That's not good.
We are living in times for which nobody prepared us. Capitalism has no answer to the global crises we face: plural. It's not just covid, though that is certainly the most prominent at present. FOr us in the UK, there is also Brexit. For the world, including Britain, post Brexit, there is the climate. The collapsing environment has not gone away, despite what the right would like to believe. This century is going to be a crucible for humanity. How much of that I will witness I do not know. I would dearly love to visit the world of a hundred years hence. But, in lieu of a TARDIS, isn't going to happen.
For now we are engaged in the biggest political struggle of generations. We are fighting over the scraps of a world collapsing before our eyes. Everything is aligned against us. It isn't just an ideologically driven hard right government that practices gaslighting and supports racism and fascism. It is the media that supports and cheers for it. A media that never existed when I was a child. Sure we had radio TV and newspapers, and even then they weren't our friends. Now we have social media, where people can spew hatred with impunity. It's much easier to spout off without evidence over social media than it would be in person. So that's what happens. There is, esseitnally, no shame.
Even the rise of independent media or citizen journalism, both great things, seem inadequate to the task at hand. Unfortuantely these often include sources that fall for all the problems the Left has. Just look at the antisemitism crisis that still cripples Labour. Though at this point I'm not sure they want to get rid of it and are content to use it to purge the left wing in the party.
Despite the bad faith actors and despicable motives from those using antisemitism against the left, there are those who propagate the tropes and the conspiracies that enable these bad actors. This is self harm and it needs to stop. I understand why it exists: people recognise, in for example Palestinian struggle, a shared experience of victimhood under capitalist oppression. We want to be punching up. But unfortunately some, by doing so, are engaging in or repeating racist tropes. They may well not intend to or are themselves antisemitic.
Then there are the useful idiots that give the right all the ammunition they need. Those who tweet in support of racists and conspiracy cranks. Those that think Assad is a nice guy because of the presence of the imperial powers in the messy brutal Syrian civil war. USA bad (true) therefore Assad good. This is dangerous and deluded. If you think he's above dropping bombs on hospitals or gassing his own people then you are ignoring that quality of his rule that caused the uprising to begin with. Solidarity should be with the people, struggling under a dictator for self determination (as was the case with the Arab Spring). Of course the imperial powers would exploit that and we all kow why: oil.
It's the same story with Russia. It is a country run by some of the most powerful corrupt and rich people, and they have bought London, and our government (so transparently), lock stock and barrelski. Why look for crazy conspiracies about Novichok when it was clear that Putin - a thrghouly awful human being - was behind it. Putin, like Assad, is a dictator. We knw they interfere in global politics.
Why does the left need to hide beihnd these divisive conspiracies? It is self defeating. Given the scope of our media state and how harsh their spotlight can shine, it is foolish to present these ideas as credible and to stand by genuine antisemitism. That isn't to say the problem is not small, relative to the size of the membership, or that the party's own leadership, hating Corbyn, itself exploited the situation to make him look bad, or that the Tories/the right aren't themselves more racist and more antisemitic. The problem is the media is on their side and so won't shine that spotlight equally.
Labour is finished. It's a dead horse. I care not what Starmer does. The only future for the working class is with its own. We are many ye are few.
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