I've always been totally enthralled by activists of every stripe. Enduring the vitriol that comes with raising your head up and saying that the status quo isn't good enough. I've always wished I had the strength to be an activist, to really stand for something and put myself out there that way. I don't know if I could handle the white hot hate some people get when they stand up for themselves and others, even if I try to do my own lukewarm version of activism.
Lately, my brain has been consumed with the question of whether I do enough. The answer is no. I will never do enough because it's like trying to hold water in your hands. Too many things happening, not enough time, not enough experience. But I will keep striving and trying to be an activist in the way that would make me truly proud even if I'll never achieve it.
The problem started as a quiet whisper originally: what if. What if people are right and I don't care about others who might suffer, who might not get looked after, if we get the tories out.
Will I stop fighting? Is just getting them out enough, or is this about the first step towards a wholesale change in society that makes everyone's lives better?
For me there's no question. This isn't about just kicking out a bad government. It's about the dismantling of a system that does not work for too many people. People who can get pregnant, people of colour, LGBT+, disabled people and all those people who sit amongst many or all of those communities, and those who don't.
This isn't a pet project for me. it's an obsession- I'm a keen study and am trying to learn how to do my best by everyone I can. But I'm learning and new.
The question for everyone else, the thing everyone needs to ask themselves is... is that what you're fighting for? Do you want systemic change, improvement, a better life for everyone?
Or are you just uncomfortable and long for the days when stuff was better- for you?
I don't want to return to the heady old days of a government who looks after most.
I want government who looks after us all.
Is that what you're fighting for...? And if not... why not?
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