As we hurtle through the third decade of the 21st century, things seem only to be getting worse. And, in spite of what you might expect, I have to agree. We stare down the barrel of another 4 years of a Trump administration which already seems to have fired it's first 27 shots within the first month. In the UK, we have a Labour government so far removed from the concept of the party's founding that they are wholly unrecognisable to vast swathes of the electorate, who feel the need to turn to the party of Nigel Farage, disillusioned as they are with the state of the country and the two major political parties which seek to earn their favour. It has taken Keir Starmer less than a year to turn a massive parliamentary majority (founded on a very weak real-terms vote share) into a complete collapse in support and a massive swing to the (undeniably) fascist, Trumpian party of the UK. In Germany, the AfD are on the rise and the National Rally are on a similar trajectory in France, despite the massive upswell of support for the leftists (but that whole debacle could be a post on it's own, so we'll leave that for now).

"To secure for the workers by hand or by brain the full fruits of their industry and the most equitable distribution thereof that may be possible upon the basis of the common ownership of the means of production, distribution, and exchange, and the best obtainable system of popular administration and control of each industry or service." (Labour Party Constitution, 1918)

The fascist capture of the NATO powers of the Global North is in full swing. That is the state of the nation, or nations. But what, you might ask, is the solution? Journalists, who you could argue are responsible for examining and scrutinising the running of this nation, perhaps uncovering issues which underpin a certain problem, or holding power to account, have an answer. It comes in the form of a recent Guardian article by one David Mitchell. An author and comedian whose comedy I enjoy and a person with whom I share many personality traits. However, one trait I don't share is a blinding and stupefying love of tradition, the establishment, and avoiding the realities of our political climate to bolster tired, neo-liberal rhetoric blaming young people for everything that's wrong with politics.

Mitchell in his article wonders why young people are so disillusioned with democracy. "Don't they know authoritarianism is much worse?" Mitchell writes. There are several glaring and immediately obvious errors in this framing, most notably and simply, that disillusionment with the current state of political democracy in the UK, doesn't translate to a lack of belief in democracy as a whole. Ultimately, most survey's and polls tend not to separate the two and give scope for false conclusions like this.

But those are just the facts. Many across the internet have taken umbrage with this tweet not because of any misreading or mischaracterising of the facts, but because of its smug, self-satisfied and condescending tone, especially in light of Mitchell's staunch anti-Corbyn position. He feels the need to tell young people, who rallied in huge numbers behind a Labour party which offered real change and a real shift in the way our country would be run, that they need to suck it up and just support a major party for the sake of it. I happen to agree that voting is incredibly important, and I would encourage all young people to go out and vote, even if that means spoiling your ballot or voting for an independent or smaller party candidate who isn't likely to win. This is especially important for young, left wing voters. The right have mastered using a minority of votes to wield massive political power. UK politics has been driven by right and far-right voting blocks and fringe political parties for at least 10 years now, ever since Nigel Farage and UKIP arrived on the scene. The right demonstrate again and again the power of that 5 or 6 percent minority party vote - votes that the major parties want and will enact policy to try and get. Despite my agreement on the principal, I like many others, am astounded by the gall of Mitchell to direct an attack towards the young people who are so desperate for a party that represents what they need and want, a new future, rather than a continuation of Thatcherite economic policy which promises to slowly rip the state to shreds and a continuing slide towards the far-right. Especially given how closely involved he was with the long running smear campaign against one of the few politicians who truly sought to inspire young people.

Whilst senior government politicians avoid condemning the President of the United States' incentivisation of ethnic cleansing, the liberals and soft-rights have decided that young people are the problem, just too stubborn to buck up and do their part, rather than aware enough to see that their choice is a false one. Young people are tired of the economic disasters, the illegal wars and the constant demonisation of the most vulnerable in society, and rather than face that reality and seek to address these problems (which they never will because it's not in their interest), the Blairites, liberals and neo-cons bury their heads in the sand and fall back on that age old adage - the youth are to blame. 

So this is the state of the nation as I see it, exemplified by David Mitchell's very own version of this blog post. We fall ever deeper into the clutches of the far right, with Labour insiders signalling just today that this is their exact plan to win back Reform voters, and the political and media class have naught to do but turn the cannon to face the left, recoiling themselves to the right with the government. Over however long I have the energy to do this, we'll try and chart this decline from a leftist perspective, and hopefully not only complain, but learn and move towards potential solutions too.