Progressive Politics

The more I look at politics in this & many other western democracies, the more the looking is tinged with dismay. The media often portrays the childishness of "he said/she said/they said" statements as so much throw-away sound-biting. When you look closer, it appears that that encompasses the whole substance of what political parties represent - mutual opposition.

That childishness reminds me of children playing in the sand - where there's only one shovel & one bucket. One child may have the majority (both implements), & they build while the other child fumes. If there is a sharing of power, then the two children will work at cross-purposes. When one child loses power, the other child will demolish all that they have built & start again, re-creating their vision from the last time they had power.
Both children are subject to the child & the support (& approval) of adult supervision, but they seem to ignore both, intent on their idea of how to build a castle in the sand.

Let's step back into reality. The two most important factors in government are, the general feel of the electorate - which can be affected through good leadership, & the climate of the times - (often external) factors not immediately under the control of the government. These are the adult supervision & the changing tide mentioned above. Many politicians think that the adults are a changing tide, & ignore it accordingly, as if there is no influence. This is inherently not just defeatist, but ignorant.

You modify the opinion of the electorate through how your actions are interpreted - this is party through performing the right actions, & partly through manipulation of how those actions are represented (through the media, for example). Does this sound obvious? This means that approval of castle building can be manipulated, to some extent.

You cannot change the tides, but you can monitor, anticipate, & harness their energy & impact. If you continue to ignore them, then it's at your peril - your sand castle will be washed away, in the same way that a child can be told by its parent that it's time to give up the bucket & spade.

Criticism is all well & good, but progressive politics needs a solution. Building castles that last comes about when there is co-operation in the sand castle building. Asking the other children to watch the tide or offer advice on how to deal with it, delegating the power of the shovel or bucket, building on others' successes & learning from their mistakes (rather than forgetting or ignoring both), are all things that lead to better sand castles. These are also things lacking in modern politics.
The "I am right, you are wrong" (or "I am right, you are left") way of looking at government assumes that the tide is irrelevant (never changes) & the approval is fickle. Going forward, progressive politics must take both into consideration & deal with them appropriately.

Embrace change. Embrace the future. Create good government. Go forward.