Stay angry, people.

Ed's dead, baby. Borrowed, with thanks,
from the Independent

I was unsure whether or not to write a post, post-election, on my post-election blues. For the most part, this was because I'm sure that political commentators, bloggers, activists, and people with far more understanding of the political landscape and the effect that the latest result would have on the lives of those for whom the spectre of a Tory government was only a bad dream, a shade that haunted at night when the lights burned low and the wolves howled at the door, had already used all of the adjectives and metaphors of despair in ways far more eloquent than anything I might come up with. I find however that I must say something, even if it doesn't help matters, to explain to myself more than anyone else why it is I feel so miserable. I will probably have no right to bemoan a Conservative government - my country still has a socialist leader, in theory if not in practice - particularly as I did very little to support a Labour victory in the General election. Indeed, I voted Green, albeit in what I understood to be a safe Labour seat in Cardiff South & Penarth. I also blocked the Labour party emails, ignored their requests for volunteer action, refused to answer to the door to their party activists, recycled their leaflets unread, and allowed evil to triumph by doing nothing. I can lay no claim to being a good man, but it is in everyone's interest (everyone important to me that is) that I do voice concern over a Tory election victory and at least attempt an apology for my inaction.

I'm sorry.

Where I went wrong, in assuming pollsters were close to correct in their predictions of a hung parliament and, I hoped, a rainbow coalition of centre and centre-left parties, was in hope itself. Hope has no intrinsic value. Hope doesn't win elections. In fact, hope is one of the least helpful things to have in a battle, in a struggle where the outcome is far from certain. Hope is no mighty broadsword, no rolling artillery fire; hope is not essential supplies for the frontline. Hope is insidious, soporific, and a complete bastard. Hope has, basically, thumped me in the balls and run off, laughing, with the buxom brunette of British governance. But hope will always do that. The most irritating aspect is that I know this, knew it in advance, and instead of working to secure victory (for a Labour win is a victory for the people who need our help), I trusted in hope's fidelity to deliver change, and I am cuckolded once again. 

So why did I trust hope? Because I'm an idiot. I took a look around my life on Friday, before getting very drunk, and realised that of the people I count as friends, I can identify but two people who might or would normally support the Conservative party, and one of those didn't because he didn't agree with their planned repeal of the hunting ban. Even in my social mediaverse, I can count the Tories on the fingers of one finger. I've siloed my life to the extent that I have no concept of what is actually happening. All around me are people who reflect, share, validate and affirm my own, shallowly held views and opinions. There is no-one out there to challenge me, with whom to enter into a debate, to test my resolve and sharpen my wits. I'm a dullard, sedentary and comfortable, surrounded by people who make me feel better about being a slug. I don't enter into discussions, just block or unfollow, unfairly dismissing opinions as internet trolling. And I've chosen to do this. No wonder then that a majority Tory government came as the most unpleasant of unpleasant surprises come Friday morning. No wonder that my capacity for hope never ceases to amaze and disappoint me. Will I learn? Probably not. 

But the election is not all doom and gloom. On the bright side, Nigel Farage is still a non-MP who has never been elected as an MP despite seven attempts, and is now also not the leader of a bunch of bigots. Even if only temporarily, three of the major parties in UK politics are lead by women. Of the 66% of people who voted, 60% didn't vote Tory. The new kids on the block, the sensible nerd with the Greenpeace tee of the Green Party and the fat, spotty twat sneaking fags from his older brother and swearing he's not the BNP, UKIP, might actually have some impetus and hold sway over the future of electoral reform. And there is a groundswell of anger over another five years of inequality, of the carving up of the NHS, of cutting welfare, and of discrimination on the grounds of wealth which means that the sweaty, ham-faced fuck trumpet in Number 10, and his odious pet reptile next door will not be able to rest easy as their chums profit from usury and TTIP at the cost of pretty much everyone else. 

Man-crush...

If nothing else, this election has taught me that in times of stress and anxiety, the ignorant arseholes of the world will always look to protect themselves, as the petty selfish little wankers that we all can be at times. It proves that fear-mongering and divisive rhetoric have greater power than messages of peace and unity, and that sitting idly by as the Lizard Overlords map out a future of austerity and inequality is not acceptable. But also that there are people out there working to fix this, next time, people of great humanity and integrity, willing to fight where others are not. I could hope to be one of those.

Look to your peers. Look to your community. Look at yourself. If a black man with the middle name Hussein can convince enough Americans to reform healthcare to end two centuries of penury and lonely deaths for poor, sick people, then we can certainly mobilise to fight unchecked Tory austerity. Sign those petitions, go visit your local food bank to see if you can help. Don't let fear win. We're all in this together you know. Even the Scots. 

Further reading:
Stay angry, people: http://www.newstatesman.com/politics/2015/05/dont-give-angry-population-hard-govern-depressed-population-easy
It's all kicking off already: http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/protesters-police-face-downing-street-5670007?ICID=FB_mirror_main
Ways to stay sane: http://www.ifyoudidntvoteconservative.com