I fought alongside socialist friends for the Labour Party in last month's election, and am still saddened by the result. That we lost, is a deep wound. Fighting for the homeless, the hungry, the stranger, for redistributing wealth so that working families are raised above the poverty line, protecting workers rights and universal healthcare was important to me. I console myself with the thought that I stood with the good guys, and I have no regrets for doing so. A deeply conservative neoliberal administration has been given an unassailable majority and will take it as permission to continue the process of ripping apart the social fabric of this nation. But not with my consent.
How then do I deal with disappointment verging on despair? To acknowledge it, and to make something of lasting significance, if possible, I suppose.
Maybe the worst won't happen. (It won't happen to ME, at least ...) I hope not. But if catastrophe is to be avoided, everyone of good will is going to have to step up. When you have elected a government that will withdraw from caring for its citizens, you need to choose. Are you prepared to watch more people die from broken services and the removal of a welfare safety net, or will will put the energy you mustered for a political fight into a humanitarian one?
The omens are not good.
So, "Keep Calm And Carry On"? Not there yet. I'll keep you posted.
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