Our country is sliding off the edge of a cliff - is this the best we have got?
Two prominent leaders, having a spat? Thousands of people, whose faith, yet again, has been thrown on rocks?
Is this the best we've got?
Our country gets worse, people’s lives get worse, and the only unifying force that’s gaining traction is a movement bound by hate?
Is this the best we've got?
What is going on?
When we define ourselves simply as the force that stops ‘fascism’, that’s not a vision, it’s not a mandate for change - it’s panic.
It is not a unifying clarity of purpose or a vision that shows people that things will get better.
"We’re going to try and not make this shit-show even shitter", is simply not the same thing as "things will get better".
At best, all that defining ourselves as 'anti-fascist' can ever be is a mission to return to the former status quo.
We can do better. We must do better.
We must stop defining ourselves as a reaction to the right.
We must be a vision for change:
A fairer Britain, that works for everyone - where ordinary people’s lives get better.
We must stop defining ourselves by meaningless tribal jargon:
Left, right, socialist, fascist. Little tins of nonsense that strip out our humanity, our purpose, our minds and our common aspirations.
We must instead define ourselves by our common identity:
We’re ordinary people, good people.
By our values (the compass that guides us):
We are decent people, who look after each other and who want to leave this place better for our kids.
Simplified: Compassion, Humanity, Sustainability.
We must define our purpose by our common goals and common struggles:
When people’s lives get worse, they’re ignored, mocked, labelled, and told to be grateful it’s not worse. When their benefits are stripped away, their hard work doesn’t pay, their debt rises, the houses that their parents could afford, are now out of reach, when children become a luxury, and the only thing they are offered is hate, what option do they have but to follow Tommy Ten Names, and the "Peoples Goblin" (Farage)?
We are:
People, ordinary people, who want to just get by.
They see us talk about the environment in 50 years and foreign wars thousands of miles away, whilst they face a lived reality today, where they can’t feed their kids, heat their homes, or afford to hope.
What option, apart from anger, have they got?
How do we move forward?
We need to give people hope, a vision and a commitment to making their lives better - a commitment to making ordinary people’s lives better.
The enemy is declining living standards, a crumbling NHS, and jobs that don't pay. Not each other.
When your house is falling apart, two jobs are not enough, you're sick, surrounded by decay, your kids are hungry - what option is there but hate?
The solution is to tackle the problem (wealth inequality), not the symptom (hate).
Wealth inequality means that wealth buys our politics, buys our democracy, buys the narrative, buys our houses, puts up the rents, buys our water companies, sells our NHS for parts, for profit.
Wealth inequality means that most of us don't have the time to have a voice, or a choice, because we barely have the time to survive.
It means that we're forced to let 'them' be our voice, and make the decisions for us.
Except whilst they do make decisions - those decisions are not for us.
The enemy is wealth inequality. Not the far right.
The solution
Redistribution. Stop wealth inequality. Stop trickle-up economics.
We need a fair Britain that works for everyone, including the hardest hit.
They’re good people, too. Just people living in difficult times.
Let’s stand together and focus on the mission.
We don’t have time to faff about and form coalitions and debate terminology whilst our country falls off a cliff.
How change happens
Clarity of purpose - step back and focus on the big picture, not debate the details
Vision: A fairer Britain, that works for everyone.
Problem: stop wealth inequality - the looting of our common wealth, to make a few people richer (treat the cause, not symptoms).
Clarity of values (our compass) - Be decent, look after each other, leave things better for our kids (Compassion, Humanity, Sustainability)
Clarity of identity & unity: - we're ordinary people, good people. Not left, not right, etc.
Clarity of action: Join the Greens today, shape the policy (it’s democratic) and help us build a fairer Britain that works for everyone!
Notes: the Greens are not perfect, we need more focus (it's why I'm writing this), we need more representation (it's why I'm writing this), but they are the only party that can make change happen.
Every other party only gives us a choice between slow decline, or fast decline.
Because when those parties work for people who benefit from the problem, they will never be a solution.
But the Greens can't do it as they stand today. They need you.
We need focus, unity, and clarity.
We need you.
Join the Greens today, and make change happen.