industrious people can be when they have a market demand to fill. It also illustrates why it's harder for poorer people, indeed most people, to make headway in the legal markets. As legal markets tend to be already cornered by large business. 

It always makes me wonder what would happen if other things were made illegal.

If oranges were made illegal would we see illegal orchards popping up in backrooms and basements to fill the demand for fresh orange juice?

Now we live in an age where much of normal human life is being deemed illegal will this black market capitalism also rise to fill these natural demands too? It'll be interesting to see what happens.

In fact, that's what reminded me of this today. I saw footage earlier of police trying to cut their way into a building to stop an illegal 'lock in' 😅

Perhaps they'll finally succeed in making all alcohol and pubs illegal. Then we'll have years of spending billions to stop the illegal trade. Then eventually someone will have the bright idea of legalising it all again and taxing it.

Wanna See a Polar Bear in an Orchard?

As we're now getting into winter I'm beginning to face the same conundrum I face every year; leave the heating off or kill the polar bears.

With my bedroom being in the attic of the house it can get a little cold, but flicking my little heater on feels like a guilty luxury. So I'm always quite mindful.

It got me thinking though. I always tend to see these things not so much through an environmental lens, but more through a work done lens. I tend to be more mindful of the fact that it requires human effort to produce these things I'm using. So the guilt partly stems from the sense that I'm being a selfish burden by being so profligate.

Someone somewhere is doing manual labour in a hi-vis, so I can be toasty while I sit at my laptop.

In fact, it reminds me of when I first became a vegetarian back when I was a teenager. What pushed me over the edge to becoming one was not so much the animal suffering but the fact that people had to work 40 hours a week in a slaughterhouse.

I remember thinking what a horrific job that must be. One that I could never ever do myself. So the logic followed. If I wouldn't do that job why should I expect someone else to do it on my behalf? Every time I ordered a burger I created a reason for someone to be stuck in that environment.

If I just ordered an apple pie instead I'd be creating a job in an orchard. Much more wholesome.

(This is supposed to be a polar bear in an

orchard - looks a little Christmassy though)

I'm not sure if I'm in a minority when I think like this. You don't often hear vegetarians make this human-focused argument for the cause. The focus tends to be on the animals, which I guess makes sense. I do think the appeal to work done would probably be a more effective argument when it comes to many of these things though. Especially the environmental arguments, where the logic is often contested and contorted.

This highlights another paradoxical problem we have as a society. We want to create jobs, because people obviously need employment to support themselves, but by doing so we're literally creating more work for people. Which aside from generally not being fun also leads to more resources being consumed. So it's like we're chasing two contradictory dreams.

A life of leisure ..but in full employment.

I wonder, will we ever see a politician who says; "Vote for me, I'll create fewer jobs" ?

I guess some parties have moved a tad in this direction with '4 day weeks', etc, but still, it's all a little muddled. It's a hard mental bind to escape from.

I remember once seeing the actress Liza Tarbuck on TV telling a story about how she had told a guy off for littering and his response was, "..but I'm creating a job for someone." Obviously that's a bit of an extreme example, but we do have this attitude where creating employment is so desired that making work for other people, even in the most menial and pointless sense, is often viewed as a net good.

Perhaps The Great Reset is already on the case to tackle this? What with UBI and so forth.

Come to think of it, we often talk about how we're heading into some sort of dystopian future. Which in many ways I don't doubt. However, if we return to the above mentioned slaughterhouses I think they can be taken as pretty good evidence that we're already in one.

I'm not one of these vegetarians that's totally against eating meat. I'm sure if I was starving in some African village I wouldn't quite have the same reservations about it. Plus it is quite normal out there in the animal kingdom, and a human hunting an animal through the jungle scrub isn't too dissimilar to a lion hunting its prey. So it's hardly something that can be considered unusual or unnatural.

When we moved into mechanised slaughter I think we crossed the line though. We had the intelligence to create all these wonderful advances. Yet used them to create relentless conveyor belts of doom, for already captive animals. It really is quite a cold and barbarous use of technology. An obvious indication that our morals lag behind our wit.

"We're heading into a dystopia!" people cry. Tell that to the cows.

Perhaps if we want to stop people being sheeple we should start with the actual sheep.

Middlesbrough - Christmas Ghost Town

I went into town today. It was like a ghost town, only with Christmas lights. It honestly blows my mind how people can be so blasé about such a long and severe economic shut down. When I think back to what it was like this time last year, with everything bustling with Christmas shoppers, it seems almost difficult to believe. It's like people have just upped sticks and left the place. Though of course they haven't ..they're all hidden away in their homes.

When I head onto Facebook I see plenty of people complaining about the various rules and contradictions. Especially with the "Tier 3" announcements today. Yet few seem to query the core idea that governments should intrude so far into their lives. The attitude seems to be;

"This government are terrible ! Why aren't they telling me what to do in the way I want them to."

There's this odd contradiction where people have surrendered all power over to the state, yet still expect to be in charge. I keep trying to point out that it doesn't work like that, and that when you give up your autonomy you don't get to call the shots anymore, but I'm beginning to sound like a stuck record.

I actually went to post something today and just thought "Why bother?". Is it really worth the hassle annoying these people yet again. Perhaps I should just try to chill out and enjoy Christmas as best I can. Accepting the fact that 90% of the population are happy to be treated like barnyard animals.

At least I have the Christmas decorations to myself.

Covid is over, if you want it..

