From Outside the Box. Politics beyond Left, Right and Middle.

Willie Drennan

Politics viewed from outside the box.

  

Politics, elections and referendums seem to bring out the worst in human nature and the upcoming Westminster election is no exception.

Throughout history the ruling classes across the world have used various means to control and sustain their dominance over the servile multitudes. In modern times, it’s all much more sophisticated but they still require us all to fit neatly into their wee boxes so they can manipulate and keep the system under control.

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Left versus Right has long been the magic formula to keep the masses from figuring out the master game plan. It is the prominent tool used to deliver the tried and tested strategy of dividing and conquering the masses.  You don’t even need to classify yourself: they will do it for you if you are confused.

But what does politically Left and Right even mean anymore?  Does the concept actually exist anymore in reality?  I prefer to think circular as opposed to linear: where on a circumference the Far Left, Stalin inevitably meets up somewhere along the line with the Far Right, Hitler.

 Of course you can alternatively join the other group who actually steer both Left and Right – the seemingly middle of the road Liberal elites.  They consider the masses mere peasants, legitimate tools, and essential fodder for the sustenance of wealth and power. On occasion sycophants from all three groups temporarily converge when it suits a common agenda. Each group depends on the other two for their existence.

They all must really hate people like me and our wee mini mass movement of individuals who passionately choose to not belong. They haven’t figured out what to do with us yet. The best they can come up with to date is to lump us into the new global box called “populism”. But what does populism even mean? Looking up the term in various dictionaries and on Google doesn’t quite fully explain its contemporary daily usage on the global airwaves.

Whatever it used to mean, it now seems to refer to the likes of me in the UK who voted for Brexit. And the label is now used to pigeon-hole any one who dares vote against the wishes of established regimes in Europe and the so-called Western world.

This is where I get annoyed as I don’t want to be herded into any of their boxes, even a box called populist. I don’t want to be chained to only one herd.

Perhaps we all have a wee bit of a sub-conscious primal herd mentality in our genes and hence the attraction to political herds?  I endeavour to overcome my primal instincts by attending the occasional football match.

Okay, I did vote Brexit and had a long list reasons why I did so. Here they are as stated in advance of the referendum.

I got quite involved in the pre-referendum debate and so I know there are millions like me who voted for similar reasons. I suppose being lumped together into a new box labelled populist could perhaps be something to be proud of, but the corporate media present it as a negative.

 The negative tone in which the term populist is delivered in the modern context clearly now means: the common folk, the mere workers, the uneducated, the non-university programmed, the narrow minded bigots, the racists, the peasants. I look forward to the next edition of the Oxford Dictionary as no doubt this will make reference to the new meaning of the word.

Progressives?  This is the latest new buzz word that the political classes are signing up to in their droves.  It seems to be replacing the word, “liberal” as liberal obviously no longer means liberal.

 But, what does “progressive” even mean any more? It now seems to mean supporting political and social reform as long as you obey to the sort of reform that the leading progressives want.  It also seems to mean that rules regarding freedom of conscience, thought and speech have gone back to 1984 standards for those who dare challenge the self-attested moral and intellectual superiority of the new progressives.

We now are encouraged to take blatant partisan positions on everything: Brexit, Middle East, Ukraine, NHS, immigration, terrorism in the name of Islam, equal marriage, abortion, and Donald Trump to name but a few. There are grey areas in all these issues but firing venom at, or shutting down, those who disagree with our opinion seems to be the norm.

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The Westminster Election of June 8^th is further solidifying divisions and sealing up the boxes. Many are those who knew for certain who they would be voting for from the day the election was announced. They will be enthusiastically fighting for their cause until election day, regardless of what their political leaders may say or do during the election campaign. Their loyalty is undaunted and beyond question.

Part of me is envious though. Life has to be a lot simpler when you can sing from the same hymn sheet with so many friends and like-minded people within your own box; even if they are mostly only on Facebook. You don’t even have to give much thought on how to vote in elections: it’s all worked out for you. And you don’t have to worry should it go horribly wrong at some point for those you elect into office. You will always know that it will be the fault of the external forces: the other lot will always be to be blame. You will be immune from responsibility.

On the other hand for the rest of us, outside the boxes, it is not so easy. We will have to ponder the options so that we can best make an informed independent decision on June 8^th. We might get it seriously wrong and we will only have ourselves to blame.