Vote for yourself

I have had very little interest in politics over the years. It's a boring mess of blandly neutral, privately schooled beurocrats, totally disconnected from real society, and afraid of thinking outside the box or rocking the boat, lest it should distance them from voters, in the sickly game of social seduction, where the world is promised, but once the votes have been cast, little is delivered. Leaving the only winners the politicians themselves.

I have not heard a great leaders speech in my lifetime from the mouth of a politician. A speech that talks to our hearts and our beliefs, and inspires something within us. Not one founded in the dreary world of finance, healthcare and statistics about employment. These are all formalities of politics, don't bore us with them and parade them as a sales pitch.

Most of the structures that form society as we know it are crumbling, almost every country in the world is in colossal debt, every day a new huge crisis is reported on the news. The health service can't cope, the road networks are jammed, the financial structure upon which everything is formed is fundamentally flawed, there aren't enough jobs to go around, nobody has any money and the schools are failing the next generation. And yet these people that call themselves leaders don't take a step back, look at this bigger picture, see that a transformation of society is what's needed, and bring it. As far as I can see now is the time to cast off any any safety net, and with nothing to lose, take a risk. Throw out these outdated ideas and bring something new to the table. Because the table is currently straining under the rotting mess that they have been piling up for far too long.

I believe that there is a positive way forward that would work, on every level. It embodies all that i have spoken about in previous blog posts, one of small, local, sustainable action. A life that doesn't depend upon a financial organisation to fund unnecessary change, that then leaves you helplessly indebted and under the power of somebody else. 

I'm talking about each person taking responsibility for their own life and how they live it. And only then would we see the strain ease on all of the national services, as people would take their health and happiness into their own hands. Then we would see a change in society, and a transformation of an entire nation. 

Who knows where we'll end up?

Most of what I see when I look around is people that are confined to their lives, having been led to believe that the way to succeed in life is to spend your days doing whatever it takes to fund a life that they say you should lead. Then the credit card debt talks of everything that has been paid for to try and make this bland existence at least bearable. And what I deal with everyday is people coming to me asking how to find happiness, can they reach it, is it even out there?

It is, it's a lot closer than you think. All it takes is rediscovering what you believe, rekindle the flame of whatever truly lights you up and make it possible, whatever that takes. And in the beginning it's hard, it feels scary, it feels like a big risk. But let me assure you, that feeling of security that you get from the safe life that you lead is actually what is getting in the way of a life you love.

Think of yourself as a boat, the safe life you have formed is the rope that ties you to shore, its stops you from sinking in the storm, but it also stops you from floating away and discovering a whole new world, it confines you. And the safer it feels, i'm afraid the bigger the rope that ties you down.

What I hear from people, especially around this time, pre-election, is how the government is responsible for their happiness, and what they want to know is what are they going to do to rectify that. Well i'm afraid your happiness is something that you are responsible for. 

The happiness of a nation cannot be found in statistics or measurable results of any kind. This world is obsessed with measuring, and nothing can be counted as important unless it can be measured. And politicians seem to only talk in a language of measurement.

Reuben revelling in the opportunity of responsibility

One of my favourite quotes is this: 
"Because we cannot measure the things that have the most meaning, we give the most meaning to the things we can measure." 
And this has never been more true than it is today. We need to stop focussing on the measurable, meaningless things in life, and start to give some time and space to those things that can't be measured. Love, passion, creativity, beauty, integrity and belief.

Right now they are trying to revive a dying plant by cutting off branches. Look at the roots, look down, discover what's missing, and put it there, and in time life will come back to the limbs that you were going to cut off.

So leaders, don't sell me your 20 point plan that eliminates the national debt. Tell me what you are going to do to inspire action from the people, tell me what you believe and what your dreams of a future society look like, and tell me how you see Britain flourish from the ground up.