With so many media articles and accounts about what the current Government is getting wrong, I can’t help but wonder if the Cabinet are guilty. Not only guilty as charged for their mistakes, but perhaps as importantly guilty of the same behaviour and attitude of many people when the Facts show something they don’t like?
A recent example is how everyday more and more people are ‘coming out’, claiming they ‘knew’ that children and young people were being abused by Jimmy Savile. Only in the past 3 few days there’s been report of Royal Aides, Rock stars; Politicians and even Sir Roger Jones, chairman of Children in Need from 1999 to 2002 and a BBC governor for Wales from 1997 to 2002, all believing something was ‘not right, or to quote Sir Roger, Savile was “creepy”.
This is a clear indicator of how even powerful people, when faced with something they find uncomfortable, choose not to accept it or as Nick Clegg puts it to “turn a blind eye. The problem with this is, eventually we find the issue niggling at us, and we find reasons not to deal with it; Sir Roger stated his reasons as having “no evidence”. Gestalt, one of the founders of Psychology theories called it Deflection, which can show as choosing not to hear or see something / misunderstanding or redefining what has been said or done..
I find it hard to accept that had the Police chose, or had been allowed to, fully investigate the Savile affair that they would not have found plenty of evidence; so why didn’t they? I can only suppose the psychological damage to the children and young people who were abused, was considered a better price than the potential fallout of a prosecution of the perpetrator(s) and those colluding with the activities?
On a similar note, I also find it equally difficult to believe the Government does not know exactly the extent of damage their Polices, in particular to the National Economy and Welfare Reform Act, on the General Public. Evidence of inaccuracies in the purported levels of Debts and the National Deficit are rife, as are examples of how the average family’s income is inadequate to cover their cost of living. The DWP’s latest figures show an average 73 deaths per week resulting from Welfare Reform, supposing those numbers remain static, 3796 mums, dads, brothers, sisters, children will die in the UK in 2012, because of One Government Policy.
From this I have to conclude that the Government, and the Cabinet especially, are guilty of Deflection or at the very least Petulance. This stance is taken particularly by Ministers, who appear only too pleased to overlook even their own evidence of damage as they continue to breeze along, showering more potentially life threatening Cuts upon certain groups of Society, flagrantly ignoring the fact that these are People they are elected to Serve.
But if the Government are Guilty of Deflecting, then so are we the Public; we are happy to campaign in our millions about the threat of badgers being culled, whilst choosing not to accept that amongst Eleven Million People with a limiting long term illness, impairment or disability, most are striving to simply survive.
