A
few years ago I visited the camp at Dachau. Or 'KZ Gedenstatte Dachau as it says on the signs that point the way. And of course it was horrible. I
don't think there has ever been a time when my mind might have been
open to the populist racism of Farage and his like. Time spent at KZ
Gedenstatte Dachau merely rubber stamped every one of my instincts.
The peddlers of hate can so easily look like such good old boys. They
always have. And blaming all the bad stuff in your life on people who
have different coloured skin and speak in different languages will
always have a simplistic appeal. And I guess people at the end of
their collective tether will always be tempted by the simplicity of
racism.
Do
they vote for places like KZ Gedenstatte Dachau? Of course they
don't. The Germans didn't and we wouldn't. But once you give the
purveyors of racism a popular mandate, KZ Gedenstatte Dachau is always what
you get. Every brick and cobble of the place was horrible. But there was one corner of the 20th Century hell that stopped me dead in
my tracks. Dachau wasn't one of the death camps. The Nazis baulked at
the idea of having human slaughter houses on their own soil. They
preferred to carry out their Final Solution out of sight and out of
mind in Poland.
Instead
Dachau was a particularly brutal prison. A labour camp. Before the
war started, almost all of the prisoners were released at the end of
their sentences. They were broken shells of men, mere shadows of their former selves, but
they were released. Once the war got underway Dachau was filled way
beyond capacity and people started dying in ever growing numbers –
from beatings, from disease, from starvation, from the cold. Bodies
needed to be disposed of, so a small crematorium was constructed. This
wasn't a vast factory of a place like the buildings that housed the
ovens of Treblinka and Birkenau. And unlike those notorious ovens, it
wasn't blown up as the US Army approached in 1945.
It
is still there today. Brick built to last. And on one of the walls
there is a small plaque bearing the names of four young British
women. I can't remember their exact ages. They were all in their late
teens or early twenties. They were fluent French speakers who had
volunteered to be parachuted into France to work with the Resistance.
They were all betrayed and arrested by the Gestapo. Remarkably, they
all withstood Gestapo torture. The men in the black uniforms gave up
the ghost and had them shipped off to KZ Gedenstatte Dachau to executed and cremated.
They were killed with no fanfare. There were hooks on the ceiling of
the Dachau crematorium. For hanging people. The hooks are still
there. It was all about efficiency of course. Hang someone from the
neck until they are dead. Cut the corpse down and the open door of
the oven is a mere couple of feet away. It was how the four heroines
who gave up nothing to the Gestapo torturers met their ends. One by one. Hang
and burn. And now they are a tiny foot note in the vast history of
those dark times. Four young British women who volunteered to play
their part in slaying the foul, racist monster that was Nazism. Now they are nothing more than four names on a small plaque on the well built
brick wall of the crematorium of KZ Gedenstatte Dachau.
I
couldn't help thinking of these four young women last week as the
facts behind the murder of Jo Cox's death stared to come in one by one. I
didn't know Jo Cox. I never met Jo Cox. To be honest I had never
heard of Jo Cox until she became the name on everyone's lips for the
very worst of reasons. But it very soon became apparent to me that
she was cut from similar cloth to the four young women named on the plaque.
She had chosen her path. She had vowed to fight the hatred of racism
with every fibre of her being. And it cost her her life.
A
couple of weeks ago I chose words from Macbeth for the title of a
blog about the growing spread of racist poison that the Brexit side of the referendum has released.
'By the pricking of
my thumbs, something wicked this way comes....'
Something
wicked like a confused mind sent over the edge by all the words of
hate in the air. 'Put Britain First'.
Throughout
my thirteen years at First Base, I have got know several female MSPs
well. Each and every one of them has been hugely supportive of the
work we do. Aileen and Elaine and Emma and Joan. They have all gone
out to bat for our clients when the State has been behaving
disgracefully. Not one of them has in any way lived up to the popular
view of politicians as being venal, selfish serial liars. Instead
they are all thoroughly decent people working ridiculously long hours
and getting virtually no recognition for their efforts.
Like
Jo Cox, they enjoy no security whatsoever from the growing hatred of
the times. And there is no escaping the fact that what happened to Jo
could so easily have happened to Aileen or Elaine or Emma or Joan.
Guilty of the crime of being decent. Guilty of the crime of trying to
stand up to the rising tide of populist hate. Was it Jo's high
profile that sealed her fate? Or was she merely in the wrong place at
the wrong time? Who knows. I guess it will all come out in the wash.
