Elections personal thought

CHANGE is a hot topic at the moment with the elections looming. Most people are quite sceptical about change. Through their lives in which they have experienced both Labour and Tory governments, many people have not felt that they have seen real change, with many statistics pointing to social mobility declining under the Labour governments who adopted Third Way and free market policies.
A major change in society increasing at an exponential rate, is the acquisition of new technologies regardless of class, gender, or culture. Even a flat in the poorest of neighborhoods will commonly be equipped with numerous high tech gadgets and devices, which have become a reflection of the outward image we want to convey to the world. Technologies have somewhat comforted those who could not afford to buy there own home or aspire to childhood dreams. If you can’t have the big with the Bentley parked in the driveway, then at least you can get the new Iphone on contract to keep you bemused.I know, it sounds like a conspiracy theory and it probably is, but I still think there is truth in how marketing has managed to create a consumerist society which has played a part in diverting peoples attention away from more traditional forms of wealth like property, which will not devalue to next to nothing over a few years.
My product is in it’s self a high tech gadget, which is a kind of paradoxical implementation given the controversy surrounding energy and our unsustainable consumerism in society today, and what the purpose of my clothing is. Leds are very energy efficient light source and being Green should be a core feature of the clothing’s design. I was thinking that it could be made from recycled materials. Safety is also a concern as there will be an electric current and we can’t have people getting electrocuted.
Wearable technologies are of interest to me because it opens doors to personalising clothing to promoting our own ideals. Movements related to music genres have seen people popularly personalise there clothing in order to convey messages about a person’s political dissenting viewpoint for instance. People who follow punk or metal personalise their clothes in anti-conformity fashions.
I think encouraging this voice through the use of technologies as a peaceful out-let for everyday frustrations is a good thing. You no longer need to be confined to promoting a company logo or band as current clothes trends restrict us to.
Personalisation of clothing is also popular because a lot of people want to be seen as an individual- free and independent; not just another cog in the machine.
There is also unprecedented “change” happening within our communities, which I think that politics often struggles to keep up with. The House of Lords after all does not represent the views of the majority, as they are an uneven sample of the population. Neither do the views of many politicians for that matter. My point is that everyone sees life from a different view point and no ones necessarily right or wrong, but unless you have an even representation of the electorate in government, then the plight of the poor is very unlikely to get a fair hearing. We live in a so-called democracy but what sort of voice do everyday people have on the bigger picture?
Modern technologies and there ubiquity are allowing this voice to break through in unforeseen ways. Social networking and blogs are very powerful tools, which have the power to reach the masses. I often think of my dad and how he spends a lot of his time swearing at the TV set when the news comes on, and I have been trying to encourage him to open a blog to vent his concerns and maybe find some peace by getting his opinions out there.
Personally I think politicians should spend less time trying to control change and more time supporting it as it happens within our communities. “The Big Society” is a Tory promise, but we have heard campaign slogans all our lives to little effect.
Technology is putting the mechanisms in place to make these visions a reality through enhancing our communication networks. Government is coming round to realising its power. I see the “Big society” ideology as a product of technological change rather than a Tory ideal.