The Population and Politics

Politics. Politics. Politics.  Politics is constantly in our faces, on the news, in magazines, in newspapers, in daily conversation, in debate, in general day-to-day life; and with the UK General Election coming up in May 2015 it is going to become more and more prominent.  However, despite our lives being run by governments, and despite politics being a large part of all of our lives, are we as a population really engaging with politics any more?

65.1% of the population voted in the last general election in 2010.  My guess is that less people will vote in 2015, and my reasoning is that people are bored of politics - or at least politics as it currently stands.  Politicians bicker, new reporters hype up the conflicts between different parties, politicians hear through the reporters what another politician has said, and then they bicker again.  In more regular occurrences, you have to ask yourself, how often do you hear two politicians from opposite parties actually debate and discuss politics?  On a recent question time, Conservative communities and local government minister Penny Mordaunt MP, Labour's shadow international development secretary Mary Creagh MP, the leader of UKIP Nigel Farage MEP, comedian and campaigner Russell Brand, and Times columnist Camilla Cavendish all appeared on the show.  If you watched it you'll know that Penny Mordaunt and Mary Creagh pretty much just picked at each other throughout the show, pretty much avoided any question aimed at them, and generally made damn sure everyone was even more tired of their tedious bickering than they were before they even started. (N.B. Can we just take a moment to congratulate Camilla Cavendish, a journalist, on remaining unbiased, and the voice of reason throughout the show!)

The Labour and Conservative parties are at each others necks and people are bored of it.  If you ask most young people, and probably most mature adults, what they think of politicians, they will tell you that they are childish, constantly arguing, and all the same.  This is what politics has become - monotonous.  We hear the two main parties insult each other every year, and quite frankly people are becoming disengaged with it because of it.

However, where it used to be that people are tired of politics in general, people now begin to realise that it is mostly the main three parties (Lab, Cons, Lib Dem) that follow this same monotonous bickering, meaning that smaller parties are beginning to be listened to.  This can be seen with the rapidity with which UKIP have gained followers in the last year or so, and also on a smaller scale the Greens.  Two opposite minor parties getting more attention due to the failures of the major parties. Positive for sure.

The question is, will people become more engaged or less.  The answer is quite clear.  Whilst the two major parties (Lab, Cons), and sometimes the third (Lib Dem), continue to rule the political world, the bickering will continue, and due to this people will do one of two things.  Firstly, they will become disengaged, completely uninterested in modern day politics and will withdraw; the second option, is that people will look elsewhere, see the rise of the Greens and UKIP.  Either way, the political scene will change.  It might not happen yet and most probably not this election, but in the near future we will see the disengaging population become the saviour of British politics, and when this happens, we will see a change in the way that society is governed - we just have to hope it goes the correct way, fingers crossed.

Drugs - Criminalisation, Legalisation, and Rehabilitation

A big question that gets raised now and again, and has recently surfaced with Russell Brand's documentary "End the Drug War", is whether or not currently illegal substances should be legal, and whether the system we have at the minute works.  To put it straight up, I don't necessarily think that illegal substances should be made legal, but I most certainly feel that the system that we have at the minute is too coercive, too forceful, and ignores the fundamental point that users are still human and addiction is an illness - regardless of what got them there in the first place.  Also, understand before making a judgement on my views that I have taken drugs, not to any particularly extreme level, but enough for me to see and know the highs and the lows that they may bring.

So, should drugs be legalised?  Yes, and no.  There are pros and cons to every solution, but usually one side is much stronger than the other.  It isn't so black and white with drugs due to the human mind.  As the system is at the minute, it causes the use of illegal substances to be a criminal offence, subsequently increasing the chance of someone breaking the law due to the unavoidable market out there, it marginalises addicts who without proper help are forced to become criminals again, and again, just so they can get the fix they need. Like I said, addiction is an illness, you can't just switch it off.  However, there are also positives of the current system, predominantly that it stops people taking harmful (most of the time) substances.  Surely that is enough?  That they are illegal in order to stop people taking substances which are going to harm their body?  Well it would be enough if alcohol and cigarettes, for example, were illegal too, but they are not.  Why not?  I couldn't give you an answer.  They are just as, if not more in some cases, harmful to your body as the current illegal substances.  The answer can't be that they are less addictive because nicotine is one of the most addictive substances.  It can't be that they don't affect your body as much, alcohol damages your liver, and cigarettes damage your lungs, arteries, etc.  But just because these are legal, does it mean the others should be too? Or does it mean that alcohol and cigarettes should be make illegal?  I think in a perfect world it would be best for everyone to make alcohol and cigarettes illegal, but i wouldn't suggest that even as a possibility in this day and age...so the other solution would be to legalise everything.  I would say, no.  Because ultimately some drugs are worse than others and if anything is going to be legalised it should be done on a drug by drug study - for example, I would say legalise marijuana by all means, but definitely don't legalise meth.  You get my drift.

However, keeping drugs illegal criminalises the user, and therefore this ends in a vicious circle of abuse, followed by arrest and potentially prison, followed by out of prison where one will abuse again, only to get arrested, and it goes on and on.  So maybe 'illegal' is wrong.  Not in the sense of them being against the law, but in the sense that it shouldn't be a criminal offence to use.  Fundamentally the approach to drug users, abusers, and addicts, should be very different.  Brand says money should be spent on rehabilitation for these people. Get them back on their feet with the opportunity to break a harmful cycle in order to live a relatively normal live. Maybe there should be a  number of times you can get rehabilitation before it is a prison sentence or a fine?  Like driving offences - you don't get your license taken off of you for breaking the speed limit, you may get points on your license, a fine, or at best a slap on the hand; but the continued driving offences may end up with the license being taken away, or at worst a short prison sentence (depending on the severity of the crime).  I feel drugs should be approached that way - it shouldn't make you a criminal for using drugs, or getting addicted to drugs.  But it should be illegal to use/abuse.

Brand is right in saying the war on drugs needs to stop, because it shouldn't be a war.  Users should be met with compassion, care, and ultimately the help they need to get off of whatever they are on.  Don't necessarily legalise drugs, but be certain that it won't lead to a criminal record and a hefty prison sentence if using illegally.  Everything has to be done case by case, day by day, not every incident is the same, not everyone is in the same circumstances, but there should be an overriding feel that these substances will harm you, and therefore should not be used.  But we also shouldn't feel like criminals if we do use, we shouldn't have to be shady, and a bit dodgy, we should be encouraged to get help, know that help is there, and know that if we get 'caught' all that is going to happen is that the government's system is going to help you out, get you back on your feet, and hopefully lead you in the right direction.

Unfortunately, we still live in a society where the majority of illegal substances will land you in a lot of trouble.  It shouldn't be this way.  And you have to ask yourselves, why is it this way?  Rehabilitation over criminalisation.