What mainstream politics, the commentariat and media are ignoring is that the generation under me (under 40’s) are WAY, WAY more informed, active, political and committed to change. Not just here, but across the world.
Here in the UK, outside of Wales (Drakeford’s Welsh Labour, Plaid Cymru & Sinn Féin in the north of Ireland) there is no political Party even close to representing millions of People. Remember-*even basic Social Democracy* was seen as “Far left” or “Extremist” by the aforementioned Establishment players. The generation below me are to the Left of even those 3 options in Wales/NI as a general rule.
Because, unlike in 1979/80 when the Establishment had Neo Liberalism ready to go, as Capitalism collapses around us (even the FT etc admitting this), the Establishment has no ideas and no solutions; Capitalism moves from Neo Liberalism to what looks increasingly Authoritarian State-Controlled Capitalism (the irony of following the pattern of Authoritarianism-done more subtly, of some ruthless Communist dictators…), the resistance is not intimidated so far-we see this EVERYWHERE in the world. That shock will be those living in the Westminster/Media/’Middle England’ bubble.
I think potentially the best example of this is the election of Boric in Chile which may well see the first huge generational change. I don’t think Boric is that radical, and I think inevitably lots will be done those electing him don’t like (basically because of the old systems of power still being there and influential in Chile’s congress), but he IS radical to the Neo Liberals. Castillo in Peru is more radical, and another example-though, arguably, his support is more wide-spread across generations, and he is in a more vulnerable position.
Virtually everywhere outside of the UK, progressive politics are becoming normalised (and, yes, have been for a long time…but more so now) even within the Establishment governments (Germany as one example, Biden forced to the Left on domestic policy etc). As always, Latin America leads the way here with the new ‘Pink Tide’ well under way. The UK is one of the few ‘big players’ where this is not the case.
Corbyn gave a platform to what was-and very much is-still there. Now, thanks to the UK voting system, the choice for those who can govern the UK are truly awful and completely out of sync with the basic demands of the under 45s. That cannot, and will not, be sustainable. Black Lives Matter, Extinction Rebellion and even professional footballers have shown us that elected power is not needed to force huge change…or at least to start to.
That, for example, UK Labour know this and are doing literally everything in their power to deny this, deflect, look for inspiration from men (Blair, Mandleson) universally hated by all except the Labour right, Lib Dems and mainstream media, is very much part of the problem. It is a genuinely astonishing level of betrayal, denial, and, yes, fascistic internal management, that will only increase the likeliness of mass protest, maybe even riots, in the not-too-distant future.
Pretending that this is not the case is perhaps one of the most politically stupid choices ever made. At at time when a ‘radical’ alternative (embarrassing that basic Social Democracy is seen as ‘radical’ by these dinosaurs-shows how far to the right the UK is) has *genuinely* never been more needed since 1945. Our very existence as a species and planet depends on it.
Yet, thanks to compulsive lying, the media and a total disregard for democracy as many would see it, these People act in the exact same way as those they claim to oppose-like Trump, for example. Firing out fake news, lying outright in interviews….they’ll never admit it, of course. Because they ALWAYS see themselves as the ‘good guys’ no matter what they support.
Laughably, absurdly, they see themselves as ‘moderate’. Moderation is pretending there is no urgent climate crisis, that the Free Market is working well and just needs a tiny bit of tinkering, supporting literal terrorist states and regimes, creating world-changing illegal wars, the death of millions via war and watered-down austerity, and attempting to destroy the lives of passionate anti-racists while being racist themselves..etc etc.
True delusion. It’s why all these same People seem to hate the recently-released ‘Don’t Look Up’ film. Because it perfectly exposes these very flaws.
I am aware that this is best explained by the very People from said generation. Not me. But I hope this gives context for the millions of us who share the same mindset and vision, but are not from this exciting new generation. It’s why I highly endorse and support everyone reading Emma Frith’s article here.
Essential reading: https://www.redpepper.org.uk/young-left-and-marginalised/
Solidarity.
Simon Bolivar
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