David Bowie, as much as any public figure (in Britain at any rate), represented an
avatar for the liberal intelligentsia, the quixotic suburban populous and the artisanal
working class. He was a source of life, solace; for some a prophet of the
future. Perhaps he was also a harbinger of doom!?
Planet Earth in 2016, so we might be inclined to believe
from what we see on television news, read online or in the daily rags, has become
a Blackstar.
Bowie’s death was followed by Brexit was followed by Trump becoming
President Elect, and in between there was turmoil in the markets, natural
disasters and a spate of terror attacks in Brussels, Nice, Lahore and Istanbul.
People in Canada have even started to dig their own graves.
Hmm.
Hmm.
2016 has been a momentous year and one in which many events
transpired against received opinion or upset the odds. Aside from Leicester
City winning the Premier League very few of these events has been stuff of
fairy tales. But it’s probably fair to say that many of my ‘kind’ - I write as
someone of the liberal or left-leaning, British middle class* – have been living in
some version of a fairy tale for several decades. Little Wonder (?).
For ‘us’ it’s been a confusing and confounding year. Many of
my ‘kind’ are scratching heads or soul-searching. How could ‘we’ have messed up
the middle east so badly fundamentalist elements are now out to kill us off?
How could ‘we’ have lost the Brexit vote? How could our ‘fellow’ Americans
allow Donald Trump into the White House? Where’s Bowie when you need him? Oh
no! Boo hoo!
It’s the year hatred may well have become neutral, fascism: ‘alt
right’, lying: ‘post-truth’ but in ‘liberal’ echelons/on the left, debating
circles have turned into echo chambers, places for people to argue amongst
themselves. The conversation has occurred largely online and away from the mainstream press (where
opinions are still formed/interpreted and given a/most voice) or, indeed, via protest
after-the-fact (see Pro-EU marches in London post-Brexit and consider how many of the thousands who turned out to wave placards and pose in blue and yellow T-shirts actively
campaigned for the EU cause beforehand).
We can criticise the political elite for sleepwalking into
this mess. Although we elected and kept many of the same myopic/complacent
neo-liberal politicians in power, and in the case of the US, our ‘fellow’
Americans didn’t knock on enough doors – either through Clinton apathy or just apathy.
We can say these politicians should have paid more attention to the blue collar working class over the years (when we also assumed the blue collar working class no longer was swayed by the Tabloids, was essentially apolitical, too overweight or drunk to mobilise or be mobilised).
We can blame capitalism – and not realise it is stampeding over our livelihoods too (for example, 80,000 white collar civil service jobs have been cut without even so much as a whisper since 2010 in the UK).
We can say the alt right fly in the face of facts (when we are lost in a maelstrom of them and unable to pick one to reply with).
We can say these people are racists, and slur them with various ists and isms and sometimes with good reason, but other times (when we're being lazy... perhaps too often) we are only contributing to the Us vs. Them narrative which fuels all of this.
We can be dour and become cynical, and while it is our right to be angry, anger needs a channel and it needs a positive kind of energy to channel it best (however you look at it we can't do anger like the alt right - not only because we eschew the rhetoric, but because the blood simply won't boil).
We can say these politicians should have paid more attention to the blue collar working class over the years (when we also assumed the blue collar working class no longer was swayed by the Tabloids, was essentially apolitical, too overweight or drunk to mobilise or be mobilised).
We can blame capitalism – and not realise it is stampeding over our livelihoods too (for example, 80,000 white collar civil service jobs have been cut without even so much as a whisper since 2010 in the UK).
We can say the alt right fly in the face of facts (when we are lost in a maelstrom of them and unable to pick one to reply with).
We can say these people are racists, and slur them with various ists and isms and sometimes with good reason, but other times (when we're being lazy... perhaps too often) we are only contributing to the Us vs. Them narrative which fuels all of this.
We can be dour and become cynical, and while it is our right to be angry, anger needs a channel and it needs a positive kind of energy to channel it best (however you look at it we can't do anger like the alt right - not only because we eschew the rhetoric, but because the blood simply won't boil).
We need to remain outward looking and optimistic, even if it is optimism with a small ‘o’,
and bargain with good faith that there is still common decency in society (the UK, America, the middle
east etc).
We need to stand up to any of the injustices if/as/when they happen, better still pre-empt them. And to do so we have to drop the bad attitude – stop bickering amongst ourselves or indulging in some navel-gazing, reflexive narrative and learn from Brexit and Trump in particular that the values of ‘liberal’ society and/or the left need to have a more direct and emotive appeal.
We need to supress for now the ists and isms, nefarious factoids, all the cappuccino chatter and define what liberal/left values really stand for - let's say: Truth, Justice and Equality. Three straightforward words understood by everyone but all too often not utilised with sufficient rigour.
And we also need unity. The right, especially the 'alt right' is beginning to homogenise and thus is fast becoming the dominant voice in society and in politics. The left has to get over it's own peculiarities and forget pedantry. While we can be civil in private when expressing our views, the uncomfortable truth for some (including me) is that we will probably have to shout them (in unison) in public to avoid being drowned out. And, perhaps most importantly, make sacrifices to time and properly engage in social action.
We need to stand up to any of the injustices if/as/when they happen, better still pre-empt them. And to do so we have to drop the bad attitude – stop bickering amongst ourselves or indulging in some navel-gazing, reflexive narrative and learn from Brexit and Trump in particular that the values of ‘liberal’ society and/or the left need to have a more direct and emotive appeal.
We need to supress for now the ists and isms, nefarious factoids, all the cappuccino chatter and define what liberal/left values really stand for - let's say: Truth, Justice and Equality. Three straightforward words understood by everyone but all too often not utilised with sufficient rigour.
And we also need unity. The right, especially the 'alt right' is beginning to homogenise and thus is fast becoming the dominant voice in society and in politics. The left has to get over it's own peculiarities and forget pedantry. While we can be civil in private when expressing our views, the uncomfortable truth for some (including me) is that we will probably have to shout them (in unison) in public to avoid being drowned out. And, perhaps most importantly, make sacrifices to time and properly engage in social action.
Meantime, the trove of Bowie’s music, his concerts, television
appearances and interviews will still be there waiting, at least in one internet galaxy or another, when we’re done trying (or hoarse from shouting).
*using class in somewhat general terms here for purposes of this short piece
*using class in somewhat general terms here for purposes of this short piece
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