By chance, I met someone on Saturday whom I did not know. Out of the blue, he told me that he was a fan of my YouTube channel. He strongly recommended it to another person I was talking to, who was unaware of it, and then he asked me an unexpected question, which was, and I quote him pretty precisely:
How do you hold your shit together in the face of all the challenges of this moment and all the topics that you try to address, in depth, and consistently well?
My honest response at the time, and we did go on to have a conversation, was that doing so is based on three things.
The first is practice. I am now totally used to reacting to events by writing about them and by making YouTube videos. In fact, the best way I know to sort the “shit” out is to respond in this way. Some people might do this with a journal or diary. Others might use yoga or meditation to create calm. Conversation works for others. I have always been honest about the fact that the words I write are, very often, the way in which I am trying to work out my own reaction to the events I see going on around me in the world. Producing them is not, in that case, a burden or even a task; it is just part of my existence and the way in which I think.
Second, I do this because I have a conviction that something better is possible in this world. In that sense, writing is just a way of expressing that hope. Publishing then becomes a way to find others who share that view, which in turn makes me feel better. If it happens to make others feel better along the way, so much the better. Creating a positive feedback loop is, then, a way to handle the "shit".
Third, and I think this is important, underpinning all this is an ethic that focuses upon justice being for everyone, and not just a few, and my belief that if justice is denied, then everyone hurts as a consequence. I explored that idea in my book The Courageous State, although I suspect I could do so now with greater clarity. The point is that I am not just convinced we are living in a world where there are obvious victims of neoliberal actions, whose identities are usually fairly easy to spot; I also think those actions are harming the people who might believe they benefit from neoliberal wealth accumulation. And let's be candid: the evidence is that there are remarkably few happy, well-off people, despite all they have. There is, then, a collective hurt that needs to be addressed, and I feel an urgency to say that.
There is then a fourth point, which I think is important but which did not occur to me at the time of the conversation, and that is that sometimes "holding the shit together" is hard. Given the massive adversity we know we are facing in this world from the far right, as well as from those governing this country, who are, quite candidly, not very far from being far-right adjacent, holding anything together is difficult, most especially when it appears that those governing are now more interested in imposing harm than they are in doing anything to benefit society.
There is, finally, one other thing that helps me do so, which is my anger at the injustice of what is going on.
Anger is a sentiment that is now very out of fashion. We are told we are not meant to be angry. We are also told that to display anger is a form of aggression. The implication is that telling someone their actions make you angry is itself a form of prejudice. I have one answer to that: this is nonsense. My suggestion is that such ideas are put forward by those who, in practice, are very keen on maintaining the status quo rather than creating change, because if you do not get angry, you never want to change anything.
If there ever was a moment to be angry, this is it. I am unapologetically angry, not at any person, but at what some people are doing. That distinction is important, but let us be clear: anger at the gross injustice we are now seeing in the world is not only justified but also necessary, because it is the precursor to the change we must see.
So, that's how and why I "keep my shit together."
Thanks for reading this post.
You can share this post on social media of your choice by clicking these icons:
There are links to this blog's glossary in the above post that explain technical terms used in it. Follow them for more explanations.
You can subscribe to this blog's daily email here.
And if you would like to support this blog you can, here:
Buy me a coffee!
Thank you for what you do and for keeping the dream alive.
I used to write a letter a week pretty much to the local paper so I can certainly see how you do it even if my writing was much more modest.
In the same way I have great admiration for the ‘Orange Army’ everyone who works outdoors doing physical work in whatever the weather throws at them.
Oh, you are so right about anger’s place, Richard, and the need for anger now at the cruel trick the 1% are playing on the 99% (though the 76%-99% quartile are too deluded by the power of money to realise they too are being conned – see this interesting Facebook post https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1HF11CDSPy/ – while the 1%-50% bottom 2 quartiles are too busy keeping their heads above water to bother with anything else).
So it’s left to those in the 51%-75% quartile to kick up a fuss, and agitate on behalf of everyone in the 99%.
I think it was Buckminster Fuller who said ages ago – a generation ago, probably – that we now had the means and ability to ensure that no one went without anywhere in the world, and could ensure everyone had a decent, fulfilled existence.
And still the “masters of the universe”, the 1% thieves and robbers conspire to keep the 99% in servitude, allowing them – the1% – the liberty (the licence, actually) to loot the commons for their own private benefit.
Anyone who isn’t angered by that has tuned out from reality.
Ps: how I agree with John Boxall’s point about the ‘Orange Army’. along with all the other folk who truly keep the wheels of society turning.
Andrew
Many thanks, and much to agree with.
Go well
Richard
Peter Kropotkin also said it over 100 years ago.
‘we now had the means and ability to ensure that no one went without anywhere in the world, and could ensure everyone had a decent, fulfilled existence.’ – or words to this effect. And (he said) we can do so without removing any other country’s ability to do the same.
Hi Richard,
I am so glad to have found your blog.
I have recently read a book titled Grip of Death by Michael Rowbotham published in1998 and last reprinted (to my knowledge) in 2007). I wonder if you know it? It describes in detail how money is created through debt and why this is has such a destructive influence on the well-being of society and individuals. Unfortunately, as it is 27 years old all the numbers are well out of date now.
I found the book to be enlightening but it also raised my anger levels through the roof. If all the leading economists know this I cannot understand why there seems to be an omerta surrounding the subject. I want to know why Rachel Reeves (and all chancellors throughout the western world for that matter) refuse to acknowledge the basic message that I think you are articulating. That is, there is a solution to our economic problems staring them in the face.
If I have understood your video – what is MMT – it seems to me that you feel the same way. I guess you may have already addressed this question; if so could you point me to the blog or video. If not could you explain to me why you think that your explanation of MMT and the logical conclusions which arise from that are not accepted by most leading economists.
I have signed up to receive your regular emails in order to continue my education and I will be contributing to your “coffee fund”.
Thanks in anticipation of your reply,
Iain Geffen
Dear Iain
Welcome!
I know Michael Rowbotham’s book, and read it 30 or so years ago. I bought it then. It’s also wrong. Read modern monetary theory now, which is right where Micahel was wrong. Where he was right was that understanding money is key.
Good luck with doing so.
Richard
I believe that John Lydon said via Public Image Ltd “Anger is an energy”
Rock on Richard – I am so glad that you have found blogging / vlogging / writing as one of your key ways to keep your shit together – because it helps me & many, many others do likewise.
I have also found being a local town councillor is enjoyable, positive & cathartic in this crazy mixed world. Just like my fictional character Mayor Roxie Riverbloom – I know I can’t make World Peace happen – but I can help make a small piece of it better: friendlier, safer and more prosperous for all. And I encourage everyone to consider becoming a parish or town councillor!