PRAXIS

Followers of this blog will be familiar with my longstanding position on fake democracy. I actively campaign for a real democracy but I’ve never registered to vote; ‘I don’t negotiate with terrorists’. ‘I refuse to legitimise a rigged game’. ‘Don’t vote it only encourages them’. ‘Whoever wins, we’ll still get corporate governance’,…(and other snidey one-liners).

I believe real democracy should be practised daily with our families, friends and the communities we share. If parliament conducted itself with the actual democratic rigour and discipline that most occupations, squats and protest camps do, it would be in a much better state than it currently is.

Each time the electioneering machine starts up, I stand on the sidelines terrified by the effect it has on everybody, voters and non-voters alike. It’s horrible. You can’t just turn it off, because it effects (infects) everybody. We’re all supposed to have black and white  opinions on things which aren’t black and white and which otherwise wouldn’t interest us in the slightest…we’re supposed to pick a ‘leader’ and a ‘party’…(or snipe and heckle from the sidelines…)

I have expressed my cynicism about the state of electoral politics in this blog and elsewhere ad nauseum.

I’ve also discussed the paradox of the ‘diamonds in the rough’. Principled politicians who actually speak truth to power, offering us hope for a better world. Idealists, in an environment where we must hesitate before using the word ‘idealist’, or ‘idealism’. When did ‘idealism’ become an insult? Idealism should be a virtue but it is generally conflated with naivety….why?

My problem with principled, idealistic politicians has always been that ultimately, despite their integrity in word and deed, they are just actors in a play. Story tellers in a TV show which is produced and force fed to us by a corrupt system which gives not two shits for their virtuous principles, nor for humanity in general, nor the ecology we are dependant upon. A system which systematically conflates idealism with naivety, (amongst countless other subtle methods of mass mind control).

The passion and integrity of the brave people fighting against the tide just makes the spectacle more convincing and hypnotic. They are our heroes and heroines, championing the moral good. They will save us from the evil tories…

The people I’m talking about are heroic. Their accomplishments and worth are not to be downplayed. I have huge love and respect for them. Despite appearances to the contrary, not voting has never been an easy decision for me, largely because of these few principled politicians. I’m gripped by intense moral panic every time the ballot boxes come out, largely because of them and their work. Every time I take the piss out of it all, I reconsider my decision not to tick their boxes.

I compromise by echoing and amplifying the few heroic, truthful messages and policies that get heard. I celebrate the few small victories. I promote the heroes’ and heroines’ heroic work…but I can’t vote for them.

Registering to vote requires more than a simple suspension of disbelief. For me, it would require a complete shift in consciousness. Rewiring my mind towards supporting a corrupt, hierarchical system. I don’t want to surrender my consciousness to a system which is so blatantly incapable of actually representing the will of the people. I don’t want to help them twist sweet intentions sour.

I don’t want to be hypnotised into forfeiting my power, like most voters seem to have.

But then I saw this clip on facebook of Jeremy Corbyn, speaking on defence at Chatham House:

https://www.facebook.com/JeremyCorbynMP/videos/10155345360233872/

It made me do a little cry.

I dug out the whole speech and the Q and A.

It made me cry more.

Whether the system engineers have allowed Corbyn’s insurrection to broaden the parameters of debate or not, it has happened. I’ve never heard a potential PM allowed to discuss peace and war so candidly, so truthfully and passionately from such a prestigious platform before. I’ve never been encouraged to vote in an election that was so glaringly polarised between utopia and dystopia…

Do Corbyn’s words matter?

Is it just false hope?

Is false hope better than no hope?

The spectacle is the guardian of sleep…and we’re all nackered…

They’re still just words. It’s still just a spectacle, but at the very least these words and now this election represent an opportunity for a more honest debate about the real state of our objective reality. At best, the shadow mechanics of corporate and financial power might finally be in a listening mood and we may actually see some positive changes…(doubtful, but possible)…

I’ve got just over a week to register for the first time in my adult life.

After watching this speech, I’m 99.9% sure I’m actually going to do it. Just this once. Not for Jeremy Corbyn, or Caroline Lucas and their heroic bands of rebels (as much as I love and respect them). I’m certainly not voting for the Parliamentary Liebore Party (who are infested with backstabbing Blairite chicken coup plotting neo-liberal scumbags…).

If I register with this stinking, broken system’s spectacle, it will be for the sake of all of us, the spectators – for all the friends and family who want me to and for all the friends we haven’t met yet, who so desperately need a little hope for a saner future.

*UPDATE* 17-5-17

I’m now registered to vote, for the first time ever.

Feel a little bit sick…

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