Corbyn, Elections and the Case for Rebellion

Progressives have had a hopeful number of years, in both the US and UK. In the US, the huge grassroots movement of Bernie Sanders, which effectively began in 2016, inspired hope in many. Specifically hope that meaningful structural change could occur within electoral politics. Jeremy Corbyn's leadership of the Labour Party, beginning in 2015, did the same in the UK. In different ways, both movements ended in electoral defeat, and are now eclipsed by a global pandemic. In each of these movements, and their eventual defeat, there are extremely vital lessons that progressives need to learn and understand. I sincerely hope they do.

The membership of the Labour Party grew under Corbyn to about half a million, the biggest political group in Europe. In 2015 he won 2 leadership elections with a landslide each time. Clearly, many people wanted beneficial change and rightly saw Corbyn as representing that change. Unfortunately Corbyn, from the inception of his leadership, was relentlessly attacked and derided by mainstream media and the political class. I have never known of a politician to be treated in quite the way Corbyn was. It was astonishing and seemed to be an instinctive, convulsive reaction from most politicians and commentators. Was he deemed a threat to their interests maybe?

The attempts to delegitimise, trivialise and demonise Corbyn were, I believe, unparalleled in British history. Early on as Labour leader, Corbyn was treated as a joke by virtually all media commentators and politicians. People scoffed and said "why don't you just resign?", without ever citing any policy critiques or any critique of substance whatsoever. Politicians would rather make fun of the clothes he wore. As his popularity grew, the viciousness, vitriol and venom really came into play, especially from senior figures of his own party.

There was the infamous chicken coup that 172 Labour MPs were involved in. This coup involved members of the Parliamentary Labour Party and was designed to oust Corbyn as leader, in spite of the fact he won 2 landslide leadership elections and grew their party to half a million members. Every Labour politician involved in this coup disrespected the leadership, disrespected the membership and disregarded any notion of party unity. The amount of infighting and disharmony they created massively hindered Labour's performance in the 2017 General Election. Labour's peformance was actually remarkable considering the relentless campaign of denigration directed at Corbyn and his allies. The Labour politicians involved in the coup cared more about their careers and the status quo than the success of their own party. They should be ashamed of themselves. This reaction to Corbyn, both from within his party and without, was incredibly indicative of how toxic our society is and, importantly, how this toxicity infected the main political party meant to be representing working people. Of course, now we have the leaked Labour Report, verifiable proof that many senior Labour politicians actively sabotaged the 2017 General Election just to oust Corbyn as leader. The political implications of this report are staggering and it should not be doubted that these senior figures are responsible for the degradation, failure and ultimate destruction of the Labour Party.

In 2015, as a kind of outsider to the political landscape, I was utterly fascinated at how Corbyn was treated. Initially, this wasn't a political fascination for me. It was a fascination concerned with the very notion of truth. Lies and unfounded attacks poured like torrents from news outlets. The mainstream media was so clearly involved in a systematic campaign of vilification.

Following the Corbyn phenomenon closely, what I learned is that the mainstream media is an integral aspect of the British Establishment and the neoliberal hegemony of our society. In other terms, the mainstream media is vital in propping up the corrupt, powerful corporatists who control this country through lies, manipulation and propaganda. Neoliberalism, by the way, is unregulated capitalism. Neoliberalism is just as much an ideology as it is the dominant economic system of our society. But interestingly, by attacking Corbyn in such a vitriolic fashion, the Neoliberal Beast revealed itself. Normally, this beast conceals itself very effectively from public view. But in this instance, many people managed to catch a glimpse. This partly explains how Corbyn managed to politicise hundreds of thousands of people, including me. The injustice and immorality of this whole phenomenon was visceral and palpable, and incredibly motivating.

