Mirrored bubbles

One of many problems with social media and the act of "following" others is that you tend to only follow those that align with your orthodoxy. This leads to the inevitable mirrored bubble, whereby you only see or are exposed to that which you already believe or feel.

It's not much better, for me at least, in the real world. I work in a liberal setting and live in a semi-affluent rural location, close to a small, famously liberal, outward-looking, welcoming city. It's another mirror for me, basically.

So the apparent scale of Reform's success in yesterday's council elections has taken me somewhat by surprise. I was expecting them to do well - I try to get my news from reliable, unbiased sources, and that had prepared me for the batrachoidal one having something to gloat about. But that they would do quite so well? I wasn't really ready for that. Why? Because I, in my mirrored bubble, couldn't believe that that many people could be so blind...

How has it come to this? Reform UK plc (for they are a public limited company - really, follow the money, it's shocking bordering on corrupt) has successfully coralled a disparate bunch of chancers, bigots, failed Tories (all of whom have hitched their wagons to Reform purely to keep their personal gravy trains running) and the blatantly self-interested into a party, financed it fantastically (with lots of questionable donors and donations), hit upon a single issue (not wanting "them" over "here") with which to engage a section of the electorate, and then fabricated a tissue of soundbites, preposterous claims and lies to grow their fan base. And it really is about fandom, and the Farage cult. That, and money (for him and his mates/donors/cronies, but not for you).

Speaking of the massive cult, when, if ever, has such a wealthy, entitled, privately-educated member of the elite (that he claims to deride) ever managed to convince the working (wo)man, so successfully, that he is their guy? To the extent that they are lining up to vote for him and his own self-interest, and contrary to their own needs? Why have an essentially decent person who is basically trying to do the right thing, and accept that this is a long-term project, when you can have a celebrity caricature, promising instant solutions, whose only real interest in politics is what he can get out of it for himself, and to hell with Joe Public? What terrible madness is this?

I just don't get it. At most, the next general election is three years away. We are sleepwalking into a world of PM Nige, and that is a genuinely disturbing prospect. The followers of chaos, out of control indeed...

They're going wild, the call came in
At early morning predawn then
The followers of chaos, out of control
They're numbering the monkeys
The monkeys and the monkeys
The followers of chaos, out of control

The call came in to party central
A meeting of the green and simple
Try to tell us something we don't know

They're meeting at the monument
The call came in, the monument
To liberty and honour under the honour roll
They gathered up the cages
The cages and courageous
The followers of chaos, out of control

The call came in to party central
A meeting of the green and simple
Try to tell us something we don't know

Disturbance at the Heron House
A stampede at the monument
To liberty and honour under the honour roll
Just a gathering of grunts and greens (Just)
The cogs and grunts and hirelings
A meeting of a mean idea to hold

Feeding time has come and gone
They'll lose their heart and head for home
Try to tell us something we don't know
We don't know, everyone allowed
Ooh, everyone allowed
Everyone allowed