I’ve not posted much recently as I haven’t had the headspace to do so.
I got a degree in Politics back in 1987 and I’ve always been interested in the political process and the question of ‘how then shall we live together?’. I originally wrote a longer version of this, but then decided to shorten it and split it into two. It’s not coherent- intentionally- but I hope it helps: I find lengthy and over polemical articles hard to read and I’m getting to the stage of ‘But what do I know?’
“Democracy is the worst form of government, except for all those others that have been tried.” (Winston Churchill). The fights to get mass suffrage were many: I can’t not vote- it feels almost like a civic duty.
‘All politicians are the same’. Are all doctors, all footballers, all shopworkers or all business owners the same? Next question.
It was a shock going to Newcastle Polytechnic at age 18 and finding many evangelical Christians who described themselves as ‘apolitical’ voted Conservative. It still is.
I’m sick of politics. Actually, I’m not: politics affects everything and much of what we enjoy, that keeps us safe and enables us to thrive is because of the actions of politicians. Also, much that hinders us…
I don’t want to fight a culture war. All wars end up hurting the innocent in the crossfire. ‘You can’t rewrite history’- you can: that’s called ‘the process of historical study’ and that involves a constant openess to fresh perspectives, new evidence & different interpretations. I don’t care if anyone is gay, straight, trans or non-binary; you are accepted and I’ve no desire to fight political or social media wars about it. I care more that people can’t heat their homes, have limited life choices through poverty or about the climate crisis.
‘It takes strength to be gentle and kind’* You can be in politics and make hard decisions, you can disagree strongly, but I believe that you can be kind when doing so. Some of the best leaders I’ve seen, even if I’ve disagreed with them, have managed it. Some MPs and their supporters seem to exalt nastiness, stereotyping & punching downwards: we’re all on our journey to our deaths, it might be nicer if we attempted to be gentle and kind on the way.
(*The Smiths: ‘I know it’s over’)
Wearily Hopeful 