Post #2513533

2026-05-14 06:05 UTC

John Kampfner, suggests politicians fail to really deal with problems because: &#39;They worry about the markets (with reason); they fret about conventional media &amp; social media (with less reason). They wait for bad things to happen, trying to anticipate what their critics might say of them in case they put a foot out of line. It’s a self-fulfilling spiral&#39;! There&#39;s more to it than this, but this seem to capture an important aspect of our political problem(s)! #politics https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/may/14/europe-big-problems-japan-taiwan-care-systems

Replies (5)

@TerryBTwo@ohai.social 2026-05-14 06:55

@ChrisMayLA6@zirk.us Does this have some root in "It was the Sun what won it"? Though I dimly remember Anthony Trollope had something along that. line in one of the Barsettshire novels It's a long long time since I read that stuff.( I think the ink was still wet). So I can't recall details.

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@alex_p_roe@mastodon.world 2026-05-14 07:15

@ChrisMayLA6@zirk.us I’ve said this before and will no doubt say it again: you can’t become a doctor or a surgeon without qualifications and training, same goes for lawyers but any idiot can become a politician - zero training or even experience is required and we wonder why our countries are so badly run?!

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@Oldfartrant@mstdn.ca 2026-05-14 18:44

@ChrisMayLA6@zirk.us and they are there to enrich themselves not anyone else.

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@ReggieHere@mastodon.social 2026-05-15 08:27

@ChrisMayLA6@zirk.us There's a lot of ideology involved, and UK mainstream politicians have adopted the wrong one for public service provision. One of the points made here is imposition of 17 autonomous regions in the NHS, presumably installed to break up a public sector monopoly without considering the economies of scale that gave the NHS much of it's value.

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@GeofCox@climatejustice.social 2026-05-15 08:28

@ChrisMayLA6@zirk.us Is there really any reason for politicians to be afraid of markets ? Indeed - are markets what they're really afraid of ? If they were, you'd think they would tackle that problem head-on (as indeed Andy Burnham has suggested with regard to 'bond vigilantes'). Doing so would not be difficult - the UK government already has the infrastructure of National Savings it could easily extend to many new guaranteed but unlisted savings products, for both individuals and institutions. The vast majority of bonds/gilts are owned by big financial institutions actually looking for only modest interest in return for the benefit of safe haven. For them, the government is providing a service - no different really from a government guaranteed bank savings account - why should this be subject to 'market' gambling ? Similarly, sterling is held outside the UK mainly by governments, institutions and businesses that actually need it for trade or other reasons, and generally want stability rather than quick profits. I don't think 'market' gambling is an essential feature of any of these interactions - I think they could be largely removed from that influence - - but I don't think the real problem is fear of 'the markets' at all. Surely it's the City that would actually squeal if the government started attracting lots more savings directly rather than via financial institutions and traders, and taking back power (such as over interest rates) from the Bank of England and its cosy City pals ?

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