Autumn musings and what counts in politics.....

Autumn musings and what counts in politics.....

Autumn comes. It's colder and when I woke yesterday it was dark.Autumn is a time for reflection. The political conferences begin and we look for signs and portents in the political sky. For myself I think about my political life in its many incarnations . I think about how I can be more effective . There are my observations that I share with you each day, there are people I talk to and debate with. There are often important decisions and judgements to make. I have learnt that politics according to Max Weber is like boring hikes in hard wood and risks your soul. Yet there are few you can count on politically when difficult decisions must be made when opposing prejudice, racism and ignorance. It's easier to appease, stay quiet and placate the oppressor. Yet I remember the old words " when they came for the Jews I said nothing because I was not Jewish, when they came for the Communists , I said nothing because I was not a communist, when they came for the Trade Unionists, I said nothing because I was not a trade unionists, I said nothing and when they came for me there was no one left! Over the years there have been very few that I knew would stand with me against racism and fascism. There can be no compromise, no appeasement with views so frequently heard on social media and experienced by so many everyday in every way. The jackboot and the knock at the door may come in other foms and other ways yet its intentions are just as brutal it's approaches just intimidations and it's collaborators just as effective. There can be no compromise with the effects of racism and fascism and I am glad that the political friends I can count on can tell me what is said about me on pages I cannot see and on profiles that I am blocked on. I have amended my friends list accordingly. For those still there thank you and for those who are not....well I m sure you can guess.

Wherever Fascism and Racism arise I will oppose them. My loyalty to resistance to then goes way , way back and are greater than my loyalty to any other political membership I have. My Father taught me the value of resistance to prejudice and racism and Fascism and it is above all my major concern. I will expose it where ever I find it and witness it. In my political life this is the ultimate loyalty ....

The rain lashes down as the x50 moves through Morriston. I caught the bus with plenty of time. In the Quadrant a couple violently argue. The language is vile. He screams at here, The words are about jealousy, rage and fear. The people in the Quadrant are stunned. The frightened woman with her children peers around. He storms off desperate and angry, she embarrassed looks frightened and unsure. The bus driver says to then that if they get on the bus they are not to argue. He does not, she does. The rage clings to the fabric of the quadrant. Another situation , another argument. It's get dusk like and I feel another darkness that sucks in and destroys so many in so many ways. Alcohol , substance misuse, and trauma, an unequal society and indifference , poor communication. Its a sign of the "strong and stable society" that is being built. The behaviour could be from any of us given different circumstances . We have all argued at times. I glance around the bus we are all uncomfortable...and we all are thinking the same. The bus leaves Morriston as dusk grows, There is a storm coming...but none of us acknowledge it. I write down my observations, I shift uncomfortably ......but what sort of storm and when? A storm with society? Within the collective part of ourselves or in the fear of the other?, against the different and the outcast? I just don't know...as the rain pours down and we head towards Clydach...the season of autumn brings with it an odd sense of unease....welcome to Brexit island......welcome to the turning inwards that washes through us all ..198 days to Brexit and our outlook worsens day by day....