I consider myself a reasonable person. I believe in the power of negotiation, debate, compromise. I abhor violence and would certainly never start a physical confrontation, mostly because I would get my ass handed to me immediately. But the more I look around and read the news, the gulf between rich and poor, between ruling and ruled, between powerful and powerless is getting so wide there is no bridge between. At what point does violent revolution become the only reasonable solution?
What power does the common person have? The most obvious is the power of the Ballot. If you don’t like what the government is doing, vote them out. Sounds good. sounds like a plan.
Except….
There are so many flaws in that plan. The first being, who do you replace them with? Most politicians are in thrall to their donors, and the same donors fund politicians of various parties. Rhetoric may vary, results are the same. Our current Tory government are dedicated to insulating the ruling classes from the growing cost-of-living crisis. National insurance is taking a bite out of our paycheques, energy costs are rising dramatically, which affects travel, whether by car or public transport, affects home energy bills, and affects food prices, as it costs more to get the goods to the shelves. Every expense is larger, while the pay packet itself is smaller. The government response so far has been “That sounds like a ‘you’ problem.” Boris Johnson has, on more than one occasion, acknowledged the crisis. Using what I imagine he thinks is stirring rhetoric, he says that tough times are ahead for British households. He offers no solutions or respite. He believes that by recognising the problems, people will believe he shares them, when all he’s actually saying is “sucks to be a you.” He will never face the dilemma of ‘Heat or Eat.’
Anyone who does offer a solution, such as a windfall tax on energy companies who have posted record profits over the last few years, or a wealth tax on the top 1%, are quickly hushed up. No one wants to bite the hand that feeds them.
So we vote out the Tories and get a Labour government. The only thing that will change is the rhetoric. Labour Leader, Leader of the Opposition Kier Starmer is very careful what policies he attacks Boris Johnson on. He’ll question the PM on how his home reno was paid for; he’s less vocal about government tax policy. And after several years of Kier Starmer as Labour leader, I still don’t know what his values are, which leads me to believe he doesn’t have any. Our ballot box options are limited, and so is the power of the vote.
And before you argue that we need more principled people to run, that public apathy is the problem, consider this. Anyone running on a platform of tax the rich, more support for poor families, better protection for workers, etc, would get very little money from donors and be met with the mother of all disinformation and smear campaigns from the fat cats they are trying to topple.
At least here we have the illusion of voter power. Voter suppression in the US is becoming an increasingly frightening problem. Purging the voter rolls takes the vote away from people. Far more insidious, closing the polling stations so people have to travel farther and wait longer to cast a vote. Sure, your vote counts, providing you can get it through the slot on the ballot box from 100 metres away.
What other power do the people have? There’s the power of protest. Here in the UK, the government has, on more than one occasion, put forward Bills to increase police power and limit our rights to protest. Police would be allowed to dictate start and finish times for protests, impose noise restrictions. Basically, if they get their way, the British public will be allowed to silently protest between 11 and 1130 am on February 29th. This is what freedom looks like now.
On the bright side, at least we’re not getting tear-gassed so the leader can have a photo op.
So the vote has limited use. The right to protest is being curtailed. I suppose there is still social media campaigns, but since we’re still led by a bunch of old, white men, I’m not sure how effective a viral TikTok video would be, since most of them don’t know what TikTok is.
Really, I am looking for other solutions, but revolution just keeps rising on the list as others are eliminated.
I’ve always made the joke “When the revolution comes…” followed by a solution to whatever injustice is vexing me that day. It was always said in jest. Now I say it and I look at a calendar.
Can I order a guillotine off Amazon? I want to get one before the rush
So That Happened 