Get out there and protest

I was brought up in a very conservative household. I am grateful to my parents for all they did to try to support my upbringing. I was sent to a private school, and some considerable cost to them, and the education of my sister and me was always a top priority. I don’t really approve of private schools, and the anomaly that meant that schooling increased my chances of getting to Oxbridge, and all the privileges that have followed. But I benefited for sure, and I am grateful.

Other parts of the conservatism epitomized the time just before the swinging sixties, even though actually the swinging sixties were taking place around us at the time. Probably quite a few families reacted against what they saw and doubled down on their conservatism.

A big part of the conservatism was compliance with what my parents saw as expectations of decent society. So we did not go to Church, yet could not utter a word against the Church of England and were very suspicious of all other faiths. The Queen remained completely beyond criticism for my mum right until the day she died – she would not hear a word against the royal family. There was a naïve innate trust of official institutions, people such as the police or armed services or doctors or even bank managers. Even the Daily Mail was slavishly trusted. Our country may have lost its empire, but it was still considered special, a beacon of decency in the world.

Much of this was a sort of snobbery. A large consequence was an unthinking defence of blatant injustices – be they mysoginism, homophobia, racism or just disrespect for people with a different regional accent or working class upbringing. I remember that we would not watch Coronation Street, as somehow that might mark as out as common.

I realize now that my family comprised just the sort of people the establishment like. Whatever job they do or social class they come from, these are people who can be relied upon. They are patriotic and can be motivated in time or war or national threat, and they will support the key institutions unquestioningly. They might even commit family members to such institutions.

There is some of this that is good. National love and pride can be a powerful motivator and even something that generates wellbeing for people. The Americans have this pride, and it helps their nation in many ways. Nowadays in Britain the pride still exists but it is more cynical and less widespread in society, and it is harder to ignite it.

But such conservatism is dangerous as well. Sometimes the establishment needs to be challenged. If there is not enough challenge, then it is too easy to pass lazy legislation, putting short-term convenience ahead of the true interest of the nation’s people – which does not always coincide with the perceived interest of the nation as an institution. It is too easy to go to war, or to reduce civil liberties, or even to hoard power or for leaders to become corrupt.

It also becomes too easy to pander to reactionary fears. David Cameron allowed a monster to escape when pandering to the Eurosceptic wing of his party. Those leaders, and most newspapers, play on fears about immigration and foreign control. Small c conservatives lap this up, at the expense of social harmony and progress and even of the economic interest of the nation. In the current climate, I can see my mum and dad being anti EU and anti immigrant.

In the US, blind patriotism has done even more harm. Strange for a nation of immigrants, it has become unacceptable practice to malign the nation or its institutions. Every time I go to a sports event or watch one on TV, there is some soldier honoured or patriotic song or lauding of the greatness of the nation and especially its armed forces. It is not hard to see how this thinking can lead to Iraq and Guantanamo.

The thinking poisons politics in a particular way. Trump argues to “Make America great again” while everyone pays homage to how things were and American exceptionalism. “America hating” is about the worst thing you can say about anyone, and words like socialism become tainted with anti-national feelings.

One manifestation of conservatism is a belief in the established processes or democracy. I was taught to always vote, though I gradually became lazy, until abstaining one local election, allowing the Conservatives to win after drawing lots, teaching me a good lesson in a sharp way. I was also subtly taught that voting is enough, along with occasional lobbying of an MP.

This teaching came by way of disrespect for those who took alternative routes. Non-conformists never got a look in from my family, whether hippies or punks. And those protesting were portrayed as some sort of lunatic fringe. I remember anti-apartheid protests and anti-nuclear protests at Greenham Common. My parents joined with the Daily Mail in condemning such people as freaks.

I have come to reverse my parental upbringing in many ways, taking an unusual leftwards path during my middle years. And I think one way that this would manifest itself would be my attitude to protesting. Heck, given the right cause I might even get out there on the streets myself one of these days, and I’d certainly be happy if my kids took that course.

What factors lead to this change? Partly it is about my own attitude and how I observe society. Partly it is about how society itself seems to have changed. And partly it is about the growing power to the individual in society.

The part about me is a gradual unwinding of my upbringing. Slowly, I have seen examples to show the folly in conservative values. How could we have let apartheid go on so long? What about racial prejudice? Homophobia? A whole series of crassly stupid, arrogant, damaging military campaigns? And such injustices are still there, when we open our attitudes to see beyond the propaganda. Universal parental leave? The attitude to refugees? There are many causes to get on the street about.

The part about society itself is my belief that our democracy is even less representative than it used to be. Anyone thinking the US congress represents anything but money is sadly deluded. The parties themselves are barely distinguishable, at least in their mainstreams. It is not much better in the UK or anywhere else. And special interests have worked to minimize accountability through gerrymandered constituencies and electoral systems. In most cases, voting is truly meaningless, except for the data point our votes indicate to the lobbyists. Further, TV news and newspapers have dumbed down to the extent that they have become mouthpieces for some established special interest.

The increased power of the individual comes from everywhere except the formal democratic process. Social media and the internet are the catalysts. We all have a voice now, if we care to express it and are smart about making it heard (which does not really describe me). A protest will be ignored by TV and newspapers, but can still go viral in other ways. Of course, freedom of expression is the first manifestation of democracy and remains largely intact in the West, though sadly not elsewhere. If there is one thing worth protesting for, it is to maintain that glorious privilege.

So get out there and protest, both on the street and through blogs and lobby groups, as long as it is safe where you live to do so. I wish that thirty years ago I had been more open and informed, more skeptical and to have had available the magic of social media. I can thank my parents for a lot, but they did not help much in those directions.