Unless you have managed to obtain a level of blissful ignorance to the degree that you no longer see what is going on in the world, you’ll know it all seems to be going a bit wrong. Whether it’s wars, genocide, the worsening climate crisis, the cost of living crisis, cultural sociopathy or just how violent and unkind the world now seems, it’s hard not to let it get you down.
To put it simply, if you are paying attention, you can’t possibly be happy with what is going on around us. Add to that a sense of powerlessness in this dystopian nightmare that we call civilisation, it can get to the point where the existential crisis can only lead to either a reclusive implosion or an angry explosion. Frontline activism or apocalypse-prepping hermitage. I tend to alternate between the two unless I’m going through a Zen phase, where I accept what is without rage. I must confess that is not often. I’d like to say that I’m working on being more Zen-like and meditating and praying more, but as there are so many demands on me right now, (this is the busiest time of year for veg farming) rage is a useful motivator. However, because I’m often quite tired, my rage is more of an exasperated huff that I will not let the haters and naysayers win, rather than a growling fierceness these days.
I’d like to be more Christlike and share the sentiment that we should ‘forgive them, for they know not what they do’, but in truth, I fear they know very well what they are doing and they just don’t care. If I were to express myself fully at the demise of our species I would either be arrested or committed, so instead, I channel my despair into my writing, and more recently into stand-up comedy. Those that only know me as an outspoken activist and those that have railed against my typically autistic plain speaking might not think I’m funny. But here’s the thing: while I love love love making people laugh, there’s something quite powerful (and dare I say mischievously addictive) in creating an awkward tumbleweed moment when the truth hits hard. So, if I’m funny that’s great. And If I’m not, I made you listen whether you liked it or not. Win win for me. The awkward moments of truth bombing make for great storytelling when I regale them in my never ending stream of narrating my life.
Without oestrogen coursing through my veins making me all soft and nurturing anymore, I’m less patient than I used to be. The subsequent intolerance to bullshit along with the refusal to accept the normalisation of gaslighting and manipulation by sociopathic behaviours has helped me to secure strong boundaries. That has really worked in my favour in being able to live in this messed up world.
I have been trying to find compassion and patience for my fellow humans since I was three years old when I was sent to school ridiculously early as a gifted child with a savant mother who was very proud of me and my cursive handwriting. It wasn’t long before I realised logic does not prevail in either the classroom or at home. This is a common experience for undiagnosed autistic children and I have always felt like I am not like others. I wondered if I might be from another planet, or perhaps a dolphin trapped in a human body. But not human.
My spiritual journey took a new direction when I became aware of the barbaric practices of eating our fellow sentient beings; a sick and twisted behaviour we call animal agriculture. When I found out the truth about what actually happens, particularly in factory farms, I ran around telling people the awful reality of how we have been hypnotised into thinking this is normal while hoping that they would do what I did when I found out the truth; to go vegan immediately.
Sadly, not only did this course of action lose me family and friends who still avoid me to this day, I also discovered with utter dismay that there are two types of people: the first (and the most common) are those who are triggered into an aggressive cognitive dissonance because the truth is uncomfortable, and will do everything to continue supporting the cruelty with flimsy excuses, and then there are those, who like me, are forever changed by the realisation of what we were supporting and vow to evolve immediately. Which type are you? Watch Dominion, Cowspiracy, Pignorant or any of the documentaries that expose the truth and see if your tastebuds still win over having integrity once you know the truth. It takes a soul that is lost to the dark to know the truth and still choose cruelty. What are you choosing for your soul?
If you are still a carnist, or even worse, a vegetarian (the meat industry is actually less cruel than the dairy industry which is also the meat industry, but with added rape, baby stealing and exploitation added to the cruelty) then this might make uncomfortable reading. Especially if you came here thinking I was going to make you laugh because you found this blog through my comedy networking. I might say something funny later if you hang on in here. Or I might just hurl the truth at you like a chimpanzee at the zoo throwing faeces at the plexiglass.
It’s rather marvellous that I started doing stand-up comedy. Without sounding too dramatic, I’d even go as far as to say it’s been a life saver because last year was probably the worst year of my life. Not only did I lose my beloved pooch of seventeen years, but the vegan family I thought I had found by creating an intentional community at Vegan Valley fell apart. It all collapsed when we failed to raise the finances to buy the adjoining property at Vegan Valley and people I thought were lovelies who claimed to share our vision for a community based on kindness turned out to be largely ego-led, self-serving and unkind. I’m still in disbelief that people who are mostly lovely could behave so appallingly.
We had one community member who was training to be ordained as a Buddhist minister sneak her belongings away when we weren’t there leaving us to deal with a rotting caravan she left up the furthest end of the land and she even left us a bucket of her shit to deal with. Not the behaviour you’d expect from someone training for ministry.
Shocked and dismayed, I scuttled inside myself for several months. The comic irony of people joining a community based on kindness only to be thoroughly unkind was wasted on me while I reeled from the rejection dysphoria that often accompanies neurodiversity.
I still continued working, living, eating and being but my grief was at times debilitating. My grief started expressing itself with worsening pain all over my body. With IBS, fibromyalgia, insomnia, hot flushes, menopausal brain fog and so many tears I think I actually did cry a river, my sorrow was all consuming and relentless. Neurodiverse people often feel the pain of injustice more keenly than most, so rage became an integral part of my recovery. First you get mad, then you get sad. Then you heal.
Prior to last year, the pandemic coupled with total disappointment that my fellow humans could vote in greedy criminals to lead us, and of course the Brexshit debacle made me despair. Add estrangement from my family including my only son, and my mental health started to really decline after I lost my adorable little dog Tuki. I had a couple of spectacularly dramatic meltdowns (behind closed doors and not in a supermarket as was a regular place to fall apart as a child) but still off the scale on my internal cringeometer.
You always find out who is there for you when you are in crisis. I ended friendships with people who were clearly only fair-weather friends and ran away to Cardiff to live on a houseboat and write my memoirs which were suitably bleak for someone having a breakdown.
As with all breakdowns, they are always breakthroughs in disguise, and my healing became more apparent when I started to become intensely bored by my malaise. I started to see the comedy in my sad broken existence with journals called things like ‘The Private Musings of a Broken Flip-flop’. I either poured my heart out in tragic streams of consciousness or dissociated with intermittent fantasies of becoming a nymph of the woods, and shunning people and society entirely.
When I started writing ‘The Eco Village’ (a spoof documentary television series) I started to find myself grateful for the truly awful and equally wonderful characters we have encountered during my mission to create an actual vegan eco village. It changed my perspective. What happened says far more about them than it does me, and whilst I do not claim to be without flaws, my altruistic heart remains keen to share what I have with others and not let people in survival mode stop me or the wonderful vision we have for Vegan Valley.
