On the upside, a lot of old Tory voters will have passed away in 5 years, and a lot more young people will be coming in the other end.
Climate change might be worse and that might help focus minds.
The economy might be in a mess.
My heart goes out to all of you in the UK trying to make sense of this new reality. Almost a decade of crushing austerity, and now the Conservatives have their most commanding parliamentary margin since the Thatcher era - but under the leadership of Bumbling Boris (!?). I know it can seem like all hope is lost. I felt the exact way after Trump and the GOP swept the federal government here in the US in 2016.
But here's where you can begin to invest some optimism. I've quoted stu's points about lurking changes because, harkening to systems theory, these are non-linear variables that can bring about an entire phase shift in British society. The entire world is going through a phase shift that's being powered by exponential changes in innumerable variables, but the driving factor seems to be climate change with the knock-on ways it will completely scramble the global economy (actually, it's already scrambling the economy). Even though the Tories will have an iron grip for now, these nonlinear alterations in our biophysical world, plus the rising generation, are not waiting, and they will be gathering power away from the front pages and headline stories. Our modern media landscape is crafted to focus on immediate developments, and whenever it turns its gaze to the future, it usually does so with the assumption that current conditions will proceed linearly and under the same terms that governed the past. But the Tories (along with their American GOP and Australian Liberal cousins) are especially prone to these delusions, because they are the political apotheosis of our shortsighted collective culture . They won't see the societal bombshell that's coming, and it will be quite the spectacle when the rug is pulled out from under all of these self-assured Etonians.
For what it's worth, I'm including a link to Bayo Akomolafe's incredibly uplifting essay, An Open Letter to the Brokenhearted. It was the first thing that returned some light to my soul after Trump was elected, largely because it drew attention to those germinating sources of hope that can only be found in the margins.
Thank you for posting that link. Especially liked this part:
“Remember the earth. Remember your ancestors. Remember your four-legged, winged, crawling relatives. Remember life. Your life, your way of living, that is the only activism you’ve ever had. Use it. Make your existence a ritual that honors everything your body and words touch. The times are troubled and you are needed. Wake up—notice the consequence of every action and non-action. You are needed. You are needed. You are needed.”
Labour must stay bold, but they must focus more on the Tories shortfalls. Someone, I can't remember who, said Corbyn would lose, but that Sir Keir Starmer/John McDonnell or another soft left/hard left team would win and get in within a few years, they would be bold, but slightly less so than Corbyn.
here's the image as promised
On the upside, a lot of old Tory voters will have passed away in 5 years, and a lot more young people will be coming in the other end.
Climate change might be worse and that might help focus minds.
The economy might be in a mess.My heart goes out to all of you in the UK trying to make sense of this new reality. Almost a decade of crushing austerity, and now the Conservatives have their most commanding parliamentary margin since the Thatcher era - but under the leadership of Bumbling Boris (!?). I know it can seem like all hope is lost. I felt the exact way after Trump and the GOP swept the federal government here in the US in 2016.
But here's where you can begin to invest some optimism. I've quoted stu's points about lurking changes because, harkening to systems theory, these are non-linear variables that can bring about an entire phase shift in British society. The entire world is going through a phase shift that's being powered by exponential changes in innumerable variables, but the driving factor seems to be climate change with the knock-on ways it will completely scramble the global economy (actually, it's already scrambling the economy). Even though the Tories will have an iron grip for now, these nonlinear alterations in our biophysical world, plus the rising generation, are not waiting, and they will be gathering power away from the front pages and headline stories. Our modern media landscape is crafted to focus on immediate developments, and whenever it turns its gaze to the future, it usually does so with the assumption that current conditions will proceed linearly and under the same terms that governed the past. But the Tories (along with their American GOP and Australian Liberal cousins) are especially prone to these delusions, because they are the political apotheosis of our shortsighted collective culture . They won't see the societal bombshell that's coming, and it will be quite the spectacle when the rug is pulled out from under all of these self-assured Etonians.
For what it's worth, I'm including a link to Bayo Akomolafe's incredibly uplifting essay, An Open Letter to the Brokenhearted. It was the first thing that returned some light to my soul after Trump was elected, largely because it drew attention to those germinating sources of hope that can only be found in the margins.
Could such a bombshell mean The Greens form Government in Australia in the next decade? Sorry to go off topic, but this would be good to see if anyone thinks The Greens could do it. Also, do you think they will likely make gains in the 2021 or 2022 federal election.