Being un-political

I fucking hate politics, and up until a few years ago, I didn’t give a shit about it.

But the last 5 years have been an unsettling time to house planet earth, let alone the U.K.

I’ve always thought about war, marginalisation, oppression and poverty as being things of the past in England. The idea that we’re actually still living with all 4, at one time, is unreal.

I worry about the future, and not in the way that an anxious person worries about everything, in a way that means my daughters life could be catastrophically effected if we don’t start taking action, huge action, to put it all behind us.

So in recent months I’ve become more politically minded, and take a vested interest in what our MPs are saying.

I’m from a family who had an old school political ideology. They didn’t talk about voting because those conversations could create deep divisions. When I was a child, grown ups around me were either hard left or hard right, and the greys (mainly yellow) in the middle was never mentioned.

I don’t believe myself to belong to any of these wings, because some of the opinions of the MPs leading them go against so much of what I’m concerned about.

The NHS is an organisation that needs urgent and drastic change. We hear often how proud we should be of our health service, but with 7 million people in pain and waiting for help, it clearly isn’t working. People are experiencing such dangerous problems that the wait makes their illness more critical, sometimes terminal. Mental health services aren’t robust enough, with offices making changes to care without proper thought, ultimately having a negative impact on its patients mental wellbeing.

An organisation that’s supposed to support health is harming patients rather than helping them.

Money is stretched beyond belief in most homes, but MPs are still enjoying holidays throughout August. How can a government understand the financial needs of the people when they have no financial concerns themselves? Families are living to survive, choosing whether they can buy food or new school uniforms. Not “AND”, “OR”.

Education settings are packed to the rafters, and children are leaving school without many basic life skills such as money management, knowledge of important historical events, basic international geography, good mental health and how to get a job. Higher education is unaffordable, leaving students with massive debt that they’re unlikely to pay off for decades.

War on our doorstep might not be our fault, but being passive while others are in pain doesn’t feel right to me. Then I worry, because by being involved in any way we’ll likely become a target.

This doesn’t feel like the inclusive, healthy, compassionate and steady country that I grew up in. It feels like we’ve gone backwards over racism, homophobia, feminism and religion as well as the issues mentioned above.

As the planet burns, we have to take a stand and do our bit to right as many of the wrongs that we can, because I don’t think we’ll ever fix everything.

I have a postal vote because of my housebound status, but even after watching the recent party conferences, I have no idea where I should put my ‘X’ in the box. Abstaining doesn’t help democracy, but neither does voting for a party that you don’t believe in. Right now, I have less belief in the options available to us than I have in my belief that I can make Christmas a cheaper event.

Every party is claiming they can offer drastic change, so I guess I have to find the party I align with more than any other. There are no perfect answers here, and that adds to my anxiety.

Therefore, having been a non-voter most of my life, I’ll be taking part in the general election next year, and I’d encourage everyone to do the same. Vote for the change you want, and have your voice heard.

Thanks for reading 💜