It was almost unbearably sad to hear what she had been saying in the
days before her death. She told a reporter that she was losing the
argument on the doorstep. She was daunted by the sheer strength of
the poison that was infecting her beloved West Yorkshire. But she
vowed to fight on all the way to the bitter end. And she did.
Now
the millions of us who wouldn't use the Express or the Mail for
toilet paper hang onto the hope that Jo's martyrdom might stem the
racist tide. My gut feeling is that her death will deliver a vote for 'Remain' next Thursday. Sadly, the same gut feeling tells me a narrow
'Remain' vote will be the worst thing that can happen.
Those
of us who lived through the heady days of the Scottish Referendum
know only too well what happens next when millions of people feel
they have been defeated by the lies of the British Establishment.
Remember the birth of the 45? Remember how over 100,000 signed up for
the SNP and the Greens? Remember the instinctive mood of defiance? Of
course you do. And what happened next? 56 out of 59 MPs happened
next. The death of Scottish Labour happened next. Huge seismic change
happened next.
I
fear a narrow 'Remain' vote will provoke a similar mood of defiance
south of the border. But this time people will not be signing up for
anyone as decent as the SNP or the Greens. Instead they will be
pledging their allegiance to much darker forces. UKIP and worse. UKIP
and much worse. No wonder a leaked memo from UKIP command confirms
Brexit is the outcome they truly dread. Of course it is. Brexit will
be the end of Nigel as we know him. Instead Brexit will be the Gove
and Johnson show and nothing much will happen. It will be a true blue
Tory Brexit. Will the corporate backers of the Tory Party accept the end
of free movement of people? Of course they won't. The corporate backers of the Tory Party are addicted to the idea of cheap labour. And so a fudge will
be quietly slotted into place. A Norway deal will be signed with as
little fanfare as possible and the status quo will continue, only
under different leadership. And Farage will scream and wail, but
nobody will hear him any more. He will be yesterday's man. A Pound
Shop Enoch Powell. Consigned to the dustbin of history's might have
beens. It will take years for people to wake up to the status quo
truth of a true blue Tory Brexit. The truth that absolutely nothing
has changed much. The truth that immigration from the EU is just as high
as ever. The truth that the corporations have got their way just like
the corporations always get their way.
A
narrow 'Remain' vote offers a completely different prospect. Farage
and his merry men will be empowered: turbo charged. And like the Pied
Piper of Hamlyn, the seductive tune they will play will attract acolytes by the
million. Their message of hate will find fertile soil. And the memory
of Jo Cox and her martyrdom will be washed away.
I
will not be voting next Thursday. I cannot stand the thought of
lending my support to either side. The EU isn't a club I have any
wish to be a part of. What has been done to Greece is despicable. One
by one the countries of Eastern Europe are voting for Governments
that are Fascist in all but name. Twenty years ago Carol and I could
happily visit almost all of the 28 countries of the EU. As a white
man and a black woman. As a mixed race couple. Now that number is
more or less down to two. Britain and Germany. Britain and Germany
are that last places where a mixed race couple can sit in a bar and
not have to suffer cold staring eyes filled with loathing.
On
the other hand, I cannot abide the idea of giving my vote to the likes
of Johnson, Gove and Farage. From a purely selfish point of view I
hope next Thursday sees a vote for Brexit. It is the only thing that
will stop Farage and his fellow travelling racists in their tracks.
My two sons like to go to England to see family. Right now they free
to walk the streets without looking over their shoulder. Without listening
for the sound of heavy boots coming in fast. Without waiting for the sound of
drunk, angry voices.
'I
first felt a fist,
And
then a kick,
I
could now smell their breath.
They
smelt of pubs and Wormwood Scrubs
And
too many right wing meetings'
Only
this time it will be so much worse than when Paul Weller penned these
words back in the dark days of the 1980's when the skinhead stormtroopers of the National Front used to strut their stuff.
And
then of the course there is the issue of Scotland finding a way to
become Independent. Nicola Sturgeon has been singing from the same
hymn sheet as Jo Cox. But what will she say if 'Remain' wins by a
whisker? What will she say if Scotland's innate decency has been
enough to drag England back from the gates of a Brexit? And will she claim that 51%
for 'Remain' is enough to settle this issue for good? I bloody well
hope she doesn't because if she does how can she possibly demand we
have another say because only 55% voted for the lies of 'Better
Together'.