I’ve always been goofy and toddleresque in my unmasking around Paul and he encouraged me to pursue stand-up when I started thinking about it. I joked that his encouragement could be a cruel trick to see me humiliate myself on stage but what I really feared was that he was misguided like the lovestruck partners and parents of X-Factor contestants that have no talent.
I took the gamble of planting myself in the spotlight as a parody of myself and making people laugh with my observational comedy. Despite my inability to ‘fit in’, I’m surprisingly relatable. Who knew?! And without having to navigate the complicated nuances of two-way conversations, I can just allow hyperlexic autistic Shelley to unmask and share my observations on this mad world into a microphone with an audience willing to listen. It’s liberating.
In my obsessive need to understand why people behave the way they do, I extended my research and learning into areas of how trauma affects our brain wiring. I practiced EMDR and somatic healing. I learned how trauma can trigger us into survival mode. Myself included. We should all forgive ourselves and each other for choices we make when we are in survival mode.
People who operate from their amygdala and the fight or flight mode of survival are not thriving. I considered all the reasons why we aren’t thriving and came full circle to the realisation that my original vision all those years ago for a self-sustaining community where we leave the toxicity of the rat-race behind and carve out an existence where we have the time, energy and motivation to do more than just exist is still the answer. To create a place where we can thrive. To achieve that we need to feel safe to be ourselves.
I’m planning more stand-up gigs and am working on a travelling show I would love to take to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival called ‘Laugh While You Can’, a variety show of sorts where I take up the mantle of the sandwich board wearer warning that the end is nigh on one side and a joke about it the other side. It’s creative activism that mocks our mad society and I have to say, brings me much joy. Thriving whilst the planet is burning seems an odd concept, but it’s really the only way to get through it.
There’s nothing quite like a sense of purpose to add meaning to life. The more people that decide to thrive and share the abundance that doing so brings, the more the pendulum swings towards a complete cultural turnaround and salvation for our species. In short, the worse it gets the closer we are to revolting and choosing kindness over consumerism, equity over capitalism and peace over war. To choosing a better way to live.
Hopefully, I’m also planting seeds of consciousness through my comedy, whether it’s with laughs or awkward silences. Who knows what will blossom a result.
First of all, let me clarify that there is a world of difference between someone who has a pathological condition known as narcissistic personality disorder (NPD), and those who display narcissistic traits. For the purposes of this discussion, I am talking about the latter. What I fear we are normalising are the traits that we usually associate with people that have NPD. Understanding the distinction between the two is crucial to comprehending what I am about to discuss. If I refer to the ‘condition’ of narcissism, I am not suggesting it is a pathological and potentially incurable disorder. I am attempting to bring hope to the table not grim conclusions that some people are beyond help.
By asking if someone is being narcissistic, it should not imply that they suffer from the disorder, but rather that they are behaving like someone that has the disorder. Challenging the behaviour and investigating why someone chooses to be a certain way is the key to understanding them. It’s a tricky catch 22 because to heal from the condition requires connection and forgiveness yet the narcissistic outsider is generally only accepted if they pretend they are not narcissistic.
Is it possible we may have demonised the condition and written people off to the extent that the only way they can receive validation and love is to manipulate and charm their way in? I can’t help wondering if there could be a different approach to healing our society of this sickness? Because it is a sickness. A sickness that is causing us such harm, it may well be devolving us. By allowing our battered egos to rule us, I can’t help wondering if we have allowed the sickness to rewire our brains into a species that no longer cares that it is destroying itself.
It is well known and scientifically proven that trauma rewires the brain. What is less known is that healing also rewires the brain so what I would like to examine is the idea that if narcissism is a trauma based disorder, then by healing the trauma, it should stand to reason that you can cure the narcissistic traits. This is widely rejected by majority and the only advice I have been able to find on how to respond to someone narcissistic is to exclude, block and ignore. The general mantra in narcissistic survivor groups is that they will never change; or that if they do it’s an act and they will not be able to maintain it for long. This seems terribly ableist to me. Just because it’s more challenging to some who have been affected by trauma does not mean issues cannot be resolved.
There is a lot of information widely available regarding NPD, but if we can step away from the pathological condition and instead consider trauma rewiring to include Cluster B personalty types then we could should also include other conditions such as borderline personality disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder and co-morbid conditions such as anxiety and OCD. For people interested in becoming truly educated in matters of cognitive behaviour and psychology, the information is out there.
There are many books, essays, documentaries, medical journals, first hand accounts from people with the above mentioned conditions, and so many social media platforms where people can share experiences and debate important issues that there is really no excuse for not learning why people are the way they are. We have the tools literally at our fingertips to gain a greater understanding so why are so few using these free resources and in doing so, increasing empathy for our fellow beings? Why does connectivity and inclusivity matter so little to the majority? It is this question that then leads me to wonder what is preventing us from being so kind to one another we could eradicate racism, ableism, misogyny and even war in just one generation if we wanted to? In short, I guess what I am asking is what is wrong with us?
In trying to understand each other, we may well discover one of the key reasons why our society is collapsing. The demise of our species can’t be entirely down to billionaire sociopaths and world leaders can it? It is my firm suspicion that apathy and cognitive dissonance might be preventing us from evolving into a more empathic species intent on saving our planet so instead we are hurtling towards mass extinction and caring very little about it. Why don’t more people care? For those of us banner wielding activists it’s been an unsettling experience to see how many people simply don’t want to hear the truth or consider the consequences of their choices.
It looks a lot like a mass hypnosis to those who have woken from the sleepwalking existence of only serving ourselves and our immediate kin to seeing the bigger picture. Could the reason why we aren’t all doing everything we possibly can to unify in our attempts to save our species is because we have been programmed not to? Is it possible we have been so utterly brainwashed into thinking our own personal happiness trumps all other issues that we only need concern ourselves with our own wellbeing and as a result, we are now devolving as this sickness takes hold? Are we devolving into extinction?
Propaganda and false advertising designed to keep us in our own bubbles of survival and believing anyone that is different is not to be trusted is not helping in what I (and others like me) are calling the Era of the Self. It’s looks a lot like a giant cult where those that question it are labelled conspiracy theorists or disruptors and are outcast. Doomscrolling on mobile devices has replaced self-awareness and real life education and experiences are replaced with addictions to online dopamine hits. Not only might the virtual world be preventing us from connecting with each other in real life, it might also be a contributing factor to our dwindling ability to think critically; to think for ourselves at all.
Critical thinking and the ability to question the status quo are crucial to our development as a species that is able to adapt to our now rapidly changing environment. We live in an age of abundance yet the system we currently have is failing the majority by allowing psychopathic leaders and billionaires to control everything so that the gap between those who have and those who have not grows ever larger. The more we increase in population size the more the need to control and subdue us by the powers that be. We are a threateningly large number if we collaborated.