I spent yesterday evening sat on Photoshop. It occurred to me that both Christmas and the anniversary of John Lennon's death are on the horizon. So that got me thinking of the famous "WAR IS OVER! IF YOU WANT IT" slogan.

I made a slight tweak to it (whilst endlessly listening to John Lennon and Beatles songs on autoplay).

Perhaps I should put it on a t-shirt. Maybe it's ambiguous enough that people on all sides of the argument can take some solace from it.

There was this one too.

(..see what I did there

hahahahhahah...I'm so clever and funny 😜😑)

years of liberty

I knocked up this little graphic this morning. Mainly to remind myself to get back to the fresh air and liberty ideas I was playing around with earlier in the year.

I can't type too much, as I have to scooch out soon. However, I was thinking that I need to start looking further into the future. Making longer term plans, and being more patient. Liberty is always on the back foot at the moment it seems. So a more far-seeing narrative would be useful. A sense of going somewhere.

Patience should not be an excuse for laziness though :)

Boris, Biden, Trump and Tories

I saw a brief little TV appearance earlier where Boris Johnson discussed his phone call with Joe Biden. In it Boris looked pretty pleased and upbeat. He gave the general impression of someone who was happy that Biden had won. Like he was looking forward to this new apparent relationship, almost with a sense of relief.

(Boris and Trump)

Obviously it's difficult to make judgements based solely on body language, and Britain is in a bit of a precarious position between the EU and the US. So a bit of Edmund Blackadder type diplomacy is probably wise - if Biden does end up in the White House we don't want to shoot ourselves in the foot from the get-go. However, I can't help but get the sense that it's genuine glee. Which, though disappointing, isn't particularly surprising, given the signals I've been picking up from the UK Tory media over the last few months.

A few days back I tweeted about how I was puzzled at first by this Conservative appraisal of Biden. On initial viewing it just seemed bizarre. Why are people on the right - who are supposedly anti-woke and worried about statues being pulled down and so forth - pleased to see the purveyors of this destruction rise to power? Trump surely should be their natural ally.

On witnessing the obvious glee for Biden it even made me question their sincerity at times.

"So Boris & Co were just pretending to be true Brexiteers all along! ..really they're just more of the same..

Watching Boris and Biden (and countless other politicians) using the exact same tagline, Build Back Better, only adding to this sense that we've been led down the garden path.

However, when you dig a little deeper you realise it may just be another indication that politics is much more messy in reality than it is in theory, and that people often choose their political bedfellows for a multitude of different reasons. It isn't simply left vs right.

A similar example that springs to mind is how working class people in the UK will often vote for people that are seemingly at opposite ends of the spectrum.

Corbyn and Farage

For instance, you often find people who like both Nigel Farage and Jeremy Corbyn, even though the two are polar opposites. One being far left the other being far to the right.

The reasons for this seeming contradiction are as follows though;

Firstly, both politicians have some policies that are attractive to these voters. With Corbyn the appeal is predominantly the socialism. With Farage it's more issues like immigration and patriotism. So each ticks some political boxes.

Then secondly there's a cultural dynamic. Both men are relatable. In fact, both could be seen as being 'men of the people' to some extent. Albeit it quite different ways. So there's a familiarity. A feeling that this person is "just like me". That their party is "on my side".

Tories and Biden

I would guess it's similar with some of the more affluent Conservative supporters in the country and Joe Biden.

Firstly there are some political overlaps. A dislike of protectionism being the most obvious one. Then on top of that, and I think this is the most overriding thing, there's the cultural dynamic. These people simply dislike Trump as a person, and view him as rude and uncouth. They just don't feel comfortable with the man. So on a personal level they much prefer Biden. He's more like them. It's not as disconcerting having Biden in the White House.

When I originally tweeted I described this attitude or preference as snobbery. I guess I instinctively see it as valuing style over substance. However, I think this is perhaps revealing my own bias too. Maybe I only see this as snobbery because I myself am working class, and I naturally view this desire for manners as some kind of wet nimbyism. When perhaps Trump's detractors may have a very good point. Maybe decorum is more important than I'm accounting for.

Plus there are no doubt myriad other things I'm simply unaware of. So I probably shouldn't be so judgemental either way. I do think there's a huge cultural dimension to these feelings for Trump though.

It's just hair..

Returning to Boris and Trump I think it's also possible that Boris may be feeling happy mainly due to the endless comparisons he's had to put up with. It must be pretty annoying being referred to as 'Britain's Trump' continually.

I actually don't think the two men are the slightest bit alike when it comes to their styles and personalities. People pick up on the floppy mops of blond hair, but it really is nothing more than that. It's literally just a coincidence. This visual caricature created by the hair must make it feel like they've both turned up in the same costume when they meet in person though. So it no doubt adds a layer of awkwardness that wouldn't otherwise be there.

It really can be quite annoying when you get mischaracterised by people. It may seem minor, but I'm sure it's irksome for Boris. Especially if in reality there's no chemistry between him and Trump. So he might be relieved to be out from under that shadow.

Finally..

Before I go I should probably note my thoughts on the actual Biden/Trump situation.

I have no clear idea what's going on, however my instinct is that Trump will remain president. I can't really flesh out the path that keeps him there, but I just think that the court room is his perfect battleground. He's spent his life dealing with legal cases. It's meat and drink for him. So I think he'll edge it.

This may be my bias of course, being such a huge Trump fan. Whatever happens though I don't think it's anywhere near as settled as many currently believe it is.