Opinion: The beginning of a new political epoch …. or is it?

Gone are the days of pregnant silences and ignoring the proverbial elephant in the room. No longer do the political classes have the indisputable authority to unquestionably dictate the political status quo. Instead a new epoch has arisen that has unleashed the public’s dismay at the ugly truth that underlies all societal structures.

The dawn of new political debate has been founded in the sharing of electronic information, virtually instantaneously, across the globe. Thus shaping an era that will undoubtedly see a cornucopia of unprecedented change. Is this the beginning of a new epoch or is that a woefully naive position? By the looks of things, it is more naive than trusting that your dietary requirements can be met by counting French fries as one of your five a day.

As Brexit embarrassingly unfurls, in the political maelstrom of an unhinged USA, the potential for cynicism has reached unparalleled levels. The awkward spectacle of negotiations led by inept political figures exposes the defunct political system that has failed so many. Serious questions are being raised about the suitability of political structures to deal with the complex reverberations of history and mankind’s inability to create a fair and just society. For many, social media has become a haven for humanity to share their unease at what has been going on, for what seems longer than an epoch. To many the principles of our leaders seem incongruent with the priorities and values we associate with modern day life. But is this forum working?

It seems to be working for Trump who tweets about ‘Bad Germans’ and the like whilst visiting dignitaries at NATO. Even the Queen and the royals are embracing the new Information Age. Although they appear to be more regulated as I’ve not seen the Queen checking into Aldis when she’s doing her weekly shop. However, she might update her status when she does the odd speech at Westminster- the last of which was a significant moment in history. ‘Tighten your belts plebs! we’re leaving Europe and we’re taking you down with us!!’ Those we’re not exactly her words but words to that effect. Of course she said this with a straight face, sat on a gold thrown, with hundreds of carats of precious stones perched on her head.

The gargantuan Palace of Westminster has seen ‘great’ leaders and monarchs come and go, but none were subject to the scrutiny that has arrived with the new cyberspace that exposes the nature of control. But in reality the 1% view our frustration and unease as a source of mildly sadistic amusement. ‘The plebs are at it again!’ I hear them chortle – particularly the likes of George Osborne who I’m sure would have much more respect for his coke dealer than he has for Teressa May.

From pedophile cover ups to Wiki leaks disclosures a new onus has been placed on the morality of those we vote into power. Meme after meme have been photoshopped and edited to highlight pressing concerns about lost pedophile dossiers, Panama papers, Russian collusion, national debt, bigotry and sexism. Of course, the political classes must’ve known this would happen, so why weren’t they prepared? Queue the political ‘selfie’!

One cannot help thinking that our leader’s seem to be more caricatured than normal. They seem much more buffoonish than normal – don’t they? Each u-turn is followed by a flip-flop of equal measure. Of course if we mention the word buffoon we must cast our attention to Boris Johnson who is affectionately called the whirling dervish of the North. His appointment as foreign secretary by Teressa May got us all thinking we’d gone through a hyper dimensional portal as a result of a glitch in the CERN matrix. Alas that was not the case and we were in a hard reality unfettered by parallel universes.

At times like this we could only imagine how Salvador Dali might have artistically represented our political reality, but he may have been faced with a quandary given that our reality shifts dramatically from one day to the next. No longer does there appear to be a ‘Persistence of Memory’ for any political figure. In fact any admission of ineptitude and early onset dementia clearly bodes well for our current political classes. ‘Ooopsie’ Teressa May announced! ‘Ive lost all of those pedophile dossiers and yes Prince Charles was good friends with Jimmy Saville’….’Now let’s get back to business. We must be ‘strong and stable’ and forget about this flimflam’ .

In the recesses of my mind like the proverbial ‘splinter’ in the Matrix Film. I can’t help thinking something isn’t right here. Yes, you’d be right to point out that that is the understatement of the last 4.5 billion years. No matter how many shockingly accurate memes are tweeted or posted nothing seems to change. It’s all still trundling along and the uproar is not visible. Maybe the odd post is written in CAPITAL letters to show a shouty comment, but that seems to be the extent of it. Yet, there is something more sinister afoot that goes to the heart of our society. It’s the fact that the muted acceptance of its rottenness points towards something more astonishing – where does the corruption stop and where does it begin?

As time goes by this question seems to be more unanswerable and more profound. Stories emerge about local government corruption and central government corruption, but nothing changes. It’s humanity that’s under the microscope and it’s not a pretty sight. The thick stench of eons of abuse pervades our cultures and societal structures like a rotting carcass that has recently burst due to trapped, fomenting gasses. The soup of privilege that we sickeningly feed our children has been laced with an indescribable toxin. ‘Don’t burst my bubble!!!… don’t you dare!!’ Is the cry of many an apathetic bystander. ‘I’m going to Zumba tonight and then I’m taking Bob to the golf club… I have no time for bubble bursting! Dr Who’s on telly tonight so I must be home in time for the kids to watch it.’

The information epoch is here and what a fat lot of good it is. We all know that the world is irreparably warped and now we helplessly post memes to be viewed by somebody in Thailand, who’s got far more important things to worry about – like dealing with sleazy western tourists.

I’m the first to admit I like a good meme and giphy, but the power of the meme is limited in so much as you’ve got to want to act as a result of seeing the meme. The glazed eyes of the bubble dwellers and the pervasiveness of corruption leaves us clutching at social media as the saviour of humanity – when in reality we know all too well that humanity doesn’t want to be saved.