Opinion: Inertia is the greater enemy

What was the real catalyst which sparked the unexpected result in the UK General Election?

There was a time when a vote was something denied to you because of status, or sex, or circumstance. There have been places where long-running, bloody and savage battles have been fought on the premise of one man, one vote (with the ‘man’ used in the generic, rather than literal sense – though some might wish it otherwise!). I cite in earlier times the suffrage movement where voting was gender-specific, or more recently South Africa and Northern Ireland where voting was status and property specific.

To some extent the fight to overturn those discriminations was healthy – not physically healthy certainly and I am not advocating a return to guerrilla warfare or rebellion – but psychologically stimulating. As soon as people have got what they want, it becomes ‘passe’. People nowadays, despite their ancestor’s efforts and sacrifices, find the whole process boring, irrelevant and intrusive on their other activities.

Certainly in the UK over the past several years, there has been so little to choose between the policies of the main political parties that it had become largely a futile and pointless exercise. Certainly, it is individuals that can tend to galvanise people. Unfortunately, though, sometimes it may also be the extreme view, the incitement to join a witch hunt, a pogrom!.

What happens then when those two ‘catalysts’ go head to head? The cult of the personality versus the cult of the crusade?

The individual: A quiet, undemonstrative man who the media declared was never going to be able to stand up and champion the country against the might of Europe. He was a joke. He was naive. He was unstatesmanlike. Worse, he had proved himself, fundamentally, pro-foreigners, opposing wars, fraternised with the enemy, and was totally and avowedly opposed to spending multi-millions on a new nuclear defence program which would protect the UK. He was obviously a liability. He had to be put back in his box.

The Cult: In the opposing corner, the arguments played on the insecurities of the voting population: terrorism, national security, financial penury, socialist indoctrination. Hovering above all of this was the phantom of ‘the immigrant’: the foreigners stealing jobs, houses, taking over the cities. Imposing their way of life, their religion, their ‘difference’ on the country in their multi-millions. Brexit had been chosen to keep out these interlopers. Here was a man who was going to allow the flood gates to be thrown wide open.

Well in the UK, luckily, it seems that the cult of the personality has proved more robust. A left-wing pacifist, inclusive and radical, holding views that were alien to many. ultimately succeeded in forcing a hung Parliament, largely due to the huge swathe of galvanised, rekindled supporters and young, new first time voters. They turned out in their droves, not just to vote, but to campaign, rally, debate, argue and greet him in an almost messianic fashion. And all this despite his vilification by all sectors of the media, orchestrated by powerful, influential and financially well-positioned opponents, These billionaires feared that his politics posed a substantial threat to their self-interest, but reasoned that he was but one man – and apparently not even a very dynamic man. He was no Margaret Thatcher. Or even Donald Trump – one of their own, and so able to buy status, rank, power, votes. So nothing to fear as long as they kept the pressure up!

Wrong on both counts. Money was not necessary to buy votes. Sincerity seemed to have been the currency demanded. This was not quite a complete loss to the status quo, but it certainly felt like one – and worse still spelled ‘beware for the future’. People – ordinary people – were not seduced by their headlines, their propaganda, their entreaties, their dire warnings. The worm had turned. They may believe that the lunatics were taking over the asylum, but their views were no longer pertinent. The masses were not only thinking for themselves but were once again taking an interest in what voting really means and were now aware that they could change the status quo. It was no longer a yawn and a waste of time. There was once again a God. And his name was Corbyn!