Cycles of Democracy
So Mr Obama won the US election by appealing to the Hispanic vote along with women and young people. Not to be underestimated was his military like election campaign with Obama’s army of volunteers maximising voter turnout.
His opponent Mr Romney, a multimillionaire, whose wealth & power enabled him to run a close campaign but he could not win even though at face value his business acumen looked attractive to lift the US out of financial crisis. Commentators in the US are predicting that Republicans are going to have to re-invent themselves. White middle aged men voting republican are losing influence, as their numbers decrease and Latino populations increase.
In the UK the Bishop of Durham Justin Welby is set to become the next archbishop of Canterbury partly for his business acumen, and conflict resolution skills. The Government is led by a group of privileged white male Etonians who are seen as wealthy,upper class and out of touch with the general population.
What a topsy turvy world it is!
But what does it mean? It seems the US and the UK are on different cycles. The cycle of Labour/ Conservative and Democrat/Republican are not in synch. The downturn in the UK is being governed by a conservative led coalition, and the downturn in the US being led by their first black democratic president. The UK is still in recession and the Conservatives appear no better with their apparent business edge in resurrecting the economy as does Obama with no business edge in the US.
This relationship between business and being able to improve the economy seems impractical and voting populations do not believe it. The private sector appears ineffective in job creation as it is dependent on confidence and trade, while the public sector creates jobs from an ideology at times out of touch with the economic environment.
Perhaps this is the difference: ideology versus business is what differentiates the governing parties in the free world. The business people would say that money and wealth enhances everyone’s life while the ideologues say it benefits the business people more: benefitting everyone else is a side effect.
Are you republican or democrat, conservative or labour? Are you motivated by money, ideology or both? How did you get there? Was it your family, experience, or choice?
Lets hope we never find out – as Obama’s volunteers might have exploited it!
Cycles of Democracy
Copyright Adrian Scott North London Counsellor Blog 2012
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Disclaimer: This weblog is the view of the writer and for general information only.
This article is designed to provoke argument and critique.