The main premise of Politic-Ed is to educate the world on the on goings of politics at the moment as well as useful insight and analysis. Over the past few weeks we have gotten several comments from you telling us that politics is broken. Most of these comments say something along the lines of “2019 has broken politics!” Are these people right, or are they just being a little bit hyperbolic?
A quick Google search of the phrase “Is politics broken?” Yields quite a few results from quite a few respectable media outlets from across the world. After reading a few, from both the US and UK, you’d get the impression that politics is indeed broken. But this is likely not the case…
Politics is broken!
When interviewed, 9% of Brits claim that politics is broken according to YouGov. When queried more as to the reason behind their response, a vast majority of those who responded, claimed that Brexit was the main problem.
They talk about how those in charge, such as Jeremy Corbyn, Theresa May and Boris Johnson are all to busy infighting than actually getting the best outcome. This isn’t a sentiment that is alone, I too can see that this is true (and is something I do agree with).
Even our friends over the pond in the US, believe that their political system is broken. This stems from their current president, President Trump, who is also a source of contention. Trump is allegedly committing crimes on a frequent basis, using his friends in the media industry to sweep it under the rug, when it is reported.
I think an American comedian who I met in New York a few years ago, put it the best way:
Trump is like your 90 year old grandpa. He says what he wants, he does what he wants, and no one has the authority to tell him off.
Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren are also causing a lot of contention for conservatives. These two, and even AOC, plan to turn the politics landscape of the United States on its head.
There are even concerns as to foreign election meddling- it’s alleged that the Russians helped to interfere in two major elections. According to many internet warriors, Russia is at the heart of both Trump winning the Presidential election and Brexit being voted for.
It’s alleged that this was done through the use of Facebook advertising that targeted those who would’ve voted.
But politics isn’t broken!
Whilst many may talk about how broken our current political system is in the western world, it’s really not. It’s not the first time in history that our political system has come under threat.
Both the US and UK have struggled with major gangs interfering with local and state wide elections. They have also seen the Gilded age, which saw corporate giants such as J.P. Morgan in the US and Lionel Rothschild in the UK, control the political landscape.
By blocking legislation, bills and amendments, they were able to enrich themselves at the expense of the working classes.
People said then, that politics is broken, and it would never get any better. We know that this isn’t true, so when we see people saying that now, we know that it won’t be bad for too long. I believe that we will see again, the ability to have a stronger, much more stable political environment.
But is politics really broken or not?
Politics may seem broken at the moment, but it isn’t. People are generally more pessimistic than optimistic, so when people say that politics is broken, this is more pessimism talking.
I doubt that politics is truly broken, otherwise we’d see that the world would crumble around us. We’d see that the world would just revert back to the dawn of civilisation.
Corporations do not (currently) have the power to block or pass legislation in the western world. People may moan that lobbying is the way for corporations to do this, but this rarely works, simply due to the number of politicians that have been elected. The larger the country or the state, the more people (and the more money) you will need to spend, and this is something corporations rarely do unless it’s necessary.
What could we do if politics is truly broken?
You might be sat there saying “But Matt, politics is broken though!” And then you may be thinking “How can we stop it?”
The answer is really: we can’t do anything. You could always vote for an independent candidate or a smaller political party, but one vote won’t do that much in all honesty.
There’s always the possibility for revolution, but that is rarely if ever effective. It just removes one evil, self-serving political system with another, and the common people cannot win.
There isn’t really much we can do if politics is broken.
I hope you enjoyed this article on whether 2019 has broken our political system, in both the U.K. and US. Do you believe our political system is broken or not? Why or why not, I’d love to know in the comments below!