The People's Countryside Environmental Debate Podcast
Reality Of Political Allegiances
Published: 23 February 2025 at 10:00 Europe/London
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Episode notes
This is a chatcast style podcast, that is our genre. Every episode, we discuss two listener questions, and we always try to draw the conversation back to nature or the environment in some way where possible, always aiming to stop the big issues, slipping into the shadows.
In today’s episode, we begin with a question sent in by Sekelaga, Zanzibar Urban West, Tanzania - “Are life long allegiances to political parties a balanced way to really be?”
William starts the conversation by reflecting how much the two major political parties in the UK (Conservatives and Labour) have changed throughout his own lifetime.
Stuart feels that we don’t need to spin this discussion to the environment as it immediately strikes a chord with environmentalism. He goes on to say that to blindly follow one thing, one person, one entity, one school of thought or doctrine, you are just a sheep. And if the people leading the parties know you're going to follow them whatever they do, they're not necessarily going to decide to do the right things.
Stuart and William then lead the conversation into the field of ‘footballification’ in politics, that whatever the party you follow says or does, you follow it blindly. William in particular sees a danger in that. Stuart agrees, and recounts a story of overhearing two football fans from opposing sides, with one fan admiring the other’s team, only to be shouted down that they should pick a side.
Stuart and William conclude, taking the conversation into the realm of political coalitions, and how they can be more powerful than a two party state.
The second question for your co-hosts to deliberate comes from Clodagh in Larne, County Antrim, Northern Ireland - “Reality seems to be fractured these days, with many feeling nothing is as it seems as everything is part of a greater conspiracy theory. What are the pro’s and con’s here?”
Right off the bat Stuart nails his colours to the mast: he feels that there's no such thing as reality. There are different perceptions, could be multi universes. So what is reality for us, It might not be a reality for somebody in another universe.
Stuart goes onto posit the idea that social media drives a lot of it, this move towards alternative facts, because it overwhelms us with possibilities. William echoes Stuart’s idea, that social media is a big influence here, that there are so many voices in our heads, there are also the algorithms that push us towards more confusion, more information overload.
William goes on to say that you can spend a lot of time and energy thinking about these things. And he thinks that's the con. You end up in this rabbit hole, you can end up in quite a bad place because you believe in these conspiracy theories, whether they're true or not.
What do you make of this discussion? Do you have a question that you'd like us to discuss? Let us know by sending an email to thepeoplescountryside@gmail.com
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