Post-election thoughts, 2024

I see that in 2015 I wrote up my post election thoughts. Now it is 2024, and another election has happened, with a Labour landslide. In 2015 I voted Green, "as I always do". I'm pretty sure I did the same in 2017 and 2019 too. But this time I could not bring myself to; their policies were too obviously stupid; a doomed hand towards the LibDems seemed the best I could offer; I seriously considered abstaining.

Let me expand on that a little; I've intended to write this down properly for a while, and this is an excuse to write it improperly, informally. Increasingly I see govt as a band of incompetents at best. I say "at best" because their policies seem increasing stupid, and only their incompetence sees those policies from being fully and disastrously implemented. The only thing that keeps society getting increasingly well off is science and tech, which continues to progress, and when the govt doesn't fuck it up by over-regulation, manages to deliver improvements to prosperity. The USAnian system of divided govt, by putting barriers in the way of govt actually doing anything, seems more and more sensible; and there seems to be some hope of the Supremes reining in the much-abused Executive Authority somewhat.

I would recommend ukfoundations.co; this shows part of what I mean: in that the analysis isn't party-political; the problem they diagnose is just schlerosis.

Overall, the problem is that all the parties are too interventionist; none represent Classical Liberalism aka Free Market Democracy aka bring back Thatcher all is forgiven. Note: while the pols get the proximate blame, because it is they who are the clowns doing and saying stupid things, the electorate are ultimately responsible: the pols after all are merely responding to Darwinian selection pressure.

Looking back at the disastrously stupid Tory govt of the past few years makes the Tory 2015 election choices seem even more stupid: throwing the referendum bone to UKIP to buy a little more temporary power and preserve the party unity for a little longer.

Refs

* Brexit, again (2018).