Thursday 20 November 2014

Reflections on Tolerance

In the last few years, since the Tories weaseled their way into governing this country,we, as in anyone with any sense, have seen a strong and steady decline in the tolerance that we, the British, once held at the helm of our cultural pride. Where, once, the majority of the British were generally accepting of other peoples, now it seems that the majority are awash with anger, intolerance, and hatred towards anyone who is different, in any way, whether it be because of their gender, their sexual orientation, their socioeconomic background, their health, or their political beliefs.
And although I know, or actually hope, that many people are still tolerant and accepting, it does not help that our media tends to shed more light on the likes of UKIP cum Tories, and other loud mouths who are shouting out the message of intolerance and hatred rather than those who are holding the placards with the message of love and acceptance. If anything, the ones holding the placards are usually portrayed as troublemakers- people marching for their pensions, you say? Oh, they are breaking the peace- tends to be the usual reply. Rather than turning this post into something political, and having mentioned UKIP/ Tories once already, I would like to say here that it is these very parties and their followers who are rotting the very values and morals of our country. It is these very people who are ruining the very fabric of our way of life and society. These are the very people who are endangering our ways of living.

I can't just blame the Daily Mail et al readers; it's a cheaper option for them to buy them in comparison with how much The Guardian et al cost, therein lies an inequality. So, if you want better informed news articles, you have to spend more. It's ironic that these cheap tabloids apparently stand up for the workers in this country as anyone with any sense will know that they have consistently been on a rampage to condition the minds of its readers since their establishment. In the last 4 years, it is these spin doctors who have successfully managed to take the real blame away from Dave and Gideon's pals from the City, and handed it over to the Immigrants, the Disabled, the Ailed, the Vulnerable, the Young, the Non-Whites, the Multi-lingual, the LGBTs, and even our Human Rights.

The vast amount of people who seem to be swallowing up the misinformation as though it's the truth also seems to have an astounding ability to preach what have read, and in turn get more people to join their bandwagon of intolerance and hate. What's even more terrifying is that on a number of occasions when I have spoken to people, they demonstrate pure belief in the misinformation they have read or been told by peers or parents. On many occasions, they see internet memes or read posts from fascist groups on the social media (who lie about pretty much everything) which in turn makes these people feel bitter, angry, vulnerable and threatened. People who experience all those strong emotions tend to conform, break apart, repress, or lash out towards anyone who is different. For many people, the seeds of hatred and intolerance have already been sown and no amount of talking will help. But what also won't help is well-informed people looking down on the misinformed and treating them unfairly with intolerance and hate.

I remember watching sci-fi films as a child where in the future the human race is controlled by machines, or the humans could no longer think for themselves as they have been brainwashed. Okay, there aren't any humanoid robots everywhere around us just yet but without the Hollywood glitter and sparks, this is pretty much it. We're already there. 

Until next time,
Sen

WAIT!
I have now opened a facebook page for this blog. You are more than welcome to go and like it but I don't know how long I'm keeping it as I feel under pressure and a bit scared of what my friends might think of me reading these posts. I will keep it for a while, and see if I can overcome this fear...
https://www.facebook.com/senlanoireblog

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