Am I a leftie? I'm not sure. I suppose when you weigh up all my political views I probably am, although I personally prefer not to identify myself politically or any other way. I prefer to agree with the principles of political or social philosophies, such as socialism for example, rather than to say 'I am a socialist', because I think at the end of the day it all comes down to what you believe and how you act on that, rather than what you consider yourself to be. However, when it comes down to it, the vast majority of my political views tend to be very left-wing.
The thing that has really interested me the more invested in political debate I get is how much the word 'leftie' is accepted to be an insult. There have been times that I have heard some quite disparaging remarks made against 'pseudo-intellectual jumped up lefties', and in that context being a so-called leftie is apparently something to be ashamed of. I don't think I have ever heard the same kind of terminology used against right-wingers. Don't get me wrong, there is enough insult on that side as well, but that tends to be more on the side of 'selfish, capitalist, greedy' etc. I have rarely heard anyone insulted just for being right-wing. It may be that people whose views are more left-wing are just more open to others' opinions, and there probably is an element of truth in that, but I don't think that this is the only reason. In my experience, there is just as much lack of tolerance of the other side between people that I generally agree with as there is with those that I don't, and I try to neutralise this as much as I can, because I believe that it is only with reasoned debate that people will take on board the viewpoints of others.
It would seem that being left-wing is something to be ashamed of. Why is this? From what I can make out, the basis of left-wing politics is that it supports social equality and egalitarianism, whereas right-wing politics sees some forms of social inequality as, if not desirable, as least inevitable. I actually agree that some forms of inequality are pretty inevitable, as I don't think that our species has progressed enough to get beyond that, but I also think that it is really important to take a step back, examine the way that our society is run and at least attempt to iron out those inequalities where possible. With regards to the country and the society in which I live in the moment, these inequalities mean the rising levels of homelessness, the harsh economic situations that many are in and the suggestion that we are 'all in this together', when all evidence points to the fact that those in privileged positions really have not been hit very hard at all - quite the contrary, in fact.
I feel that a reason that 'leftie' is commonly used as an insult is due to a lack of understanding of what left-wing politics is actually about. This is hardly surprising, given that we have not had a truly left-wing Government since long before this blogger was even born and people are naturally afraid of what they haven't personally experienced. It's very easy to say that left-wingers are too idealist and that their principles sound cushy but wouldn't work in practice. This is a fair criticism, but I don't see what the evidence is for that. I have never really experienced left-wing politics in action, but from what I have seen from history going in with the intention to improve the quality of life for people has generally worked. In the aftermath of the Second World War, for example, this country was in a huge amount of debt to various others, but efforts were made to secure our position and to improve the quality of life for our citizens. It was at this time that the NHS was set up. We admittedly have more citizens to improve the quality of life for today, but in this day and age is it really so impossible to make things better? To be honest, I'm not in a position to call it. I haven't studied the philosophies in depth, and I think that even those who have probably can't say with any degree of accuracy whether this would work. The fact is that no one knows because no one has even tried. I think that social inequality is something that needs to be worked towards, and even if all of our dreams are not fulfilled (and I doubt they will be, as I think things tend to work a lot better in theory) there would still be more people in an advantageous situation, and therefore our society would still be more fair and desirable than it is today.
In my last blog, I talked about the Radical Left General Assembly in London, which took place last Thursday. I really wanted to go, but in the end it was just too much hassle with everything else that I have to do. However, there is a video of it, which I strongly encourage anyone reading this blog to take a look at. (It's an hour long, so if you're in a hurry don't do it right now, but at least bookmark it for later.) The first five minutes are a little chaotic, but I think that there are so many fantastically valid points raised. I wish that I could have attended, but c'est la vie:
General Assembly video
After viewing this, I really want to go to the next one, which is on Saturday. I'm not sure if I shall be able to, as I'm producing a play for Uni which is taking up a lot of my time, and I need to have enough space in my life for these things. I shall look into it though. I think it's really important to have an action plan right now, as the social change movement must not fizzle out. Please attend if you can, it's super-important!
Radical Left General Assembly (II)
That will be it from me for now - hopefully there will be another update at the weekend.
Wednesday 20 May 2015
Sunday 10 May 2015
The revolution is here - Part 2
I attended an awesome demonstration in London yesterday, which will hopefully be the first of many. As I expected, much has been suggested from various media sources, and there are a lot of rumours flying around about what went on. I'm going to start off by responding to some of these, and clarifying whether they are true or false.
Rumour 1: The demonstration was very violent.
