I’m still waiting for all of us to wake up and realise the past year has been a cheese nightmare.
But I’m also still waiting for my Hogwarts letter, and I don’t think either are going to happen.
The rise in far-right populism across the West has stirred social media into a hothouse of insults, arrogance and teenage-style angst. And I’m talking about both sides.
From Brexit to Trump to the rise and fall of Marine Le Pen last weekend, we seem to have become not just dichotomised, but utterly ripped in two between left and right, leave or remain.
You’re either a pig-ignorant racist or a “lefty loony” snowflake, with no room for middle ground.
Like many, I was more than relieved last Sunday to watch the French electorate reject far-right candidate Marine Le Pen.
But the reactions seeping in across Facebook and Twitter as the result was announced got me wondering something - have we all descended into childish bravado when it comes to elections?
I feel like a school playground would be a fitting symbol for democracy right now; Trump and his cronies the brats that the teachers are too afraid of to discipline; liberals the weirdos who wore blazers ten times too big.
Political debate in some instances has devolved into schoolyard point-scoring and a “my dad’s better than your dad” attitude.
This is the age of social media, and that means millions of conflicting thoughts on a conflicting time, all thrown together with the benefit of being able to hide behind a computer screen. No wonder the trolls have crawled out from under the bridge.
Of course, I’m not saying none of us are capable of having an adult discussion anymore, in fact, that’s my point, we are all capable of having an adult discussion.
But there is more to be said about a politician and their ideas than, “to be honest I think he’s a bit of a t***”.
Following Le Pen’s loss last weekend, I was amazed to see reactions such as the Leave.EU campaign childishly tweeting “RIP France”, while one person even tweeted Nigel Farage simply to say “Hahahahaha”.
Meanwhile, popcorn sales are reportedly on the rise as Facebook discussions have devolved into throwaway comments such as “typical PC lefty” and “don’t blame me, I voted remain”.
I don’t know. Perhaps it’s a sign of the times? With caricatures like Trump in office, you could argue that the natural way to deal with it is through making a joke out of the situation.
But I’d like to think we are better than that. With a general election announced, Britain poised to make the biggest change in decades in leaving the EU, and tensions at a high, political debates need to stop being so personal and focus on the real issues at heart.
