Father & Son.

I was born within sight of the Hamburg docks and then moved half way round the world to the heart of a steel city. So it was inevitable to end up left of left whenever discussions arose about politics, the state of the roads and wages. The attitudes developed at a young age mirrored those of the people around you, especially Fathers and the likelihood of change was a distant future you couldn't see. For in those days there was no middle ground and no one had ever met anyone from the right, so the chance for political or any other kind of change was slim. You did what your Father did and you said what your Father said, it was a black and white argument because people read, watched and listened to only those who were around them. The global opportunities were decades away and attitudes ingrained were attitudes difficult to change.

"It's not time to make a change, just relax, take it easy, you're still young, that's your fault, there's so much you have to know". The first lines of the Cat Stevens song encapsulate the thinking of my Father at the time, personifying the attitudes of all those around him. Congenital thinking, dyed in the wool attitudes and strong beliefs with no other sides to the argument, left little to negotiate.

I mention the above as a segue to today, as the political parties ramp up their mud slinging, their denouncements of each others policies and their general bad behaviour towards each other and their voters. Left and right have long since raced to the middle because polarising attitudes leave nothing to negotiate and today, everything is up for negotiation. Political intrigue is no longer the domain of shady back rooms but is played out in the glare of media not in control of the politicians but in control of the masses.

This change in control has finally given people power to speak out and not just follow in the footsteps of the Father. It has given people the amplitude and capacity to envisage change via their own voice, via media not anticipated by their Fathers, to affect change for personal and widespread equivocation.

So I watch and read in anticipation for rallying cries and rumblings from below, challenging the parties to confront the issues of the day. Certainly there are pockets and the QI brigade are keeping politicians accountable for their actions but the broader society can't see beyond the past and the past belongs to their Fathers. The ability and capability for change is finally in the hands of the people, you need only to look at the global landscape of change brought about by media avenues such as Twitter, Facebook and all the online forums, allowing opinions and attitudes to be challenged and changed.

With an election only weeks away, it behoves all within earshot of technology to stand up for their beliefs and give the politicians something to think about, other than slanging off at each other. The power and authority for change is not just about the vote, it's about attitudinal change bought about by knowledge wider than your Father ever thought about. Knowledge you don't have to ask your Father about.