Get Out of Jail Free?

One of the reasons I keep on posting here, in spite of the fact that, these days, only bots and AI seem to read it, is because I can’t be interrupted, talked over or shouted down before I can properly develop an idea or construct an argument.  All of which behaviours are, in my opinion, reprehensible, demonstrating only the rudeness and ignorance of the guilty party.  Moreover, they represent the tactics of fascism – denying any opposing voices a platform.  When I taught, I certainly wouldn’t tolerate any of these things in my classroom.  In the pub, unfortunately, there are a significant number of individuals who want only their own voices and opinions to be heard and are prepared to shout anyone expressing what might be something they disagree with down, refusing one the opportunity to unfold their ideas and arguments fully.  As you have, by now, doubtless guessed, I recently had just such an experience.  I perhaps wouldn’t have minded so much if I hadn’t have been expounding my, not entirely serious, thesis that the US is a nation of psychopaths, obsessed with violence, and that the whole Trump circus that the entire world has to suffer through right now, is an inevitable consequence of this.  Which is why I find myself constantly exasperated by Americans of my acquaintance who simply shrug and say, ‘Well I didn’t vote for him’ as if that somehow makes it all OK and means that they don’t have to bear any responsibility for what is happening.  At which point I was rudely and angrily cut off by an unprovoked tirade about how ridiculous it was to try and hold people responsible for the actions of governments they might not have voted for, because it wasn’t their fault, I was an idiot etc, etc.

The continued belittling and shouting down prevented me from my response, that, actually, you can hold people responsible not just what they do, but also for what they don’t do.  The precedent, of course, being post-war Germany, where the German populace were held collectively responsible for the rise of Nazism.  A view actually shared by most of them, who understood that the Nazi regime didn’t just happen, to some degree even those who didn’t vote for Hitler and didn’t actively support it, had allowed it to happen through their inaction.  They hadn’t opposed it vigourously enough before inter-war German democracy was completely destroyed.  They saw what was happening but, through fear, through complacency, through the vague idea that all of us living in democracies have, that this is just a blip and that they system would eventually correct it, did nothing.  As long as the bad things weren’t happening to them personally, it was easier to look away.

Now, this isn’t something confined to either Trump’s America or Nazi Germany.  All of us living in democracies and taking them for granted, are guilty of this complacency which allows evil to seep into the system and destroy it – by the time we react, it is often too late.  When I talk about ‘opposing’ these forces before they take root, I don’t necessarily mean going out on the streets and beating them up or firebombing their offices, instead I mean simply pushing back at their poisonous narratives whenever we can, standing up for the minorities they seek to intimidate, simply having the courage to speak out. But, more often than not, we don’t do these things.  Certainly, I know that I haven’t always done them: there have been times when I should have confronted individuals over their racist language, for instance, but I didn’t because it would have drawn attention to myself, made me unpopular in the workplace, for instance, so it was easier not to do so.  I’m not proud of myself for these failures.  On the other hand, I did, on occasion, stand up for workers rights in my workplace, confronting management and making myself unpopular (and labelled an awkward bastard’ by management and colleagues alike) in the process.  But I never regretted doing those things – doing the right thing won’t make you popular, but at least you can have a clear conscience.

I’ve written before about the complete and utter shame as a Briton I felt while Boris ‘The Fat Bastard’ Johnson was Prime Minister, but back then I thought that just shrugging and saying ‘Well, I didn’t vote for him’ was enough.  But, over time, I realised that it wasn’t.  After all, how had we ever got to the situation where someone so manifestly unfit for office had been allowed to get so far?  Could it be that people like me, ordinary citizens, hadn’t done enough to promote the opposing political narrative, to oppose and argue against the right wing at every opportunity?  Had we failed to win the battle of hearts and minds because we just couldn’t be bothered and thought that someone else would do it for us?  So, despite not having voted for Boris, I had to bear my share of responsibility for allowing the political discourse that resulted in his ascension to go unopposed.

Which leads, inevitably, to the not unreasonable question of what I’m doing right now to try and fight the rise of the right and their cohorts?  It’s all very well preaching to people that they need to be more proactive in order to combat these people, but it means nothing if I’m just sitting on my arse complacently expecting others to respond to my call to arms.  Well, this is what I’m doing: writing stuff like this in the hope that it might inspire even one person to start actively getting involved in opposing the dark forces that seem to be gathering around Western democracies.    Satire is, I agree, a pretty weak weapon to wield, but these guys don’t like to be ridiculed, it dents their egos, reveals them just to be flawed humans like the rest of us.  Besides, it is what I’m reasonably good at.  But on top of that, I try to be more vocal when it comes to opposing bigots and oafs, challenging their bigotry and ill behaviour whenever possible, (and whenever it is safe to do so).  Simply not voting for the likes of Trump or Farage isn’t enough – you have to actively oppose them and their ideologies.  But, too many people, particularly middle class people, think that saying ‘I didn’t vote for them’ is some kind of ‘Get Out of Jail Free’ card for their consciences.  Except that, in truth, there are no free passes in life.  If we fail to act, if we are too complacent and think that voting alone is the only way to oppose extremism, then we allow them to triumph.

Doc Sleaze