Thank you, Mr Johnson
Dear Mr Johnson,
Some people uplift humanity by offering a mirror of the greatest qualities of humankind. They inspire us to see our own potential by giving us someone to look up to. I don’t know that might be for you? Other people might inspire us in a different way, by showing us how not to be.
Mr Johnson, I thank you for bravely offering this latter service to so many people around the world through your visibility as leader of one of wealthiest nations in the world. I realise it’s unfashionable on the left to offer any gratitude to you, but I’ve never been one for fashion.
There are those who would say the correct emotional response to your actions is anger. Indeed, a long-standing slogan of one of Britain’s radical left news services for twenty years (Schnews, 1994-2014) was “If you’re not angry, you’re not paying attention.” I’ve since discovered that this slogan is also popular among far right groups in various places, which leads me to wonder – is resentment revolutionary after all?
The poet-philosopher Nietzsche called resentment the moralising power of the weak. In other words, when we feel weak, when we don’t know our inner strength, we are likely to resent others or even resent life itself. It seems the obvious antidote to this is practices and programmes that empower people to see the tremendous qualities that we all have within us, just waiting to be nurtured. “Like seeds beneath the snow,” as the gentle anarchist Colin Ward described the possibility of a truly egalitarian society, great potential lies in every heart.
I’ve been very lucky, some might say privileged, to have had tremendous support to discover depths of strength within myself and it is very clear to me, Mr. Johnson, that you have not. I understand that ruling class indoctrination functions largely through bullying, abuse and a deep sense of insecurity which is wall-papered over through attempts to appear very grand indeed.
Of course, this approach to education is more widespread than boarding schools and many of us have tried to hide our insecurities in all kinds of ways. And this is why I am writing to thank you. When I see your lack of integrity, it reminds me to attend carefully to my own. Like anyone, I can be tempted to do things in a half-hearted way or focus on myself above others. But when I see your performance on the world stage, it reminds me that integrity is essential.
You help me remember to not let my fear of not having enough, of not being enough, get in the way of being kind, compassionate and attentive to those who might benefit from my support or simply my presence. I don’t say this because I think I’m special, but because the quality of presence itself is special. Really being present with someone or with something in a way that makes it clear that a person, a project, an emotion, time in nature – whatever it may be – really matters. That life really matters.
It is presence that is empowering. It is presence that helps us all see the beautiful qualities within ourselves, each other and the world. It is presence that is an antidote to resentment and the sense of powerlessness that drains so much energy from our lives, from our institutions, from our movements.
Mr Johnson, your actions invite each of us throughout the UK and around the world to step up and discover that within us all is the ability to live in a truly honourable way, with respect for all life. You invite us to be a good example to government because we are finished waiting for you to be a good example to us.
You are doing a most excellent job of being a bad example and for that I am genuinely grateful.
Yours sincerely,
Vishwam
First published in Bella Caledonia
