Anybody that knows me knows that I am a very lazy person.
Lazy, something of an asshole at times
and a bit of a loudmouth pisshead too. That’s fine, I can live with who I am.
But in the last few weeks, I have been the most passionate, the most driven and
the most excited about something than I have ever been. I would like to explain
why.
It was teaching Media in 2010 that started me thinking about
things. Understanding bias and seeing the difference between truth and spin has
always been something that has interested me. A good friend of mine often loves
to send me wild conspiracy theories, and sometimes its fun to find the original
sources and rebuke them.
I remember seeing a news article about climate change and
its possible ability to cause long term damage. I found it truly difficult to
find any kind of realistic source to rebuke it.
It was around about this time that a news article came out
that said that 85 people had as much wealth as the poorest half of the planet.
I have never been wilfully naïve, I have always known that the world is a
vastly unjust place on the whole, and the fact that this news wasn’t surprising
was what shocked me the most. I decided, a good two years ago now to start
buying New Scientist. I don’t see spin in this magazine, I see factual basis
and scientific anaylsis. When they touched on the link between inequality and
climate change, I saw the dots connect just as the scientific community already
had.
I have never been a fan of politics or politicians. Despised
it for a long time, and I still do. Difficult to find myself being involved in
it, I once thought. The link between the climate change problem and the
inequality problem is an issue bigger than simple politics. It angered me, It
made me more interested in the social deprivation being dolled out onto my own
country and people. I wondered, what can I do, as one person? Just sharing
articles on Facebook isn’t enough. Just being on twitter and doing the same, sharing
information with strangers, isn’t enough.
The damage that’s been done in the last five years has been
surmountable. I have seen true stories of disabled people kicked out their homes,
suicides due to welfare reforms, the poorest and most vunerable in society being
hit by the harshest of sanctions and cuts. I have seen public services ravaged
and turned into private businesses. The privatisation of the railways when Maggie
was in was nothing compared to the rampant destruction that has been caused in
the last 5,even 10 years. All of it is in the name of economic growth and the ideology
of trickle down economics. Make the rich richer, and it will flow down the rest
of us. This doesn’t work, and hasn’t worked. Scientific studies, Reports,
surveys, and research has been done that proves this to be the case. Capitalism
isn’t inherently evil, but when its allowed to be completely unregulated as it
has, we see the wreck it leaves behind.
It was as clear to me now as it was then, something needs to
change and we can only change a system that’s broken by fixing it en masse.
Revolution, of course, was the topic of a lot of media, made pliable by the
irksome, marmite character of Russell Brand.
We have to thank for him for bringing ideas of social
justice and change into the public consciousness. No matter whether you like or
loathe him, his presence HAS been effective for the better. Ridiculous really
considering his recent about turn, but no less true.
How can we change the system? Without pulling it down with
firebombs and riots? Reverse the power and influence this richest 0.01% have?
I researched the current political parties. I didn’t want
to, but figured it was an obvious choice. When I got to the Greens, it became
clear they offered something different. I didn’t know how different at first,
and ill get to that.
I joined a year ago now. When I first joined I had barely
any money to scrape together but felt like I wanted to make a point, it was
summer 2014. A few weeks after joining and going to a meeting, it became clear,
and no disrespect to any member, it was something much smaller than I expected.
A bunch of good friends, campaigning on local issues.
I had met Terry white a few times. We were at a party for the
Eurovision song contest, we often do them. I told him to join the Greens, he
had a political background, and I suggested it would be good for them and for
him, a point for him to rally behind. He joined, and became the candidate, and
the rest leads me to the point when the manifesto was launched.
That Manifesto for the Green party….I don’t see this as a
political manifesto in the same way that the other parties do things. If you
look, at this 84 page document, there are changes in almost every aspect of
human life that would benefit us for the long term, reduce inequality and ensure
climate change is kept at bay. Its like all the social justice movements of the
last couple of years have been connected together and joined together under one
name.
In education, members have picked policies from the best
education system in the world. In health, they have looked at research on every
topic needed to ensure it makes our health service the strongest it can be. In Travel,
they aim to invest into public services to eventually, longterm, have less cars
on the road, reduce our carbon footprint. In Economy, they wish to make banks
more accountable, stop them being able to create their own money, another
research based policy chosen by members. That’s just a few examples. When I joined,
I never thought id end up voting on policy at a conference, and I did. Any
member can submit a change in a policy and as long as its voted in, it becomes
actual policy. That’s real people power.
We have seen a massive uprising across the world in global consciousness,
I never realised how linked it all was. I was spurred on further when I saw how
Syriza took Greece, and how Podemos have risen in Spain. There is a clear
people power movement being built across the world. When I read this document,
it became clear to me this was the only logical answer to the issues we face
here in our own country and that this is part of this global movement.
Since this election period, I have worked my nuts off. I
have barely seen my wonderful, long suffering partner. I have worked everyday
at the school, sometimes under a lot of pressure due to the coursework, finished
at 5,gone out leafleting. I have leafleted, delivered posters,delivered
billboards, attended hustings events, ran the social media presence (risen
twitter from 400 to 1,290) and basically made sure as many people in our town
have seen or met their candidate Terry. Its been like doing two jobs..but its been amazing fun.
I have never seen myself so driven, so passionate and so
determined.
Politics is something we should all do. Not something that
should be thrust upon us.
By Voting Green, you are using the system you hate against
them. You are exercising the one small right they have given you, to take back
what is yours. True People power, True Democracy, True change.
And that is my view on this election. Take it or leave it, I am glad ive made a mark.
