First Advent Weekender

So the week ends with the end of lockdown. Now we are in Tier 3, which is another way of saying lockdown. All the usual contradictions exist, for which we have become necessarily acclimatised. The local library remains shut, despite previously having the most secure Covid regime I've yet encountered throughout this period. Meanwhile non essential retail can have at it. I have no idea what it's like on the high street, but I can well believe the nation is doing just that. There's no doubt in my mind Xmas shopping will be as intense as ever, as much as is possible. People's sensibilities will give way to emotion; we must have Christmas!

Apparently Johnson has decided, at the eleventh minute of the eleventh hour, to take charge of the Brexit negotiation. So that will go well then. This vacuous idiot has no idea what to do or what he wants, and who knows whether what he wants is what anyone else wants or is good for us. Brexit is the ultimate chameleon, able to mould itself to whatever is needed. Want sovereignty? You got it, in fact you always had it. Want to 'take back control'? You got it, in fact you aren't in control now and never will be. You've ceded your power to arseholes whose interests clash with yours. It's an illusion, and the more desperate you are to believe in it, the easier the lie.

It's just a joke to these people. People's livelihoods and our ability to procure vital resources depends on this. It's only taken four years of the same people lying and now playing silly buggers and here we are. Can there be any greater an example of Tory incompetence? This is as good as it gets with them. They are not suddenly about to have a revelation nor a social revolution. These people are products of the systems of power that exist, raised from birth to believe this way is the one true way. Until we reject this completely we are at their mercy. Already our trade and economy are in serious jeopardy but so is the climate. We must get rid of them before they get rid of us.

What will happen over the next few weeks is anyone's guess. No one wants to see Christmas cancelled. This isn't a time of year I normally find easy. Winter is pressing on the spirit, it is demanding. Even more so for those truly worse off. I'm lucky in many ways, but that doesn't mean my own experience isn't important - certainly not to me (as true for everyone). They say the vaccine will start being administered on the 14th, so we are still vulnerable to the flawed policies of the government. It seems highly likely that, if shopping is as bad as it normally is (even with covid limitations - such as no Christmas markets clogging up the streets), there will be some spread. Is it worth taking that chance right on the cusp of vaccine delivery?