Left or RIGHT!
I am amazed that my cousins across the pond seem so
ill-informed concerning right and left, particularly in the area of politics.
It seems that communism, socialism and the Left is all lumped together as a
communist threat. Maybe a little history on the subject would help, and so I
refer you to my blog on the subject. https://adrianhawkes.co.uk/socialism-2/
Often, I am referred to as “a lefty” or some other
such phrase, often used in a derogatory tone. It made me think that often
people use what I call “words without meaning” or as my youngest daughter would
say, “They are wasting air.”
So, I thought, let me try and analyse some of the
things that I think, and try and guess where that would put me in the terms of
these “non-meaning words”. So, I think that traditional values such as family
are important, so perhaps that makes me right wing? Then I also think that health service free at
the point of use is fantastic and I would certainly want my tax to go toward it
even if I am not sick. I guess that
makes me a left-wing person.
Then I think that if a person claims asylum in the UK,
and that claim is invalid, then perhaps they should not be allowed to stay. I
guess that puts me on the Right. I also
think that all people coming to a country, no matter how they came, should be
treated with the respect that we have for all human beings, and that they
should be apportioned due process. I guess that makes me a lefty.
I’m disappointed with the fact that all politicians,
of whatever ilk, use the word illegal when talking about people who came to
this country in ways not normally prescribed.
Since when was it that claiming asylum was illegal? Of course, maybe their asylum claim was not
valid and they plan to overstay, but surely our system is supposed to presume
we are innocent until proven guilty. Claiming that people are illegal before
due process, is not seeing people as innocent before the process has taken
place and discovered that they are illegal.
Words are very powerful, and when those with power use them wrongly it
has a bad effect on all of us. Perhaps that puts me on the left?
The big talking point at the moment in the UK is all
about flags and the use of. I think it’s great to wave flags at sporting
events, put them on display for visiting dignitaries, wave them like mad at the
Proms. So, am I being Right here? Then again, when people slap flags on
buildings used by people of a different colour, and claim that they are just
emphasising their community, and complain that I am “being anti my country’s
flag because of my disgust at the use of the flag as a weapon and a racist
statement,” if it wasn’t so disingenuous it would be funny. I suppose my
complaint puts me on the left. Then to be told there are more important things
than flags, sure there is, there are wars, poverty, racism, famine, and huge
people displacement usually the result of power, money and bad politics. But
what we forget is that these bad things start as ideas, plans, words, and “Yes!”
the wrong use of symbols like flags. Words have power, and when we use them wrongly,
we cannot then claim that it does not matter. It does!
Where we are is not accidental. It is the product of
our history. Our history is the result of people’s thoughts, or put better by
Einstein: "The world, as we
have created it, is a process of our thinking. It cannot be changed without
changing our thinking".
We are in danger of “not
thinking” or, being persuaded by “non-words “i.e. words without meaning,
promises by certain politicians that will lead us towards a wonderful world of
dictatorship (that was sarcasm by the way).We need to start thinking better and
look at some of the ridiculous promises from politicians that just want power
and really do not care about you, or I, or our nations.
These people really
want power, and to have it. Remember
Hitler as voted in. To quote C. S. Lewis. “A great deal of democratic enthusiasm descends from the ideas of people
like Rousseau, who believed in democracy because they thought mankind so wise
and good that everyone deserved a share in the government. The danger of
defending democracy on those grounds is that they’re not true. I find that they’re not true without looking
further than myself. I don’t deserve a share in governing a hen-roost, much less
a nation.” So, sure democracy might not be the best that there is, but it’s
better than all the other ways of government. Just look around and learn to
think and stop using words you don’t understand, and putting people into boxes
that they don’t fit into. And check those sound bites, they are not sufficient.
w.848
adrianhawkes.blogspot.co.uk
20th September 2025
