A Little Perspective, Please

The right for average folks to cast votes and elect representatives is a key part of the democratic process, but it can do more harm than good when the public is uninformed.

I'm not about to claim that the British public don't have their facts straight (although recent election victories by the British National Party and the UK Independence Party as well as sensational reporting in major London newspapers on recent political stories are a worrying trend), but I was blown away by the cost to the city of London of the recent 48 hour transit strike of £100 million.

Compare that to a few hundred Members of Parliament charging at maximum £20,000-£30,000 at any point over the past four years, and you begin to see how easy it is to lose perspective on political and economic issues.

Much of the money in the MPs epenses scandal was designated for services and charges that allowed MPs to better serve their constituents, and the vast majority of that was legal under the rules that govern Parliament. Although the public has the right to be upset by these expenses, these funds were expected under the old system, and the existence of a few million pounds of money blocked out for MPs was no secret.


On the contrary, Mayor Johnson's budget for the city of London did not take into account an additional £100 million for a transit strike and not one single citizen was able to voice their opinion about this money being spent or not spent.


Dollar figures (or Pound figures) shoudn't dictate what is right and wrong in government. If that's how we did things there would be nothing stopping each elected official from spending £10/day on candy bars and DVDs. We should, however, be conscious about how serious an issue the expenses scandal was and balance it with the damage that could be done to the county when fascist, racist, anti-semitic, homophobes are elected in the name of "reform."