What to know about being a ‘Leftie’ in 2020 (and, well, always…)…Long, the hope comes at the end!:
*If you are in favour of common-sense basic things like using OUR money to pay for a fully-funded free healthcare service, free education for all/of all ages, housing for all where required, a decent, secure, paid job for all, support at parity levels for those unable to work in the same way (but this does not mean they contribute less)-in 2020, this is labelled “far left, hard left, Marxist, Communist, Loony Left, Snowflakes, pathetic idealists etc”. It’s not, to be clear, but that is what you will be labelled as. Anytime up to 1979, this would be seen as basic Social Democracy. Run-of-the-mill ‘normal’ Left/Labour Party policies. Even though such policies when in government have literally transformed those countries for the better-UK under Attlee, USA under FDR, Scandinavia for decades etc etc, you will be told what has already happened and is happening elsewhere is “unaffordable” and a “utopian pipe dream”. The expectations of the public will be so low, that basic things will be seen as “unaffordable and unrealistic” while that same money is given to billionaires in tax cuts and and supporting already billion pound profit making global conglomerates. Said companies will likely pass less tax, WAY LESS, pro rata, than you do.
*If you are a campaigner and engage in debate online, in meetings etc, you will be called everything under the sun, potentially physically assaulted based on media lies (I was), told you are a troll, a bully and an abuser. In almost all cases you will be the RECEIVER of this behaviour, but the media & narrative will literally be the opposite, and you will be framed as a sinister wrong-doer. Good recent example-The right/Tories/Trump/Police/Media place (sometimes paid) people to go in Black Lives Matter protests, smash stuff up, beat someone up, damage property to get the media and public to talk about this “extremism” and get people to say “I agree with their overall message, but not how they are doing it”. Then the message gets lost, and those protesters get labelled as troublemakers and the world moves on…
*The media, family & friends think you are “radical”. They will confuse you being informed, and often them not, and loud about the issues to counter the wall of BS noise, as being “radical, hard left (see above labels) etc”. You will also get “He/she/they mean well, their heart is in the correct place, bless them”. To you, it is blindingly obvious you’re trying to inform the turkeys that the farmer will definitely kill them all. The turkeys will laugh and insist the farmer has their back, and even though history tells us the farmer always kills those turkeys, they will forget this/not believe it will happen this time. The turkeys then get slaughtered by the farmer. The farmer tells the local newspaper this was the fault of you. The general turkey population will also then blame you. Repeat ad nauseam. Yes, I am aware I am calling people turkeys-but the analogy fits here.
*Every day will feel like you are donning armor, with a shield and no weapon. It will be mentally exhausting. You will find yourself thinking you are in the Twilight zone while others responding to you do so truly believing they are informed, with a sort of smugness & self confidence that could power a nation if harnessed for energy purposes. This ‘being informed’ will be based on a joke on Have I Got News For You, watching Newsnight (at best), listening to Radio 4 at the one end…or reading absurd social media content/tabloids the other end. All will think they know ‘the truth’, all will see you as (insert any of the above labels). Oh, and all will blame you when things f**k up, as they always do. Said people are incapable of humility or any form of responsibility being taken by themselves.
*You will be mentally beaten and demoralised constantly. You will feel helpless and hopeless while the world burns around you. BUT, without knowing, you will grown the rhino skin of Jeremy Corbyn. It will happen slowly & incrementally. You will realise, it may be a debate, a conversation, a meeting…you will realise you have grown enormous inner strength and resilience. You will have days where you feel this has completely deserted you, but that will happen less and less. You will feel guilty about feeling like giving up re politics. Don’t.
*You will then look around and realise, even if these things do not transpire directly into power, they ARE making a huge difference. Let me show you how: 2015 Corbyn & his supporters are literally laughed at and mocked for being anti-austerity. By everyone. 2020: Of course via lies and PR, but now the Tory government is claiming to out-Labour Labour with huge investment programmes. The measures taken here and internationally during lock-down. NONE, I repeat, NONE of this happens without YOU. YOU helped create the political environment for this to happen. Look at Extinction Rebellion, look at Black Lives Matter. Demonstrably changed/changing the world. Is it enough? No, of course not! Would any of this be happening without YOU & like minded people kicking against the pr*cks? NO! DEFINITELY NOT!!! Do you honestly think Joe Biden’s tax plans in America would be more radical than Bernie Sanders’ in 2016 unless Bernie had not been so affective, without winning technically?! NO CHANCE! Again, is this enough? NO! But…
*And here is the bonus-you get to meet some of the most brilliant, compassionate, strong, intelligent, informed, determined, organised, inspirational people alive. Who have all been inspired by the generations before who also fought similar battles. The Chartists, The Levellers, The Suffragettes, The Unions, The Revolutions/Revolutionaries…all of these people are far more were spoken of in appalling terms at the time. Martin Luther King was deeply unpopular towards the end in polling terms, with the general public (because of all the aforementioned, not MLK himself)…all now rightly revered. None of them, or you, did it/do it to be revered, they do it to save society from itself. To stand up for all; those who cannot stand up themselves, and those who can. Embrace the fact some of the very best people include YOU now. It’s hard to be objective about yourself. The Left always are more critical of ourselves than our opponents. We are TOO self-critical. Yes, humility & self-reflection is crucial, but not at the cost of the fight.
*The battle/struggle/progression NEVER ends. Even if you win power-that’s when ‘they’ come after you hardest. The battle will never end. There is no grand final victory. So embrace the battle as a long-term permanent thing. Do not fear it. You will adapt
DO NOT, EVER feel like a failure or guilty if you feel too exhausted physically or mentally; we ALL feel it. Someone else will lead with the energy on that day. You are human; we all need love, support, guidance, a break etc etc. Take a break where needed, it is absolutely not failure to do so.
THANK YOU to all you brilliant, compassionate unsung heroes. Remember, there are millions who have your back; you are never alone.
Solidarity!
Adam Samuels