False. The demonstration started outside Westminster Abbey at 3pm, and moved through London. For the next three and a half hours, it was entirely peaceful. At around half-past six in the evening when the protest wasn't far from wrapping up anyway, there was a small amount of confrontation between the demonstrators and the police. I left when this started and stood outside the police cordon for a while with some friends, still demonstrating but in a group of three that was clearly peaceful and educating the masses. There were seventeen arrests - when you put that into perspective against the thousands of people who were there, this really is not a lot, and besides we don't know what happened after the arrests. Some of the people may never have been charged, or even if they were guilty of something may have been entirely provoked. As a participant, I can safely say that the vast majority of the demonstration was extremely peaceful, and for the most part everyone behaved amicably.
Rumour 2: A war memorial was defaced.
True. Someone spray-painted the words 'Tory scum' on a memorial dedicated to the women of the Second World War. I'll most likely never learn the identity of the person who did this, but whoever it was seriously harmed our cause and our reputation. Today when I've been debating this, this is the first thing that people bring up against me and what I stand for. It means nothing in the grand scheme of things. The actions of one person on the spur of the moment have no reflection whatsoever on the mindset or attitude of everyone else. I have actually heard it said that this was a plain-clothed police officer attempting to harm the cause on purpose - I don't know if there is anything in that, but it's what they do say. Personally I don't find the suggestion that implausible because it's the sort of thing they can do, but it's all irrelevant anyway. Someone was stupid, let's forget about it and focus on the issues that we're actually fighting for. As a matter of fact, I wasn't even aware that it had happened until after I got home and saw it reported.
Rumour 3: The protesters were complaining about a Government that has been democratically elected.
False. This Government was not democratically elected, not properly. The majority of people did not vote for the Conservative Party. One of the key reasons for this protest was electoral reform - we demand a system that allows the opinions of those whose first choice is outvoted to still count, and is not outrageously biased in favour of bigger parties. The other reason I'm protesting is the numerous unfair policies which the Conservative Party have introduced, and continue to introduce - I'm worried about the next five years, and I want to do what I can to minimise the amount of suffering they entail. That means getting involved right now as soon as they have been elected. Besides these things, I don't have an issue with the Conservative Party on principle; if David Cameron woke up tomorrow and decided to listen to what I'm asking of him, I shall happily take back everything bad I've ever said about him - after I've come round after my dead faint, of course.
Rumour 4: There were around 100 - 150 people there.
False. There were thousands - I initially thought around 3,000, though a friend of mine said it was more like 1,500. What can I say, I don't have an actual statistic and I may have exaggerated things myself! Far more than the mainstream media suggested anyway.
Rumour 5: There was some very aggressive chanting.
True and false. The chants at demonstrations can be quite unpleasant at times. There are some that I refrain from joining in, such as the one involving burning the Tories and Liberal Democrats on a bonfire, which I really do not believe is called for. I also tend to avoid being actively provocative towards the police - if I disagree with how the police are conducting themselves I will call them out on it, but there are some who say some quite nasty things before that has happened. I do realise that anger manifests itself in many different ways and I'm understanding of people who initiate this sort of thing, but I don't think it's the most effective tool. Although I occasionally engage in fun songs like 'You can shove the Tories up your arse' (sung to the tune of 'She'll be coming 'round the mountain when she comes') I try to focus more on chants that are relevant to the issues at hand, such as 'Unemployment and inflation were not caused by immigration! Bullshit! Come off it! The enemy is profit!' (Which actually doesn't sound like much of a chant written on the page, but if you say it out loud it's poetic.) When confronted by the police, there was a point that we chanted, 'You're sexy! You're cute! Take off your riot suit!' I love that - it's not too confrontational, it's a bit more playful and humorous. It's on a case-by-case basis - the chanting can get confrontational, but the best way to respond to it is just to lead by example.
These are all the rumours that I can think of to clarify just now. Generally, I was really happy with how yesterday went. We did a lot of marching, a lot of chanting, some decent levels of debate and I felt that everyone I spoke to was pleasant and really motivated to make a change. I left with a couple of friends at around 6.30 when things started kicking off between the police and the protesters, and managed to escape before the kettling began. We stopped outside the police cordon, near enough to still be involved but far enough away that we were a separate group. Call us a mini-demonstration of three. In this time, we talked to passers-by, educating them about what we were doing and listening to their opinions. There was even a time when a group of Spanish schoolchildren passed, and their teacher asked us to talk about what we were doing, so we taught a class! It was a genuinely really rewarding experience - it was one of the most enjoyable pieces of activism I have ever done, I feel like we made a lot more progress than we would have had we stayed inside the kettle.
