Are All Politicians Swiss Tony in Disguise?

We have four men, all vying for our vote, all trying to show they are caring and compassionate leaders. All scrambling around at the last minute promising us the world, or indeed, the world as they see it. Why are they allowed to keep tagging incentives onto their manifestos?

What would you do if four middle aged, M&S suited, white men turned up at your door, unannounced, trying to sell something to you? What would you do if said 'gentlemen' were offering you items, based on their assumption of what you needed?

Would you turn them away, would you be suspicious of their motives? Or would you just hand over your hard earned money to these strangers? Would you be annoyed and irritated that they had assumed that these things were what you wanted, even though they knew nothing about you?

And this is the nature of the general election.

We have four men, all vying for our vote, all trying to show they are caring and compassionate leaders. All scrambling around at the last minute promising us the world, or indeed, the world as they see it. Why are they allowed to keep tagging incentives onto their manifestos?

The current 'offer' is social housing tenants being able to buy their own home from the Conservatives; have you ever been into the average social housing home? Social housing tenants do not get a choice as to where they live, in what neighbourhoods. For them there is no dream of living close to the best school or near parks and open spaces. The average social housing tenant is shovelled onto grey, faceless estates; why does Mr Cameron believe that their ultimate goal is to purchase that home?

Or, Mr Miliband's offer of no stamp duty to be paid by first time buyers. What a farcical laughable ploy to win the votes of who? The thousands of young people who still live at home, if they were lucky enough to get to university, still paying off their student loans? Working in jobs that their careers officer at school didn't envisage for them? Or those working on crappy contracts that could end any time any day, with no safety blanket.

Or are we trying to attract those who have always lived in rented accommodation, where to get a pipe fixed takes months and all the landlord is interested in is your money. If you've rented for years, you don't have available money to step onto the property ladder, indeed you barely have money left each month to eat.

And where did this aspiration to own your own property come from? Why are we force fed the idea that lending money from a 'bank' that we will spend our whole lives paying back, just so that we can have a roof over our head is the pinnacle of success! Never having the opportunity to up sticks and change career, travel and to spend our lives indebted to a financial institution.

Who sold society this lie?

So these strangers who come to your door selling you things you don't really want, do you feel an obligation to buy their wares? Why? Because we have always done it? Or are you part of the thousands who feel that what they are selling is not only irrelevant to your life, but irrelevant in the general scheme of things.

So what do we do? Do we shut the door on these unscrupulous, 'Swiss Tony' types? In two weeks, they will be taking one of the most important commodities you have, your vote. This is possibly the only time ordinary people have any power at all. So do we even answer the door?

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