It could be argued that recent events in our historical timeline are enough to put the majority of humans into a form of survival mode which is instinctively narcissistic in nature. There is no room for empathy, compassion, or even reflective thinking in the mind of someone who is operating in a trigger-happy fight-or-flight survival mode, so therefore I have to ask: is it time we start asking important questions about why we are the way we are and what it is we can do about it?
Whilst it is rare to meet someone who has so many narcissistic traits they could well be diagnosed as having NPD, there are a large number of people who display enough traits to have me worried. Since when did we adopt the mantra that it isn’t selfish to put yourself first? (there was a meme doing the rounds not long ago that literally said this!) or that we no longer need to examine our motives when it comes to our daily choices? We are all mostly just ‘getting by’ and surviving instead of thriving but this should be totally unacceptable! The cost of living crisis coupled with rent trap dynamics where the only way to survive is to work full time to live in a house you are never in because you are always working to pay for it is also unacceptable and in terms of mental health, entirely unsustainable. A revolution in thinking is long overdue!
When one begins to break down the motives behind every choice, whether that be deciding what to eat, what to wear or how to treat someone demanding your attention, only then will we start to see just how much we have normalised narcissistic intention. When you realise you are choosing tastebuds over integrity, convenience over effort, or that Eastenders matters more than supporting a friend in need you start to overcome the cognitive dissonance that comes with accepting you might be the problem here.
If we can begin to accept we now live in a dystopian nightmare foretold by the likes of Aldous Huxley and Margaret Atwood, we can start to understand that our psychological responses are actually trauma based reactions. Only then can start to forgive ourselves for meandering off the path of kindness and into an amygdala prompted fight-or-flight existence where survival of the ego becomes the priority.
We have been brainwashed into competing with each other instead of lifting each other up, brainwashed into thinking it’s normal to consume death and torture when we just don’t need to, brainwashed into thinking our own personal happiness and comfort are all that matters. Brainwashed into thinking there can be peace without understanding what causes conflict. When you strip it all away and question what our parents and forefathers taught us and start again, we find we have a choice on how we can be. We can completely reinvent ourselves into healed beings where the prime directive is to evolve, become kinder and more empathic. The only obstacle is the ego and its addiction to being rewarded.
Narcissistic traits such as self-importance and a preoccupation with looks, beauty and success are considered entirely normal now. Selfies are normal. Lip fillers, botox, fake hair, fake nails, fake tans are all normal. Cosmetics tested on animals normal. Eyelashes that once belonged to a mink normal.
The celebrity worshipping masses care more about what they will be wearing on Saturday night than concerning themselves with melting ice caps. In fact, if you reject any of the beauty ‘norms’ and choose instead to try and save the planet, you will be branded as not normal. The exploitation of each other as well as animals for either pleasure or ‘advancement’ is normal now. The desire to be admired perfectly normal. The ability to shift blame onto others and avoid accountability at all costs also normal. Toxic positivity and shying away from any conversation that might be uncomfortable is now normal. ‘Only good vibes here’ people are often the most shallow and narcissistic of all because they avoid anything too deep or gritty. It’s all very well looking on the bright side, but if we ignore the darkness seeping into our souls we can’t address it.
Our super-polite and fake society means we’re far more likely to avoid negativity and close our eyes to the suffering of those within our communities. We’re even less likely to exercise empathy to people across the other side of the world that might be suffering. Forget that we voted in the government that is now funding a war we pretend isn’t happening because those people don’t matter to us. They simply don’t matter, and should someone point out that perhaps our choices have consequences that might be ugly when looked at, the truly toxic traits of narcissism become apparent. Gaslighting, transference, defensiveness, stonewalling, ridiculing and mimicking all used to belittle and undermine the truth-tellers.
Often when a mirror is held up, the person doing the reflecting is hailed as dramatic or over-sensitive. Opportunities to talk dismissed because no-one wants those uncomfortable conversations anymore. All the those memes online telling you that no-one has the right to judge you or make you feel bad about your choices have led us here – to a place of such abject entitlement and sociopathic avoidance of the real self, I often fear we may be doomed.
Extinction Rebellion tell us it is time to tell the truth and whilst they may well be talking about fossil fuels, animal agriculture, aviation and such like, I would urge everyone to take that a step further and start to tell the truth about your true motives for ALL your choices. It’s time to psychoanalyse the shit out of everything! Abandon this toxic notion that overthinking is even a thing and start thinking about everything!
Of course, I would recommend periods of frivolity, rest and self-nurturing to provide balance and regeneration but for those of you who think there is not work to be done to evolve I ask you to reconsider your position. The moment that you find yourself comfortable and settled is when you’ve stopped evolving. Like the lobster that experiences discomfort on such a pressing existential level that the only way to survive is to shed his old self and become soft and vulnerable, so too must we be willing to be vulnerable. To ditch people-pleasing peace in favour of justice and righteousness. And maybe also be prepared to be wrong.
We have demonised being wrong and hailed being successful as the height of achievement but I would suggest that the most impressive human achievement I ever saw was someone prepared to be held accountable and be willing to change. And to stick with it. Change must be constant if we are to heal and evolve.
Instead of avoiding those awkward truths such as how many animals die for you everyday for you to live, start recognising the darker side of your choices and seeing who you have become so that you can do better. Be better. It’s called shadow work in psychological terms, and meeting your toxic inner-tribe members can help you recognise that they are only trying to protect you. When you understand that, you start to self-parent and thank the triggered persona that would have you behaving appallingly if you allowed them to have control. When you understand why you choose and react the way you do, you can spot where narcissism has snuck in and put your ego in charge. Killing the ego is how we will evolve.
It’s time to drag those less than ideal choices out into the light and ask yourself if you have the arrogance of a narcissist to think that others should suffer so that your existence can be easier or more convenient? What makes you so special others should be killed, tortured, exploited and harmed so you can look pretty, or so that you can eat turkey at Thanksgiving because your forefathers did? What makes it okay for you to treat someone broken with contempt? Or decide that someone isn’t welcome or included because they act weird? Ask yourself why don’t the needs of others matter to you?
If we find we are focussing our energies on people who love a false version of ourselves, we will never really know true self-acceptance because everything is an act. If you feel a yearning for deeper connections and would be keen to grow spiritually and emotionally if only it wasn’t so time consuming and painful, let me tell you it’s like ripping off a bandaid – the first look is ugly but when you also see how hard you have tried to be good and how much you have been brainwashed you also find a level of self-forgiveness that – ironically – leads to real self-love. Obviously it’s a more enlightened self-love that has broken away from the narcissist trap of modern survival. The more that self-awareness overrides the ego and becomes altruistic in nature, the closer we are to healing. With each step away from the normalisation of narcissism comes the collective evolution of our species.
