So many words, so little content

Once again, I'm not talking about my own blog! No, no. The big news in UK politics over the past couple of days has been the surprise (to some) victory of Ed Miliband in the Labour Party leadership contest, edging out his elder brother David. Having lived and worked in the UK much more than in Ireland since the age of 18, I know much, much more about politics there than I know about my own country, I'm somewhat ashamed to say. With the Conservative/Liberal Democrats coalition, the fall of Gordon Brown, the jostling for position among the Milibands, Ed Balls and so on, it has been an interesting topic to follow of late.

It's tempting to go down the, 'they're all the same, what's the point in even voting' route in politics, no matter where you live. Ireland's taoiseach (prime minister), Brian Cowen, has faced the wrath of the public recently for seeming drunk/hungover during an early-morning radio interview following a late-night with party members and supporters. Korea has been struggling to appoint a new prime minister as numerous candidates fall foul of the questions of an ethics committee. However, I don't think the answer to unsatisfactory politicians is to ignore them and let them carry on with whatever they want to do. I'm tempted to think that might be what the elites want; mass apathy from the masses so they can continue ruling as they please without having to worry about what we think.

Last night (Korea time), Ed Miliband gave his first speech as Labour leader to the party conference in Manchester. Five minutes in, and I was wondering why I bothered even listening. Why do they insist upon this lame practice of hitting us with a few jokes at the beginning of the speech. Look at me, I'm such a regular guy, haha I'm so down to earth. WE DON'T BUY IT! On it went in a similar fashion, lot's of talk of 'change', 'new generation', etc., etc. He could have been most any politician from most any party in most any 'western' country these days. It's a sad sign of the state of affairs when news broadcasters need analysts to talk for hours after the event to tell us what was actually said.

I understand that it's naive of me to expect these guys to get up there, speak their mind honestly, tell us they might be wrong, they might be right, but that they'll make each decision according to what they honestly think is right. They'd be ripped to shreds by an insane press, baying for blood, looking to twist their views into homophobia, fascism, communism, or anything that will kill off the side that doesn't best suit their interests. Still, someone needs to START speaking in that manner, so that it becomes less of a rarity, so that rationalism is favored over appearance, so that people stop defining the worth of a politician according to his/her voice, appearance, sense of humor, body language, and so on and so forth. In among the usual drivel, Ed Miliband did say that going to war in Iraq was wrong, that cutting the budget deficit would be painful, that Unions were important but strikes should be avoided and that Israel must recognize the right of Palestine to statehood. Maybe, just maybe, that's something. I'm not holding my breath.

My Dad has been fairly involved with local politics through Fianna Fail as long as I can remember, and I'd like to do the same in my future life. I think that we should all get involved in our communities, take ownership of the decisions that affect our lives, and not just sit back and complain about the decisions of others (whilst constantly voting them in). Politics is everyday life magnified. For that reason, I never really understand when people say they're not interested in it. There were politics on show in my work meeting earlier today, as different participants pitted themselves against each other for greater influence or promote their preferred outcomes. I really think it's as simple as that.

The outcome of said meeting for me appears to be that I'll be off work from October 16th-25th. If that turns out to be true, I'll be a happy man. More time for my top priority: myself.

In case you're interested, here's the audio from Cowen's infamous early morning meeting. Is he drunk? Hungover? I'm not so sure...