WHO do the political parties represent

PS My post was @ MOnica.

Ahem obieone, you're the one who thinks politics should be dumbed down. Most numbskulls can use Google or an online dictionary, but it takes a bit more to understand democracy. North Korea describes itself as a democracy.

Yes I think politics needs to be dumbed down.

Yes I think we have democracy.

I dont understand your point.

"Dumbed down"- what do you mean by that?
And why?

It doesn't surprise me in the slightest that you don't understand my point

Message deleted by Gransnet. Here's a link to our Talk Guidelines.

Dumbed down DaphneBroon because for the "average" JOe, it can all be far too complicated to understand.

I think that the Remain campaign in particular went far too highbrow, and that included on gransnet.

People, especially the young, are now much more into twitter and facebook which works in a different, more bite size way.

How do you define "dumbed down" then? Fewer long words? Simplified soundbites? Tabloid headlines?
I would feel insulted if that was all anybody thought I was capable of understanding .

Probably yes to all of the above.
If it is dumbed down, many more people can understand, not just the more able.

But how much gets cut out when something is simplified? Does it come down to "This is good, vote for it" and "That is bad, don't vote for it"? If so, whatever happened to each person using their own judgment to form an opinion, and voting on that? That is what democracy is about.

There is a limit to how much simplifying you can do before you lose the whole point of what you are saying. Would you like a cake recipe to say "Cook flour, fat, eggs and milk. Ice it"

If that is truly what you think the average person is capable of grasping, god help,us.
Maybe u wd lk it in txt spk 2?

And who is going to do the dumbing down? The party who wants you to vote for it? They will say "We have the best policies for the whole country" so as to get the votes of everyone.

Then the other party will say "We are the ones with the best policies for the whole country" so that they get everyone's votes.

The important differences between the policies are in the parts which would be lost in the dumbing down.

Actually, if politics is simplified to short soundbites, it becomes a blunt instrument, with no flexibility at all, just two angry mobs shouting slogans and waving banners at each other.

And the end result is.....
Donald Trump.

Democracy is indeed in the eyes of the beholder.

A Constitutional Monarchy, with a non-elected Chamber with hereditary peers, non-elected appointees and representatives of one religious group only- doesn't sound very 'Democratic' to others. And neither does a system where, due to the First Past the Post system- someone who lives in an area not representative of their views- can vote all their lives knowing their vote will go straight to the bin!

Dumbed down??? Dumb yes.

FFS Daphnebroon!

Obieone makes a very good point there. (the text speak comment was ridiculous. And insulting)

There is an inbetween between what we have now and textspeak.

It will be interesting to see if Donald Trump wins. Though he can be his own worst enemy.

I don't think a suggestion that politics needs to be "dumbed down" , that there should fewer "long" words are necessary and that we should be satisfied with soundbites constitutes a good point and don't think I am alone.
Wasn't there once a film called Dumb and Dumber?

Although I doubt he is his only enemy Obieone.

@jinglbellsfrocks

The text speak comment was obviously too nuanced.

I haven't seen obieone making any good points.

I'm seriously wondering if her comments are a wind up.

I wonder that all the time dd.

I have sent a report to gransnet. And about DaphneBroon too.

Dumbed down politics is already pretty prevalent. Some voters never seem to understand that policies have consequences . We might want lower taxes but not poorer public services, we might want to bring back grammar schools but dont want our children to end up in a secondary modern, we might want to "bring back control" but not suffer the colossal damage being done by brexit , etc etc etc.

Dumbed down politics is dangerous,

What you need is political parties speaking to people in ordinary everyday language that ordinary everyday people can readily understand and relate to. Not everyone is an intellectual, and the possessor of not one but in some cases several degrees, and numerous life experiences in intellectual pursuits, in fact most people aren't! Some of us left education with three or four not very good O'levels and one scraped A'level, some left with little or nothing at all! Talking endlessly about GDP, statistics, and ratio's is talking over a lot of people's heads including mine, leaving a lot us bewildered and frankly bored and turned off. People want to be able to relate their own circumstances with what they are being told in language they can easily understand and feel enthusiastic, (or not) about. In other words politicians need to learn to inspire a crowd, which of course, like him or not, Jeremy Corbyn is successfully doing!

I'm sure many of you remember that obieones last incarnation on here as soontobe ended in tears.