Corbyn symbolises sincere beneficial societal change. When he was elected leader of the Labour party he was thrown into an intensely toxic climate. He was overwhelmingly rejected by New Labour, the popular press, the rich-elite and the Conservatives. In other terms he was overwhelmingly rejected by the establishment and neoliberalism - neoliberalism is unfettered, ultra capitalism. Two seemingly unassailable forces.As a relative outsider to the political landscape I thought Corbyn's intensely unfair and biased treatment was simultaneously shocking, fascinating and infuriating.
Ideas and assumptions were drilled into the minds of the public. Corbyn is weak, incompetent, unelectable, universally unliked, economically illiterate. Pretty much all news and entertainment outlets, often including the Guardian and regularly including the BBC, saw him as unelectable and unpopular. In a shameful display of journalistic and editorial negligence and ignorance our omniscient media outlets failed to interrogate such opinions, engendering a harmful climate of abstractions or unrealities. This, also, is a clear example of how media and people reverse reality. Corbyn is unelectable and unpopular even though he, uhh, won two landslide elections??
Can you imagine what this kind of treatment would do to a lot of people? When you've genuinely dedicated your life to helping those in need. When you've been a committed and caring MP for over 30 years. When you've been a prominent active member of the CND. When you have a long record of activism to demonstrate your commitment to anti-inequality and anti-war causes. When you were voted in as leader of your party by a landslide, twice! Can you imagine what it's like to be told by many sources, seemingly determined to tarnish your public image, that you are an unlikeable, unelectable force destroying the Labour party? And to have so much of the country believe this?
As a politician the difference with Corbyn is that he is wholly principled and honest, coupled with the fact that he is sensitive to those in need. His rejection and attempted expulsion by and from the establishment and mainstream politics has emphatically shown that integrity, sensitivity and honesty are VERY rare traits in high-profile politicians.
The establishment and the many media organisations that enforce establishment norms felt an instinctive and all-consuming urge to expel Corbyn from mainstream politics. But they failed in their attempts and, against tremendous odds, Corbyn and his loyal associates/supporters have largely overturned public opinion, an impressive feat. Corbyn and his party have interrogated and challenged the basic values of Britain's ultra-capitalist society, which are (were?) so pervasive, all-consuming and ingrained in the minds of the population. They have transformed mainstream UK politics. We have various specific factors to thank for this. One important one is Corbyn's deeply commendable resilience. He is, all the evidence shows, THE strong and stable politician.
Another point demonstrating media bias intimately woven to "the Corbyn situation" is the transformation of how the public perceive Theresa May.
Because May gave off an unfounded facade of strength and stability and because popular media did very little to interrogate this facade, many people previously assumed that this was how she actually was. It was the reverse with Corbyn. He may not immediately come across as strong or powerful, but a good look at his past shows you he is. Thus the media enforced the unfounded view that May was strong and similarly/conversely enforced the unfounded view that Corbyn was weak. The election and it's aftermath, though, have come a long way in realigning wider public perception. May's true colours are being further revealed with each day, as are Corbyn's. But the battle isn't over.
Pervasive popular media outlets by and large enforce neoliberal values, as opposed to interrogate them. Whether this is an unconscious process it is hard to say. In greatly influencing public opinion our media organisations are thus highly complicit in our society's injustice and corruption. In the UK it has taken the determination of one unassuming admirable politician and his equally admirable supporters and associates to properly challenge the media and properly challenge, on a mainstream, high-profile level, the inequality of our society. Corbyn has transformed the Labour party into an inspiration.
backed him from day one the real fight will come when he becomes PM we his supporters will have to dig in & fight for him & ourselves
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