Now I'm all for a bit of optimism in life, frankly you don't get very far without a bit every so often, and that's coming from me, the biggest cynic and moaner on the planet. Generally speaking I even take delight in my own misery, let alone others.
But as I say, a bit of optimism can go a long way if you're optimistic at the right time. Today’s protest regarding tuition fees was not the right time. When a government has made up its mind, protests of any nature aren't going to sway them, let alone the type of protest that resulted today. It had all the organisation of a NO VT protest at Brentwood County High School, and a similar amount of the protestors were band-wagon jumpers who just wanted to cause anarchy too. I understand the frustration and why some people feel strongly about the fees, but the decision has been made, the system will change very little in comparison to the one in place today and frankly I think I made the right decision to keep my painfully Tory stance on the matter... If it doesn't affect me then I don't really care enough to worry myself, and most importantly and the deciding factor regarding my stance on the protests, it was cold today so my centrally heated bedroom was the best place to be.
The other issue with these protests that I couldn't help noticing right from the start was the lack of any attention being paid to them. David Cameron and some of the leading government figures, including Chancellor George Osbourne, he of the extreme budget cuts, were on the other side of the World this morning leaving Deputy PM Nick Clegg as the most senior man around. Even he wasn't interested though as he was a bit busy receiving a similar grilling in the House of Commons from Harriet Harman and the Labour MPs about his failure to live up to re-election promises.
The reality I've come to accept is costs do go up, the Country is in a terrible economic state and the way the government is going about trying to sort out the mess is through massive cuts that result in everyone shouldering the deficit in some way and most importantly, Student Finance is still going to be offering out the loans to cover these fees and the system for paying back the money allows for the graduates to wait longer to start repaying as well. All in all it isn't going to be as dire for those that are prepared to work at University as some are making out and this is a point that may have made some people rethink their day and given less opportunity for the Fruit-loops who spoilt it for those who were just there to stand up for what they believed in.
As I said... A bit of idealism isn't a bad thing, and who knows maybe Cameron may have paid some attention to the goings on from his position of relative comfort over in China, but I fear they'll plug on regardless with the cuts and today will have been a waste of time.
All I know is I have An NUS card for one reason, and that's not to join in socialist rallies against the rise in the cost of higher education. It's so I can go home for a bit cheaper than I would without it.
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