I stand by what I said in the last blog about 'The revolution is here' - if things continue like they were yesterday, I think we will be a very strong movement indeed (not that we aren't already). We must be careful though - I feel that many campaigns seem strong for a while, and then people lose interest. This is what happened with tuition fees and I was so disappointed when people stopped protesting about that, because it seemed to be going really well and I thought we were making progress. I stand by the thought that we would have won that one if we'd been a little more persistent.
Here is the next event:
Radical Left General Assembly
I most likely won't be able to attend this one as it's in the middle of the week and I have University commitments, but I will be there if I possibly can, and if I can't I shall help virtually via online media. Anyone who is able to attend, I strongly advise to get there.
Thank you to all of the people at the demo yesterday, with particular mention to Maia, who I hung around with most of the day, and to Aaron and Laura, who joined me on our protest of three at the end. I think we did really well, and I look forward to the next one.
The revolution is most definitely here... more from George soon!
Rumour 1: The demonstration was very violent.
False. The demonstration started outside Westminster Abbey at 3pm, and moved through London. For the next three and a half hours, it was entirely peaceful. At around half-past six in the evening when the protest wasn't far from wrapping up anyway, there was a small amount of confrontation between the demonstrators and the police. I left when this started and stood outside the police cordon for a while with some friends, still demonstrating but in a group of three that was clearly peaceful and educating the masses. There were seventeen arrests - when you put that into perspective against the thousands of people who were there, this really is not a lot, and besides we don't know what happened after the arrests. Some of the people may never have been charged, or even if they were guilty of something may have been entirely provoked. As a participant, I can safely say that the vast majority of the demonstration was extremely peaceful, and for the most part everyone behaved amicably.
Rumour 2: A war memorial was defaced.
True. Someone spray-painted the words 'Tory scum' on a memorial dedicated to the women of the Second World War. I'll most likely never learn the identity of the person who did this, but whoever it was seriously harmed our cause and our reputation. Today when I've been debating this, this is the first thing that people bring up against me and what I stand for. It means nothing in the grand scheme of things. The actions of one person on the spur of the moment have no reflection whatsoever on the mindset or attitude of everyone else. I have actually heard it said that this was a plain-clothed police officer attempting to harm the cause on purpose - I don't know if there is anything in that, but it's what they do say. Personally I don't find the suggestion that implausible because it's the sort of thing they can do, but it's all irrelevant anyway. Someone was stupid, let's forget about it and focus on the issues that we're actually fighting for. As a matter of fact, I wasn't even aware that it had happened until after I got home and saw it reported.
Rumour 3: The protesters were complaining about a Government that has been democratically elected.
False. This Government was not democratically elected, not properly. The majority of people did not vote for the Conservative Party. One of the key reasons for this protest was electoral reform - we demand a system that allows the opinions of those whose first choice is outvoted to still count, and is not outrageously biased in favour of bigger parties. The other reason I'm protesting is the numerous unfair policies which the Conservative Party have introduced, and continue to introduce - I'm worried about the next five years, and I want to do what I can to minimise the amount of suffering they entail. That means getting involved right now as soon as they have been elected. Besides these things, I don't have an issue with the Conservative Party on principle; if David Cameron woke up tomorrow and decided to listen to what I'm asking of him, I shall happily take back everything bad I've ever said about him - after I've come round after my dead faint, of course.
Rumour 4: There were around 100 - 150 people there.
False. There were thousands - I initially thought around 3,000, though a friend of mine said it was more like 1,500. What can I say, I don't have an actual statistic and I may have exaggerated things myself! Far more than the mainstream media suggested anyway.
Rumour 5: There was some very aggressive chanting.
True and false. The chants at demonstrations can be quite unpleasant at times. There are some that I refrain from joining in, such as the one involving burning the Tories and Liberal Democrats on a bonfire, which I really do not believe is called for. I also tend to avoid being actively provocative towards the police - if I disagree with how the police are conducting themselves I will call them out on it, but there are some who say some quite nasty things before that has happened. I do realise that anger manifests itself in many different ways and I'm understanding of people who initiate this sort of thing, but I don't think it's the most effective tool. Although I occasionally engage in fun songs like 'You can shove the Tories up your arse' (sung to the tune of 'She'll be coming 'round the mountain when she comes') I try to focus more on chants that are relevant to the issues at hand, such as 'Unemployment and inflation were not caused by immigration! Bullshit! Come off it! The enemy is profit!' (Which actually doesn't sound like much of a chant written on the page, but if you say it out loud it's poetic.) When confronted by the police, there was a point that we chanted, 'You're sexy! You're cute! Take off your riot suit!' I love that - it's not too confrontational, it's a bit more playful and humorous. It's on a case-by-case basis - the chanting can get confrontational, but the best way to respond to it is just to lead by example.
