Promising this that or the other to win votes has long been their tactic to appeal to and to appease the electorate. They take advantage of our hopes to paint glossy pictures of how they will solve all our fears and needs. Over the years, we have believed them.
But with technology to hand, we have become more savvy. Or think we are, with the help of Twitter, facebook, blogs and 24 hour news. Increasing awareness of our 'rights', perhaps even of our 'responsibilities', also contribute to the general sensation that we are able to shape the world we live in. Still, for every 'jasmine revolution' there is a clampdown; in Bahrain, Syria, China - does it matter where? For every progressive thought, there's a fundamentalist backlash.
I don't suppose I am unique in feeling 'kettled' in by a shrinking world, a broken economy and 21st century values of our own making. No wonder the pressure is building. However, magic can't be the answer. Illusion only serves to hide things under the carpet, storing up grim realities for an even harsher day.
Politicians in the Scottish elections want us to believe their manifesto promises will bring more jobs, more policemen on the beat, better care for the sick and elderly, better education, better everything. All I get is a huge whiff of unreality. The money in the bank just will not stretch that far! There are no easy ways to get all we want or think we want. Never have been.
In fact, the law of unforeseen consequences is quick to show just how narrow authority-led pronouncements can be. A current key example is the controversial dictat from Westminster of a cap on overseas student numbers which started life as a way to contain net migration. Somehow, it didn't occur to our leaders that such policy would impact on the viability of Scotland's tertiary & education sector, on our economy, demographics, the job market, our international standing and more. The coalition government, for all its aspirations of new hope, transparency and 'listening' in a Big Society, has yet to acknowledge the full meaning of impacts for the UK overall.
There is an opportunity at this point in our collective history to connect the emerging factors in 21st century life, factors that reveal, even underline our inter-dependence and inter-relatedness as a human society. We can choose to look beyond magic mirrors and illusions towards the genuine article of a society in which each human person or group of persons is working at the potential we have with each other, for each other, for the country.
Or we can be beguiled by the magical offerings of the political parties and their election candidates. Four years may be a long time to rely on a placebo.