Having found myself to be quite the narcissist magnet with my guileless neurodiversity making me easy prey, I have had to learn how to spot the more Machiavellian narcissist and separate them from those that want to heal. I am in a number of narcissistic abuse survivor type groups and if ever I pose the question on whether people with multiple narcissistic traits can heal from their trauma and cease to be narcissistic in nature, there is an overwhelming response of ‘hell, no, they will never change’. Despite this, I still believe change is not only possible, it’s crucial to our evolution. We ALL have narcissistic traits to overcome. We all have to kill our egos to be born again as someone new.
Every single person who thinks their existence is more important than another’s – whether that is a neighbour, maybe a refugee, a partner and of course those that see animals as food sources has the chance to wake up, reinvent themselves and choose kindness over personal comfort or convenience. It is never too late. Until we overcome the narcissistic sociopathy that has infected our civilisation, we will continue to be as arrogant, entitled and self-important as those who actually have the full pathological disorder and really can’t help being the way they are.
There’s a myth that if you ask yourself if you’re a narcissist, then you aren’t one because a narcissist can’t self-reflect or accept criticism – but this is not entirely accurate. Narcissism is a bit like a spectrum and one does not need to meet the entire qualifying criteria of having NPD to have narcissistic tendencies.
Recognising you have narcissistic traits and being willing to be held accountable for them is a sign of emotional maturity and as such, a cultural shift towards the celebration of ‘owning your shit and working on it’ should be how we now measure success on personal levels, not how stable you are emotionally. Being willing to admit you were wrong and are now committed to changing should be normalised, not this glossy fake world so many people currently pretend to fit into where talking about your issues is seen as ‘washing your dirty laundry in public’ or ‘oversharing’.
One of the many outcomes of being prepared to look at your choices, past, present and future means that you will see yourself in your truest form. It might not be easy to see if you have made poor choices, and like the twelve step programme practiced by self-confessed addicts wishing to heal, you might have to make amends with people you have hurt. You might have to suffer a period of grieving when you realise the full extent of the suffering you have inflicted on others. How many animals have had to die. How many people you have used then ghosted or been unkind to. It takes courage to see how narcissistic your behaviour might have been, but you can take comfort on knowing it is unlikely you have full NPD if you are willing to work on those toxic traits and that you can heal if you want it enough.
When you see who you have become, it becomes easier to work out why. For those not ready to be held accountable for their actions, this can lead to the ego stepping in and supplying endless scapegoats to blame everything on. But here’s the thing: blaming how you are on an abusive childhood, or being raped, or cheated on, or lied to is very different to understanding where a trauma came from. Apportioning blame is not a healing act and you give away your power to evolve away by transferring accountability. Terrible things may have happened to you, but recognising that they no longer need to define you is a great first step on healing and rewiring your brain. What they did is on them, not you.
What they did is on them, not you.
Being angry with those that have harmed you is part of the healing process but until you can get to a place of compassion for those that may or may not have intended to harm you, you will always be a product of their actions and their influence.
To break free of all generational curses, whether that be a predisposition to a mental health disorder or the normalising of abuse that may well have been handed down in family traditions, we must have compassion for ourselves too. We are all a product of our environment to some degree, so whilst a prayer for courage to change what we can, accept what we can’t and have the the wisdom to know the difference seems apt, know this: you can’t possibly know what you can change until you start trying to change it. You simply can’t count on wisdom to guide you in every case. Only those prepared to look deeply will be able to even ask the question about whether something that evokes a strong reaction is down to the wisdom of gut instinct and experience – or – trauma triggering a fear response. Suspending disbelief and being open is the only way to embrace all possibilities.
Being open to being wrong is very important when one considers that there are other reasons for people to behave like narcissists other than being narcissistic. Autism, ADHD and other neurodiversities often have many and varying traits that mimic narcissism so it’s important to recognise that whilst some are able to heal and rewire their brains, there are also people who are born with a condition that cannot be cured. Invisible disabilities make it hard to know if someone is either masking to hide their autism or faking being nice in attempt to groom you, so I prefer to assume that everyone is fundamentally a good person and not out to get you. That said, there are times when the red flags are raised and I can feel myself shutting down. It’s those occasions when I fear I may have overshared and weaponised a covert narcissist who just filed away my personal confessions to be used against me later.
It’s been a sharp learning curve to discover that many of the ‘gentle hippies’ I have encountered who have often chosen kindness to animals turn out to be rather cruel to their fellow humans. I suspect animals haven’t traumatised them the way humans have and so they gather around campfires, sing songs and offer sycophantic rewards to all that ‘play along’. Being ‘nice’ and being ‘calm’ confused with being kind or stable. Whilst they claim to want deeper connections to each other, gong therapy replaces deep reflection and clutching a piece of rose quartz is considered more likely to bring a new love rather than working on yourself. Dare to suggest taking ayahuasca is a form of spiritual bypassing, you’re likely to get the same cognitive dissonance and avoidance of being held accountable as the Christian waiting for a saviour to come and rescue us or who thinks ten Hail Marys is all you need to do to gain forgiveness for being wicked.
The narcissistic type usually has a hidden agenda behind the fake smiles, so it became quite difficult to me to tell who was genuinely supportive of any of my altruistic projects and who was just looking to feather their own nests with the promise of cheap land and a community that grew food together. Being autistic, I struggled with many aspects of pioneering the visions into reality; my tone considered rude, my tendency to take people literally a liability and of course the fact that my mere presence makes many people feel existentially uncomfortable meant that my inner angels often aggravated their inner demons. My goodness considered pious, my attempt to inspire seen as preachy and even my offers to share my good fortune was triggering to those not prepared to share their own sweeties.
Autistic people rarely intend to cause harm and are so greatly misunderstood they are often accused of being narcissistic when in fact they have a social disability that is not widely recognised. In authentically expressing how I feel, I have been accused of having ulterior motives: either being passive aggressive or that my goal is to make people feel bad, but I simply don’t work that way. I’m rather guileless when it comes down to it. I might sit on my hands so that I don’t stim or hold in a thought in case I’m being inappropriate so I might appear to be neurotypical to most but I struggle socially. Terms like ‘high functioning’ are not helpful as so many autistic people are forced to mask to be accepted into society and then experience debilitating burnouts or have their meltdowns at home where no-one sees the struggle. Isn’t it time we accepted and welcomed everyone regardless of their mental health or neurodiversity? I have to ask: does it actually matter whether someone’s issues are because of nature or nurture? True inclusivity is to not judge, but to give people a chance.
A key factor in assessing whether someone is narcissistic is to look at their levels of empathy. Despite the myth that autistic people lack empathy, the majority have an abundance of empathy; so much in fact that it can become overwhelming and can lead to shutting down. The neurodiverse overwhelm can all too easily trigger PTSD and when on the edge of a meltdown, the autistic person becomes unable to consider how their actions affect those around them. It can look like controlling behaviour when everything is too loud or too bright, and it’s hard to switch from amygdala based fight-or-flight to operating from the part of the brain that deals with compassion for how others might be receiving the autistic request to have their needs met. The thing about the hyper-sensitivity of neurodiverse people is that we could be seen as wonderful barometers of society if people were willing to listen, as we readily sound the alarm of sociopathy within our communities and highlight the narcissism of our age. Perhaps not with the aplomb of a charismatic leader, but until we start measuring success with how real we are allowed to be, we will continue to shun the truth teller and dismiss them as burdens not gifts.
