For a little over three years, between December 2016 and March 2020, I was a member of the Communist Party of Britain (CPB). Do I regret it? Much like the late Denis Healey, the former Labour minister and once upon a time Communist, not one bit. The CPB instilled a reverence for inner-party democracy, a completely sound critique of capitalism, and an understanding of the need to build coalitions and win people over by relationship building, including a strong sense of community organising; all of these things have stuck.
I joined the Labour Party in May 2020, after quite a bit of thought. I had been considering leaving the CPB for a while, the democratic centralism was just a bit too centralist for my liking. Another factor which lead to my disillusionment, or alienation, with the CPB was the unrelenting optimism that the doctrine of historical materialism was correct, and that capitalism would by its very nature give way to socialism, and socialism to communism. As Lord Glasman once said, the least true thing anyone has ever said in politics is things can only get better. This was meant as a stab against New Labour, but it works quite well against Communists.
The period of the pandemic has been a very depressing time, but it has meant time to myself for hard introspection, both of my politics and my spirituality.
I have come to realise that there is an inherent radicalism, as well as a deep conservatism within my politics. The radicalism from reading Marx, the conservatism from the experiences in my life and community. Capitalism, with its commodification of human beings, nature and everything in between is something which must be resisted wholeheartedly. Where capitalism's revolutionary nature is praised by Marx, eroding old social ties, the ancient traditions of family and community, that is where I depart with Marx. Any moves to resist the domination of capital must be supported, especially at the most local level; from trades unions, tenants unions, civic society, community groups, political parties and others. The Labour tradition, my conservatism, is not a discriminatory conservatism. It is a conservatism which centres family, work, community, place, obligation to one another, and democracy. This politics is also about reminding us of our common humanity. Much like the allegory of the cave, it took leaving the CPB and proper time for introspection about my politics to realise this inherent conservatism, which caused me to drift into the open arms of Blue Labour, a fairly niche Labour Party pressure group.
I have also thrown off the cold philosophical materialism that was instilled by the CPB. I don't think anyone who has lived through this air of pestilence and death can not believe in some form of spirituality. This is not to say I believe in God, I cannot say I either do or don't. I'd regard myself as an agnostic, culturally Christian and much more open to the spiritual than I once was. I was brought up deeply, coldly atheist, so philosophical materialism came naturally to me. 2020 was the first time I had actively of my own accord read parts of the Bible. My mother and her family are atheists, while my father's parents align with the Protestantse Kerk, although living in Scotland they attend Church of Scotland services. I had been estranged from my Dad's side of the family on and off for many years, however I have recently grown closer, which has only strengthened the spirituality.
I aim to further expand my ideas on various subjects, like the railways for example which I have already began here, but I felt the need to write a brief few paragraphs about my changing politics.
In the meantime, my politics can be summed up in a sentence from the young Benjamin Disraeli: "I am a Conservative to preserve all that is good in our constitution, a Radical to remove all that is bad."
 |
| Source: https://twitter.com/blue_labour/status/1222912088529612800 |
