‽istis ponders not fighting (weekending
October 7th 2023)
This week ‽istis has pondered not
fighting…
Penny Mordaunt: Member of the UK
Parliament, ‘belly-flopping’ reality TV show participant[i],
Leader of the House of Commons and Lord President of the Council, sword-bearing
‘star of the coronation’[ii]…
and speaker at the Conservative Party Conference in Manchester this week[iii]
when you could say anything
when you could use any verbs[iv]
when you
could choose any cause
when you could define what your
party does in any way you wish, this:
‘If you remember nothing else
from what I have said today, remember this:
Stand up and fight.
Stand up and fight for our
families, for workers, for the protectors, for the wealth creators.
Stand up for those that take
responsibility.
Stand up and fight for all those
people that voted to leave the EU and those that voted to remain and accepted
the result and wish our country well.
Stand up and fight for your
communities, for Scotland, for Wales, for Northern Ireland, for England.
Stand up and fight for the
freedoms we have won – against socialism whether it is made of velvet or iron.
Have courage and conviction
because when you do, you move our countrymen, our communities and capital of
all kinds to our cause.
Stand up and fight because when
you stand up and fight, the person beside you stands up and fights.
And when our party stands up and
fights the nation stands up and fights.
And when our nation stands up
and fights, other nations stand up and fight.
And they stand up and fight for
the things upon which the entire progress of humanity depends: freedom.
That is what C/conservatives[v]
do.’
And by the powers of internet
serendipity, the next video, automatically playing seamlessly: Vick Hope
telling me: ’Time to pick your jaw back off the floor.’[vi]
So ‽istis began to ponder what
words would have more readily come to mind‽
Not so much ‘stand up and fight’
– more support or champion, strive, be prepared or get ready, be committed, or care,
or co-operate, or exercise compassion, or raise up, or prize, or enable, or
look after, or work together…
And ‽istis’ version of the speech
might go something like this:
‘If you remember nothing else
from what I have said today, remember this:
Be wholeheartedly committed to
care deeply and to show outrageous and radical compassion, generosity, appreciation
and co-operative support.
Care deeply and show outrageous and radical compassion, generosity, appreciation and co-operative support for our families; for workers; for those who are ill or who are disabled by their circumstances, by society, by us; for children and young people and our venerable elders; for the carers; for the protectors; for the health and social care staff, the teachers and mentors; for those in the public and the voluntary and community services; for family carers; for parents and grandparents, other relatives and friends and all who nurture and support; for those children, young people and all people who have been left behind or forgotten, who have been minoritised, oppressed or abused by society, by us…
Care deeply and show outrageous and radical compassion, generosity, appreciation and co-operative support for those who take responsibility and for those who just cannot; for the rights-bearers, the duty-bearers, those with power and those who are powerless.
Care deeply and show outrageous and radical compassion, generosity, appreciation and co-operative support for all those people that voted to leave the EU - despite the fact that they voted to leave the EU, and for those that voted to remain and continue to wish we were part of a bigger enterprise, uniting and working things out for the benefit of all - beyond the artificial boundaries of nations or the limits and barriers of our island geography.
Care deeply and show outrageous and radical compassion, generosity, appreciation and co-operative support for your neighbours, communities and everyone in them and everyone who we will welcome to them.
Care deeply for the freedoms
that we in co-operation and coalition with others have gained – against
tyranny, oppression, exclusion, hatred, the denial of rights, the denial of
justice, inequality and abuse wherever and whenever these have been found, even
including when we have been the perpetrators; and may these freedoms be for
everyone.
Have courage and conviction
because when you do, you can move everyone, our communities and capital of all
kinds to the reparative, restorative, fair, equitable, just benefit of us all.
Care deeply and show outrageous and radical compassion, generosity, appreciation and co-operative support because when you care deeply and show outrageous and radical compassion, generosity, appreciation and co-operative support – the person beside you may care deeply and show outrageous and radical compassion, generosity, appreciation and co-operative support.
And when a party cares deeply and shows outrageous and radical compassion, generosity, appreciation and co-operative support – our society may care deeply and show outrageous and radical compassion, generosity, appreciation and co-operative support.
And when we, here[vii], care deeply and show outrageous and radical compassion, generosity, appreciation and co-operative support – others everywhere may care deeply and show outrageous and radical compassion, generosity, appreciation and co-operative support.
And we might then all care deeply and show outrageous and radical compassion, generosity, appreciation and co-operative support – upon which the entire progress of humanity depends.
This is what we could do…
Well, not as snappy, not as
sound-bitey, not as stirring; but not as conflictual, aggressive, war-mongering[viii]
or divisive (us – v - them and that which is fought against) – and, dare ‽istis say,
not as nasty[ix].
But... just perhaps, possibly,
maybe imagine how different the world could be‽
©‽istis
NB: further reflections and
comments linked to this week’s theme and past blog entries to be found on
Twitter: replies, retweets (which don’t necessarily indicate approval,
sometimes the very opposite!) and ‘likes’: @Pistis_wonders. Twitter ‘follows’
and respectful comment and dialogue welcome...
[iv]
Stand up and fight – this what C/conservatives do. Not care, not work together,
not show compassion, raise each other up, etc, etc, etc…
[v]
Couldn’t tell if Penny Mordaunt was using a small ‘c’ or big ‘C’.
[vi] ‘It’s
a tailgate NBA play of the day. Poetry.’
[vii] With
a gentle beat to the heart and an expansive open-handed gesture to the
delegates…
[viii]
Including ‘culture’ war-mongering…
[ix]
Thank you, Theresa May. Various references including: https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theresa_May