These are all the rumours that I can think of to clarify just now. Generally, I was really happy with how yesterday went. We did a lot of marching, a lot of chanting, some decent levels of debate and I felt that everyone I spoke to was pleasant and really motivated to make a change. I left with a couple of friends at around 6.30 when things started kicking off between the police and the protesters, and managed to escape before the kettling began. We stopped outside the police cordon, near enough to still be involved but far enough away that we were a separate group. Call us a mini-demonstration of three. In this time, we talked to passers-by, educating them about what we were doing and listening to their opinions. There was even a time when a group of Spanish schoolchildren passed, and their teacher asked us to talk about what we were doing, so we taught a class! It was a genuinely really rewarding experience - it was one of the most enjoyable pieces of activism I have ever done, I feel like we made a lot more progress than we would have had we stayed inside the kettle.
I stand by what I said in the last blog about 'The revolution is here' - if things continue like they were yesterday, I think we will be a very strong movement indeed (not that we aren't already). We must be careful though - I feel that many campaigns seem strong for a while, and then people lose interest. This is what happened with tuition fees and I was so disappointed when people stopped protesting about that, because it seemed to be going really well and I thought we were making progress. I stand by the thought that we would have won that one if we'd been a little more persistent.
Here is the next event:
Radical Left General Assembly
I most likely won't be able to attend this one as it's in the middle of the week and I have University commitments, but I will be there if I possibly can, and if I can't I shall help virtually via online media. Anyone who is able to attend, I strongly advise to get there.
Thank you to all of the people at the demo yesterday, with particular mention to Maia, who I hung around with most of the day, and to Aaron and Laura, who joined me on our protest of three at the end. I think we did really well, and I look forward to the next one.
The revolution is most definitely here... more from George soon!
Friday 8 May 2015
The revolution is here - Part 1
'You live in the future, and the future is here. It's bright. It's now.' Regina Spektor
Today was Day 1 of the next five years under the Conservative Government - not something I or anyone who will take anything from this blog is looking forward to. I honestly am greatly surprised by the results of the election. I've heard it suggested that this was a rigged vote, and that is something that I've considered, but I feel as though right now there are more important things to worry about than potential falsifications in a thoroughly inefficient electoral system in the first place.
It probably isn't necessary to make any comments about why I have concerns about the Conservatives remaining in power, but for the sake of form I will anyway - I have fundamental concerns about the state that our public services will be in by 2020 (the NHS is the one that everyone talks about and I am extremely scared about what will happen to that as well, but we must make sure that the other public services, such as education and welfare, do not fall by the wayside on our agendas); I am concerned about TTIP going through; I want to remain a part of the EU; the social inequality, including homelessness is something that I have become increasingly aware of over the last few years; and perhaps most importantly, I am concerned about our impact on this planet. I have to say that environmental issues are the thing that concerns me the most out of all of them, because I think that if we cannot keep this planet sustainable for our species, all of the rest of the issues become slightly irrelevant. Having said that, this does not take anything from my passion about sorting out all the rest of these things. What I have mentioned is just the tip of the iceberg, and I will debate my reasons behind all of these things at a later time, but that is not what this blog is for.
The way I see it, at this point each of us needs to make a choice. We can complain, sit around, watch the news over our cups of tea and wait until 2020 (at which point all of the unhelpful rhetoric that surrounded this election will be back) or we can get off our backsides, leave our homes and make the next five years as bearable as they possibly can be. I choose the second option. The coalition was elected when I was 16, and shortly afterwards at the age of 17 I started joining in with demonstrations, set up this blog and declared myself a political activist. Five years on, and I feel that I have been quite successful in this role. There are of course campaigns where my side didn't win, or that I have gone about things in a way that I wouldn't today, but at the same time I have learned a lot myself, become a better debater, met some fantastic political contacts and gained skills which can only be put to better use. In short, whilst I'm very proud of everything I've done so far, I have the potential to achieve far more in the next five years than I have in the five years that I have already been a part of this game. And this is important, because if we're going to get any further with this we need a revolution.
I have felt for a while now, almost as with the foreshadowing in a book, that the revolution is not far off. Friends have said to me, 'The revolution is coming, isn't it?' and I've thought about it and said, 'Yes, I think so.' Of course, there are other friends who don't believe that at all, and I've had to think a lot about whether I actually believe in the revolution, or if I am merely trying to convince myself of that. In honestly it fluctuates between the two a lot, but this week with the election I've been thinking about this a lot, and have come to the conclusion that whilst I believe in the revolution, none of us have any right to want one if we do not each intend individually to be the one who makes it happen. Whilst I'm disheartened, angry and above all concerned about my future and the futures of everyone around me, there is also an optimism and positivity there. From now on, I am going to turn my efforts to create social change up to a new level, and when I have reached that, I'll take it to a new level after that. I encourage everyone to join me on this - it's all very well to say that one person can't make a difference, but it is my belief that in a community, each person is as important as the community at large, and together we are responsible for this.
