Blog Credo

The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed (and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary.

H.L. Mencken

Sunday, June 11, 2017

The Kids Are Alright

A lot has been said about how Jeremy Corbyn defied the odds in the recent general election in Britain.  That's true, but I'm not certain how much of that is because of Jeremy Corbyn, per se.  

First, you have the collapse of the SNP, who were big winners in 2015.  They lost 19 seats to both Labour and Conservatives.  Perhaps this was a not-so-subtle jab at the SNP for a Scottish Exit from Britain.  Also, Labour poached seats in Wales and in Northern England.  In the north, it was especially a case of a collapse in UKIP.  UKIP went from 12.6% of the vote two years ago to 1.8% of the vote this June.  Either way, the real story is probably the collapse in support for the minor parties like SNP and UKIP.

Labour also won big in London, again with anti-Brexit voters.  The real message I take from the election is Brexgrets.  Sorry.  But it's clear that Britain is having serious second thoughts about Brexit.

Most notably, it was young voters who tilted the field to Labour.  They don't like Brexit and we are seeing a resurgence of socialism in young voters - at least in part by those who don't have living memories of the problems of state planning.

The Populist Right is undeniably an older cohort, presumably because they stay home and watch shitty TV.  There is a liberal wave coming demographically.  Sanders and this Labour result certainly suggest it's on its way.

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