Don’t Let The Hope Kill You

“Life's under no obligation to give us what we expect.” – Margaret Mitchell

I believe that one of the first duties a human being has is to think for themselves, which is one reason why I’m not a fan of voting. In fact, despite having had at least 16 opportunities to vote in my lifetime, the last election was the first time that I ever participated in the democratic process. I did so unwillingly, certain that my cynicism was an objective reflection of the fact that no political party had ever meaningfully impacted on the lives of my forbearers, my race or me. I felt the same about the referendum but my son was excited at the prospect of casting his vote and ‘having his voice heard’ so I did my paternal duty and refused to poison his mind with my negative perception of the fruitlessness of the façade of democracy. So I voted with him and I must confess, his enthusiasm and excitement were infectious. This was the 23rd of June 2016, the eve of Brexit. It’s fair to say that he had inherited some of my cynicism the next morning when he realised that baby boomers and the elderly had whimsically voted for a return to the good old days when Johnny Foreigner didn’t tell us what to do. He was (and is) devastated but I told him he could go through life expecting nothing and therefore never being disappointed or be comfortable in the darkness because that’s the only time you see the stars.

So even though I’m not a great fan of political parties and their motivations, I do believe that there are more people who choose to love and share than to hate and divide. I believe in my son, his generation and the future because our babies are the Universe’s opinion that humanity should go on. And I believe that every single day, is where it all begins; everything starts today. So despite the fact I see democracy as a façade – please don’t tell me people died in wars for me to vote as I doubt that the soldiers fighting in racially segregated ranks would have been as enthusiastic if they were fighting for people like myself – I go to the polls out of respect for the future. I go to shout in to the abyss, not to have my voice heard because even though I have a voice I don’t think it’s listened to; and certainly not by this government.

I vote today for the future of social care and the basic principle that the weakest and most vulnerable in society need to be supported by the more fortunate until such time as they are in a position to support themselves.

I vote today because I would like a leader who has an alternative perspective on how to address terrorism, a leader who can empathise with my sisters wearing hijabs as readily as they would with my sisters wearing figure-hugging dresses. A leader who takes as much responsibility for failed, destructive interventions in foreign lands as they expect ‘Muslim communities’ to take for maniacs who happen to follow Islam.

I vote today because even though I can afford private health, I know most cannot and the NHS is one of the few remaining institutions that this country can be genuinely proud of. So I vote to save the NHS and to eliminate the slow creep of privatisation – which is already happening.

I vote today because I don’t want to represented by xenophobic buffoons like the Foreign Secretary who is not just a tactless blowhard, but a mendacious charlatan.

I vote today because if we are to leave the European Union, I want a leader who will not ignore the fact that Europe is our closest logistical, economic and cultural alliance and who will seek to build bridges with Europe, not walls, on behalf of our children.

I vote today not because I think that there will be any winner other than the venal, opportunistic kleptocrats known as the Tory party, but because I want to reduce their majority so significantly that they drown in their own hubris.

I vote today because I don’t want this country to look westwards across the Atlantic and align itself with a racist, orange sunset with no impulse control and an innate desire for self-destruction. I want a leader who will embody the values that this country stands for, not what it says it stands for and that means holding Amerikkka’s first elected dictator to account; for the sake of the world.

If two lions and a zebra are voting on what to have for dinner then that’s not democracy, and yet after this most unnecessary of elections here we are with exactly that kind of scenario. But whatever happens I won’t stay silent and passively observe as my children’s generation are co-opted in to more conflicts around the world, their educational birthright is squandered and falsehoods about a booming economy that isn’t being rebalanced are sold as beneficial to our collective well being. Mark Twain said that if voting made any difference they’d never let us do it. I think he’s right. But at the same time I don’t want my sons to grow up thinking that hope, however futile, is undiscovered disappointment.

That’s why I voted Labour today.