The Book of Jeremy

I thought I was going to be better in 2020. Not to judge people quite so quickly; not to wade in and be dismissive before considering the other side’s point of view; to respect firmly held beliefs, however out of whack. But no matter how much you want to reserve judgment, some ideas need challenging. Yes, I know I could just ignore it, but where would be the fun in that? And with such rich pickings for my snidey view of the world to seize on, I would be denying myself some excellent opportunities.

So, where do we start? How about the idea that ‘Ethical Veganism’ should have the same protections as religion? Well, for one, I thought we had a secular society in which people were allowed to follow their religious beliefs but not be afforded special privileges because of them. Maybe I’m wrong but isn’t there only one religion today which qualifies for such special treatment? Ipso facto, veganism is the equivalent of islam; that should please the mullahs.

This case alone illustrates the ridiculous position our judiciary have put themselves in; a more cynical me might suggest that the legal profession has a vested interest in prosecuting highly lucrative nonsense such as this. As ‘a nice idea’ veganism has much to recommend it; don’t exploit animals, I can see that. But as a philosophy it is a crock. Worthy of respect? An ethical vegan refused to use buses because insects die on their windscreens. Well, what about the ground you walk on, does that not involve crushing insects? Or the microbes you inhale with every breath? And how many insects -and other pests - died during the production of the vegetables you worship?

And don’t wind turbines kill birds and bats? Surely it would be unethical to consume the electricity they produce? It just doesn’t hold up at all. But wait, you’re thinking, being vegan doesn’t equate to being Green! Doesn’t it? Really? You see, what might just qualify for religious philosophy status is ‘The Left’ as a concept. And so religious is it that it even has a caste system. A dynamic one, admittedly, where one day the status of vegan is higher than, say, the status of transgender, but this flux is just them sorting out their theology. Mark my words, before long they will have a book

One part of it will deal with how much adoration should be laid at the feet of murderous regimes, such as the one Qasem Soleimani, (also spelled Qassem Suleimani or Qassim Soleimani – see how sneaky these fuckers are?) killed for. The current furore over the Donald Trump-ordered drone assassination is an excellent example of the divide in society that lost Labour the recent election. For the strike is the majority of decent, hard-working, right-thinking people, including many Iranians. Against? Well the usual suspects from the political caste of The Left, amongst who are many vegans, LGBT folk, etc. (It’s not an infallible correlation, but it’s a bloody good bet!)

Striding into this battlefield comes the loathed – by The Left – figure of Dominic Cummins. They are variously up in arms, dismissive or contemptuous of his desire to break free from the Westminster circle-jerk of self-congratulatory woke claptrap. He, rightly, sees the identity-driven, human resources-led approach as part of the problem. And if he wants to recruit weirdos and misfits to break the stranglehold then I, for one, will support him in that ambition.

Another thing The Left as religion has is its maturity. You see, the so-called progressive agenda is now the tired old establishment in its own right. The chanting, the marches, the constant protest. The dissatisfaction, the victim-pleading, the bleating on and on and on, forever repeating words which mean nothing to most of us. The progressives are now the old order, slipping into history as surely as the seas claim the cliffs. They used to hold aloft the red book. In the future will they clutch the book of Jeremy?

The Left truly WILL eat itself

This is where the divide in society truly is; On the one side the proponents of all the stuff of hobby-politics. On the other, those who are for the pragmatic business of getting on, accepting the outcomes of fairly fought elections and building a consensus. Where the old order, the order of Corbyn occupies an eroding platform based on nebulous, unprovable concepts of equality and diversity, believed by fewer and fewer grizzled old class warriors, a truly new order beckons. The next decade might just see an unprecedented push for a truly decent society; one that actually does work for the many, not the few.