The wings of politics. Doves vs Hawks

I'm really becoming more interested in politics as I get older and it's cool! It's so true that knowledge is power and it's great not to feel like Joey from F.R.I.E.N.D.S. when people are talking about politics any more!

After the general election one year ago I was completely horrified to see that the Conservatives won. We tend to be friends with people who hold similar views and so I knew very few people who actually said they voted for the Conservatives and so I was shocked. In my last politically themed blog I wrote about the fact that I know a few people who vote for Conservative politicians and they are not malicious, racist or harsh people.  Sometimes they are genuinely trying to do what they think is right and I understand that. It's not nice to feel unable to express your opinions for fear of being labelled as racist or bigoted.

In some ways I can understand some aspects of the Conservative point of view. I don't like the obsession with political correctness and feeling like we are not allowed to say anything.

I am from a Christian family and I think the idea that we shouldn't be able to celebrate our national festivals without offending people from different backgrounds is ridiculous.  When the Olympics were on I really enjoyed watching Britain winning medals and felt proud to be British when watching the opening ceremonies.  I have a very British sense of humour, I love going to old fashioned pubs in areas like Nottingham, Cornwall and Northumberland.  I don't have a particularly strong view either way with regards to the Royal family yet but I enjoy watching the Royal Variety Performance around Christmas time and royal celebrations.

There's certainly nothing wrong with being proud of your culture.

So what are some of the main 'hot' issues? Firstly..........


WORK WORK WORK WORK WORK!

These days mortgages and rents in London are ridiculously high and people are having to work incredibly hard in order to just cover their basic needs.  Most people are spending a disproportionate percentage of their time in a job they don't particularly enjoy and unable to spend as much time as they would like with their families or doing things they enjoy.  And so naturally when it appears that other people are not working and supposedly living comfortably, it fuels resentment.  Although I understand this, I believe that this could be improved upon by higher wages, not lower benefits.

I don't want to keep repeating myself but as I've said in my blog:  http://samanthathesanevegan.blogspot.co.uk/2016/06/a-man-who-knows-something-knows-that-he.html I've had first hand experience from previously living in a family on benefits and the idea that it's blissful laziness is completely false.  Very few people would want to be in that situation and the media can be very clever at distorting people's views.

When I've worked in libraries in poor areas I've found myself being judgemental of people who I'd seen coming in every day for years and years sometimes and thinking 'oh just get a life!'.  But then I think back to the time when my family were on benefits and I realise I was wrong to think this way. I don't like the idea of adopting a 'victim' mentality and I think people always should try their best to support themselves.  But as I've said I'm sure for the vast majority of people, living in poverty is absolutely devastating and humiliating and they are doing everything they can to try and get out of that.  And when people appear to have an apathetic attitude, this apparent 'laziness' should not be labelled in this way.  It's always good to look a little deeper into the reasons why someone appears apathetic rather than judging.  See http://samanthathesanevegan.blogspot.co.uk/2016/06/no-such-thing-as-laziness.html for more on this.

When you are experiencing constant rejection after rejection with jobs paired with people constantly being frowned upon and called 'benefit scroungers' who wouldn't sink into depression? Once you are in the midst of depression it impairs your ability to function properly, you lose confidence and consequently you do not make a good impression in job interviews.  It's a nasty vicious circle that's very hard to get out of and sadly has led to some people taking their own lives.

For more on the subject of work see my blog: http://samanthathesanevegan.blogspot.co.uk
/2016/06/whats-wrong-with-not-wanting-to-work.html

Now onto immigration!

A very touchy subject!

Unfair distribution of wealth
has always been the problem

I'm still on a bit of a learning curve with regards to this but I'm starting to read more into it.  My dad is from Jamaica so obviously I wouldn't be here if it weren't for immigration. None of my closest friends are of English origin and I love finding out about different cultures and trying different foods (and drinks like vodka and wine! hehe!).  There are a lot of people of non-English origin who vote for UKIP or even the BNP which appears strange.  But again I think it's the (false) idea that our immigration policies cause our economy and rate of crime to suffer that fuels this view.  It's simply not true that everyone comes here to receive our generous benefits.  Many, many people immigrate to places like Sweden and Germany and I know someone who lived in Spain for a year and they said that their benefits system was far more generous than ours.

'Why aren't we helping our own first?'
I do agree that it's always important to look after yourself to be able to be in a position to help others.  This general idea was emphasised when I had lectures about starting a nutritional therapy business.  It can be dangerous being too much of a 'rescuer' and that is something which is in my nature.  But I believe with more equal distribution of wealth we could be able to do both.  (To me it's a bit like when some people say to vegans, why do you care more about animals than you care about humans? Most vegans don't! They care about several issues that just happen to include veganism.) I don't think holding the view that immigration should be controlled makes a person racist or intolerant.  There should be limits and controls and I'm sure most left-wing politicians would agree but I still feel it is blamed unjustly for causing society's problems.  I'm still in the process of learning more about it and it's an exciting one.  I'm open-minded and happy to hear different points of view.  Are you a dove or a hawk?

So who knows what will happen on June 23rd? In the words of Sam Cooke 'I know a change is gonna come!'