It seems this morning we wake to some rather good news: in the US mid-terms, the democrats have given the republicans a bloody nose. Whether this will translate into a result in the presidential elections remains to be seen, but I hope this is a sign that the American electorate has woken up and smelt the coffee over conservatism. Hard-right conservatism seems very childish to me, driven by a very narrow view of the world. The problem is, Americans have been brought up thinking only their country matters, and it is the greatest place on the planet; it follows, then, that they would have a very Americano-centric, self-centred view of the world, and therefore align themselves politically on the right. It reminds me rather of children whose parents so adore and spoil them that, when they start school, they hog all the toys at break and refuse to share, for they are used to being the centre of attention at home and used to getting their way.

Thus America is very childlike; more specifically, its very much like a little boy who like playing with guns and toy soldiers, but has no concept of the true brutality of war, and therefore thinks that violence is thee key to solving all it’s problems. Of course, I’m drawing a caricature here – I’m not saying there aren’t some very clever people in the u.s. however, the result of spoiling kids is the playground bully, only answerable unto itself, ignoring the dinner ladies’ ruling.

Hopefully these mid-terms signal some much needed time on the naughty chair.