- Thu Sep 01, 2022 3:40 pm
#31595
For me, what sums him up is the famous photo of him being hauled away from the South African consulate, placard in hand.
On the surface, it looks as if this is the heavy hand of the state crushing the lone protester against the evil apartheid regime, but the reality was that when the photo was taken, negotiations between the ANC and RSA government were at a very fragile but vital stage, and there was just as much chance of a major breakthrough as there was a breakdown in talks. The last thing either side wanted was anyone inflaming the situation, so the ANC asked protesters to respectfully give them some breathing room.
But that wasn't good enough for Jez. He demanded his right to protest. The copper hauling him off isn't so much Maggie's Boot Boys giving the leftie a shoeing, as an exasperated cop telling him not to blow a genuine chance of peace just because he wants to be a picket line hero.
And that's the thing about him - it's all about the protest, the demonstration, the rebellion. Not so much about the alternative, not in solid detail. And he doesn't seem to get that politics is a matter of moving things by degrees - just as Cameron didn't go in all out disaster capitalism in May 2010, and the long slide to where we are now took at least 13 years of effort on the right, it'll take at least as long to repair the damage and reach his socialist utopia.
So, he's a "man of peace", anti-racist, anti-sexist, and so on? Well in the words of Chris Rock, that's the bare fucking minimum so don't expect a round of applause for it.
As the actress said to the bishop, rabbi, imam and priest
"My eyes have seen the glory, I'm a born again Atheist!"
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