RE: British Politics Right now > Game of Thrones
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In the UK at least, we are all very aware of the previous government's role - They keep acting like they have a chance in the next election to return, and everyone is like... er, no. We remember the last 14 years you know?
And while the current Labour government has improved it quite a bit - this was actually on the back of the previous guy's policies they implemented before we kicked them out.
But if we don't keep applying pressure, they will get lax as always, so It's fine to just immediately get angry at those in power regardless. They are meant to serve us, and they often forget that and think they're supposed to rule us.
If they just do a better job at plugging all the opportunities for immigrants to abuse the systems, as the BBC is repeatedly reporting on lately with up to 1/3rd of high street stores nationwide being illegal in some capacity whether it's selling illegal stuff, tax evasion or human trafficking, if they just sort all that crap out, a lot of the heavy pressure would be released.
Even in Australia, I know first hand there are tons of Chinese people abusing the system through sham marriages and such to get permanent residency (I know someone personally, Chinese, who did this to get into the UK. Still lives there now, 5 years on). A fraction of a problem as the UK's nationwide exploitation but, like, we all need to be on top of this sh*t.
I think we are all just tired of weak governance always trying to find excuses. It tends to leak out in more base-form frustration; racism being the easiest one to latch onto.
Ok popcorn time!
Well considering your class system, no suprise. It definitely needs a shake up. I'll never forget the disgust I felt when Boris Johnson was partying whilst everyone else was in lockdown. It was a garish tableau which showed so clearly how it was one rule for the ruling class and another for everyone else. And that's just a tiny part of it, I know.
I don't know about the Chinese sham marriages but I suppose that kinda fraud has been around in various forms over the years. As you say, bad behaviour of some migrants shouldn't spill over into racism, yet we can understand how it does.
Our opposition party hasn't come up with a plan of how they'd do it better, and all they've managed to foster is more support for the only party that comes up with the rhetoric that says they will do something. Both parties create propaganda that present migrants as undesirable and that foster views that they don't hold Australia values and thus must not be trusted or given the same privileges, creating more social divide and disadvantaging those who have come here via acceptable channels and that contribute to the broader Australian fabric which in itself was founded on multiculturalism and migrants that address skill shortages - a policy that has always worked, until the population exploded on all fronts and the infrastructure started failing. It's a complex issue - I can't begin to understand it, but what I do understand is that we can't jump to hysteria about how immigrants are devaluing our country which simply isn't true.
I couldn't agree more than governments must be held to account, but I'm also wary of some of the narratives which do form a threat to social cohesion. A fine balancing act. Chainsaws and bowling balls on tightropes.
When you replace a bad government with a government which markets itself as the solution without any real substance behind it (which is how I think about this new 'Restore' and to a lesser extent 'Reform' who are a bit older), you go on the trajectory that dictators thrive upon. Escalating a perceived threat, and then promising a solution to it in exchange for loyalty.
I'm super anti-Labour BUT if the people push hard enough against their instinct to become Communist, they could potentially flip things around more than the previous government did. I do think they're starting to learn they're not our bosses because so many people keep getting humiliated with scandal after scandal (such as the Boris Johnson ones).
I dunno. I'm very slightly hopeful, tbh. Just, A) I wish we were Australia and B) I encourage Australians to study our situation and learn from its mistakes from all sides!