Invested votes, forgotten citizens

Thatcher governed for two thirds of British people, the richest two thirds, or the least poor. The ‘Iron lady’ forgot the disadvantaged ones, leading a new politics in Europe which focused its efforts on the most powerful ones, those who promote individualism, competition, capital, productivity for the majority and wastefulness for some few ones. She managed to convince medium class, election after election, mixing a portion of charisma, nationalist populism and an ephimerous and archaic recuperation of British imperialism and pride through the Fawlklands War. But she completely forgot about the most disadvantaged, like miners, leaving entire families in a helpless situation after closing many mines around the country, which were the fuel of an industrialization that didn’t need them any longer. She had invested the votes of one third in order to ensure the votes of the others. The lives left behind were not included in the calculations.

Thatcher marked the beginning of the end of social welfare as well as politics. Since those dark eighties labour, liberals and tories have been homogenizing under status quo the same way many British towns have under big brands from globalization. Such is the extend of this homogenization mixed with political emptiness, that nowadays the Labour Party is supporting the Bedroom Tax, a tax on social houses which affects the single-parent families, disabled and retired people with less resources.

But as they are few people compared to the total amount of population, Labour party doesn’t find it worthwile to spend efforts on this, because no election is endangered. Furthermore, a tax that only affects the less disadvantaged and doesn’t bother the more powerful ones will increase the budget of the local councils under their control and this way they will be able to do some few nice works in order to renew their image and get the next polls. Today Labour Party is like a company, that instead of earning capital profits, earns vote-profits, investing the votes of some few ones in order to get the votes of some others who are more numerous. With the difference that these “investments” hide the misery of many families.

Who cares, then, for these people who are seen like invested votes by the bigger parties? Some small parties like the Socialist Workers Party or the Socialist Party are doing a strong campaign to aware people and local councils about the serious impact of this tax, in front of the general apathy of a society worried not to lose their job, to get rid of some weight for summer, to know who wins the Premier and, moreover, with a growing far right party that diverts the debate blaming immigration about all bad things. And Labour Party is not helping at all. It is more worried on designing a strategy about votes investment to maximize elections profits. A party that, like PSOE in Spain, has just the left in its name. And no dignity at all.