It is also worth noting that there are different types of empathy. What many autistic and neurodiverse people lack is not emotional empathy (which often presents as a form of hyper-empathy in autistic females) but rather possessing the skill of cognitive empathy which is the ability to predict how someone is going to react to your words or actions. Cognitive empathy can be used to make kinder choices, but it is also something that narcissistic personality types will use to control and manipulate an outcome. If you know how someone is likely to react, that knowledge can be used just as easily for nefarious reasons as well-intentioned ones. When I was school, we had an art teacher that would ditch all tasks and spend the whole lesson talking about the war if someone asked him about it. None of us were really that interested in the war at all, but we knew how he would react to being asked about it and used that knowledge to do as little as possible. Narcissistic abusers will use their often extensive cognitive empathy skills to gaslight and destabilise their victims with a mixture of love bombing, grooming and charm followed by ghosting, stonewalling, ridiculing and abuse – whether physical or psychological, it forms part of a pattern that treats people as supplies and not people.
Until we all start questioning our motives on every level, we don’t really know how much our ego might be steering our ship. For those firmly ensconced in the grip of their ego, they may be largely unaware that they are using their cognitive empathy skills to make sure a situation goes their way. There is an innate sneakiness that may not appear to be part of a cognitive decision-making process in those that are most determined not to face themselves. The greater the denial of less-than-desirable motives, the more likely it is that the person in denial will refute any possibility they may be narcissistic and so they will never heal or know true self-love. They switch their focus to a form of shallow self-worship with the words of cosmetic advertising ringing loud in their ears ‘because you’re worth it’ and ignore their starved conscience. The more the conscience is ignored the greater the cognitive dissonance when challenged over it. But here’s the thing that everyone needs to take on board to embrace true inclusivity and heal this sickness: narcissists can still want to be good people. They might be ‘morally-challenged’ and it take a lot more self reflection and honesty than those who have not been shaped by trauma but it’s still achievable to heal and be held accountable. Practicing radical honesty is key to this.
When we start to forgive people for their ‘faulty wiring’ we can start to help them. This does not mean allowing them to manipulate or gaslight us. Strong boundaries and a keen ability to recognise the red flags of narcissism can enable us to ‘let them back in’ to some degree but we must remain vigilant. New or relived trauma can trigger even the most evolved human back into a state of narcissistic egotism.
Instead of demonising narcissism, let’s reframe the narrative into opportunities to see where more healing work is required. Starting to recognise your own toxic traits is the best way to overcome narcissistic habits. It’s never nice to have someone else point them out, but if we can start seeing feedback (both good and bad) as an act of love so that we can evolve, we will start to welcome the opportunity to see how other people receive us. So many misunderstandings and ended relationships could be avoided if we were simply able to talk about what’s going on beneath the surface.
We should be able to tell people openly and without shame that we might be struggling with empathy today as an old trauma has put us back into angry teenager narcissistic mode. Wouldn’t it be great if that became as normal as saying we might struggling with speaking as we have had a throat infection? Neither should have shame attached to it but we do have a habit of ditching people with illnesses or conditions that require us to accommodate them by altering our own behaviour. The ‘why should I’ entitlement bouncing off each other in a sociopathic spiral into total spiritual detachment from each other. We have internalised this unempathic position for too long.
Next time you find yourself worrying about how you look or thinking that you need to pretend to like someone to get ahead, ask yourself if you are normalising your internalised narcissism? Are you trying to schmooze and groom people’s view of you? What might be driving this? Have you been brainwashed into thinking that skills that help you to ‘win friends and influence people’ will lead to true understanding and deeper connections?
Let me ask you what would happen if, instead of wearing a glib mask of charisma you were to be authentic and told the truth? Could you ever be brave enough to consider confessing those less-than-honourable thoughts because you feel triggered? Would you find you’d lose friends or promotions at work? Would it mean people would start to dislike you? If it does, then I would like to pose the question of whether you are living the way you are meant to, because if the only way you can be what you’ve been programmed to believe as successful is to be a fake then the brainwashing is complete. To wake up you need to get real. Even if the real you is ugly to look at because without facing the facts, you can’t alter them and become beautiful on the inside as well as out.
I grew up in the 70s and 80s and certain things that we now consider culturally unacceptable were considered pretty normal back then. Hitting your kids for example. Smoking. Drink driving. Misogyny. I’ve watched our attitude collectively change towards people who did these things. We can make narcissism culturally unacceptable too if we want to, but it starts with recognising the sickness within ourselves and working on ourselves to overcome it.
As those with the worst narc traits are the most unlikely to want to change and will, in fact be deeply offended by the accusation, it’s up to us to either help them see what’s occurring with kindness and love, or simply stop giving them power over us. Instead of thinking love bombing is romantic, let’s see it as an indication of unhealed trauma.
The more we educate ourselves to recognise the reg flags and know when we are being gaslighted, groomed, love bombed, manipulated and abused, the more we can strengthen our boundaries, lessen our own traumas and not become narcissistic abusers like the ones who made us this way. In short, we must stop passing on our traumas by normalising it.
We must break the cycle where we can. It starts with ourselves and our own family members. Once we become intolerant to narcissistic abuse in our own circles, we will start to see the traits in leaders we keep putting in charge of us. The revolution starts at home.
A Pastor Shells Soapbox Sermon written October 2023
As a child I briefly believed I would become a nun when I grew up. Until boys became more interesting, that is. I read my Bible from front to back and asked a lot of questions. A lot. My questions weren’t particularly welcome. They were especially unwelcome at the Alpha course run by the local evangelists when I was in my thirties. They were not welcome at Bible class when I questioned the teacher on her words as they did not match her actions. Questions around interpretation of truth are rarely welcomed by those preaching in absolutes.
My personal beliefs on spirituality are just that; personal. I do not feel the need to have you believe the same thing as me, and nor should you expect me to believe the same things as you do. What I believed when I was a child is not the same as what I believe now. Or even the same as what I believed yesterday. In the quest for truth, our beliefs should be constantly evolving and the only constant we should be claiming is that we must change.
I find that irrespective of one’s personal belief or non-belief in anything that is beyond ourselves that many of the depictions in the bible serve as useful allegories, so we should not cast away the wisdom held within because we do not share that particular faith.
