Time to look back at an old piece of mine, and think about whether it’s just all about ‘way back then.’
In scenes mirroring the previous general election, raving hordes of self-righteous middle-class career decents have taken to the streets to protest the “Orwellian” hung parliament. Apparently the number of people who were eligible to vote, and who didn’t, is in the ten percents, at least!
Here’s my judgment in advance, just to forestall any confusion that may arise four years from now.
A lot of self-consciously worthy ideological hipsters are have deliberately confused themselves about the notion of “Orwellian.” Voting in a government and acknowledging the result isn’t Orwellian; challenging the result of a fair vote is Orwellian. Perhaps saying that adhering to an electoral vote is Orwellian could be the missing fourth slogan of 1984, after “War is peace, freedom is slavery, ignorance is strength.” If people don’t like the Tories, fine; a lot of people don’t like them. Nor do I.
But it’s one thing to think that the vote should have gone differently; it’s another thing to spit in the face of everyone who voted differently from you. I’m not exactly jumping through hoops about the result, but I could say the same about Corbyn government too. The small number of self-promoting Trotstkyite fellow travellers and champagne anarchists on Twitter need to lighten up and stop challenging democracy. If they don’t like the result, then there are democratic ways of making their feelings known. But acting like fascist ideologues or Khmer Rouge fanatics by denying the result of the election doesn’t make them look half as clever or enlightened as they think it does.
This may look like idle speculation.
I may speculate, but I am far from an idler!
This point deserves serious attention…
And it is not about me.