The rapper Lowkey called Corbyn a glitch in the matrix. This is accurate. The Establishment would never ordinarily permit a figure like Corbyn, who unwaveringly holds decent, humanitarian values, to attain leadership. His inclusion on the leadership ballot was not a serious choice and his election as leader was highly unexpected. New Labour holds the same fundamental values as the Conservative Party. Unless you change the fundamental conditions of oppression that each of these parties embodies, no substantial or meaningful change is ever going to occur in society. This is an indisputable argument to me that, if you are a true progressive, you will leave the Labour Party and devote your energy to civil disobedience. To stand up to the Neoliberal Beast that threatens all of us, we need to construct a viable opposition from outside the Establishment. You cannot do this within Labour. If you haven't learned this yet, I'm not sure when you will.

Some people might put forward the argument: "But if no progressive politicians were within Labour, if there was no internal pressure for good, then society would be even more oppressive". But maybe the fact that there are more progressives within Labour, making society a little more tolerable, just prolongs the fundamental conditions of oppression that you simply can't alter from within. Then we are in a situation where a handful of progressives are making minor reforms within the party, but the fundamental conditions of oppression just keep going on and on and on and no substantial change ever occurs.

We have reached a significant crossroads in 2020. This is, literally, the most significant period in human history. We face a climate and ecological catastrophe, as even the most conservative scientists are telling us. It really is all hands on deck. I'm not sure how many people get this? For those who believed in the Corbyn project (or Sanders project in US), for those who care about oppressed people, for those who are interested in evidence-based arguments, for those who understand the way unregulated capitalism is at the source of most of the world's problems, I urge you to properly look into the climate and ecological emergency. We need to unite behind this common problem and understand that it is the greatest threat we all face. Many people in poorer parts of the world are already suffering from climate and ecological breakdown, even though they are least responsible for this crisis. It should also be remembered that we have already entered what scientists call "The Sixth Mass Extinction". In other words we, as a species, are quite literally destroying life on Earth.

If all the progressives within Labour used their positions to form an alternative movement from outside the system, or joined a resistance movement like Extinction Rebellion, this will help create a viable opposition to the Neoliberal Beast. This really is the only option left. It is now or never. In this sense, Chris Hedges gets it, who argues that we need to "pit power against power". Neoliberal corporatists, in knowingly destroying life on Earth, have got us and our children by the throats. We can't dither and support minor, gradual reforms anymore. Chris Hedges writes:

"Refusal to participate in the further destruction of the planet means a rupture with traditional politics. It means noncooperation with authority. It means defying in every nonviolent way possible consumer capitalism, militarism and imperialism. It means adjusting our lifestyle, including becoming vegans, to thwart the forces bent upon our annihilation. And it means waves of sustained civil disobedience until the machine is broken"

Considering the gravity of the situation we are in and the severe threat posed to us by the corporate class, I would say it is radical not to rebel. It is extreme behaviour not to partake in civil disobedience. I am genuinely surprised that more people, especially progressives, aren't interested in rebellion and are continuing to spend energy on electoral politics.

Are you a Labour member who believed in the Corbyn project? Are you a Labour MP who believed in the Corbyn project? If so, stop clinging to this party. Stop hoping. We don't need hope. We need courage. Take action. Devote your energy to civil disobedience. Join Extinction Rebellion. Form a new movement. Connect with other movements. Support independent, evidence-based journalism. Get with the times. Write. Create. Share ideas. Support others. Don't give into hate.

Covid-19, Orwell and the Environmental Crisis

"They could be made to accept the most flagrant violations of reality, because they never fully grasped the enormity of what was demanded of them, and were not sufficently interested in public events to notice what was happening. By lack of understanding they remained sane" (George Orwell)

Times of crises reveal true colours. When under genuine pressure, people's actions and decisions tell us who they really are.

Unfortunately, the UK media functions in a truly Orwellian manner, where reality is reversed and the most basic awareness of what is happening before our eyes is distorted and concealed. There is true horror in our country right now. Thousands of avoidable deaths are occurring from Covid-19. Even many NHS staff are dying from the virus. These NHS staff are not being provided with basic PPE and there aren't enough ventilators for sick patients. But most people don't seem too bothered, because most people are not really aware of what is going on, because our media is unspeakably corrupt and incompetent. Most British lives are going on fairly normally, even though we're in lockdown. Spring weather has been glorious the past week. Life isn't too bad for many of us.