Just as we look for the moral of the story in Aesop’s fables, so too must we be prepared to find the truth in whatever form it is presented to us. One is unlikely to say that the moral of the story in the ‘Hare and Tortoise’ is irrelevant because everyone knows that neither hares or tortoises can speak, yet we can dismiss entire religions and any wisdom that they may have to offer because we don’t believe in their deity/ies. With fables and folklore we are more willing to suspend disbelief to learn the important lesson held within, and so too must we extend that willingness to the lessons within all religions, fables, stories, books, films, comics and even articles like this.
I am well read in matters of theology, have been an active member of many churches that offered fellowship and have a special interest in psychology where I qualified as a psychotherapeutic counsellor some years ago. I understand the need to believe more than anyone, but I now also understand the psychology behind latching onto a belief and allowing it to define you.
The problem with allowing a belief to define you is that when someone challenges that belief, all too often your ego will not allow anything to undermine a core being that is dependent on those beliefs.
For those that are clinging onto their belief system as a method of survival, they have to dismiss contradictory opinions because it triggers a debilitating cognitive dissonance that makes the truth too uncomfortable to face. Certainty, even if it’s an illusion, is preferred.
What is often overlooked when dismissing the opportunities held within experiencing the void of uncertainty is the chance to look at one’s choices and behaviours and experience regret, guilt or shame. It’s these darker emotions and the readiness to face them, own them and leave them behind that propels us to change. It’s way overdue we identify toxic behaviours and poor choices so we can do better, be better, yet as a species we seem to be in deep denial of the disaster we are hurtling towards.
It’s time to look at the dark side of our choices. This is the shadow work that most people shy away from while they chase ‘good vibes only’. It’s understandable to want to transcend this earth for another that feels nicer than the dystopian nightmare we find our modern society has become, but it’s not sustainable. Discovering the peace that comes with meditating doesn’t mean you have arrived and there is no more work to do. On the contrary.
Facing the darkness, whether it is the pain of regret or the shame of recognising when you were unkind are important steps to enlightenment. None of this ‘brush it under the carpet’ – go sit in the woods until the debt collectors give up – bygones – refusal to be held accountable stuff will help you evolve. Sometimes you have to face it and feel it to heal it; anything else is just false positivity.
Those that refuse to feel pain will not be alerted to what is hurting them.
Those that are open to allow words to convey their true meaning on a soul level are very different to those who blindly believe something without question or enquiry. It doesn’t take long to identify which type someone is, as the moment you question what someone believes, they will reveal themselves.
One of the things I have discovered over and over again is that those that claim to be enlightened, visionary, or have that ‘follow me’ vibe going on is that they are generally ego-led and not prepared to have their narrative challenged. Like a radio tuned in to only one channel they are unable to receive any other frequency but the one they have attached themselves to.
I have noticed that in many of these religious and non-religious groups that are led by charismatic teachers that their followers tend to reward each other for all believing the same thing. Like sheep following a shepherd, there’s a general ethos that blindly following a version of the truth that resonates with them is the path to enlightenment and to not question it. To question it is to be seen to doubt; vibrating lower. Or, if your questioning is online, being labeled a troll.
Many of these leaders say they welcome scrutiny and may even preach that you should question everything, but having offered my observations to a fair few of these people in positions of influence, I discover that what they really mean is that you should question everything other than them. Should you dare to ever question their motives or scratch the surface to see what form of trauma is driving these sycophantic groomers you will be stonewalled faster than a disgruntled teenager slamming their bedroom door when asked to talk about their feelings.
Try asking a charismatic speaker preaching about happiness to tell you their darkest thoughts and share something very real about their own suffering and they will shrug you off as if you are a heckler to be ignored or ceremoniously escorted from the building; both are avoidance tactics. Some are clever enough to have a ready answer to any form of criticism so they can shut the challenger down and make them look unstable or even insane for asking. My questions have been the preceding motivation for many a ‘drop the mic and flounce off’ scenarios where honest open questioning is greeted with hostility and derision from individuals that weren’t up for discussing what is really driving them.
There is no room for someone to be both an optimist and a nihilist in this toxic-positive era of the self. But we do exist and recognising and valuing authenticity over glib charm ironically makes us far more joyful on a much deeper level than our crystal loving good vibe hedonistic counterparts could ever pretend to be. We experience joy. We just don’t need to constantly instagram/tweet about it. This is not to say that sharing happy times isn’t a good thing to do; it’s great. It’s my preference to balance it out with reporting the not so great moments too so you can keep it real. Dare to be real. Otherwise you are just a glossy magazine with photoshopped pouts. Depth is what is required now. Shameless transparency without applying filters.
A narrative that suits where you are now and prevents change is a form of slavery but sadly many are happy to stick with the cards they are dealt and enjoy the fruits of what comes with not challenging the system. Some even seem to revere their chains. Whether that’s having the latest iPhone or fashions and binge drinking their wages away at the weekend or doing as little as possible with no motivation to change either themselves or their situation, the rewards are strangely addictive. But of course they are also shallow and ultimately unfulfilling, however with lives so filled with distraction, the majority may never come to question it. They’re too busy dieting to fit into an outfit for a holiday they have spent six months paying for whilst wondering if they will get a new tattoo.
Illusions based on family ties and tradition bind people into tribes that then unite in their hatred of other tribes. The ruling elite only need stoke these fires once in a while, and the task grows ever easier with AI algorithms and Russian paid bots designed to keep us apart and hating each other. I see the widening the chasm of our disconnect. My attempts to alert people to what is happening by speaking the truth, often pushes them further away. A hint of outrage here, an offended carnist there and a few red-top paper headlines to keep the majority at war with each other so we are too busy fighting to rise up and throw out the psychopaths in charge.
Groups of people on Facebook and other social media platforms have formed tribes where questioning the narrative that connects them is not seen as a chance to practice advocacy and explain why they might believe something thus opening up discussions that need to be had when spreading the truth, but rather as an attack.
People who base their core being on a rigid internal belief system will not welcome any form of critical reasoning or questioning if it contradicts their understanding. And they certainly do not take kindly to being told there is peer reviewed scientific evidence that proves their belief is false. To them, you might as well be saying they themselves are false and that their entire life is a lie. Which of course you are, but let’s face it, not everyone is ready for enlightenment on a Tuesday lunchtime in the work canteen. Rita really doesn’t want to know she is probably eating pigs lips and testicles in the luncheon meat sandwich that is not only carcinogenic but by buying it she is supporting an industry that is massively contributing to the destruction of our planet. Ignorance is bliss after all. Keep it real is a tagline people don’t really want at all it seems.
When you come from a place of realness, questions are not threatening.
Often, when presented with the truth; especially when it proves that a belief is entirely untrue, believers will still choose to believe in what or who they are following and refuse to see any contradictory evidence. The cognitive dissonance that prevails amongst carnists, evangelists, extremists (of any kind) and including some who think they are visionaries, prophets and gurus who have found nirvana is so strong that they do not want anyone with any contradictory thoughts or negative vibes to ruin their peace and shatter their illusion. The positive vibe crew are amongst the most insidious of the emotional survivalists because they are so, well, shiny. It’s hard to see their vibrant positivity as toxic when it sounds so inviting and what they are offering so wanted. Needed. Yearned for.