I was going to title this 'The revolution is coming', but as I was writing this I realise that that is inaccurate. The revolution isn't coming, it's already here. Every time I log onto social media, I can see my friends full of passion and anger, furious about the results of the election and ready to do something to sort this out. I don't think that passion ever left, it just lay dormant for a while. It is now the responsibility of each of us to keep those that we know ready and enthused to continue this revolution. Note the quote that I put at the top of this: it's from a song called Machine, and it always reminds me that there is no point waiting for the future. This is the future.
But I'm not just here to write encouraging words that ultimately have little meaning. I've been annoyed with myself over the last few years for being so sporadic with this blog. It really is not helpful to anyone, and for the foreseeable future I do very much intend to write about as many things that I have been doing and things that are upcoming that I physically can. Here is the first instalment:
F*CK THE TORY GOVERNMENT - NO TO ALL CUTS - YES TO REAL DEMOCRACY
All of the information is on the Facebook event, but in short, it's in London at Tory HQ tomorrow afternoon, and involves placards, protest and demands - just what we love. I intend to go myself; I only learned of it today, but if I don't go, I'm not going to do anything but sit around and feel sorry for myself all weekend, and there's no upside to that at all. Unless you have a hugely important prior commitment or another very good reason, I expect to see you there!
This is Part 1 - there will be a second part over the weekend, talking about my more general thoughts about this election, and also how the demonstration went.
Who knows, maybe we can create the next Golden Age...
Today was Day 1 of the next five years under the Conservative Government - not something I or anyone who will take anything from this blog is looking forward to. I honestly am greatly surprised by the results of the election. I've heard it suggested that this was a rigged vote, and that is something that I've considered, but I feel as though right now there are more important things to worry about than potential falsifications in a thoroughly inefficient electoral system in the first place.
It probably isn't necessary to make any comments about why I have concerns about the Conservatives remaining in power, but for the sake of form I will anyway - I have fundamental concerns about the state that our public services will be in by 2020 (the NHS is the one that everyone talks about and I am extremely scared about what will happen to that as well, but we must make sure that the other public services, such as education and welfare, do not fall by the wayside on our agendas); I am concerned about TTIP going through; I want to remain a part of the EU; the social inequality, including homelessness is something that I have become increasingly aware of over the last few years; and perhaps most importantly, I am concerned about our impact on this planet. I have to say that environmental issues are the thing that concerns me the most out of all of them, because I think that if we cannot keep this planet sustainable for our species, all of the rest of the issues become slightly irrelevant. Having said that, this does not take anything from my passion about sorting out all the rest of these things. What I have mentioned is just the tip of the iceberg, and I will debate my reasons behind all of these things at a later time, but that is not what this blog is for.
The way I see it, at this point each of us needs to make a choice. We can complain, sit around, watch the news over our cups of tea and wait until 2020 (at which point all of the unhelpful rhetoric that surrounded this election will be back) or we can get off our backsides, leave our homes and make the next five years as bearable as they possibly can be. I choose the second option. The coalition was elected when I was 16, and shortly afterwards at the age of 17 I started joining in with demonstrations, set up this blog and declared myself a political activist. Five years on, and I feel that I have been quite successful in this role. There are of course campaigns where my side didn't win, or that I have gone about things in a way that I wouldn't today, but at the same time I have learned a lot myself, become a better debater, met some fantastic political contacts and gained skills which can only be put to better use. In short, whilst I'm very proud of everything I've done so far, I have the potential to achieve far more in the next five years than I have in the five years that I have already been a part of this game. And this is important, because if we're going to get any further with this we need a revolution.
I have felt for a while now, almost as with the foreshadowing in a book, that the revolution is not far off. Friends have said to me, 'The revolution is coming, isn't it?' and I've thought about it and said, 'Yes, I think so.' Of course, there are other friends who don't believe that at all, and I've had to think a lot about whether I actually believe in the revolution, or if I am merely trying to convince myself of that. In honestly it fluctuates between the two a lot, but this week with the election I've been thinking about this a lot, and have come to the conclusion that whilst I believe in the revolution, none of us have any right to want one if we do not each intend individually to be the one who makes it happen. Whilst I'm disheartened, angry and above all concerned about my future and the futures of everyone around me, there is also an optimism and positivity there. From now on, I am going to turn my efforts to create social change up to a new level, and when I have reached that, I'll take it to a new level after that. I encourage everyone to join me on this - it's all very well to say that one person can't make a difference, but it is my belief that in a community, each person is as important as the community at large, and together we are responsible for this.