We saw what happened in Italy. In Spain. We had time to learn. We even saw countries who were dealing with this pandemic expertly and resourcefully, with great results. Such countries include China, South Korea and Vietnam. These countries managed the virus early on with great effect. We are fed caricature images of China by Western media, because China is deemed a threat to our way of life. But at least in the handling of this virus, they have put the US and UK to absolute shame.

It should be remembered that this pandemic is just a warm-up, a drill, for climate and ecological breakdown. We live in undoubtedly momentous times. Powerful countries are led by monsters. Beasts that even Edgar Allen Poe would have trouble describing. Donald Trump. Jair Bolsonaro. Boris Johnson. Scott Morrison. Most of the world's climate scientists, even the conservative ones, are telling us we have very little time to avert irreversible climate breakdown. Climate and ecological breakdown means death and suffering on a scale most of us can't comprehend. We clearly need radical, structural changes to avert such catastrophe. But these structural changes don't seem to be an option for our monstrous leaders. "It is easier to imagine an end to the world than an end to capitalism" (Žižek/Jameson). Of course, mainstream media isn't going to convey to you the real truth of the environmental crisis and they certainly aren't going to convey the real truth of how to alleviate it. Thus most people will not act accordingly. For how can you act upon what you don't know is happening?

Sadly, I don't know how much good this post I'm writing will do. I don't know what effect this will have. I despair a lot. At least it is a kind of release for me. Even if I had a large audience, the UK population swims in an Orwellian media-ocean of lies, deceit and vital omissions. All the main news outlets are part of this ocean, to varying degrees. The Guardian, The BBC, The Daily Mail, The Torygraph, The Sun. It can be pretty frustrating to speak to people sometimes. When I speak truthfully, or with evidence, I am either met with a kind of blank expression or sometimes with agitation and anger. "Either you repeat the same conventional doctrines everybody is saying, or else you say something true, and it will sound like it's from Neptune" (Noam Chomsky).

In the UK, we don't live in a society of truth and clarity. Our society is constituted of immoral power structures. Even those oppressed by such structures are conditioned to support them. For example, working class people are conditioned to admire and even revere Boris Johnson. They are conditioned to see him as a good laugh who isn't afraid to say it like it is, even though his interests are diametrically opposed to theirs. Boris does not respect the working class. He has attempted to oppress them his whole life, by encouraging privatisation of services like the NHS and supporting crippling austerity measures. His interests lie with the rich elite.

An important element to the Orwellian drama unfolding before our eyes is the way many people get aggressive or agitated when you challenge their world view. Such aggression is consciously cultivated by mainstream media and the corporate class, because this makes people easy to control and manipulate. When people are emotional and angry, they do not see with clarity. This is when the corporate class starts telling them that society's problems stem from immigrants, "benefits scroungers" or activists. Also, when peoples world views are challenged, it makes them feel very insecure, for it is like ripping the carpet from under them. People feel safe and comfortable in their bubbles of misinformation. Truth is often very hard to bear.

All one can do in this seemingly hopeless situation is keep telling the truth and get involved in civil disobedience. In this sense, Extinction Rebellion really gets it. Extinction Rebellion understands that change can't come from within our unimaginably corrupt, globalised system. They also understand that telling the unfiltered truth about the climate and ecological crisis is essential. Rebellion truly is the only option left.

Interestingly, in the face of staggering, insurmountable odds, non-violent direct action is the only place where you will feel content, purposeful and whole. This is what makes life worth living. For life is not about doing what you think will succeed, but doing what you know is right.

Keir Starmer

There's a lot of talk and interest about the election of Keir Starmer as Labour Party leader. This issue is nothing to be concerned about. Not worth your energy. If you want to help those in need, if you want actual progressive change, you will withdraw yourself from standard electoral politics.

