Someone on ‘Thought for the Day’ spoke very intelligently about how we are all so fond of the sound of our own voices these days – particularly via social media, online campaigns, review sites etc. I realized I was certainly guilty of this and particularly guilty of the curse of the white male – ‘let me show you, world, how to fix things,’ consequently I lost interest in my own opinions for a bit and decided over the Easter holiday to go into the garden and fix local, rather than global things.
So with help from various sons, we have cleared the side of the house, built an outside store for Maria’s annoying bags of mud, assembled the most ridiculously complicated barbeque (not very ‘Vorsprung durch technik’ despite its German credentials) installed a new cimenea – actually made by some ‘Fred Dibnar impersonator’ from an old gas bottle –
!Brilliant, recommended! and put up a large anarchist poster to counteract the objectionable tide of blue that has flooded the neighborhood (unfortunately it is black and looks just a touch fascist).
I particularly the juxtaposition of the fountain, the new painted exterior (Dulux weathershield -Tuscan Sun or something) and an offstage Landmann barbeque with this statement of extreme disobedience – good to see I practice what I preach.
I have also fixed two radios, numerous lighters and two clocks – I have broken about as many treasured items en route to these limited successes.
I peaked work-wise after the submission of a vast European funding bid I have a part in – as it is worth half a million quid the university if we get it (it’s led heroically by Edinburgh) I was quite pleased with myself. All credit due to the other partners who are a great lot of individuals from Spain and Portugal – it would be such fun if we got it as it’s about robots that try to voice act.
I had my monthly check at the hospital and my response to the treatment was pronounced excellent. I think this means they will hold fire on doing anything more at all, which is very fine by me. I am now 12 stone 9lbs – blimey!
Re politics – I wont be voting in the next election – so feel free to throw me aside as a relative or friend or just throw me to the wolves of goodie goodies who go on about – ‘all those people who fought and died in order that you should have a vote’. The point about history is that it’s in the past and what was once heroic and intensely meaningful in now as retro and irrelevant as my collection of table lighters and a poodle toilet roll cover I am threatening to buy. By voting for any party, the establishment can claim that the emergent government has the support of the people when in fact they have achieved only obedience from the people who are seduced into thinking they have a say when they don’t – mind you most of us, including me ,only pretend to care anyway.
I am now a confirmed anarchist (after all I have a badge). I have no faith (no faith in anything) in democracy, government, unions, politics, god or any authority of any type (of course I exclude myself, my family and friends and cats and the nurses and doctors who look after me from this list – I have faith in the authority of all of those). The world is absurd. For some lucky ones its is absurdly joyful and a wee bit silly (I am one of those) for many its absurdly cruel. The government of ‘men’ has done nothing to globally rectify this imbalance and never will. Human beings are born to be free (and in my case to shop and pontificate) and that is the only criteria that matters. In the meantime we should individually fight for the rights of the most oppressed and the overthrow of the most oppressive. In our daily lives we should seek to be nice to people. This is a utopian position that takes no account of social necessities, history, practicalities or any the other tiresome obstacles to making outspoken, irrational and marginally mad statements. So be it. As Christopher Hitchens says ‘ The grave will supply plenty of time for silence.’
The sentiments of Christopher Hitchens sent to me by Arthur.
As you may have gathered I am still in a frightful muddle about the whole thing – but delightfully, I don’t care that much- so stuff it all and back to my burrow. Car boot sale tomorrow – hurrahhh!
Love and solidarity xxx – Vote Labour if you must vote at all – you can have my vote.