Like
I said, I am being entirely selfish. Brexit means my sons will probably be safe from the kind of far right pond life who made the
lives of their mum and their aunts and uncles such a misery. Brexit
means the end of Farage and all who sail with him. And Brexit means
our dream of Scottish Independence can be stronger than ever.
But
I ain't voting for it. To vote for it would feel like spitting on the
memory of Jo Fox and the four forgotten heroines whose names are on
that plaque on the wall of the crematorium at KZ Gedenstatte Dachau.
I decided not to vote for neither too. Anyone eith a modicum of sense can see the fecked up future coming and the sheep will continue hating because someone tells them it's the right way.
ReplyDeleteMark, after I make a few points below I hope you will change your mind and it will be obvious to you how you should vote and why.
ReplyDeleteCan the UK and Germany really probably be the only two places that you and Carol could now comfortably sit in a bar? What about Sweden and the Netherlands? Perhaps some of the places in the EU are not as bad as you fear. Perhaps.
Unfortunately I think you are correct about what will happen if there is a narrow Remain vote. But a Leave vote will also encourage the racists in our midst. At best, the realistic Leave scenario you depict may only defer for a number of years more overt manifestations of racism. There are difficult calculations to be made in relation to racism but also over other things as well.
As a left winger, I believe the EU is not merely “not perfect” as so many left and liberally inclined people seem to be asserting. It is a seriously bad institution for ordinary people here, in Europe and elsewhere. But the supercharged neo liberalism we’ll get from a new Tory leadership will do even more damage to the social fabric of British society.
Perhaps that might be best from the viewpoint of obtaining Scottish independence, but most left wingers would be unhappy at the ordinary people in the rest of the UK suffering, except in the sense that it might force more of them to face up to the reality of the type of society they have allowed almost unfettered Tory rule to create.
What I am trying to say is that the choice presented to me in this referendum, though simple, involves complex calculations and - even if I can work them out - involves a choice between lesser of evils. From probably going to vote Leave, I am now inclining towards Remain, but the option of spoiling my ballot paper is starting to grow on me.
Choices between the lesser of evils have to be made sometimes. But how often can we compromise our principles yet still say we uphold the values which underlie them? Values upon which our sense of our self worth depend. Compromise is important in the social and political spheres, but it can be corrosive to the individual.
You may be thinking that I seem to be saying almost the same as you i.e. that the choices presented to us are terrible ones. I am and they are. So here’s what all this telling you how to vote stuff is about.
You said you will not be voting next Thursday. Voting - flawed though it is especially in our semi democracy - was and is worth fighting for. At least go along to the polling station and spoil your ballot paper. It’s not much, but it helps to show that some of us care enough to refuse to accept the choice being presented to us. The figures for overall turnout (including spoiled ballot papers) help to say something about the importance of democracy to our society. That’s the ‘why?’.
Here’s the 'how?’! If nothing in the next few days causes you to change your view, then go to the polling station, take the pencil and write “I will not choose either of these terrible options” on your ballot paper.
Regarding being selfish, we all are to a greater or lesser extent, but wanting to protect your family is not indicative of this. All it does is partly show where you are located on a 'Self in relation to others’ spectrum. ‘Saints’ and psychopaths can be found at opposing ends and the rest of us are in between. Towards one side are those who protect themselves (and their families) but who also have genuine concern for others. Towards the other side are the 'I’m worth it’ and ‘there’s no such thing as society’ types who have a sense of entitlement and treat others as objects to be used for their (and their families’) benefit. There is no doubt which part of the spectrum you are on.
It was really worthwhile reading an article which did not demand that if I supported Scottish independence then I should vote Remain; an article written from a moral and personal standpoint instead of an economic or political one favoured by so many commentators. Thank you.
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Delete@Ian Clark I don't know if you take the National newspaper but I wish to draw your attention to an excellent article by George Kerevan from Mondays edition. http://www.thenational.scot/comment/george-kerevan-chaos-favours-the-right-so-the-scottish-nationalists-hoping-for-radical-renewal-should-vote-to-remain.18986
DeleteThanks Haggis. I have now read it.
DeleteOr at least spoil your ballot paper, which registers you as having voted. Not voting is hoping for the best, but asking for the worst. A large number of spoilt ballots asks a serious question about the voting system
ReplyDelete