I may have said that before, also...
...anyhow, on with the show;
I did think of doing something radical in this first post of 2020, but what the heck, let's do a boring, traditional, look back at the previous year.
So, 2019, what a shitstorm of a year that was. The biggest thing politically remained that most divisive of subjects; Brexit. After having been postponed twice, from the end of March to the end of October (Halloween... how very appropriate) to the end of January it looked like there might be a chance to get it stopped with the December general election.
Hmm...
That was a bit of a balls up, wasn't it?
Before going on I guess I should return to a couple of things I've said before;
Firstly I've often quoted something Nigel Farage said when he thought he was going to lose the referendum; "In a 52-48 referendum this would be unfinished business by a long way." A stopped clock is right twice a day, and this was a rare occasion where Farage was right. That he backtracked on this comment when this result meant he won was neither here nor there.
Secondly, I've mentioned that the 2016 referendum was a referendum on a theoretical version of Brexit. Over the time since then exactly what it will mean has been refined, and there is a deal in place. Shit deal, but it's there, and gives more clarity to things. Arguably, the December 2019 election, with Mr Johnson's key slogan, "Get Brexit Done", acted as a de-facto second referendum.
Mr Johnson's clear victory ends the parliamentary deadlock there has been since Mrs May's 2017 election. It puts in place enough MPs to vote for anything of a Brexit flavour Mr Johnson wishes to put through. There can be no more delays, we leave at the end of January.
So, with no other route I can see to stop the folly that is Brexit, it is time to admit defeat. Well done, Brexiteers, you've finally (and this time, decisively), won.
All you have to do now is prove me, and and everyone else like me, wrong. Make a success of Brexit. Ensure the United Kingdom thrives outside of the European Union. In a couple of years time I genuinely want to be able to say "I was wrong" as we go from strength to strength as a country. But it's on you Brexiteers to sort this, and ensure prosperity. I've no idea as to how this could happen, but I guess you must have a plan, and will carry it out.
In the words of Ru-Paul; don't fuck it up.
Speaking of whom; I did find myself very much enjoying the first season of the UK version of Ru-Paul's Drag Race. I'd seen bits of the US version before, but it never gelled with me, but there was something about this version that just seemed right. Maybe it was the familiar faces on the judging panel, or the queens themselves, but it was just great fun. Even though Baga Chipz was robbed. She was my favourite throughout, and I had her down as the winner.
(Incidentally; was I the only one to think Davina Di Campio bore an uncanny resemblance to Alexander from Russell T Davies' breakthrough show, Queer as Folk?)
And of course (I'm digging these segues...) Russell was back this year with his scarily relevant drama Years and Years, which showed the world over the next 15 years descending in to a dystopian society. The thing is, though, it was all too believable. Looking at the world as it is now, most of what happens you can extrapolate from current events. Vivienne Rook is the logical step of populist, soundbite, politics. (See Mr Johnson's "Get Brexit Done" - how many other Tory policies from the election can you recall.)
This was a family drama as an analogy for the world at large. Yes, the family ticked pretty much every diversity box, but that was the whole point of the thing. They were the springboard for each of the various plot strands, and it was a compact way of doing so without having to have ever straining ways to get the strands together.
To my mind, there was one key moment of the series, which was when the matriarch of the family delivered her blistering speech where she blamed the family - and by extension the whole world - as being responsible for how things turned out. "This is the world we built." she concludes, and she was entirely correct. All too often we think we are just one person and as such are unable to make a difference. But all change starts with a single person, and you never can tell who that person will be. It could be you. Yes, you, reading this now. You might be the next person who could make a real change. You think you can't? Well, you've lost already. I mean, what chance an person could change the world... I mean, someone ordinary, could never do that...
...meanwhile, in Sweden, a 15 year old schoolgirl goes on strike from attending school. On her own. That could never grow in to something big, could it?
Greta Thunberg's rise to prominence over the last year has been blistering. She has probably raised more awareness of the climate emergency facing our planet than any other individual. Two years ago, you'd never heard of her. Her speech to Davos was one of the moments of the year, and gave hope that maybe this time there is a chance that things will be done to help reduce some of the damage we're doing to the planet.
I say "this time" as I remember similar things being said about saving the planet when I was at school in the 80s - then the destruction of the ozone layer, and the overuse of CFCs would end up cooking the earth up due to the greenhouse effect. There was a sense of urgency then, too; it's still ongoing.
Her speech ended with;
"Adults keep saying: “We owe it to the young people to give them hope.” But I don’t want your hope. I don’t want you to be hopeful. I want you to panic. I want you to feel the fear I feel every day. And then I want you to act.
I want you to act as you would in a crisis. I want you to act as if our house is on fire. Because it is."
Over the year we've seen protests about the climate emergency on a scale not seen before - the Extinction Rebellion action around Easter closing down roads in London for days on end was unprecedented. And I get the feeling it's only the beginning, and there will be much more in 2020, and on a bigger scale.
And it is people like Greta who give me hope. Hope that there is a chance that the world won't end up like the one predicted in Years and Years. The word we build over the coming years is up to us. Every single one of us. We will all have our part to play, and all we can do is our best.
Good luck, everyone.
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