Opposition has to be based on trust in the world we all share, but which some would deny us

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I admit I did not march anywhere yesterday. By and large I've never been a marcher. It's not the way I do political activism. But I am incredibly grateful to those who did.

Yesterday marches in hundreds of cities by millions of women and men made it clear that Trump will not get it all his own way.

His press secretary can shout at the media and say his inauguration was the best attended ever, and we'll know it's not true. He can abuse common sense, the facts, and real people because he's the president. But in the first days of his time in office the brazen lies have been exposed. And that matters.

It matters because if he'll lie about the small stuff, like how many came to hear a speech, then he won't be trusted on the big stuff.

It matters because those who know he's lying will realise they're not alone.

It matters because once you've stood shoulder-to-shoulder with someone you didn't know in a crowd and realised you share an infinity with them, even if you don't know their name, then you're no longer a crowd: you're a movement.

And movement is what is needed. A movement that says the big stuff matters.

Big stuff like women's rights. In fact all the right's that we as humans need to have respected. Gender rights. LGBT rights. The right not to be discriminated against for our race, disabilities and faith.

Our right to speak. And to be heard.

Our right to stand equal, but not just where we are, but with all those wherever they are.

Our right to protect, including the generations to come.

And our rights at work, at school, as children, in old age.

Our right to a home, an education, to work, to health care, to a social safety net and to a pension.

And so much more.

This is not the little stuff. It's what makes life possible. It's what really matters.

Which is why we accept obligations.

Some are legal. To abide by the law. To pay our taxes. Not to violate the statutory rights of others.

Others are voluntary: to love one another as ourselves.

These too make life possible.

Which is why we can't lie.

Lying destroys trust. But without trust there is nothing.

And that's the lesson that has to be delivered to Trump.

Don't lie.

And we know you do.

So we don't trust you.

We can't trust you.

Because you don't tell us the truth.

And nor does the system you support.

And that's fatal. Because to make life work we have no choice but trust.

Sure, we've all learned that we can be hurt by trust. We all have our reservations. We all know that's wise on occasion.

But we have to trust enough.

Enough to consent to be governed.

Enough to act together in common interest.

Enough to ensure that we do what is right.

Enough to trust that we can act together to hold liars to account.

Enough to build a future.

And Trump can't do that.

Because Trump lies.

And millions of people said that yesterday. I am grateful to them.

Now I hope that this common ground can become the basis for new action.

Action that takes Occupy forward.

On realistic ground.

On common ground.

In trust.

In trust in the world we know we share.

Which is the truth most of us appreciate and which binds us against those who who would deny it.


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