You ask yourself where you live. It is a country of raised eyebrows, deep scepticism, and of keeping things as they are in case they get worse. It is a country that believes in the NHS but will risk its future because it is sceptical about threats to demolish it. It is a country with a fragmented working class base with a fragmented sense of identity. It has no great opinion of itself but will not be told by others that it should have a low opinion of itself. Fuck you, it replies. It is several countries not one. Its sleep too is fragmented. In the morning it raises its eyebrows while one part then another breaks off. It needs to be addressed patiently, with deadly honesty, with some appreciation of its intelligence, even with some affection, especially by those who want it to change, to move from acts of individual altruism (of which it has plenty) to one of socially cohesive altruism. It needs stop raising its eyebrows. It needs to see the greater good against the cost. It needs to say, now and then, fuck the cost. The gain is greater.
Go on Labour! Address it!
5 comments:
Nice and interesting post. I really enjoy reading this post.
Dear George
I expected the Tories to win but not to get an overall majority and neither did anybody else. It's quite obvious what happened. The English were (rightly) terrified of the SNP holding the balance of power so came out in their droves to vote Tory. So basically Cameron owes Sturgeon a crate of whisky!
Best wishes from Simon R. Gladdish
You can't do a Cain and Abel on your brother and expect to get away with it. Not even in UK politics.
I don't think Cain lost, Gwilym. I suspect people barely remember that.He simply stood against his brother because the unions wanted a candidate. As the poet Sheenagh Pugh pointed out on Facebook, nobody thinks Serena Williams has murdered Venus when she beats her in a match.
The reasons for Labour's defeat - and I think it was Labour's defeat rther than the Tories' victory - are long and complex. I will try to write down what I think and post it here.
Dear George & Gwil
To be honest, I think that Jacob and Esau is a much closer parallel than Cain and Abel.
Best wishes from Simon
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