Current Affairs

I am not a fan of psychologists or psychiatrists, I have never been. One is a pill pedaller and the other delves into the psych to perform arguments that at times are theoretical and at others are damn right dangerous. There is a way to come to truths, arguments and mostly reflect on the internal weakness of the individual when faced by authority. Trump is an authoritarian, like anybody else who has come into money, he has taken on aspects of psychological empowerment, which not only challenges but cowers those under his authority.

When Thatcherism was at its strongest, there was a realisation that the most traumatised by her rule, moved from one base rule into another. The freedom to speak, argue and challenge those voices that empowered a select few, led to an outburst of creativity and some of the most celebrated voices today challenged that status quo.

There was a movement that dismissed the voices that were once thought as comedians, they were consigned to the dustbin. Young highly educated comedians challenged power and the stupidity of some of the arguments of class and power. Britain became unconstrained by arguments of doffing, difference and ideas of what power was to the average Jo, as said in America. The politicising of the arguments challenged everyone, and those in power were laughing as hard as everybody else, though the country was facing a challenge in how we would project ourselves to the world when we were no longer a power.

Like everything in the world there are voices that challenge the status quo, and it is the methods of those empowered that are challenged by different voices. The concept that someone who uses their platform to argue one way or another and cannot be challenged is a fool as they are disconnected to the voices of other arguments. The ideal in the argument is that it can be challenged freely by voices that are in their own way able to challenge those voices. The strength of Britain’s answer to the authoritarianism that came with Thatcher was the downgrading of socio-economic difference and a realisation that the arguments of authoritarianism would be challenged.

Even the Royals were poked fun at, (the series Blackadder and Spitting image), but in many ways it brought the country closer to its core values. In today’s world, the authoritarian does not just challenge the language of the satirist, but also censors the language of the satirist. The holy grail of those who believe they are beyond the comedic approach to arguments divides society into them and those,which challenges the reality they are facing and how they interpret the truth. Power corrupts for those that take power to seriously, yet the arguments of value challenges the essence of the ideal, and yet those with power could argue that being the butt of a joke doesn’t change the status quo.  

The ideal that you can take yourself too seriously can challenge sycophants in the makings of history. There will be a realisation that those with power didn’t learn from history and that there is humour in everything we do. It is to early to poke fun at Queen Elizabeth II, but believe me there will be a time when this will happen. However much the country was divided, she was the common denominator that gave the people hope, but what saved the royals when there was so much talk of revolution through the sixties, seventies and eighties was that she was above the revolution, which was just politics. However, there were elements that challenged the royals in the gentlest of ways, even a book of the Queen living on a council estate and drinking tea with her corgis was published, or the Queen jumping out of a helicopter for the opening of the Olympics was all done in jest.

In America, there is the talk of eugenics for the homeless, mentally ill and the disabled. The horror of these arguments are not an accident, they are from a hardline that wants to impose their will on a narrative that began with the simple mutterings of a president that differentiates through categorising those in life as winners or losers. There are other arguments and that is whether an argument can be categorised by wealth or even how the American way should be interpreted and if you are wealthy you are above the law and if you are living the American way, then you are impervious to change.

But the seriousness of America is being lost on the fundamental changes that are taking place economically. The changes in the American way of life are being negated by arguments of whether you are with us or against us. The fundamental argument of economics are being negated by tariffs and the argument of demographic challenges are differentiated by arguments of whether you are one of us or not. Polarising arguments are one thing, but the reality is that not questioning the value of these arguments and imposing your will challenges the values and demands many face.

The authoritarianism is being met by silence by those in the senate and congress. The wider argument is not one that challenges, but a discussion of every aspect of an argument that allows constructive criticism, however much it relates to the power balance within the presidential circle. Orwellian speak was pushed by those in power who negated the avenues of discussion, but like anything that polarises, the “truth speak” isn’t now the form of argument that reflects the majority. Alienation of other arguments challenges the vast majority who have their own ideas and intellectual understanding of an argument, but alienating a minority eventually challenges the majority.

A psychiatrist would argue that taking a pill will help you take the blues away, when what bothers you is life, politics, relationships or that you are a depressed. The psychologist will argue that they have an answer when an answer is the answer that you most want. And a politician with sincerity will argue that the condition of your ailment can be found in their argument for the future of the country. But a comedian will hold up a mirror and tell you something that will make you smile, fix the political argument by giving you some perspective and finally when you can no longer bear the pain of life, make you laugh.