I was going to title this 'The revolution is coming', but as I was writing this I realise that that is inaccurate. The revolution isn't coming, it's already here. Every time I log onto social media, I can see my friends full of passion and anger, furious about the results of the election and ready to do something to sort this out. I don't think that passion ever left, it just lay dormant for a while. It is now the responsibility of each of us to keep those that we know ready and enthused to continue this revolution. Note the quote that I put at the top of this: it's from a song called Machine, and it always reminds me that there is no point waiting for the future. This is the future.
But I'm not just here to write encouraging words that ultimately have little meaning. I've been annoyed with myself over the last few years for being so sporadic with this blog. It really is not helpful to anyone, and for the foreseeable future I do very much intend to write about as many things that I have been doing and things that are upcoming that I physically can. Here is the first instalment:
F*CK THE TORY GOVERNMENT - NO TO ALL CUTS - YES TO REAL DEMOCRACY
All of the information is on the Facebook event, but in short, it's in London at Tory HQ tomorrow afternoon, and involves placards, protest and demands - just what we love. I intend to go myself; I only learned of it today, but if I don't go, I'm not going to do anything but sit around and feel sorry for myself all weekend, and there's no upside to that at all. Unless you have a hugely important prior commitment or another very good reason, I expect to see you there!
This is Part 1 - there will be a second part over the weekend, talking about my more general thoughts about this election, and also how the demonstration went.
Who knows, maybe we can create the next Golden Age...
Sunday 3 May 2015
Why I'm voting Green
Hello to all my readers!
We have a general election coming up this week, and I have not written about it as much as I was going to. I feel slightly guilty about this, but on the whole perhaps this is a good thing. I have of course seen a lot of rhetoric about most of the parties over the last few months, bordering from the highly interesting to the 'I can't believe they're writing about that' (Nicola Sturgeon and doll's hair, anyone?) Generally though, whilst I have been keen to inform myself about people's views and opinions and a lot of them have been interesting, many of these debates have neither influenced who I am likely to vote for, nor stood out as being worthy of discussion amidst what I consider to be the most pressing matters. So in the run-up to the first UK general election since I started writing this blog, I am going to explain why I intend to vote for the Green Party.
There are many policies that the Green Party have that the whole of my approach to social change actively supports - aside from the obvious environmental reasons (which would be good reason to vote for them in and of itself) there are numerous other things that they stand for which I am very passionate about, such as their approaches to forward-thinking education, protecting the National Health Service, raising the Living Wage, decommissioning Trident, working to help Palestine get recognition as an independent state and numerous other things. To be honest, I could write an essay on each of these things and more besides (and have to certain friends) but I really think that doing the same here would do more harm than good. I shall leave a link to the Green manifesto if anyone would like to take a look, but I am going to stick to my previous resolution to make these blogs a little shorter, and stick to why I myself am voting for them, rather than preaching things that people can read in numerous locations other than on my blog.
The bottom line is that I intend to vote Green because I am tired of the rate of social change in this country. In the last five years, I have worked hard on numerous campaigns intended to benefit people in the long-term, and whilst I like to think that I have been reasonably successful, it seems that our present Government has been so blinkered about the decisions that they have made that they are unwilling to take on board pressure from any sides that don't involve a large cash settlement. As an activist, this is frustrating and demotivating - not that I'm hardening to this game, because I still think that if I don't do it, I have no right to complain about others not doing it either. I want a Government which I believe will represent the interests that I stand for, which the Green Party would seem to do. I have been impressed by the likes of Caroline Lucas and indeed Natalie Bennett (I realise that the latter has received quite a bit of criticism which I may respond to another time, but I personally believe that although she has become uncomfortably flustered on occasion, she talks a lot of common sense.) I do not believe that Labour, the Conservatives' biggest rival, are entirely likely to sort out the problems that we have in a particularly efficient way - although the Conservatives are largely responsible for the issues with welfare and inequality, the Labour Party were paramount to us getting into that situation in the first place, and although I will admit that a Labour Government would be better than the alternative, I feel that they would be too slow in sorting things out. I feel that we are swiftly reaching a stalemate with all of the leading parties as a matter of fact, and right now it is time to think radical.
