Election worries

Smelly Socks and Garden Peas

June 1

After the Brexit referendum I was shocked and horrified with the outcome. I hadn't even bothered to stay up to watch the result. It didn't even occur to me that anyone would vote for leaving the EU. No one in my work or social circles or on social media seemed to support such a ludicrous idea.

Then, of course, the stupid government went on to implement the non-binding choice of the British people, despite the questions about fraud and downright false promises from the VoteLeave mafia.

I remained gobsmacked.

I remember posting on my real life Facebook that I felt like I must live in an utter bubble, disconnected from the people in society around me.

When "we" went on to actually elect enought Tory MPs to make Boris Johnson prime minister, I lived through the same sense of disbelief again. Here was a man who I knew mainly from Have I Got News For You as the butt of jokes and from his hilarious escapades as London Mayor. Somehow, he was in charge of our nation. It all got worse, so much worse through COVID. His misdemeanours and mistakes felt like "Blackadder does the 21st Century".

My point is that, when it comes to politics, I'm incredibly naive. I know what I think, what seems rational, logical and obvious to me. But, time and again, the British people prove that those are not common or shared values.

I believe in equal opportunities, in support for those in need, in taxing everyone at an affordable level, in free healthcare, in a well funded police force, in rewarding teachers for their efforts, in everyone being to afford to work (not priced out of it by childcare costs), in science and taking the advice of experts, and many many more.

I do not believe in rejecting migrants because they are migrants, in aggressively reassessing disabilities at every opportunity to avoid funding maintenance, in striving to homogenise our children and ignore those with different needs, in causing so much stress for the life-blood workers of society that they leave their professions or even take their lives, in reducing tax for the rich so far that we cannot maintain the physical infrastructure of our country, in jobs and grants and contracts for our mates, and so many more things.

I'm a paid up member of the Lib Dems.

I am staunchly anti-tory.

I will be voting tactically in the hope of ousting our bigoted, self-serving, self-righteous local MP.

However, I am so scared that the majority of people in Britain don't think like me. I don't demand that we all have the same beliefs, not at all. But the basic ethics of living in a positive, supportive, kind society are a different matter.

I'm scared I'm wrong to hope for change.

I'm scared of another 5 years of Conservative government.

So please, prepare me. Tell me what I'm missing. Tell me where I'm wrong. Help prevent me from waking up to a broken heart on July 5th.

As with any bias, the first step to a balanced approach is to recognise that the bias exists. Then, explore its causes and learn about how things are different for others. Only then can we consciously combat bias or social bubbles and start to form opinions based on wider understanding.

In fact, Trump the orange just got convicted and I'm seeing people on Threads asking for "34 like minded people to connect with". I'm not saying that I want Trumpists drowning me in rhetoric and propaganda. But surrounding myself with people who think the same as me won't end well either. Look at Trump; he's got "yes" people everywhere, so much so that he believes his own drivel because they're all confirming how wise he is instead of challenging him. I don't want to only expose to myself to confirmation of my established opinions, that way militant self-righteousness lies. How have the anti-vax extremists got to where they are? Through confirmational bias that seeks out only matching opinions as fact and dismisses all opposing evidence as fiction.

So, I mean it, seriously. Tell me how your views and thoughts differ from mine. Engage me in discourse and shared opinions. I want to see the gaps I'm missing, understand the perspectives that are different from mine. I won't tell you that you're wrong.

Well, if you tell me vaccines are fake or harmful, I'll find the science that shows differently and you can choose whether to put your faith in experts or self-proclaimed social media gurus.