For a long time, I’d suspected that change, should it come, would not feel celebratory; might not elicit happiness. That’s one of the significant bashings that our politics has taken over the last decade, with too many bad-faith actors either at the helm or tampering menacingly nearby for far too long. The country has become cruel, smaller, fissured over the last fourteen years. It has been exhausting for many, especially for those who have the least and for those who would advocate for them. From all this fatigue comes not happiness, but relief, and a reminder that there is much that urgently needs to be done, but which can now at least start to be done. Our electoral system has never before looked quite so precarious, with swathes of support no longer a guarantee of parliamentary seats; and where votes cast against weighed every bit as heavy, if not greater, than those cast for. An imperfect system: it was ever thus. It will take time to see what change will look like. To paraphrase one former holder of the office of Prime Minister: there will be those who commentate, and those who agitate, but the people we need most now are those who will do. Left, centre and right have all become fragmented and are no longer particularly useful classifying terms. Too many of the 650 members being returned to Parliament still wish to exploit, not banish grievance; still seek division, not unity. There are some dressing up racism as nationalism and calling it populism. And there is one promising to discard from his party the ‘few bad apples’, but not the maggots that make such fruit unpalatable in the first place. The change that is needed to tackle the huge number of problems faced by this country is a change that is more than possible, but to implement it will require fierce courage. A good place to start would be to reinforce the principles by which all who serve in public office are expected to abide by. Whilst today didn’t bring happiness, it has created the potential for something far more valuable: hope.
‘Friday Fragment’ is an additional weekly instalment to my A Thousand Fragments monthly newsletter.
Well said Matt - as Emily offered, Hope endures despite all adversity...
“Hope” is the thing with feathers -
That perches in the soul -
And sings the tune without the words -
And never stops - at all -
And sweetest - in the Gale - is heard -
And sore must be the storm -
That could abash the little Bird
That kept so many warm -
I’ve heard it in the chillest land -
And on the strangest Sea -
Yet - never - in Extremity,
It asked a crumb - of me.
…something far more valuable: hope.
Matt, this is a great read, the ending though reminded me of a discussion I recently watched on Eye of the Storm — a YT channel, where (approx halfway through the recording) Raoul Martinez, Yanis Varoufakis and their guest, political commentator: Ece Temelkuran discuss ‘Hope’ and how every thing has become so bleak that we as humans should not depend on It as it places us at the beginning of a type of paralysis. What humans need is determination and to have faith in other human beings at a grassroots level. The conversation was very thought provoking to say the least.
Temelkuran’s book — TOGETHER 10 Choices for a Better Now — explores this notion further. I intend on purchasing it & thought it was worth mentioning here.
Here is part of a review of the book by Sean Greer Pulitzer Prize winner and author of Less:
“…award-winning political commentator Ece Temelkuran puts forward a compelling new narrative for our current moment, not for some idealised future but for right now, and asks us to make a choice. To choose determination over hope; to embrace fear rather the cold comfort of ignorance; to save our energy for an unwavering attention on those in power and the destructive systems they uphold, rather than wasting time spewing out anger and outrage online.
Above all, this book asks you to choose to have faith in the other human beings we share this planet with.”
I hope (!) you don’t mind my meandering!