One thing that the Greens are largely criticised for is the fact that they are apparently 'too ambitious', i.e. promising things that are far too much both economically and socially for them to deliver. I will concede that there is likely to be an element of truth in that, but no more than there is with each of the other parties. I don't believe that there is a political party in any country in the world that can totally live up to its reputation after coming to power, not least because there is always more red tape to work around in practice than there is in theory. There has also been criticism of their economic understanding. Economics is my weakest point when it comes to political debate, so it is not something that I can comment on too technically, but it strikes me that their economic plan cannot possibly be worse than the plan that the Conservatives are working with. We are living in a country run by a Government that cuts vital funding to public services, leaves working people relying on charity to survive, whilst spending inordinate amounts of money on its own interests, including bonuses and bailouts received by wealthy individuals who really do not need them and ceremonial events which help no one and we could easily do without. Bearing this in mind, I think that if taxes were firstly raised (and yes, I do agree with raised taxes) and, more importantly, enforced fairly and proportionally to individual wealth, it would be a very good idea to spend money on the sort of things that the Green Party proposes.
Another thing that I would like to bring up is the subject of tactical voting. Many of my friends and colleagues have said to me that they support Green policies, but intend to vote somewhere a bit safer such as Labour due to the Greens' smaller chances of coming to power. Now, I will be the first to admit that our democratic process is appalling, and does not reflect the changing times and smaller parties whatsoever. It is extremely unfortunate that the Alternative Vote referendum of 2011 was lost, and I sincerely hope that we will have another chance for Electoral Reform in the near future. Having said that, I think it is extremely important to vote from one's heart. I recently heard Caroline Lucas say, 'The only wasted vote is a vote for someone who you do not believe in,' and I agree with her absolutely. Our democratic process may be biased against up and coming parties, but every tactical vote makes this problem more profound. I seriously doubt that the Green Party will come into power at this election, but I hope that they will get enough seats in Parliament to make the next five years a lot more bearable than the last. As a matter of fact, the Green Party have been fantastic in Parliament even with just one seat. I have been genuinely very impressed with Lucas, and I hope that we have many more like her to come. And for those people who have (possibly justified) concerns that the Greens may be slightly out of their depth economically, perhaps the knowledge that they are highly unlikely to reach a Parliamentary majority in this election can be a source of comfort. Perhaps if they get a few more seats, by 2020 they will be more equipped to take the helm than they are today.
Here is the Green Party manifesto, it's well worth a read:
https://www.greenparty.org.uk/assets/files/manifesto/Green_Party_2015_General_Election_Manifesto_Searchable.pdf
I must also clarify that I do not work for the Green Party, nor am I a paid-up member. I am supporting them at this election, because at this point in time they seem to represent what I stand for. I am not loyal to them, and it is entirely possible that my allegiance will turn somewhere else in the future. And for the record, were I not voting Green I would be voting Liberal Democrat, because I think that although their position on tuition fees was a massive mistake on their part, generally they have not been too bad in this coalition, and I have heard that there have been some quite dangerous Conservative Party bills that the Liberal Democrats have blocked.
This will likely be my last blog before the election; it will be interesting to write after it is over! I have a new regime for this blog - I won't go into it here, but suffice it to say that over the next few months it will be updated on a more regular basis than it has been in the past. Also, over the summer when I have more time, I am seriously considering a rebrand, because I think that I look a little outdated and I could do with promoting myself a bit more. I shall say no more here, but watch this space!
We have a general election coming up this week, and I have not written about it as much as I was going to. I feel slightly guilty about this, but on the whole perhaps this is a good thing. I have of course seen a lot of rhetoric about most of the parties over the last few months, bordering from the highly interesting to the 'I can't believe they're writing about that' (Nicola Sturgeon and doll's hair, anyone?) Generally though, whilst I have been keen to inform myself about people's views and opinions and a lot of them have been interesting, many of these debates have neither influenced who I am likely to vote for, nor stood out as being worthy of discussion amidst what I consider to be the most pressing matters. So in the run-up to the first UK general election since I started writing this blog, I am going to explain why I intend to vote for the Green Party.
There are many policies that the Green Party have that the whole of my approach to social change actively supports - aside from the obvious environmental reasons (which would be good reason to vote for them in and of itself) there are numerous other things that they stand for which I am very passionate about, such as their approaches to forward-thinking education, protecting the National Health Service, raising the Living Wage, decommissioning Trident, working to help Palestine get recognition as an independent state and numerous other things. To be honest, I could write an essay on each of these things and more besides (and have to certain friends) but I really think that doing the same here would do more harm than good. I shall leave a link to the Green manifesto if anyone would like to take a look, but I am going to stick to my previous resolution to make these blogs a little shorter, and stick to why I myself am voting for them, rather than preaching things that people can read in numerous locations other than on my blog.
