The trouble with politicians part II: some fixes to 'broken politics'

Most people can't stand the state of politics, and some of us also complain about it (me included). But how about some answers rather than just problems? Here's a few of my thoughts about how we could get people to feel that they're actually involved with decisions and that MPs aren't some strange species different from us:

1) Ban whips and spin doctors

Why do we need people who tell the naughty MP that is conscious objections aren't in his best interest and he should do as the party tells him to do?

2) Make parliamentary voting utterly anonymous

People of the same party often go to the polls together to the same booth. It always comes out in the media if someone votes against the status quo, which makes me rather worried about how it's undertaken. Something is badly wrong there

3) Give people a choice about tax money

I can understand that some who handles the country's money every day knows more than I do about where funding etc is needed but I don't support drone attacks and subsidies for very rich companies that control basic and essential services. At least let me have a say in that!

4) Let the people elect the Prime Minister/cabinet members

The average person can only choose who represents their constituency. All other decisions are made by party members. I would say the vast majority would not have picked David Cameron as PM. Not Mr Osbourne as the chancellor. It seems bizarre to me how little say we have about that.

5) Have an impartial platform for MPs and the public to have their say

If the media are in such cahoots with the government, there must be another way that actions of government can get to us without it being coloured by media bias. The public don't get enough say and as I doubt that the common man will have an easy way in to government anytime soon, how about letting them say what needs changing? Whatever we have right now at any rate is not getting that message across clearly.

I hope in that jumble somewhere are some coherent ideas that can be implemented. Even if there aren't I shan't give in to the hysteria that nothing will change and we can't do anything about it.

The Vedic Underdog

How the tabloids affect you even if you don't read them

Watch this. That's all that needs to be said! I have already posted this in my piece 'the trouble with politicians'.

The trouble with politicians

If there was ever an issue that polarises, alongside religion, it is the dreaded subject of politics. Many avoid this to avoid agitating others. Others try not to talk of it at all, for they find it boring or or they feel like they're helpless to do anything to change it. To confess an interest in it to most of the general public is to label yourself a dullard. Very few have made it interesting in the past; those who I'd put in this elite club include 'Rage Against the Machine', 'Spitting Image' and 'The Daily Show'.

So what has caused people to care so little about how services are provided and controlled in their country, and above all how it is run?

For many the answer seems to be politicians. Once affectionately described by Charlie Brooker as being 'less popular than shingles', for those that do discuss politics, to whatever degree, and are dissatisfied with what's happening they are first in the firing line of abuse. After all, as these people say, they make all the decisions, so it must be their fault.

However I do not agree with this. This will not sit well with most people, who see them as growing rich from exploiting us with no scruples whatsoever. For me though in the environment we have created, this is the only way they could have evolved. As far as I'm concerned it is the system that is the problem; the mutual agreement needed to get legislation into place has paved the way for it. Not that some have not made it worse but needing a vote to change laws or make new ones does not help. For a better idea of the procedure, just take a look at this: it's very time consuming and in certain parts niche; when a committee is put together to look at it there are at most 20 MPs looking at it.

For starters needing a certain number of votes in order to put something into action you need a group of people to back it. Like for example...a political party? Yes, your own conscience should sway you but in reality what happens is if someone doesn't 'tow the party line' they lose much of their power (say a place in cabinet) and may in extreme cases be kicked out of their party.

The first time it came clearly apparent to me was when I visited the House of Commons about a year ago and saw MPs discussing train ticket prices. First thing that was apparent was how empty it was; most of parliament weren't there. 'Fair enough' you may think initially, but by the time to vote on it came everyone was in there, and I mean everyone. I even caught a glimpse of the Chancellor briefly. Considering most of them weren't there for the discussion they can't have possibly heard arguments for or against. They'll still vote though! No doubt to whatever their party's stance on it is.

All of this is likely to make anyone who truly wanted to make a difference disheartened I'm sure; they can't do anything swimming against the tide in an environment where bucking the trend isn't just advantageous: it is critical. So what next for this individual? He or she may be pushed to explain what has been happening in parliament to the media. The media who have a particular disdain for politicians and do their utmost to make them appear as vile as possible. Just watch a Paxman interview and you'll see straight away what I mean.

