Wednesday 1 April 2020

Thank You, Jeremy Corbyn

Jeremy Corbyn has devoted his life to fighting for other people; for the oppressed, the exploited, the marginalized, always putting himself on the frontline, be it to oppose Apartheid in South Africa, the fascist National Front, the invasion of Iraq, the persecution of Palestinians, austerity, etc.

He is an extremely rare kind of politician: uncorrupted, informed, honest, dedicated to helping humanity; an internationalist who values all life equally; who bravely speaks out against all the bloody criminality that Britain, under American leadership, wreaks all over the world. And he unashamedly opposes the underlying disease at the root of our problems - free market capitalism.

In my view, he's probably the greatest missed opportunity in British history, and I'm sure all those around the world impacted by British/corporate imperialism would agree.

Is he infallible and was he perfect as a leader? Of course bloody not! But his principles and his commitment to them made him a million times better than any other UK leader, that I’m aware of.

He has always kept fighting, despite constant abuse from our rotten establishment/media, and thus, much of the public - he has even been physically assaulted. It seems that this is the price you pay for seeking peace and justice in this twisted society. He is immensely courageous, but gets little appreciation for it, (in the mainstream, at least).

Despite failing to get into government, it is surely undeniable that he and the movement he led these last few years has shifted the debate in our politics significantly, with the Tories’ latest budget seemingly abandoning a decade of totally unnecessary and deathly austerity, and now pledging to invest in the country even more than Labour was planning - but of course, facing none of the same ire from the media for doing so.

Many of the ideas that seemed so radical to many just a few years ago, like ending austerity, taking essential utilities/services back into public ownership, major state intervention in the economy, embarking on a green revolution, etc, are now mainstream, and this is surely a massive achievement.

But Corbyn will get little credit for this. That the ounce of civility we have in society comes from the activism of 'radical' socialists, must remain under wraps. Can’t have everyone figuring out that it is pressure from socialists, not capitalism, that helps us to progress! And we definitely can’t have everyone figuring out how much saner things could be (see Finland) if those nasty leftists actually gained power! So they must remain demonized.

The establishment will also try and wipe from history that in 2017, Corbyn-led Labour achieved its biggest vote increase since 1945, taking back many of the voters lost during warmonger Blair's tenure, and coming within 2,200 votes of forming a government. And of course, the vicious propaganda against Corbyn and the movement, will barely be acknowledged by the mainstream pundits who waged that vicious campaign. Nor will the fact that the 2019 election was very much a Brexit election, or that it was the Blairite-demanded policy of backing a second referendum that was the biggest reason for Labour's huge loss.

He really exposed how rotten our system is, particularly the media that upholds that system; Across the board, from the Mail to the BBC to the Guardian, mainstream journalists went on the attack, all to prevent a mild-mannered social justice activist - who wanted to begin making the UK about as 'radical' as Scandinavia - from reaching power. Those who consider themselves 'centrist liberals' have been well and truly exposed as the imperialists and free market extremists, that they've gradually become in recent decades as they've submitted to Thatcherite ideology.

Had Labour succeeded with Corbyn, we could have begun taking power away from the elite few; we could have started redirecting our resources away from for-profit wars and ecocide, towards creating a peaceful, sustainable future for all. We could have opposed American-led thuggery/imperialism on the world stage and stood up for human rights. We could have had a PM who was one of literally a handful of politicians who has opposed the austerity/NHS privatization that has left us poorly resourced to cope with the Coronavirus. Having a socialist leading the sixth largest global economy could have been revolutionary for the world.

I hope that perhaps as a result of having a truly progressive opposition party these last few years, that we’re now a step closer to making the above a reality, as many eyes have been opened to the idea that another future is possible. But the extreme 'centrist' Blairites, having consistently undermined the party since Corbyn took over - thus playing a major role in making the party unelectable - now feel emboldened, and the likely new leader, Keir Starmer, seems very weak.

On a personal note, I got deeply interested in politics around the same time as Jeremy became leader; having been made aware of the west’s monstrous intervention in Syria, which set me off on a distressing but ultimately enlightening journey of learning; about the system that we live in. Most of our politicians either support that system, are ignorant to it, or aren’t brave enough to oppose it. My journey of discovery was made much less distressing knowing that we had a political leader who was both informed and brave enough to have spent his life opposing it. It gave me hope.

Anyway, I just wanted to say... thank you Jeremy Corbyn! The world is a slightly less terrible place only thanks to people like you!


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