Its very simple. Crystal clear. If you didn't learn from the most naked, vitriolic display of propaganda directed at Jeremy Corbyn, one of the few politicians who truly cares about the world, you may never learn. The more caring and progressive you are as a politician, the more you will be viciously demonised, even by members of your own party.

Lets remember that Mr Starmer, in 2016, was involved in the coup against Corbyn, his democratically elected leader. Starmer doesn't care about unifying the party. He doesn't respect Labour party members.

Though there may be some superficial benefits with a Starmer led Labour in power, relative to a Conservative government, the fundamental conditions of oppression will remain. If you want to adequately address issues that really matter, such as the climate and ecological crisis, perpetual war and the systematic oppression of working class people, then you will stop supporting immoral parties and politicians.

Now is not the time to dither and be hopeful. Now is the time to take action and be courageous. The only light in these dark times comes from civil disobedience. This, I believe, is the only means of tackling our significant societal problems.

UK Government and Covid-19

Critical analysis isn't about "scoring political points". It is about attempting to understand the world in which we live. Everyone should be doing this.

On January 24th, Chinese doctors published a paper in The Lancet, the distinguished British medical journal. They warned that the number of deaths in Wuhan was rising quickly and that the virus "could have acquired the ability for efficient human to human transmission". They also emphasised the pressure this would put on hospitals. On the same day, Chris Witty, England's Chief Medical Officer, informed us that the threat to the UK was "low" and that Britain was well prepared to deal with such a situation. Fast forward to present day UK: we are at 650-700 Covid-19 deaths daily, health care workers don't have enough PPE, medics are dying from the virus, there aren't nearly enough ventilators, there isn't nearly enough testing being done (even compared with the US!) and many hospitals are under pressure. Is this prepared? Is this a low threat? Any person with an ounce of morality, who knows what is going on, would be sickened by our government's response and should be ashamed of the criminal ineptitude and negligence of their leaders. But of course, accurate coverage by mainstream media is not being done.

February 29th was the first reported Coronavirus case in the UK. On March 5th, the UK government announced the "herd immunity" approach. The World Health Organisation (WHO) strongly advised against this approach, which went against scientific consensus. It wasn't until March 23rd that the government announced lockdown. Thus, in a complete u-turn, we went from herd immunity to lockdown. It should be very clear that the herd immunity approach is inexcusable and immoral. Some countries, such as Italy and Spain, are experiencing around 800 Covid-19 deaths a day. The UK is now closely catching up. The pressure on health services in these countries is enormous and even health workers are dying from the virus. In the UK multiple medics have already died, and this is without the strategy of herd immunity being fully embraced. If it had been fully embraced, the death figures would be far worse and the pressure on health services would be even more crippling. We still don't know this disease well. To allow an unknown disease to spread through the population unchecked is ludicrous and, again, shockingly irresponsible.

Some people say that the alternative to herd immunity is worse, which is going on lockdown and pausing "business as usual". One of the arguments is that by locking down, many poor people will struggle, especially in developing countries like India, because the small income that they did have would be gone and their governments wouldn't help them enough. Even in countries like the UK, locking down might mean being stuck with abusive partners or parents, for long periods of time, or again might mean poor people being in really difficult situations. Also, the economy would suffer greatly. These are of course arguments that are vital to consider. But this is where we need comprehensive government programmes that help vulnerable people during this pandemic and this is where we need community building and local co-operation. Seeing as though we are at 800 deaths a day in some countries, and these countries aren't even embracing herd immunity, this strategy should not be seen as an option. There are also positives to shutting down the economy, such as the huge reduction in air pollution. Air pollution, by the way, contributes to many thousands of deaths every year. Another point here is that there is poverty and suffering in many countries to begin with, which are the result of already toxic, unethical governments. Trying to return to business as usual and trying  to "keep the economy going" doesn't get to the root of this poverty and suffering. This pandemic and lockdown should be seen as an oppurtunity, by truly progressive people, to transform our societies for the better, by overcoming corporate tyrrany and giving power back to the people of the world.