The bottom line is that I intend to vote Green because I am tired of the rate of social change in this country. In the last five years, I have worked hard on numerous campaigns intended to benefit people in the long-term, and whilst I like to think that I have been reasonably successful, it seems that our present Government has been so blinkered about the decisions that they have made that they are unwilling to take on board pressure from any sides that don't involve a large cash settlement. As an activist, this is frustrating and demotivating - not that I'm hardening to this game, because I still think that if I don't do it, I have no right to complain about others not doing it either. I want a Government which I believe will represent the interests that I stand for, which the Green Party would seem to do. I have been impressed by the likes of Caroline Lucas and indeed Natalie Bennett (I realise that the latter has received quite a bit of criticism which I may respond to another time, but I personally believe that although she has become uncomfortably flustered on occasion, she talks a lot of common sense.) I do not believe that Labour, the Conservatives' biggest rival, are entirely likely to sort out the problems that we have in a particularly efficient way - although the Conservatives are largely responsible for the issues with welfare and inequality, the Labour Party were paramount to us getting into that situation in the first place, and although I will admit that a Labour Government would be better than the alternative, I feel that they would be too slow in sorting things out. I feel that we are swiftly reaching a stalemate with all of the leading parties as a matter of fact, and right now it is time to think radical.
One thing that the Greens are largely criticised for is the fact that they are apparently 'too ambitious', i.e. promising things that are far too much both economically and socially for them to deliver. I will concede that there is likely to be an element of truth in that, but no more than there is with each of the other parties. I don't believe that there is a political party in any country in the world that can totally live up to its reputation after coming to power, not least because there is always more red tape to work around in practice than there is in theory. There has also been criticism of their economic understanding. Economics is my weakest point when it comes to political debate, so it is not something that I can comment on too technically, but it strikes me that their economic plan cannot possibly be worse than the plan that the Conservatives are working with. We are living in a country run by a Government that cuts vital funding to public services, leaves working people relying on charity to survive, whilst spending inordinate amounts of money on its own interests, including bonuses and bailouts received by wealthy individuals who really do not need them and ceremonial events which help no one and we could easily do without. Bearing this in mind, I think that if taxes were firstly raised (and yes, I do agree with raised taxes) and, more importantly, enforced fairly and proportionally to individual wealth, it would be a very good idea to spend money on the sort of things that the Green Party proposes.
Another thing that I would like to bring up is the subject of tactical voting. Many of my friends and colleagues have said to me that they support Green policies, but intend to vote somewhere a bit safer such as Labour due to the Greens' smaller chances of coming to power. Now, I will be the first to admit that our democratic process is appalling, and does not reflect the changing times and smaller parties whatsoever. It is extremely unfortunate that the Alternative Vote referendum of 2011 was lost, and I sincerely hope that we will have another chance for Electoral Reform in the near future. Having said that, I think it is extremely important to vote from one's heart. I recently heard Caroline Lucas say, 'The only wasted vote is a vote for someone who you do not believe in,' and I agree with her absolutely. Our democratic process may be biased against up and coming parties, but every tactical vote makes this problem more profound. I seriously doubt that the Green Party will come into power at this election, but I hope that they will get enough seats in Parliament to make the next five years a lot more bearable than the last. As a matter of fact, the Green Party have been fantastic in Parliament even with just one seat. I have been genuinely very impressed with Lucas, and I hope that we have many more like her to come. And for those people who have (possibly justified) concerns that the Greens may be slightly out of their depth economically, perhaps the knowledge that they are highly unlikely to reach a Parliamentary majority in this election can be a source of comfort. Perhaps if they get a few more seats, by 2020 they will be more equipped to take the helm than they are today.
Here is the Green Party manifesto, it's well worth a read:
https://www.greenparty.org.uk/assets/files/manifesto/Green_Party_2015_General_Election_Manifesto_Searchable.pdf
I must also clarify that I do not work for the Green Party, nor am I a paid-up member. I am supporting them at this election, because at this point in time they seem to represent what I stand for. I am not loyal to them, and it is entirely possible that my allegiance will turn somewhere else in the future. And for the record, were I not voting Green I would be voting Liberal Democrat, because I think that although their position on tuition fees was a massive mistake on their part, generally they have not been too bad in this coalition, and I have heard that there have been some quite dangerous Conservative Party bills that the Liberal Democrats have blocked.
This will likely be my last blog before the election; it will be interesting to write after it is over! I have a new regime for this blog - I won't go into it here, but suffice it to say that over the next few months it will be updated on a more regular basis than it has been in the past. Also, over the summer when I have more time, I am seriously considering a rebrand, because I think that I look a little outdated and I could do with promoting myself a bit more. I shall say no more here, but watch this space!
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