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About the author and blogger ...

Anne Goodwin’s drive to understand what makes people tick led to a career in clinical psychology. That same curiosity now powers her fiction.
A prize-winning short-story writer, she has published three novels and a short story collection with small independent press, Inspired Quill. Her debut novel, Sugar and Snails, was shortlisted for the 2016 Polari First Book Prize.
Away from her desk, Anne guides book-loving walkers through the Derbyshire landscape that inspired Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre.
Subscribers to her newsletter can download a free e-book of award-winning short stories.

TELL ME MORE

Is the #ToryLeadershipContest a fascist plot to demoralise the Left?

19/6/2019

6 Comments

 
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In the late 1960s and early 70s, American psychologist Martin Seligman and his colleagues subjected dogs to inescapable electric shocks. Later, when the same animals were placed in a situation where the shocks were avoidable, they didn’t attempt to get away. If you can stomach the cruelty, the concept of learned helplessness derived from this research is a useful way of thinking about depression and – although I don’t recall ever seeing it referenced this way – the experience of a baby left to cry. Right now, British politics makes me feel like a dog given uncontrollable electric shocks and I can’t help thinking it’s a fascist plot to demoralise the Left.
Call me paranoid, but it’s more generous than attributing the current fiasco to incompetence. Since 2013, when David Cameron pledged to include a referendum on EU membership in the Conservative party manifesto, politics has been dominated by Tory infighting. A tower block has burned, and, two years on, some residents remain homeless. People of colour, who have worked and paid their taxes for decades, have been denied health care, sacked from their jobs and even deported to the countries of their birth, while the new benefits system, universal credit, drives claimants to food banks, prostitution and suicide.
 
Government wrings its hands and moves on to the main agenda of keeping the Tory party afloat. Promises, committees and public enquiries fill the space where restorative action needs to be. Crocodile tears stand in for compassion; and the only person the departing prime minister feels sorry for is herself.
 
After three years of being bludgeoned by Orwellian Newspeak – Brexit means Brexit, after all – for a self-harming EU withdrawal millions voted against, I didn’t think it could get much worse. But it has. With Theresa May’s forced resignation the Conservative party needs to elect a new leader and, sadly, one of these men in suits will be our next PM. I haven’t seen the job description, but believing in unicorns and being responsible for previous cockups appear to be among the main qualifications, whereas the usual leadership qualities of humility and reflectiveness are not.
 
No matter which of these characters wins, Britain will still be in a mess. And since only Conservative party members can have a say in who will be the next Prime Minister, it doesn’t matter which one I prefer. Yet the media bombards us with information about their “policies” and the TV licence fee goes towards pointless televised 'debates'. We can see we’re heading for disaster, and our powerlessness to prevent it is a slap in the face.
 
Or an uncontrollable electric shock. At the moment, I’m more angry than apathetic, but it’s an unfocused fury, closer to tears and expletives than affirmative action, although I hope to get beyond shouting at the television before too long. Because I’m not a dog strapped into a harness; I’m a human being with hands and feet and a voice.
 
But before I shout myself hoarse or get arrested for brawling, I need to exercise self-care. That means recognising where the pain is coming from and getting myself out of the box and into the spaces where the shocks don’t reach.
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A friend – who actually voted for the Conservative government that initiated this journey to destruction – has joined the Green party. Another is tidying the wrong neighbourhood, collecting the litter that others have dropped. There can’t be a better metaphor for what we need right now.
 
How are you resisting the right-wing onslaught of disenfranchisement? How are you looking after yourself and those around you? Remember, you’re not alone in seeking sanity. They can’t shock us indefinitely. It only feels that way.
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But waiting for it to be over so that they can attend to the real business – if only! – is like waiting to see the dentist: you can’t leave until you’ve submitted to discomfort or pain. Some people manage to make a joke of it, but that doesn’t come naturally to me. Yet that’s where I’ve gone with this week’s flash fiction challenge:

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Your call is important

“All our operators are busy at the moment. Your call will be answered as soon as one becomes available.”