We all yearn for connection, even the most introverted and uncharming of us need someone or something that makes us feel valued and part of something (by the way for those that think they need nothing or no-one, please know that this is a trauma response and by stopping where you are and not reaching out and not trying to find out why you might think this way, you are missing out on finding your purpose in life).
We are all connected in some way, even if what connects us is a bizarre codependent reward system of narcissist validation where everyone bigs each other up and never reflects on their faults. Trying to make these connections healthier requires looking at what is not working, only the problem is that so many of these good vibration people only want to focus on the positive. Doing this constantly will gradually remove their empathy for those that are suffering to the point where they can no longer relate and no longer help. It’s all very well achieving over 850 on the consciousness chart but if you are neglecting your obligations to be a decent human-being to achieve ‘bliss’, you are no better than a hedonistic narcissist wearing a peace and love tee-shirt.
Regardless of whether you believe in anything beyond our known realm, I find many of the depictions in the bible to be excellent allegories for everyone including non-believers with very useful imagery that is not far removed from comic book fantasy, yet still offer wildly accurate ways to make anything that isn’t the truth stand out like an alarm bell.
I will try to use language that conveys the truth as best as I can given my own human bias but if I described a character to you of someone who radiated light and told you that you too can shine like him and all you have to do ignore God and follow him, do his bidding and exalt him as a visionary, you might think I was describing Lucifer. Satan. The fallen angel. Right? Yet so many people are idolising narcissists who are shiny happy people offering enlightenment, happiness, 7 figure salaries, transcendence and a neat, handy way to avoid the actual truth which often includes their deeply narcissistic need for your adoration. Quite often what they preach is a good message, so a small tweak away from the truth is barely perceptible. It’s often very plausible.
Those good-vibe-only gurus that tell you to worship the light seem to have forgotten that the light is what you shine on the truth to highlight it and is not the truth itself. To shine a light into the darkness is what highlights the ugly aspects of our humanness so that we can deal with it. By worshipping the light there is a danger that you stop seeking truth because you only want the beautiful not the ugly. Good vibrations with no shame or guilt sounds great until you unpick it. If you were to forget your kid’s sport’s day, guilt becomes a useful tool that reminds you never to forget it again. I experienced deep shame when I realised how many animals died for my tastebuds – thousands of lives unnecessarily taken over the years I ate meat and dairy; it’s this shadow that keeps me from ever straying from making every meal an act of kindness. It could be said that the deeper the shame, the more effective and lasting the change will be. Of course, by saying this I am not in anyway advocating an extreme form of self flagellation to redeem your sins, just a willingness to be held accountable and make better choices please!
If you think you have ‘arrived’, you are no better than a spiritual version of a vegetarian who has given up meat but is refusing to see the barbaric truth of the dairy or egg industry. Truth is, if you think you have ‘arrived’ with your first glimpse of enlightenment then there’s a good chance you are living out trauma based survival tactics to avoid facing your own glib disingenuousness, because real enlightenment is to see the full picture in all its chaos. It’s not fluffy.
If anything I have said here has made you angry, don’t compartmentalise it and shrug me off with a ‘we all have our own beliefs’ or “I respect your opinion so you should respect mine’ flippancy. Own that rage because it’s trying to tell you something. If your soul gets a proper peak in the mirror I am holding up, don’t turn away from the ugly. It might well be what got you here but hear me when I say maybe it is no longer serving you well.
Question it. See it. Own it. Understand it. Learn from it.
A Pastor Shells Soapbox Sermon written in April 2023
Winter always feels like a time of hibernation to me. Whilst the sparkling of diamond-like icicles on every blade of grass and Narnia-esque landscapes invoke a poetic retrospection (and a great opportunity for moody monotone photographs) I long for Spring.
I have long known that my natural nihilistic malaise at the state of the world requires the kaleidoscopes of blossoming flowers, babbling brooks and birdsong to balance me out with intense bursts of joy. Spring and Summer make days long and everything just that bit more magical for me. I revert to feral child and have to examine every flower, every bud, learn every birdsong and immerse myself in nature.
This recent cold snap, I marvelled at frost that created ice flowers on dead hogweed stems and the sacredness of the geometric icicles but the cold drove me back inside where I huddled next to the fire and dreamed of bluebells in May. I yearn for barefoot walking and buttercups swaying in gentle breezes at Cwm Caredig but instead, I am stowed away in a form of hibernation and have somewhat shunned the world beyond my sofa. I’m grateful my good friends don’t mind if I don’t join in with Christmas or Solstice gatherings. They know why and I don’t need to justify or rationalise my choices to them. The relief is such that it feels joyful. Like Frankie Beverley sang; ‘Joy and pain, like sunshine and rain’ I am both.
I am grateful I have a space that feels like a sanctuary on this, the shortest day of the year. Tomorrow is Christmas Day, but unlike so many Brits that will be faking polite smiles and ‘keeping the peace’ in toxic family get-togethers where landfill is not considered and nor are the lives of sentient beings that are slaughtered and roasted to celebrate the birth of a baby boy 2022 year ago, we stopped ‘doing Christmas’ three years ago. It was so liberating, so stress-free and so wonderfully affordable that we don’t particularly want to go back to the pressure and abject consumerism. We will mark the occasion with some delicious food, but to be honest, we do that everyday! Food can be such a wonderful, mindful celebration of life. And a powerful way to protest the current norms.
I always admire people who are willing to change their mind when presented with facts that sit in conflict to their narratives. Healed people are much more likely to take the risks of letting go of core beliefs, but it is still a challenge to have to let go of the stories we had been told and continue to tell ourselves. We have to get beyond our egos. For many people living with unresolved trauma this can be too big an ask.
Unless you are are willing to unlearn everything you think you know, you will not be able to truly empathise. If you are willing and also able (not everyone is) to consider whether a narrative is true or false, you must be prepared to consider the possibility that you have been operating under falsehoods. There is no shame in this, as we are all conditioned to some degree. Recognising where is the first step to personal growth, so with this in mind, I am going to share my thoughts on discrimination!
Apart from an extraordinarily small minority, we are all born with the capacity to love and feel. Newborn babies are not born with malice or guile, but rather crave love, affection and of course their mother’s milk. We can all agree that babies (and indeed all of us) need food, warmth, sleep and love to develop into healthy, functioning humans, so what is happening to change innocent wee babies into the disassociated, narcissistic and destructive adults we see leading our governments and sadly dominating society today? Where are we going wrong?
