International Viewpoints (IVy), Issue 33 - August 1997

Why Britannia Changed her Rule
By Britta Burtles, England

THIS IS AN EXTRACT from my letter to a friend who does not know anything about Scientology and the Conditions in Scientology:

Dear Richard,

To start with let me say that I was one of those who firmly believed the Conservatives would again win the General Election. Like many others I probably also had my eyes firmly shut to those quite visible and audible signs that they were slowly but surely sliding into expulsion.

A few weeks ago Michael Heseltine said, when talking about the prospect of a future Labour Government: "The country is sleepwalking into disaster" .-- That is as it may be, but I think the Tory Government together with the whole Party sleepwalked into the recent debacle.

People may suggest many reasons why this happened, and they may all be right. However, I believe, the basic common denominator for what occurred is this:

An inexorable Natural Law demands: "When in Power -- do not disconnect". I think the Conservative Government violated this law. What is more, they have most definitely been perceived by the Electorate to have violated it.

My husband said he thought the Tories had lost for two reasons: 1. Because they had not shown a united front; and 2. Because of all the sleaze stories <Discreditable stories about Members of Parliament. Ed.>. -- There is no doubt these were contributing factors.

Doing well

But the main reason, I feel, was that intangible, unrecognised phenomenon of disconnection. As signs of this we <Britta was telephone canvassing for the Conservative Party.> had little "red flags" sticking out when people said: "They are out of touch" , or "They don't live in the real world", or "The gap between the rich and the poor is widening", or "You can't trust them", or "They don't listen", or "We want a change". People knew that, generally we were doing well in the U.K., and they knew about the achievements of the Tory Government. They obviously did not want to reverse and change all the progress we have made. They did, however, feel and sense the disconnection, however invisible it might have been, and however incapable they were of putting a name to it, as they were not aware of this underlying principle which was at work and guiding their responses.

There were many more pointers to indicate that people sensed disconnection had taken place. They perceived the Government as not being "theirs" any more. So they withdrew their support and put into effect that which they felt had already happened, by disconnecting themselves from the Government and the Party.

Hand in hand with the Government's disconnection -- maybe even because of it -- went complacency and lack of self-discipline, which showed itself in moral laxness, greed and in-fighting. These were picked up by the media and the Opposition, and through constant repetition they were magnified and reinforced. So the people got their noses rubbed into it day after day ad infinitum. More and more voters took it on board and forgot all about the Government's achievements. Hence, Labour's landslide victory.

As Governments more or less regularly alternate in Power, there will come a time for the Tories to rule Britain again. Maybe, in the meantime, someone will have made them aware of the Law -

When in power -- don't disconnect.

-- so they do not again "sleepwalk" into the same trap, just because they don't know it is there.