I have never understood why the media aren't held more accountable for the way they meddle in affairs rather than just report on them. The Leveson inquiry was just the tip of the iceberg when it is all put into context. That said the media and the powers that be have worked together on occasion. But who is pulling who's strings?

Then there is the influence of big business, which is huge and yet is not spoken of readily in the media. It's like they control their profits too...hmmm....

You don't have to look too far for examples of that. It wasn't so long ago that George Osbourne described large corporation's tax dodging as being 'immoral' (big business link there by the way) and yet very little has been done to the contrary beyond some silly posturing. If I didn't know any better I'd say they have something to gain by not doing anything, wouldn't you?

I'm going to blame this on Maggie I'm afraid. Perhaps the unions did need reform but to get rid of them completely does mean that the common man doesn't have the mouthpiece to get his say into the ears of government. What is going to do, become an MP?

There's a reason why common people don't run for government; they can't afford to. Think of the time they'd have to take off work to write manifestos and run a campaign: no employer is going to be that sympathetic when it will cost them money (a theme that reoccurs far too often in this post for my liking!). They could leave work and campaign and then pray that they'll be elected. I doubt they'd be able to afford an expensive advertising scheme either so that puts them on the back foot as most voters are going to find out about candidates through posters and TV and other media. The pay IN the House of Commons may be good, but getting there is costly. Not that much of the cabinet have any need of being paid at all (regardless of source they're not far off the truth here).

All in all how on earth is the common man to stand a chance in such a world? Well as far as I can see, he won't!

So there you have it, assorted thoughts on the trouble with politics and politicians. If anyone wants some solutions, check out this post.

Of Surya Namaskar and self esteem: how touching my toes changed my outlook

I wouldn't be the first to laud the merits of yoga, not by a long shot. I don’t really need to go into all the pluses of it, everyone knows. I know that the National Library of Medicine (NLM) over in the states does a great deal of research into the benefits of yoga as well as Ayurvedic (Indian herbal) medicine and that the Marines have incorporated yoga into their physical training regimens. Instead I shall focus on how it can be beneficial for the mind.

Last month an organisation I'm involved in, the Hindu Swaimsevak Sangh (HSS furthermore in this entry) had a health and fitness month where yoga was being promoted. The flagship routine that was most promoted was the famous ‘Surya Namaskar’, sometimes referred to as sun salutation in English, but I won’t be calling it that here. As a part of this we as members were encouraged to do as many Surya Namaskars as possible over the month, and were even given spreadsheets to document our process. For me personally this proved to be an effective incentive; making it into a game (almost) and wanting to outdo my fellow members meant I really got into it. Towards the end of month I was doing 13 a day, a full ‘cycle’ if you please.

But that wasn't the only plus from it. Since I was a child exercising I had never been able to touch my toes, I yo-yoed between thinking that it was just something people can just do or that I would develop the ability eventually. As recently as January I had resigned myself into thinking that I would just not be able to do it. This had been reinforced by seeing my friend’s significantly overweight brother do it without any trouble at all despite doing no exercise whatsoever.

One morning as I was doing some Surya Namaskars I was watching my posture in the different positions quite closely and noticed that when I tried to touch my toes I would bend my legs in such a manner that they would bend outwards, to make 100% sure that I wasn't cheating by bending my knees to touch my toes. However this action made the distance between my fingers and my toes greater than the actual distance. As such, I straightened out my legs, and hey presto! I could touch them! It turned out that throughout my life I had been artificially creating an obstacle to this otherwise straightforward task.

This is something I can apply to matters of self esteem too; the challenges we all face can be difficult as they are, but if we spend all our time berating ourselves, putting ourselves down and not believing we have the ability to undertake the task at hand, we make it impossible. Simply because our outlook is coloured by the fictions we create.

And that’s how yoga improved my self esteem.

Thanks for reading,
 

The Vedic Underdog.

