Tuesday 21st March

We have lots of discussions in the Café, often about Brexit or Trump or Marine Le Pen or the terrorist threat or the price of houses in London or whatever.  And after we have put the world to rights we shake our heads and say “There is nothing we can do about it”.  Which in a funny way is both quite consoling and a bit worrying.  This abnegation of our responsibility for the state we are in absolves us of all guilt – it was all our leaders fault, or those idiots who voted for Trump or Brexit.  But it doesn’t help solve the problem, washing our hands of it all simply plays into the hands of those who we rail against.  But it is this feeling of impotence, of everything out of our control which is a driving force for those who would take us deeper into the morass.  The forces of Globalisation love it when we elect the Trumps of this world; Big Business is rubbing its’s grubby little paws as layers of protection for the environment are stripped out, or overseas aid programmes abandoned.

So, what can the concerned citizen of today do about it…..hahaha

Well apart from writing to one’s M.P. or indeed voting for and electing the right M.P. not very much.  But you can talk to people, encourage others to voice their grievances, try to make people realise that we don’t just have to accept whatever our leaders dump on us.  We are living in a Democracy, a very poor and limited one agreed, but we even have the power to change that.  Social Media is a good place to start.  Post or share posts you agree with; when you read something in the Guardian or the Independent which strike a chord, share them on Facebook.  I really don’t know just what effect any of this, or indeed this blog has, but it is better than doing nothing and shrugging one’s shoulders and saying “But there is nothing we can do about it”