No More Mr Passive Guy

What a month... When I first heard that we were leaving the EU, I was shocked. In fact, I thought the website I was using to check the results hadn't updated itself properly and was stuck on a non-final result. But I'm not so much here to talk about that on its own. After shock came the thought that, while the country might not be going in my preferred direction, we may get to a reasonable destination, possibly even better than the one we're in in some areas. Then came all the backtracking by Brexit politicians, the resigning of our Prime Minister, the this and the that, and all the while the same old Corbyn-bashing was going on in the media and within the Labour party itself. But I'm not sad, or despondent, because there's hope.

   In the run up to the referendum I was completely convinced [as I was with the Scottish one] that fear of change [i.e. fear of losing the positives of the status quo] would loom larger in the voting public's mind than the sketchily articulated 'benefits' [or ’not-promised promises’, or 'implied wonders' as they were this time], and common sense would prevail with a remain vote. Obviously that didn't happen, and it's partly my fault. Yes I voted, and I'm sure you can guess which way, but I didn't agitate. I didn't engage people in discussion, by which I mean people on the street, outside of social media. I think it’s good form to keep politics out of my work, but I could've at least started conversations about it with customers. It might not have changed any votes, but I could've gained a sense of what people's reasons were for voting, and maybe agreed with/refuted them on a number of  wider platforms. But I'm not going to dwell on that, because there's hope.

   Recently I took action. We can’t change the past but we can have an impact on the future by doing something in the present. I would normally shy away from 'nailing my colours to the mast', but those quiet days are coming to an end. Because inaction, shyness and coyness are not powerful tools in this world - a world where simple lies and deceptions are enough to trick the majority of voters - because assumptions do not help overturn prejudice and narrow self-interest, because, I hope, that if we believe and act soon enough, there is chance for us all: because of this I have joined Momentum. Together we are in a better position to change things positively, and now I can try and be part of that.

   I’d appreciate you taking the time to look at their aims too, and then deciding whether you think joining would be right for you.

Time to keep Corbyn!

M x