Jingle jangle music.

“Your call is important to us. Please hold the line.”

Jangle jingle music.

“Thank you for your patience. We will answer your call as soon as an operator becomes available.”

Jingle jangle music.

“Thank you for calling Westminster Talent Limited. Apologies for keeping you waiting. How may I help you?”

“I need speak Boris.”

“I’m afraid Boris isn’t available right now. Can I be of service?”

“Can you tell please, his lunch left kitchen table. And phone.”

Thanks for reading. I'd love to know what you think. If you've enjoyed this post, you might like to sign up via the sidebar for regular email updates and/or my quarterly Newsletter.
6 Comments
geoff
20/6/2019 10:15:23 pm

I agree with a lot and disagree with some. My experiences in the city and with the peripheries of government tell me cock up is responsible for 90% of these sorts of bollocks rather than conspiracy so, yes, you're paranoid. As for the Left being demoralised, well if we are talking the Labour party, it is doing a damn fine job on its own without the help of the pitiful Tories. I find the choices appalling and long for the Monster Raving Loonies to return so I can vote for them again like I did when the choice between Foot and Thatcher seemed like choosing which of Bleach Or Starter Fluid I should ingest.
It was a disgrace when Blair bequeathed the PM ship to Brown without offering the public a say, ditto when Major took over from Thatcher but this is verging on seditious, this farcical patronage.
We may not agree on everything Anne, but I'll join join you on the barricades on this one; it is an affront to any sort of democratic process to let this happen.
And how do I keep sane? Walkies?

Reply
Anne Goodwin
21/6/2019 10:23:47 am

Guilty as charged, Geoff! If even top-notch brains can get rocket science wrong, what can we expect of these self-serving clowns? It’s a relief the knock-out stage is over and they’re down to 2.
You’re right the process for transferring the crown isn’t new, but I don’t think we’ve been bombarded with the detail so much in the past. Or it hasn’t been in the middle of such a crisis. My objection is less about not having a say in who the new prime minister might be, but, that being the case, being knocked on the head with information about something that can only end in tears. I imagine this is how women felt before the vote, with important decisions being made by other people who did not have the needs of the whole population in mind.
Enjoy the time walking with your uncaged dog! Healthy to spend time with beings who know nothing about this crisis and wouldn’t care.

Reply
Norah Colvin
23/6/2019 11:51:38 am

I don't like the political situation much anywhere in the world at the moment, Anne. I think you are just right to look after yourself with those things you love.Our circle of influence, isn't that what it's about? Unfortunately, the circles of others influences us in ways over which we have no choice. It is frustrating.
Your flash is hilarious though. Well done. Poor Boris, looks like he's losing it all - except for the one you'd like him to, perhaps.

Reply
Anne Goodwin
24/6/2019 08:38:27 am

It’s pretty dire all round, isn’t it? But it’s not so much that I resent being confronted with it, but the forensic coverage of something I can’t influence is demoralising. I thought the worst was over at the end of last week when they reduced the field to 2, but it seems we’re to be subjected to the 16 rounds of presentations to some of the 150,000 or so party members eligible to vote.
I’m glad my flash raised a smile – such a pity to think where the inspiration came from.

Reply
Charli Mills
26/6/2019 06:27:29 am

What a circus of clowns the world's politicians are when more than ever we need leaders. Great suggestion to go where the grinding media details can't reach. Nature is a perfect place for self-care. Fresh air to fill our lungs and clear our heads. Your flash is funny and well set up with the waiting on line.

Reply
Anne Goodwin
27/6/2019 01:16:22 pm

I’m wondering if the more urgent the situation, the more likely the idiots are to put themselves forward – the more capable leaders being daunted by the task.
But the sun is out here after days of solid rain, my garden is shimmering with wildflowers and I’m off to sing – along with 600 others – with a famous orchestra, so feeling good! Thanks for the prompt and glad you liked the flash.

Reply



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