I’ve never had too many personal expectations in life. I’m also not an ambitious person and the only competition I have is with myself, so I am somewhat driven. In addition, I have a tendency to see the good in people rather than the opposite and am guided by a sense of fairness and of wanting a better world. So, much like most other people, I guess.
I also thought that the Thatcher years were an aberration and that, when she left the scene, society would return to what was called the “post war consensus”. This latter a movement in which we would become more egalitarian and get further involved in the civic life of the country. Much as working people had tended to do since the Industrial Revolution. I never, in my wildest dreams, envisaged what is now happening, both here and “over the pond”. It is, I have to say, very disconcerting and, more than a little, frightening.
Yet, for those of us with a liberal bent and our dreams of a more caring and sharing society, what is heartening, is the reaction. In response to the election of, shall we just say, someone with a rather strange mindset, to the most powerful position in the world, there is large scale opposition. Moreover, if any of the banners, at last Saturday’s demo in London, are any guide, it is being organised with some humour and sense of camaraderie. This, in case anyone should need reminding, was part of a worldwide movement involving millions of people protesting against the inauguration of a US President; probably the first such event in my lifetime. Closer to home for the President is the news that several top officials at the State Department have resigned sooner that serve under him. The official response, under the heading of “alternative facts” is, predictably, that they’ve all been sacked.
So, while watching the UK head off in a direction that is almost totally opposite to where I think it should be travelling, I am heartened by the fact that there are millions like me. So, whether it’s Brexit, Trump or whatever, please make your voices heard. You have nothing to lose and everything to gain.