Navel gazing

I’m afraid I must indulge in that most terrible of things, a blog post about blogging. Having had to think about why I joined OH on hist first little stroll and why I continued almost on my own the other day I also started to think about why I’m writing here and what I want to achieve with both of them if anything.

Fundamentally with both activities it’s so that I can look at myself later on in life and be able to say that I didn’t sit idly by and do nothing. I don’t think that my blog will achieve much or even change anything but it is at least another voice of protest shouting into the void, maybe it will encourage other to add their voice or to think, maybe it won’t – that doesn’t matter. What matters is that I’m not sitting quietly by, I also do write to my MP from time to time and even sign on line petitions almost all of which I think is futile – but it may not be and what is certainly more futile is doing nothing at all.

So I’ll keep writing for my own benefit and not worry if I mention the big topics of the day, or if I get to the party late. If I’m writing for myself I need to get over the idea that I need to comment on specific things or even how often I should write. I also need to get over the very ingrained habit of referencing every damn thing. If I can actually stop doing that I might write more as I won’t have to hunt through hundreds of saved links so I can give a proper reference to every idea I mention. If all I’m giving is commentary from my point of view then well when was the last time you saw academic references in a news paper commentary piece, and generally that is all I am providing just links to other articles and other peoples ideas. I’ve done the odd bit of digging but that isn’t most of it so I really need to stop worrying so much and just worry about adding my voice on the subjects I really care about not the ones I think I should care about. The band wagon will happily roll on with out me.

So that’s the writing taken care of, what about the walk. The walk is actually more important to me, but I don’t think I can have one without the other – for one thing even fewer people might turn up. I considered organising some sort of V based demo the year before OH started his (I have witnesses honest) but I wasn’t writing then and I’m very bad at advertising especially as I was trying to do it without being visibly invovled. I’m much happier being behind the scenes, but I don’t think that’s actually an option any more. As I said before my aim isn’t really to achieve much, I don’t expect to turn up ever and be joined by the heaving masses, I don’t expect to start a revolution or cause Damascene conversions amongst the great and good. I hope to make maybe a couple of people think, and let it be known that not everyone is happy that there is a voice of protest (just one among many). Brian Haw has shown us they don’t even like a single voice of protests so making them a bed of thorns of many single voices of protest has to be a good thing.

So why am I walking, especially as generally we don’t get stopped or hassled. I view it like the ramblers making sure that paths get walked regularly so they can’t be closed. If I walk every year then I know I still can I won’t suddenly discover that I can’t wander around in fancy dress any more. That once a year I don’t ask “can I?” I ask “who’ll stop me?”. So the final question I have to answer for myself is what is the cause I’m walking for and how will I know when I don’t need to any more. I think I’m unlikely to not need to worry about when to stop as no one seems to be in any hurry to restore our liberties. All the time we move closer to joining a state where everything not allowed is forbidden rather than everything being allowed if not forbidden then I need to go for a little walk. All the time the great and good talk about abolishing juries I need to walk. All the time our glorious leaders ignore their oaths and commit acts of treason I need to walk.

I find it impossible to separate the matter of our gradual secession of power to the EU from the on going encroachments on our civil liberties as they both stem from the great and good ignoring the people. They both stem from a disregard of ancient and hard fought for rights. Whilst we could lose our liberties without the EU we can’t secede our national sovereignty to the EU without losing liberty. So I don’t think I’ll be stopping writing or walking any time soon. I do need to ask myself what more can I do, even if it’s just tilting at windmills, it’s perhaps beyond time for me to enter lawful rebellion.

Or to put it in the words of Henry Reed

Things may be the same again; and we must fight
not in the hope of winning but rather of keeping
something alive: So that when we meet our end,
it may be said that we tackled whenever we could.
That battle fit we lived and though defeated,
not without glory fought.

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