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Morals and standards of public behaviour

(88 Posts)
GillT57 Fri 11-Oct-19 11:49:50

Over the past few days, the world has watched, generally appalled, as Trump has withdrawn troops from Kurdish areas and basically condemned thousands of people to terror, warfare, bombing, destruction. Over the past few months, we here have watched a PM tell lies, a cabinet go back on previous assurances etc., etc., Leaving aside, if we can, what side of the Brexit argument we are on, surely I cannot be the only one frightened, disgusted, ashamed of those who have been elected to represent the people in USA and GB? Why is no-one able or prepared to call these people out, confront them with their lies or the effects of their appalling acts?

pinkquartz Fri 11-Oct-19 17:31:06

nonnie

sadly we know we won't get any better from politicians.
they set the worst examples to young people.
with them it seems to be about what they can get away with and the rest of us can lump it.
I have given up expecting better

pinkquartz Fri 11-Oct-19 17:34:12

dragonfly46

i am not wrong. Ford would not allow unions and invented the conveyor belt system
plus
US companies were notorious for using the company store system of payment.......tokens to be spent only at their own shop, instead of money

I am talking about historically I am not talking about now and I am not ignorant

pinkquartz Fri 11-Oct-19 17:36:45

ilovecheese

yes it was a good business model....the money went straight back to Ford!
he was clever
But he and others prevented Unions and were horrible to the basic workers.

I m not commenting on salaried office staff at this time nonnie

janipat Fri 11-Oct-19 17:40:24

GillT57 excellent post.

Iam64 Fri 11-Oct-19 18:00:36

Quizqueen, your suggestion that the USA has no responsibility to Europe or the Middle East puzzles me.
The USA was involved in destabilising the Middle East, which contributed to the spread of Daesh.
The USA is said to be the strongest ally of the UK and was involved in both World Wars.
Trump avoided the draft to Vietnam yet says he only supports and admires veterans of that war who weren't captured and imprisoned in Vietnam.

It sounds as though you support Trump's America First agenda.
Heaven help us all if everyone took that approach to life.

varian Fri 11-Oct-19 19:36:19

Perhaps it may have happened in the past, but in recent years we have seen our democracy corrupted , not just by lying politicians, but by media moguls (who are often foreign billionaires or tax exiles), immoral currency speculators
and foreign powers who do not wish this country well and expolit the power of the internet to turn ordinary folk against each other for their own ends.

varian Fri 11-Oct-19 19:41:00

The European Parliament wants to root out the corruption of our democracy by malevolent foreign powers but the so-called Brexit party (actually a private company) have voted against it.

They would not ever have been elected or have managed to manipulate the leave vote in the fraudulent referendum without foreign interference. They take their orders from Mr Putin.

www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/russian-election-nigel-farage-brexit-party-eu-vote-elections-a9150571.html

Ilovecheese Fri 11-Oct-19 19:44:04

pinkquartz I see what you mean about Ford.

Jane10 Fri 11-Oct-19 19:50:42

In the old days the press barons who owned and controlled the media were very powerful. Joe Public only got to hear what they decided to print.

Amagran Fri 11-Oct-19 19:56:19

Jane10, I think it is exactly the same now - the press still manipulate the public.

lemongrove Fri 11-Oct-19 20:05:09

Jane10 and Oopsminty make valid points about the amount rolling news/tweets etc we are subject to now, all that is out in the public domain that used to be hidden.
On the subject of Trump, he is frightening, and what he has unleashed just now on the Kurds is shocking.
Boris Johnson is nothing like Trump ( and I say that as one who doesn’t like him.)

SirChenjin Fri 11-Oct-19 20:39:26

Boris may not be quite in the same league as Trump but his contempt for Parliamentary democracy and the courts, as well as his recent claims that it’s time to start thinking about elected judges shows he’s capable of thinking along the same lines.

Jane10 Fri 11-Oct-19 22:07:26

That Boris is PM is as odd as Trump being POTUS. However, he's not as just plain crazy as Trump somehow. Trump's incredibly grandiose tweets about himself are quite stunning.
Gosh they make poor old Theresa and Angela look so good.

Iam64 Sat 12-Oct-19 07:15:13

Yes, can you imagine if either Theresa May or Angela Merkel had behaved as Johnson has, in their private lives. I suspect there would have been outrage of a kind that Johnson seems to avoid
I wonder how many conservatives are now wishing they'd given Theresa May a better time as PM.

