This is Yule. The celebration marking the turning around of the days. I'm hoping this is more than a metaphor for the days ahead, dark though they certainly appear. Now, in the, admittedly early, depths of winter, the days shift and the darkness, from the merest nanosecond, begins to recede. This period accelerates until the March Equinox, and I certainly hope the same can be said for the vaccine. If nothing else the government must now focus all it's effort and resources onto rolling this out as quickly and as widely as possible. Do I believe this will happen, do I dare?
So happy Yule. Reach deeper into the world, into the earth, into the soul of our world and find something to connect with. That's what spirituality is all about. Beyond words, it speaks in symbols and metaphors to the core of our experience, such as it is now. It is all we can do while the flame of days finds strength, reflected in all of us.
Covid is the great leveller. But it isn't the great equaliser. Those at the top may enjoy the same threat as those at the bottom, but the distance between both remains the same, and those at the bottom are thus ever nearer oblivion. Sadly when the government fails they face no consequence, we do. The only constant throughout all of this has been the utter failure of the Tories to grasp the situation and to respond appropriately. Even now Boris is blustering. He is a simpleton who will never understand and act properly and we cannot ever hope he will. All we can do is react, stay safe and hope that he doesn't screw up the vaccine.
There is still plenty of time for that.
Unfortunately he is still disarmingly popular. It is the Trump effect; while Starmer has advocated (mostly) sensible positions, we do not live in sensible times. Even prior to the covid crisis it was more about personalities than policies. It's all very well for Starmer to tell Johnson he needs to do X, but all that does is portray him as the kind of fusty authoritarian people reject nowadays. Like Trump, Boris is seen as having a rakish charm, of being an outlier. People warm to him because they think he can be tamed; a ruffle of his hair, a self effacing stutter and a fist pump. This is an act; he is a bully. A braggart racist product of the ruling class. Now we are paying the price, but Starmer will not win against this. Unfortunately in order to try and do so he's pushing ever further to the right. Sadly Starmer is naive, he's green as an MP (ironically unlike Corbyn),
This is not the Christmas we were promised. Two days away and the country looks set to burn. Will the PM act, or will he be too busy dreaming of a tropical holiday. No doubt he'll feel cheated at not being able to indulge. Will his mind be on the job, or will he find a way to indulge himself and piss off while nobody's looking, too busy hiding in their homes for fear of the virus he can't control. Perhaps he'll shut himself out over Brexit and be unable to return, except on WTO terms. He promises the moon but can't even deliver a speech without talking rubbish.
Infections are rising everywhere. Hopefully the school break will help, but then what? Business as usual simply cannot continue. There seems no way to avoid another lockdown, but if that happens will schools close or continue to be a vector? Nothing will change while the Tories are in charge because they aren't.
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