For more years than I care to remember, the political wisdom has been that the population of this country wouldn’t vote for a socialist party; one that believes in caring and sharing. While, on a personal basis, even though I helped other people to believe in themselves and, despite the abundant evidence to the contrary, I found it difficult to believe that I could actually achieve and live the life that I wanted to. Well, both these mantras are now, either, confounded or well on their way to being so and I can’t tell you how good that feels; on both counts.
It was in 1979, that a certain Prime Minister took office with beliefs that you couldn’t buck the market, that if you paid those at the top more, the money would “trickle down” and we would all be better off as a result, that the state should be a small as possible and that private enterprise was good and public service considerably less so. This ideology, based on little actual evidence, remained the prevailing one for the next 38 years. So much so that, even when a Labour government was elected, it had to call itself “New Labour” and change its logo from a red flag to a red rose as well as ditching some of its cherished beliefs along the way. Well, despite the ravings of some of the more loony tabloids, we now know that the people of this little island do want sharing and caring. Moreover, they are fed up with a party whose idea of government includes little else other than letting the market decide plus austerity as far into the future as many of us will actually live.
Meanwhile, on the personal front, I am now on my fifth book so that, even, I can’t pretend that that’s no big deal. In addition, after two years plugging away, along with another Speaker and Coach, I’m now working on that project that I drew up for secondary schools and, following our first session, have just received the most positive feedback.
A time for change, indeed, along with my birthday on Thursday which will herald another new year in front of me.