Davidhs Sat 12-Oct-19 08:43:07

We don’t hear too much about “morals” these days it seems to be anything goes. For politicians, royals and aristocrats morality has always been a very flexible term, pious in public, very loose in private.

The current crisis in the Middle East is directly attributable to the West interfering in Arab politics, WMD and all that. Sadam Hussein was a despot, remove him and the Sunni establishment created the Islamic State, an even greater despotic regime.
Now we have Turkey that has been hosting 3 million or so refugees wants to return them, heaven knows what that will end up with. Trouble in Libya and Yemen we are a long way from resolving politics in the area, with hindsight we should not have got involved.

CardiffJaguar Sat 12-Oct-19 10:47:16

Two things have given rise to the problems of politicians:
social media and the much faster pace of life. Everything is now more instant and politicians fear of being behind the curve where their ratings stand. There appears to be nothing that can change that unless both twitter and facebook were closed.

Nanniejc1 Sat 12-Oct-19 10:51:26

Well I think Boris will be a good PM,If he gets us out of the EU he will go down in history as a great man.May was absolutely useless,had no intention of leaving the EU,think she was more than likely colluding with the EU to keep us tied to them.All politicians on both sides have lied to us so people who voted to leave will think Boris a good PM when he gets us out & likewise people who want to remain will have the opposite opinion.Dont think you can compare Boris with Trump but you have to remember that there are still lots of Americans who support President Trump.There are always going to be two sides with different opinions.I like Boris but if he doesn’t get us out the Brexit Party will gain loads more supporters.

grannygranby Sat 12-Oct-19 11:00:27

‘Why is no-one able or prepared to call these people out, confront them with their lies or the effects of their appalling acts?’ Who are you talking about? I have been protesting loudly on FB and Twitter so have thousands of others. Who is it you mean? They are both at the top of their trees no one above them to call them out ( yes wouldn’t it be great if the queen did) so what do you mean?

Nonnie Sat 12-Oct-19 11:08:14

GillT57 Fri 11-Oct-19 16:50:27 excellent post

pinkquartz Fri 11-Oct-19 17:31:06 yes, sadly

Having just caught up on this thread it seems to have attracted a certain type of Gner. Everyone has been polite, no one has attacked and no one has deliberately misinterpreted anyone else' posts. There are other threads which are very different.

Tigertooth Sat 12-Oct-19 11:13:02

Op - genuine question - what do expect/think we should do?
Look at the 3 leaders of the 3 main UK parties - all a frightening prospect.

pinkquartz Sat 12-Oct-19 11:15:07

I wonder if these top politicians are on medications that make them less in touch with being a "normal" person. I have experienced personality changes with a certain painkillers and have seen friends change when they are on some medications.

I do think these politicians are behaving as if they have no longer any moral fibre, human decency etc.
I imagine them as drunk on their power status and unconcerned with ordinary people.

They are truly hideous.

SirChenjin we can only vote for who is available or not vote.....I try hard to find a decent candidate and often there is no real choice an

CarlyD7 Sat 12-Oct-19 11:19:18

It's about power. Trump is constantly called out by both the media and the Democrats, but as long as the Republicans support him (which keeps him/them in power) he's fairly unassailable. for example - why did the Republicans not demand a transcript of his secret meetings with Putin (when only translaters were allowed to be present?) Why do they support his "I'd rather be a Russian than a Democrat" slogans - clearly seen at all his rallies? What happened to all that anti-Communism? (Could this have anything to do with the millions of $$ Trump owes Russian banks?) As for Johnson - he is very clearly showing the need for a written constitution (which we have resisted for so long). Plus, rich owners of our right wing media are, no doubt, rubbing their hands at the thought of escaping the EU's new anti corporation tax avoidance laws (not to mention people like Rees-Mogg who has an investment company registered in the Cayman Islands!) When someone basically tears up how things have always been done, it shows the gaps in our laws and protections. To have someone like Cummings basically running the country (and btw he spent 3 years working in Russia and is a great supporter of the country) should have us all taking to the streets.

maddyone Sat 12-Oct-19 11:44:48

Why is America supposed to police the world?

maddyone Sat 12-Oct-19 11:51:53

It’s nothing new, the invasion of Iraq was based on a lie by the then Prime Minister.
America have already stated that they are not going to police the world, because they’ve often been criticised for ‘interfering’ in the past.

Jane10 Sat 12-Oct-19 11:55:07

I suppose the one thing that both sides of the Brexit debate agree on is that Trump is an appalling President and it's astounding that he's been elected at all.