The Political Bubble

Alright, we all know that certain people aren't engaged by politics. Standard responses to questions as to why they don't care are:

"It doesn't affect my life"

"Nothing ever changes"

and "It's all just about personal vendettas and dramas"

Interestingly, all these accusations could be levelled at Soap Operas which, apparently, these people are very switched on to. So much so that Leeds University believes that political discussion in soaps is the answer to our current disaffection.

New research from this august institution has indicated that what we need is more politics discussed in soap operas, which will allow people of all ages to become engaged and switched on to politics.

You will excuse me if I find this somewhat incredible. The fact is that we already have a number of ways of discussing politics in a meaninglessly populist fashion in (for example) the Sun which manages to fit trite political commentary in between pictures of women having sex with eachother. If this is not designed to appeal to the sort of people that modern politics is turning off, I don't know what is.

The fact is, there are any number of people down the pub that are willing to tell you that Tony Blair is a liar, that we shouldn't have invaded Iraq and that no-one cares about the little guy any more. Insofar as this goes, therefore, it could be considered that the majority of people are turned on to politics - merely not enough to vote.

To be frank, if people think that it doesn't matter who runs the country (although presumably not the liar Tony Blair), I can't see any reason for them to vote. If people are unaffected by the infringement on our liberties, vast public expenditure wastage and chronically bad services, I cannot see what would motivate them to vote, and what it is that that vote would indicate when it was cast.

Yes, I agree that politics should be made accessible to everyone, no matter how illiterate. However, as long as political parties do their best to allow their message to be understood, I hardly think that dumbing down is the answer. The process is currently highly self-selecting. If you don't care, you don't vote, you can't complain. If people are dumb enough to allow their wants to be subborned by the state, they deserve to have it so.