Smoke and Mirrors

I’ve been thinking about writing a lot recently and I find it frustrating. I find it frustrating because I have this nagging feeling of disillusionment with our political system yet I feel like I cannot really speak out because I can’t quite find something tangible to rally against. Essentially, by ranting and having no alternative, we seem to play right into the hands of those in power – they don’t even have to undermine our arguments, we do it to ourselves. The reason politicians find it so easy to dismiss Russell Brand is because he does not present an alternative, he presents no threat. Brand is disillusioned and incredibly maddened by the ‘system’ but what even is it? What is the ‘system’? What is it that we are rallying against?

In a recent short film, featured on Charlie Brooker’s 2014 Wipe, documentary-maker Adam Curtis argues that contradiction has become the tool of those in power. They use it all of the time, every single day on the news. We are told one thing, then immediately told the opposite. Instead of holding anyone to account for this, the media is unable to pinpoint the truth. That is because there is no truth. The truth does not exist. And this is exactly what those in power want. If there is no truth, it is all simply a matter of interpretation, different conclusions and altered opinions then the public does not know what to believe. This makes it practically impossible to form any sort of coherent argument against what we see.

"We live with a constant vaudeville of contradictory stories that makes it impossible for any real opposition to emerge." – Curtis

So, we have the first layer of political insecurity. Then, if you add on top of that biased media scrutiny, the whole thing becomes an utter mess. The politicians contradict themselves, the media contradicts the politicians, and the media contradicts the media. This has resulted in a strange state of non-reality, where the boundary between truth and illusion is blurred beyond repair. I cannot watch an interview with a politician without questioning their authenticity, yet I am also faced with the quandary that I cannot reliably trust the news channel that is airing and reporting on the interview.

In his short film, Curtis draws attention to the economy in particular, where we are met with contradiction after contradiction after contradiction. He points to where George Osborne says the economy is growing at the same time that wages are falling and where he insists the deficit is being cut when it is not the case. What should I believe? Where is the truth? Why is my head spinning?

How on earth can we fight against something when we don’t know what that is? What the politicians, corporations and a significant proportion of the media have done, is all jump into bed together in order to form a huge pile of bodies – we have no idea which foot belongs to which head, and which hand belongs to which leg. They have formed a system of power whereby you have pretty much have no idea who to blame and that makes them untouchable. Instead, like Russell Brand, we criticise ‘the system’. And because all of the political parties are included under this umbrella term – and the corporations, and a large proportion of the media – there is nothing outside of ‘the system’ left as an alternative.

It is the perfect defence mechanism – the political elite has created a system whereby there is no alternative. Not only does this secure power for them but it also wipes out the credibility of anyone who opposes it because any mooted revolution struggles to offer up anything tangible in opposition. The defence is perfect. The only way to change ‘the system’ is to become part of the political elite, yet the only way to achieve this is with the support of other politicians, favourable media coverage and financial backing. Therefore, the system is only ever going to churn out a class of individuals who represent its best interests.

Those who criticise Russell Brand for not having an alternative have missed the point. Perhaps, the very fact is there is no alternative. Perhaps this is why our country is currently suffering an epidemic of apathy.

Politics has become an exclusive members club. It’s like looking in through the clubhouse window and observing a meeting. The members are talking in a foreign language that you cannot understand. Various people walk past and offer to translate it for you but they’re all coming out with different translations. After a couple of hours pass, one particular member sticks his head out of the window and asks you to decide which one of them should be the new Chairman.

Any ideas?