The Perverse Core of Tory Support

It seems to me there is an upsurge in right wing trolling every time they are spooked by humiliation, and of course, who wouldn't be inflicted with repeated bouts of humiliation supporting such a vile and regressive party? There was an upsurge right after the it was announced we were having an election, there were, and are, upsurges with every Tory U-turn, there was an upsurge with this hung parliament and the current attempt to form a coalition with the DUP (who are anti-abortion, deniers of climate change, with links to terrorist organisations) and recently there was a surge of trolling after the many Tory failings that attributed to the Grenfell tragedy.

The surges of trolls are in many ways good indicators of how badly the Tories are doing.

Tory support is a misnomer: trolls who vote Tory do not actively support the Conservatives, they merely attack opposition parties, namely the Labour Party. The pro-Tory agenda is to bully and shame anyone who chooses not to be fanatical to a bunch of crooks. No clear supporting argument is needed for them because, for them, their mind is made up, has been, will always be.

One should rightly conclude the only reason there is no clear positive Tory message is that there is literally nothing positive to say about the Tories. The Tories' election campaign was overwhelmingly negative towards Labour. The 42% of voters who actually voted for them were obviously too stupid, too duped, or too un-attentive to notice the Tories gave no reason to vote for them.

Compare the numerous dull-witted, wilfully ignorant anti-Labour, anti-Corbyn, anti-left pages that float around Facebook to the careful, considered writings of many pro-left pages which have written articles that have vastly outperformed articles published in main stream newpapers:

Where is the discourse that promote Tory policy, outlining clearly its details and championing it for its wide-reaching social benefits?

For those of you who think I am wrong, find me a shred of discourse that actively promotes and describes clearly a Tory policy without deflecting the point with ad hominem attacks on another party or simply using empty, unsubstantial platitudes. Another Angry Voice published his Tory Challenge before the election and I have seen no evidence of anyone taking up the challenge and successfully asserting sensible theories to justify Tory policy. 

The Tories' recent record is littered with calamities and mismanagement; there is not much there that points to competence or capability. How can one justify supporting such a failing, self-serving organisation? What does this reveal but a populace wilfully ill-informed and undereducated?

It is an unshakeable faith in the Tories' abilities their fanatical supporters have; a need to believe rather than an opinion borne from informed decisions, that prevents them from lessening their support.

The problem with so many of these voters is they see politics like they see sport: they pick a side, for whatever reason, and forever they will support that side. The permeating “we won, you lost” mentality floating about the internet is testament to that, and for those who behold such a mentality, this only signals exactly why they voted Tory in the first place: it is a simplified version of events, one that delights in its failure to acknowledge nuance and complexities.

The Tories 'won', yes, but this fails to acknowledge Corbyn's huge increase in vote share, the largest swing since after the war, in defiance of a massively biased and unfair corporate media, and the fact the Tories lost seats when they were aiming for a huge majority. This simplification also prevents these right wingers comprehending how people on the left might be inclined to criticise Labour for their failures as much as they would criticise the Tories.

If they did not view politics in such a simplistic way, if they did not support political parties like they support football teams, devoted, unshakeable devotion, they would be able to view objectively the realities of politics and decide the party they once voted for might not be the bastion of greatness they once suspected – but they fell into the trap; they dived head first into absolute Tory support, and as a result, they will never back down, they will never admit, no matter how incompetent an act their party commits, they will never admit they are supporting the wrong team.

Unable to accept the blatant faults of their chosen party, what can the Tory voter do but lash out at opposing teams, making frenzied accusations to deflect from the real criminals? Compulsory trolls: they cannot not be trolls; their understanding of politics insists upon it.

They are too proud to ever admit they are wrong, too proud to change their mind. This is not democracy, this is not the future. This demonstrates only how little these people think of democracy; how much contempt they hold for it. Despite what they think they believe, they work against this country. They are un-patriotic. They will rather see it suffer than to change their mind and risk looking like a hypocrite. They vote for idiocy, and will continually look for excuses to prove their decision was right, rather than admitting, maybe, they got it wrong.

While it is true loyalty to a party does not necessarily mean one is making an ill informed decision, it is clear many loyal supporters are merely tribalist in their support, never questioning why, demonstrating only how lacking in knowledge they are. This is the state of UK politics. This is the perverse contempt some voters have for these lands.