Kieran Lawrence looks at autonomous weapons and the effect they could have on modern warfare
Continuing a series on world leaders, Miles Deverson takes a look at Angela Merkel
Ben Bland examines the fallout from the Iowa caucuses and looks forward to the New Hampshire primaries.
In the first of a series on world leaders, Miles Deverson takes a look at Nicholas Sarkozy
The Yorker politics team has invited various political societies to provide a fortnightly comment on current affairs. Today it is the turn of the Political Reform Society, who have chosen this first entry through a writing competition.
What we are most successfully active in pursuing in Britain is inactivity. This is perhaps justified now, given that engagement with serious political and economic issues-the EU, the deficit, and Michael Gove (who constitutes an issue merely by annoyance)-inspires one to flee to Libya, simply for the frivolity of firing a gun into the air, or more sensibly to shut one’s door and hibernate for the winter; following in the footsteps of St Paul’s Cathedral.
Yet our apathy isn’t necessarily governed by contemporary issues, it’s long-term. And it seems that with Britain’s elderly and reactionary population in particular, apathy is underpinned by a lack of understanding with political issues. The reason why this is terrifying, is that it becomes particularly easy for people to be fed quasi-news based on misrepresented information. In an age where nearly every newspaper seems to have an agenda, a dangerous recipe manifests. Based on the factually vacuous information regularly put forward in certain right-wing papers, readers emerge with the same bemused expression as most do when leaving a screening of a complicated film, Inception for example.
Following a viewing of Inception the more confident and belligerent members of a group will claim to understand it, and produce an explanation filled with ambiguous rhetoric. They will talk to their peers about certain shocking aspects, thus spreading the bemusement. The reality is of course that the truth will not be evident - think Leonardo DiCaprio on benefits. As one views Inception everyday, perhaps having very slightly altered versions posted through their letter-box by their local newsagents, the viewer becomes growingly startled. The result is that after viewing Inception on a daily basis, Leonardo DiCaprio is no longer simply on benefits, but has a Bolivian cat, is perhaps of an ethnic minority, is of Muslim faith, wears tracksuit bottoms, and is vaguely associated with an impending snowstorm that is going to kill everything. Everything.
It is clear, simply by reading comments on online articles, that too many people have been viewing Inception on a daily basis; have been bemused by content they cannot grasp. In Inception, the confusion derives from complexity of narrative, in certain parts of our press, it derives from fictitious journalism. From apathy inspired by a lack of understanding, this information has the power to create frightening reactionaries in our society. It demonstrates a gross abandonment of responsibility.
This article is the first in a fortnightly column for the Political Reform Society. To contact them, email politicalreform@yusu.org
You must log in to submit a comment.
