Double Standards - Are They Now Politically Acceptable?

Not so very long ago, being able to prove a charge of double standards, against anyone, was to subject that person to public ridicule and humiliation, but now it is so commonplace, especially on social media, that it seems to be ignored. Has it become acceptable for a political group to complain bitterly about other groups behaving just as they have previously? In the ongoing attempts to frustrate the British referendum result, to leave the EU, the remainers used a raft of measures that were undemocratic and outside the usual norms of political behaviour. Then when a leave Prime Minister took a step that was actually within his constitutional powers, the remainers made a huge fuss and noise claiming all sorts of terrible crimes were being committed against the British constitution.

The howls of righteous indignation from remainers just shows that they are as fond of double standards as the EU bureaucracy they worship. The EU bureaucracy's double standards are shown by their insistence that other bodies keep scrupulous accounts, yet their own were rejected by auditors. They impose fines for nations not keeping to some totally artificial and arbitrary financial rules, yet it is widely accepted that there is massive fraud in the administration of the common agricultural policy. The remainers, among many other unconstitutional efforts, tried to get the law courts to overturn a democratic referendum, and they also tried to use the law courts to stop the government enacting a political policy. Both of these efforts are extremely unconstitutional. They also failed but cost British tax payers a great deal of money. The Speaker has shown unashamed bias over the debate on leaving the EU, again totally unconstitutional.

So has it become acceptable to act in one way yourself but fly into a rage over similar behaviour by others? Surely if you start a “no holds barred” fight, it means that your opponent does not have to respect rules. In election campaigns it is now, very sadly, common for promises to be made to the electorate, promises that suddenly get reduced to objectives after the election. All parties do this, yet if they catch out an opponent doing it, they shout foul at the top of their voices. This seems to be an acceptable to the political elite, if not to the majority of people. Multi-national companies manipulate things to reduce their tax payments and save billions, yet complain if a customer tries to cheat them out of a penny.

Even in everyday life it seems people with an undesirable psychological trait, for example the need to control others, are the biggest critics of anyone else they regard as controlling. Those who make the loudest demands that everyone is honest with them are sometimes the biggest liars you can meet. Social media is filled with people sharing lies and then complaining about other people doing the same with opposing lies.

On the professional sports field it is now common for a player to demand action by the referee against an opponent for simulation and then you observe their own side also play acting only moments later. You see players committing a bit of foul play and walking away, but moments later appearing so indignant when an opponent does the same thing to them.

While these domestic and sporting examples are unwelcome, the biggest harm to the nation is when the professional media applies double standards in reporting. If a “celebrity,” especially a member of the British royal family, is photographed drunk, it is front page news, yet a photograph of a drunken journalist would not even be worth the taking. A leading politician who commits adultery is lambasted and pilloried in print by journalists who may have similar domestic problems. Every aspect of society seems to have accepted double standards; for example, the eco-warrior protestors who leave rubbish behind and the virtue signalling celebrities who fly to protests around the world. All of these show double standards in every word they utter and every action they commit.

Politics has always been a place where morality and ethical behaviour have been of variable standards, but it appears to be getting far worse. Where will it end? Stalinist control of all media so that only the politically correct views of a controlling elite are allowed? Or a total free for all where any and every lie, however outrageous and ridiculous, is just accepted? We are already approaching the situation where no one believes anything due to the lies and double standards. This is not good for democracy.