Don't Give Up On Hope

The results are in and we’re looking at another five years of a  vicious right wing Conservative government. It's a very grim day, and devastating for many of us at this moment of time. Truly ironic considering it's Friday the 13th. We are all tired now and need to mourn, I don't know what will happen next. I despair for our futures  and the next generations to come, Whatever happens we must stay angry, keep on fighting, more so now than ever  as we face the Tories running amok, they will try and attack us on every front, we will all need to work together to resist what's coming next.
There are many lessons to learn, like  how was the electorate overcome by mass hypnosis by a rabid right wing Murdoch media, and the relentless bias unleashed by the B.B.C.  A strategy used time and time again, to mask  what's important and sensationalise trivia then keep on hammering it to dupe the masses. Rather than decipher integrity from deceit, people usually succumb to the latter because of widespread manipulation.  It has ruptured the very heart of British politics and perforated its soul. How could someone who has made so many cock ups and blatantly void of any integrity  not just get elected but gain an overwhelming majority.  Are people so immune to his paltry, deplorable antics, they just abandon all sense of logic and yield to his oafishness. Johnson’s central campaign promises were based on untruths. 88% of Conservative ads are misleading. We know from decades of speeches and writing that Johnson is an elitist, not a democrat.
 Yesterday, the Yorkshire Post published a scathing editorial demanding: “The people of this country must never again be asked to navigate a maelstrom of misinformation in order to decide who will govern them.” The political establishment have treated us with contempt. Instead of encouraging mass participation, powerful actors have tried to manipulate us in any way possible to secure the outcome they wanted. The billionaires are now firmly in control of government. Everything that the rest of us value is now on the table.
We do not necessarily have to be within political parties to fight back, there are other ways, but now is the time to stay awake, recharge our batteries. Do not  for a minute think the Tories have us defeated, this is what the system does, it sucks out your hope and energy, a system that everybody is beginning to realize is broken and cannot be fixed. We should be wary of media exaggeration of the scale of Tory success: the overall Tory vote only increased by 1.2 %. While it appears many Labour voters have switched to the Tories in Leave areas, many others will have simply abstained. Thousands of activists campaigned and millions of voters voted for a Labour manifesto offering a vision of hope; but this election has also exposed that many, many others are feeling a deep disillusionment with all forms of politics.  How can it be right that the winning party will have carte blanche to do what it likes with just over 40 % of the vote.Out of the total electorate more people did not  vote  for the winning Conservatives.  I will leave you to draw your own conclusions and to act/ organise accordingly.
As our leaders will continue to treat us as dirt, and want us to remain broken, together we will rise and in solidarity we will find our strength. We can rebuild, With resistance, triumph and compassion I have a strong belief our futures can  and must be changed for the better. Forwards and onwards we must go, with our roads and focus clear. All these things for now give me still some hope.
Yet this Christmas and the times ahead  hundreds  of thousands of people are still facing poverty and inequality, we are facing an attack on the Human Rights Act, increased surveillance of the whole population  and policing which targets minorities. The racist hostile environment and state harassment of anyone considered different will continue alongside the ongoing assault on our beloved NHS. Our very democracy under threat by our Government that wants to put itself above the law.
 It will be important to remember that the power of the Tories will not lie on stable grounds. There is an ever-growing demand for Scottish independence, an emerging movement for independence in Wales and a case for a united Ireland is ever stronger in the face of the disaster that is likely to unfold with a Tory Brexit. The Tory manifesto was painfully thin. Johnson has stood on a short-term platform of ‘getting Brexit done’, but he has not set out his plans to govern on a much wider set of issues. The climate emergency and the prospect of a global recession are terrible crises facing all of us, but Johnson has not attempted to articulate any kind of plan to address them.
Though many are currently in shock and despondent, when this wears off I truly believe there  will be an increase in movements to repair the damage and to promote awareness.Passionate voices  remain and will not go away quietly,  needed now more than ever, and they will collectively rise.  We must continue to hold our Government to account, in court, in Parliament, in our streets and communities, we must  keep fighting like our lives and our rights depend on it.
Over the next few years many others will wise up and regret their decision to vote Tory when it becomes obvious that what they voted for has not been delivered and when it sinks in that the "lovable  buffoon" that they voted for is a dangerous opportunist  with no sense of obligation to them.
Our movements have no limit, no borders and belong to all who wish to be part of it. This spring of hope is not easily diminished, so don't give up on it. As  the late singer  Phil Ochs once said  "In such ugly times the only true protest is beauty."
There are a thousand vital issues to campaign over – from global issues like climate, through national issues like the NHS, to issues local to particular communities or workplaces. As our country's future is being defined and marked by uncertainty, whatever people focus on, organising to build participation in collective action is the surest way to change lives, change minds – and change governments.Our fight for a better society and a more just equal world  must continue. Keep on holding on, stand up for one another, and cling on  to the lights that can sustain us in our ongoing struggles. 

From Despair to Hope

There's so much conditioning, making us hate
that we become our own enemies at the gate,
beams of reason disappearing before us
colors of hope melting in the earth,
politicians burying consciousness
join in the revel, play with the devil,
bitter and biting, silently gloating
releasing fathomless depths of despair,
punishing people for simply being ill
with policies of cruelty that actually kill,
the ghosts of Grenfell still haunting the land
yet they continue building walls to divide,
louder and louder, the wind is raging
the air not yet full of resignation,
strong, courageous and resilient
we can overcome the monsters,
gentler aspects of humanity will reveal
to not allow ourselves to be draped in pain,
hopelessness will only hang around, if we feed it
blazing embers of defiance burn brightly too,
we can be saved, greet  tomorrow's epiphany
the future unwritten, can cancel  negativity.