Doing what's right: Obama, Capitalism and Poppys

Only one week and November has already been pretty interesting. We had Halloween to warm up us for it at the end of October of course and now Bonfire Night has "banged" and gone. Craziness. Perhaps not as crazy as the Christmas songs on the radio!?! I'm a big fan of Christmas the food, the presents and the family, what's not to love? But seriously, Greggs had Christmas deals with Halloween treats still on sale! That's just taking it too far.


Hopefully you all the know the US midterms have just happened and its not good for Obama loving people everywhere. Nor for the man himself of course. There is tonnes of information online about the midterms so I'm not going to rehash it for you here. Essentially this is a Republican victory reflecting a selfish and fear based reaction to having to pay extra in taxes for Healthcare and dealing with the economy. Truth is entirely dependant on belief not fact. The Tea Party's rhetoric has helped this along, the Americans want to both deny reality and their fellow man. Have you ever been to the US? The millions of homeless people and the slums make it clear that the 'land of free' is not all it's cracked up to be. 

I'd recommend you read this http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/10263956 if you want more info on the Midterm results. Remember the picture to the right? It all seemed so hopeful back then.

But hope is not lost merely tarnished by the ignorant masses. Despite this setback politically Obama continues to try and make the world a better place. After successfully completing trade deals with India, Obama said that "If Pakistan is stable and prosperous that is best for India" and talked about many sensitive issues between the two nuclear powers. He also, disproving the Tea Partys rhetoric once more, urged Islamabad to make greater efforts against extremism saying progress had been made but that the "cancer" must be removed quicker.

Here in the UK things are also a pace politically with the usual scandal and ridiculous policy decisions. The Goverment has plans to introduce forced labour to deal with the unemployed. Wow. Just when you think the Tories couldn't get any worse. I think there's another word for forced labour....

Regrettably this will doubtless appeal to many Torie voters who would say the "scroungers" are getting what they deserve. The short sightedness of such views is unsurprising, indeed the Americans suffer from worse delusions regarding the unemployed and poor in general. The reality is we live in a capitalist world. It's the system that works best and the one we use but there are consequences. Inevitably in a capitalist system there will be poor people. In Europe we have learned to care for those rendered less well off by the majority's lifestyle, we compensate the inevitable poor, which is the right thing to do. In the end the money goes back into the economy anyway ensuring the cash flow continues, so it is right economically and morally. This a lesson the Americans would do well to learn and one we should remember.



On a final note, Remembrance Sunday is coming up and I hope you have or will soon possess a poppy. I don't want to go all nationalistic but it is important to remember those who made a sacrifice on our behalf, who died far away from home many with no hope of even their body being returned. It's not much for us to do in comparison. For those of you who have 'forgotten' Remembrance Sunday is a week from today, with Remembrance Day itself being on the 11th of November.


I suppose if this blog post had any overall theme it would be: doing what's right, no matter what people think. Obama did the right thing with economy, with healthcare, with political situations abroad even though he knew the American people would hammer him for it. He's too good for them, its shame there the only ones who don't know it. Caring for those unable to take care of themselves, helping the poor, buying a poppy, these things are right. So while the abandonment of duty seems tempting, in a society were increasingly the rights of the individual supersede the rights of the many, it is important to remember some-things DO matter and should be treated thusly.