Comfortably foreign: the liberty that insults

I shall like to open with words written by Americans themselves:

‘Those who die are justified by wearing the badge of your chosen whites’

From “Killing In The Name” by Rage Against the Machine

‘We fought your wars with all our hearts,
You sent us back in body parts,
You took our wills with the truth you stole,
We offer prayers for your long lost soul.
The remainder is,
An unjustifiable, egotistical, power struggle,
At the expense of the American Dream,
Of the American dream, of the American Dream, of the American Dream’

From “American Dream Denial (A.D.D.)” by System of a Down

This will, most likely, be the last post I do on the New World for a while yet, and I meant to do it yesterday but…I didn’t. So here it is now.

Well some of you will be aware of what it was yesterday. You’ll also be aware about how I’d been writing posts in the days preceding it. Now for my opinion of the day itself.

Calling that day ‘ “Independence day”’ is more than just a joke, it’s an out and out insult to other nations. It’s made out to be a big fight for freedom but when I scratch the surface just a little I realise how that is a big lie. Rather a bunch of lies. I shall address each on in turn:

Lie 1: The British taxes were too high and they killed those that rebelled

First let me get started on the reasons behind this ‘ “War of Independence”’ (my, there are not enough quotation marks in the world to show my sarcasm here): the official reason is high taxes. I looked (briefly) into this. Yes, the colonies didn’t want to pay taxes on a type of sugar called molasses. Yes, that’s right one typing of sodding sugar! Suddenly despite speaking the same language, following the same faith and sharing huge amounts of culture suddenly didn’t matter. As I’ve been told repeatedly ‘distance makes us different’, something which I find absolutely ridiculous. Second, there was a…killing of people. The word massacre should not even be used and I will explain that shortly. For now let me just say that when I was reading up on this total non-event the British were fingered for killing 5 people during a protest, one of which was found alive a day later and another was shot hundreds of miles away. Oooh, the tyranny!

Lie 2: The British government were infringing on the colonist’s liberties

IT WAS QUITE THE OPPOSITE!

The real reason for ‘ “Independence”’ is far far more straightforward. By 1776 the British were making leaps and bounds towards the abolition of slavery and were looking to right some of the wrongs they’d done to native tribes by giving them land and space. The Europeans (MAINLY BRITISH, ACCEPT IT!) didn’t like this and so they wanted to be free from this. Not to mention how the Pilgrims came over because they hated the freedom of religion that was being touted back in Old Blighty. Yay freedom!

Lie 3: The rebels defeated a major military force at the height of its power

I’ve read that there were battles, yes. But several things have to be remembered: firstly the government in London sent a small army rather than a main force because they didn’t care so much about the outcome. Then there was a mad king to deal with. But for my money I’d say the Brits didn’t care that much about losing there because they’d ‘civilised’ the land already, killed off the savages (for the most part) and introduced noble Europeans with their fine Christianity to the land. Compare that to the Sepoy Revolution in India in 1857 where, in 3 days a major British force marched from Burma to central India through sandstorms to protect this vital asset of the Empire. Hence my reservations.

Lie 4: A new nation of justice and liberty for all was created

Biggest lie of all. I’ve mentioned slavery already but here’s some figues for you. In the UK slavery was abolished in 1808. It wasn’t until 1865 that the US followed suit. In the 1812 war, possibly the stupidest war ever fought, the native tribes of the north sided with the British against the Americans. For FREEDOM! The outcome of the war? Well, The Brits and Americans began to trade with one another (so soon after ‘ “Independence”’) and the Americans decided to wipe out the native tribes in the south. Nice one, guys.

I don’t find this day offensive as a Brit. And many Brits don’t care, and will even celebrate it alongside their American friends. It’s as an Indian that my offence comes. It took one and a half centuries of bloodshed for the British to end their tyranny, which treated all Indians as lowly slaves and has left huge amounts of psychological damage on the psyche of the nation to this day. And that was for financial reasons too! The people who fought for independence of that nation were truly brave and risked their lives. In comparison the Americans had to do nothing. It’s all pathetic, it’s all a joke. And don’t get me started on how many nations have had their civil liberties taken away in the name of ‘democracy’ by the US. Hawaii is most possibly the finest example of that. In more recent years the war on terror has been dished out by both for financial gain.