South Korea and China are clear examples of countries who have dealt with this crisis swiftly and efficiently, as the WHO states. You might have been told different things by corrupt news outlets, but these outlets are not truthful or evidence-based. South Korea and China have contained the virus effectively and should be seen as models. It is unacceptable that even though we have had these instances to learn from, the UK government has dealt with this virus so irresponsibly and unethically. It seems that China and South Korea are intelligent enough to understand that the economy, or business as usual, can be paused while swift, firm containment measures are put in place.

Due to the nature of corruption and power, honest criticism of our governments is  discouraged in popular discourse. This is why most ordinary people will not criticise their government in an appropriate way and will not be fully aware of what is happening in the world. To put it more simply, people are conditioned to be submissive and uninformed. Thus, in pandemics like this, popular discourse will not encourage critical analysis of government action. This can deeply frustrating for some people who want to have an honest, critical conversation about what is going on.

I think a lot of focus really needs to be placed on this vital report from the WHO. UK decision-makers and medical officers really need to study this paper in detail. This report was completed as part of a joint mission between the World Health Organisation and China. This mission included 25 health experts from around the world who visited various cities in China. These experts carried out meetings and conducted field analyses of Chinese infrastructure and health services, in terms of studying the virus and how it was being dealt with. This mission took place between February 16th and February 24th. The findings of this report are trustworthy for the reasons that they are evidence-based and are the outcome of critical analysis and discussion. Here are some of the findings: 

"In the face of a previously unknown virus, China has rolled out perhaps the most ambitious, agile and aggressive disease containment effort in history. The strategy that underpinned this containment effort was initially a national approach that promoted universal temperature monitoring, masking and hand washing. However, as the outbreak evolved, and knowledge was gained, a science and risk-based approach was taken to tailor implementation. Specific containment measures were adjusted to the provincial, country and even community context, the capacity of the setting, and the nature of the novel Coronavirus transmission there.

Achieving China's exceptional coverage with and adherence to these containment measures has only been possible due to the deep commitment of the Chinese people to collective action in the face of a common threat. At a community level, this is reflected in the remarkable solidarity of provinces and cities in support of the most vulnerable populations and communities. Despite ongoing outbreaks in their own areas, Governors and Mayors have continued to send thousands of health care workers and tons of vital PPE supplies into Hubei province and Wuhan city. 

China's bold approach to contain the rapid spread of this new respiratory pathogen has changed the course of a rapidly escalating and deadly epidemic. A particularly compelling statistic is that on the first day of the advance team's work there were 2478 newly confirmed cases of COVID-19 reported in China. Two weeks later on the final day of this Mission, China reported 409 newly confirmed cases"

Clearly, China is an example of a country that has dealt with this pandemic expertly. Its strategies should be analysed and respected by other countries. In the UK, we were so lucky to have had the examples of other countries before us, yet the government seem to have learned nothing. In fact, by trying to implement herd immunity, we have gone directly against some very obvious advice. It makes me wonder whether the UK government cares at all about it' citizens? Or whether it is just deeply, deeply ignorant? Or deeply, deeply arrogant? Or a combination of the above? But this really isn't a laughing matter. This is very serious and, due to our government's combined ignorance and heartlessness, they are responsible for thousands of avoidable deaths.

Due to incompetent media outlets I have felt compelled, even though I am a full-time NHS receptionist, to look into this matter in my spare time and try and provide some kind of clarity on what is going on. I could be more exhaustive, but I am at least trying to analyse this situation critically, contextually and with some degree of sensitivity. This is more for my own sanity than anything else.

I urge our journalists and commentators to truly hold our government to account for their criminally negligent handling of this pandemic. Our government has lied about testing, hasn't provided nearly enough ventilators and aren't providing NHS staff, who are dying from the virus, with enough PPE. Please place responsibility appropriately.