Why the phrase ‘oh, I’m not political’ is a bunch of lies

Everything is political. Even your existence.

Ever tried to speak to someone about the current state of the world, only for them to turn round and say they aren’t political?

Sure, Jan. 🙄

Everything is political. Education is political. Buying a house is political. Where you choose to buy your clothes from is political. We live in a society that cannot run from politics.

And voting is for everyone. How can you vote for something you know nothing about? Unless you choose to abstain from voting (but what a sadness that is).

This is exactly why we’re in such a political tornado. Because the word ‘political’ has been such a controversial word for such a long time.

Maybe people are put off by politics because it sounds boring. I know that as a teenager, a lot of people liked to say they weren’t ‘into’ politics. But here’s the thing – politics isn’t a video game, or a poorly scripted film, for you to enjoy or not enjoy. Politics is at the foundation of our very lives. But nobody ever taught me that one simple truth when I was growing up.

Look. I’m not saying we should be watching the news every day of our lives. At some point we have to remember to live. We have to find joy in the every day.

But when the world is going through turbulent times, the answer is NOT to shrug our shoulders and bury our heads in the sand until something that personally affects us as an individual crops up.

If anyone is being affected, to the point of being put in actual danger, by a political change, we should DO SOMETHING. Imagine you were in their position. Imagine what you’d like others to do for you if you were in their shoes. Be that person for them.

It shouldn’t always be about you, of course, but there is a very selfish part of humanity that has existed long before us, and will continue well beyond all of us alive today. But there is also a lot of good locked up within many of our hearts.

People always like to say ‘well, there’s nothing we can do’. And there may not be a great much we can do, but there is always something. The system wants us to believe that there is no hope whatsoever for anything different, and this is what we’ve been gaslit into believing for years.

But ‘doing something’ doesn’t have to mean burning down the government. It doesn’t mean anarchy. No. Not buying from a certain business is doing something. Going on a protest is doing something. Fuck, even writing a post online is doing something!

Imagine if everyone had this attitude. The billionaire class would no longer be able to ignore us, then. But they’re in charge of social media. They’re in charge of public discourse. They’re in charge of the (dis)information space, handing out lies like chocolate bars. Lies taste so good to those they appeal to – particularly white, straight, cisgender, and, I’m sorry to say, LONELY, men.

If you’re a white, straight, cisgender man, I’m speaking directly to you, now. Leftists don’t hate you. Many on the left ARE straight, cis, white men.

You are valuable both as an individual and for what you bring to society. Don’t let the billionaires tell you ‘the woke’ want to ‘replace you’ or ‘get rid of you’, because it’s all a crock of shit.

Your support is hugely appreciated, and hugely needed. Even just being yourself means you already have a lot of power. Please use that power to spread kindness towards others. Set a new standard amidst all the anger and corruption spread by the rich and powerful. Please.

Thank you for reading. Now, let’s head back to the rest of the group.

I know these are difficult times. And, let’s face it, my little Substack post is never going to reach anywhere close to 100 people, let alone millions.

But we have to have hope, because if we don’t, then we’ll all buy into the ‘there’s nothing we can do’ mindset. And the billionaires love to see people with that attitude. They basically salivate, knowing that people have given up. So we can’t give up.

Bernie Sanders in America is one of the only individuals in politics telling the truth, right now. Being brave. And so is Jeremy Corbyn.

I can almost literally hear several of you giggling at that, but just LISTEN to the man and stop reading those godforsaken Daily Mail/Sun headlines and articles. You’ll probably be surprised at how normal the man’s views are. Those rags (apparently newspapers) are funded by… you guessed it, a billionaire, who has shown time and time again that he doesn’t care about working class people.

It’s time to wake up and do something. Every action, every protest, every shout into the void, even, counts. We need better messaging, because the fascists currently have total control over the online narratives that divide us. They’re gaslighting people into believing that very real and provable facts on pressing issues are lies, and that the most ridiculous, batshit-crazy lies and paranoias are true.

These anti-vax, climate change-denying, racist scumbags have been interfering in our lives for far too long. We must try harder to reclaim the narrative and lift the lid on just how much bile they’ve been spouting. We must reach their current supporters.

To end this post, I will condense my overall thoughts into three points:

1. Socialism is possible, no matter how many times we’ve been told it’s not.

2. Everything is political, no matter how many times the opposite has been implied.

3. Remember to fight for others while you still can.