Meaning Britain and America are now the same. In the most disgusting kind of way.

Free Hawaii.

Regards,

The Vedic Underdog

Comfortably Foreign: a series of thoughts on the New World

Normally when I see the 4th of July drawing close I avoid it like the plague but this year I've decided to take a different approach and explain why I find the whole thing odd. So I present to you Comfortably Foreign, which is a small series of 'essays' on my thoughts about the Anglophone nations of the world (USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa in my opinion) and where we fit in, though with special emphasis on the US because of the upcoming 'holiday.' I hope it leads to fruitful discussion rather than a shouting match.

Regards,

The Vedic Underdog

Comfortably foreign: Why we’re all British

First a present an anecdote that got me thinking. If you don’t want to read it skip this paragraph where I explain why you, Anglophone, are a Brit. For the rest of you here it is:

I often go to international student nights and revel in the cosmopolitanism. Somehow I feel more at home in such surroundings than more homogenous social events. Anyways I was sat with an American friend and was chatting away to a Japanese student, and during this conversation I told her I was British. After a short while I turned to talk to my American counterpart (in English of course). The Japanese girl, not having a good ear for different accents in English asked my friend if he was British too. ‘No, I’m American’, he said. At which stage I jokingly added ‘Well, it’s the same thing!’ At this stage my friend, slightly offended turned to me and said ‘actually, I’m Polish-Ukranian!’ I found myself highly bemused by such a comment and retorted ‘Mate, I don’t have a single drop of English blood in my body, that doesn’t mean I don’t belong to this realm!’ At that stage he went to get a drink but how I wish he would have stayed so that I could have interrogated him about the ‘roots’ he was so quick to bring up.

I find it out and out daft when Canadians and Americans think that just by having surnames which are not common in Britain they are in no way connected to Britain. Almost always the name stretches back far too many generations or there are too many nationalities for the person to have any connection to. Most of the time they can’t speak a word of the language and I remember meeting a ‘Greek’ that could not name a city beyond Athens. Was hilarious and poignant at the same time. Some of you at this stage may argue that ‘fair enough we’re not necessarily the ethnicities we claim we are, but we are 100% American. Why the emphasis on Britain?’ Well dear reader that thinks like that, I’m glad you ask.

If your legacy is America, think of where that legacy itself comes from: the coloniser. The language, the attitude (see the next post), the culture. Yes, different cuisines came across from wonderous Europa but it’s no secret that when they were ‘Americanised’ they lost a lot of flavour and were filled full of sugar and fat. What cuisine does that remind me of? Yes, British food (which to be honest I don’t really like, I prefer the food of the motherland hands down)! Blues music is heavily based on English folk, and if you don’t believe there’s reams and reams of work done by music professors on the subject. And attitudes? Well just read the next article to understand how the British and American psyche are more alike than you may like to admit. And yet people over there hesitate to call themselves British, even if they do genuinely have British blood in them. ‘Anglo-Saxon’ was the word used by one counterpart. My friend, the settlement my town was built on was ‘Anglo-Saxon’, but that was more than a thousand years ago. We’ve been British since then!

Does it make that bitter pill ‘colonisation’ easier to swallow? It’s nice to say it was ‘the British’ that brought over the smallpox blankets, that had nothing to do with you I suppose. Well everyone was involved so I’m afraid that you don’t get off so easily. That goes for any Australians and Kiwis too: being part of the settlements means you were involved with the Empire, live with it, don’t finger the blame on people who live thousands of miles away and claim you’re bereft of sin. If you take my roots (which I am very close to might I add!) into account, you’re in the same bracket. Sorry, it’s just something you’ll have to live with. Condemning is one thing, to say that it was ‘them not us’ is another. Stop it!

In essence, enjoy your roots, nothing wrong with that. Just don’t disown the one nation that, more than any other makes up the culture of yours. It’s just silly. We’ve been allies for so long that it shouldn’t even matter. Here’s to continued cultural nourishment on a more equal plane.
Regards,

The Vedic Underdog