Vote For Sanity

The general election campaign is in full swing and the insults are flying around like seventeen monkeys throwing their own excrement at the visitors to their zoo cages.

There are some very unpleasant people on all sides of the debate, but that's to be expected in the scheme of things. Being called names by some teenage student isn't exactly the worst experience to which I have been subjected. Water off a duck's back really. I think we all secretly enjoy the arguments over the most mundane things, and claiming the moral high ground.

What I have noticed in this campaign, as opposed to the independence referendum and the last general and Scottish parliamentary elections, is almost an air of going through the motions of insulting each other. Either this is down to boredom due to the frequency of elections in Scotland in recent years, or perhaps people are less inclined to get outraged by name calling. Some of the insults are quite unacceptable in civilised society, with some of the worst being used by people who are old enough to know better.

The recent local council elections were a bit of a wake up call to the ruling SNP government. Although they were the best supported party, I believe they have taken their eye off the ball and also taken their core support for granted. This has resulted in gains in the local elections for the Scottish Conservative party, led by the redoubtable Ruth Davidson. On her day, she can be more than a match for the leader of the SNP, Nicola Sturgeon. Whether that day will come on June the eighth and change the results in the upcoming election or not, remains to be seen.

What I don't think the SNP supporters have realised, is that their party, their glorious unwavering pro independence party is now part of a global push to make as many governments as possible, become more authoritarian and turning their countries into more or less, one party states. The SNP fit the description of authoritarian left wing party down to the ground. Even telling candidates which newspapers to read or not read, as the list can change daily depending what's been written about the Glorious Leader or her cabinet of political pygmies. No independent thought shall be tolerated.

This is becoming quite the norm if you look around the planet.

The Conservative party in England has virtually no opposition and is doing pretty much as it pleases with law making decisions. The Labour party in England, led by the earnest but befuddled, Jeremy Corbyn has virtually no hope of making a dent in the number of seats held by the Conservatives.

The only ray of light for Corbyn, is the fact that the Tories are led by the dreadfully dull and dreary, pale imitation of Thatcher, Theresa May! I've seen cardboard with more personality and charisma than her. She looks like a caricature of herself. Quite a feat, I would add!

The USA, with Trump at the helm, is going in the same direction. The checks and balances written into the constitution are being trampled and ignored by the Republican party with the help of unscrupulous billionaires. The bouffant buffoon is doing exactly what he is being told to do by his masters. His interviews are so awful that I cannot watch without cringing at his muddled thinking and inability to remember the most simple of facts. This is exactly what is wanted by the people who are really in control of the majority of the planet.

Either a rabid right wing government or a controlling left wing government, are what the ruling elite want in place in as many countries as possible, to do their bidding. They don't care about the public in any way, shape or form, as long as they're compliant and don't cause social unrest. The only social unrest allowed is the carefully orchestrated kind, which is used for government purposes.

We are constantly under surveillance by the ever increasing use of cctv cameras positioned to make sure almost all our actions are recorded twenty-four hours a day. Of course we are told that this is for our own protection from imminent terrorist attacks. But originally we were told that the cameras would only be used for traffic management purposes.

We live in a society where our smartphone can be tracked and our exact whereabouts are known at all times. This cannot be right in any democratic country. Privacy is virtually nonexistent. But the voting and non voting public choose to ignore this creeping menace, and go on watching seemingly endless television game shows, soap operas and reality TV of such soul destroying tedium, that if it wasn't for the conveyor belt of fast food, delivered to their doors, they would probably die watching Coronation Street, and the rest of the family wouldn't even notice.

I feel sorry for anyone under forty, because we have seen the best of the world, despite some hiccups along the way. The rise and rise of international terrorism and the advent of super sized fast food.

Maybe we will all end up sitting watching mind numbing crap on tv, but I hope we will still have the spark to keep fighting against the impending tyranny.