Stealth credit

Election fever is gripping the, um, not the nation...the political media; and they're reporting the superficial skirmishing and obvious posturing of the two main parties, dignifying the bogus outrage and repetitive, crafted (but crap) lines with the kind of breathless commentary usually reserved for disasters and the deaths of royalty. I can't get excited about 'debate' that's really just gloss and mutual name-calling and pigtail-pulling.

Despite that, there are still important issues at stake. If you're from the idealistic old left, like me, and you have an emotional commitment to the socialist ideas that gripped you in the 80s and 90s, you can't help but be tempted to feel disgust and despair at a government that -- at face value -- appears proudest of its ability to hold the ring for the capitalist economy and make it work better than the previous incumbents.

I'm tempted to feel like that, and feel that the Blair governments have betrayed the principles that I thought Labour was interested in, and that they've done nothing of value or principle.

And yet...that feels like a too simplistic position to adopt. It feels a bit of an adolescent, immature position to adopt: to utter simplistic, blanket condemnations of Labour because of (a) their failure to implement a revolutionary socialist programme, and (b) their odious foreign policy (in tandem with Bush's neocons). Adolescent because that's what teenagers go through phases of doing: they reject everything that's on offer, and choose not to find any worth anywhere, refusing to say anything positive. They think that if they can't have everything they want, there's no point in having anything. Complete cynicism and blanket condemnation put you in a very comfortable and safe position: you don't have to think about complexity, nuance, or balanced analysis, and you don't have to engage with the very real difficulties of making principle work in a world where the structures of markets and capital flows mean that you'll fuck your economy if you reject the consensus/the dominant market conditions.

You can't render reality invisible with rhetoric.

I've been thinking about what's changed since 1997. There are some good things: wealth has been redistributed somewhat; investment in the health service has grown; the economy has been good, and I have been in work; my stepdad got prompt and caring treatment after his mild heart attack; my (pensioner) parents have had numerous additions to their pensions, heating allowances, council tax allowances, and others; my mum has had both of her hips replaced, one of them in a private hospital to reduce her waiting time (and chronic pain), and paid for by the NHS; my stepfather received prompt and caring treatment for a potentially dangerous cyst; my parents are more secure and well-off -- they are in a vulnerable group, and they have been well-served by the Labour governments.

Also: take the long view.

It's right to criticise the crap stuff, but give credit where it's due, and look at the alternative.

Just because you can't elect an ideal world, does that mean you should run the risk of getting a worse government than the current one?

Make your mind up.