Incase you are blissfully unaware, the way we are currently living is harming the planet, billions of other beings and of course ourselves. Our current way of life is simply not sustainable so we need to change if we plan to survive as a species.
We need big changes and we need them now, however levels of cognitive dissonance are alarmingly high, so it’s time to look at how we got ourselves into this mess and how we can address it. Desmond Tutu said “There comes a point when we have to stop pulling bodies out of the river and go upstream to see why they are falling in” and so it is, we have to look at where our issues begin if we stand a chance of correcting it and not just saving humanity but billions of lives across all species.
Remember that baby that needs warmth and love and mother’s milk? Just like us, a cow has to have a baby to start producing milk, so what happens in the dairy industry to provide us with milk derived from our bovine friends is that a cow is forcibly impregnated (using devices called rape machines or rape racks, and where anal fisting is a part of the artificial insemination process) and as soon as she has her baby, he or she is taken away so that we can take her milk. If the calf is male, he will most likely be slaughtered as males in the meat, egg and dairy industry aren’t as useful as the females. If she is female she will become part of the slavery of cows in what is one of the most barbaric industries that still exist today. Have a quick watch of the Dairy is Scary video below.
It is this idea that we are better than other species and can therefore kill their babies, take their milk and eat their flesh that teaches our young – right from the start of their lives – that we believe we are superior to others. Instead of respecting animals as sentient beings that deserve to live as much as we do with full lives where they choose who they pair with, have families and live freely, we put them in cages and force the worst suffering on them because they are merely a food source. It is this superiority that forms the basis of ALL discrimination. When we teach our children that it is okay to enslave, slaughter and exploit other beings, we teach them that their own life has more worth than another. This is where discrimination begins. It’s called speciesism. If you’re wondering if speciesism is even a thing, let me just say that without it we would be eating each other and our pets. Have you ever stopped to ask yourself ‘how come I eat this animal yet protect that one?’.
When you grow up thinking your needs trump the needs of others, it doesn’t take long before that sense of superiority extends into racism, misogyny and ableism. Toxic narratives start to support core beliefs like Catholics being better than Protestants. Christians better than Muslims. Men superior to women. Or that refugees don’t deserve a safe haven away from bombs we are supplying the warlords that are destroying their homelands. It’s the same discrimination that means little Jimmy is not welcome to your kids party because he is different. The same discrimination that has you believing you don’t have to bother with these others, let alone consider their plight and what you can do to make the world a better place for them. They simply don’t matter. At least not as much as convenience, or tastebuds or tradition. Internal ableism (and indeed toxic positivity) can look a lot like chasing good vibes and excluding those suffering from trauma or depression.
We are living in a Cult of the Self where we are taught to believe that we matter more than others. Our desires more important than the destruction of the planet. This disconnect to Mother Earth is creating a chasm in our collective consciousness that we must remedy with the urgency of a wartime effort because time is running out. We currently live in a society where differences make you less than others; less welcome, less loved, less understood. If we want to live in a fully inclusive society where everyone can feel safe enough to live authentically we have to look at where discrimination begins and stop it.
If we all raised our children to value all life and to choose kindness over convenience and compassion over tradition, we would resolve almost all the issues we face in just one generation. One generation. That’s all it would take! We need a huge cultural shift where we start asking what we could do for our fellow beings and our planet instead of thinking we can arrogantly rule over, or more precisely overrule them and their needs.
I believe that discrimination lies at the heart of this foolish arrogance; yet we are free thinking individuals that should be able to question the way our parents did things (and often still do) so how is it we seem to be stuck in his toxic cycle of dissociation from the true consequences of our actions? Well the answer to this lies in lies. Untruths. The cognitive dissonance that won’t allow us to question what we’re doing because the lies are easier to handle.
If we showed children what really happens to animals in slaughter houses and factory farms very few would choose to carry on as we are. Our bodies are designed to chew and digest nuts and fruit and plants, and when those food sources are scarce, we can survive on meat, but it is not the long term solution. The very fact that meat is carcinogenic to our intestines which are no where near as short as carnivorous species and that a whopping 75% of us are probably lactose intolerant should highlight how animals shouldn’t be used as our main food source. A shocking statistic is that despite over half the land we have here in the UK being used for animal agriculture, we only get 1% of our protein from those animals. How can this possibly be rationalised? We have been brainwashed; bombarded by adverts, pressured by tradition and lied to.
Vast wealthy land owners (and other industries that benefit from our unhealthy choices) don’t want to give up their grossly profitable and harmful industries so millions of pounds or dollars or Yen are spent to cover up the truth. To lie. To tell us all cows eat grass and live in beautiful countryside and keep their babies. That there’s such a thing a happy egg, when all male chicks are macerated live at just a day old because their lives are not useful to us; they are seen as an unwanted byproduct.
For most people, lives have now become so busy working to pay the rent or mortgage, raising families and navigating their way through what is a deeply toxic system, there is no energy, no time and no motivation to change. It’s a merry-go-round of misery where escaping from thoughts that might create upheaval becomes crucial. Addiction takes the place of reflective thought – watching television, drinking alcohol, eating food that makes you unwell, doom scrolling on social media and taking drugs whether prescription or recreational.
We are taught to believe our own personal comfort is all that matters and that life is a competition where winning means stepping over others to get to the top. We are set against each other and I rather suspect this is partly because if we stopped trying to make ends meet and talked to each other without the lies and addictions and brainwashing we would unite and revolt. And the 1% don’t want that. Are we being fooled into thinking ‘rewards’ like partying hard at the weekends, chasing good vibes, the latest gadget, overt consumerism and telling ourselves lie after lie are what constitute happiness?
Has lying become so endemic in our society that the truth is just too unpleasant to face? Distraction, feeding addictions and pretending we are all fine is our undoing yet living a lie has been normalised. But we can fix this!
I’m going to suggest something rather controversial that I will revisit in more depth another time. Could carnism be devolving us as a species by dimming our abilities to empathise? Without empathy, we are far less likely to question our arrogant and discriminatory narratives, however if we start to reframe carnism as a mental health condition that is preventing our evolution then perhaps enough people will be cured to begin a domino affect that saves us and our planet.
I need to add before I explain how and why I think carnism is preventing our evolution that I believe people are inherently good and not monsters! I think traumatised people channel their empathy into what I call socio-empathic behaviour. That is to say that most people have huge amounts of empathy for certain demographics – whether that’s their family, their pets, a partner or a cause like caring for a rescue herd of horses or battered wives yet these very same people can also have zero empathy for others, say perhaps refugees, or people with mental health conditions. A socio-empath could also describe someone who has empathy for almost everyone except a parent, or an ex, as if it’s a mindset that can be switched on or off according to merit and judgement of who is worthy of it. Of course, people living with trauma are far more likely to exhibit narcissistic traits so we should always allow people to heal and become new people that are capable of great compassion.
The ability to ask ‘what if?’ and consider all the possibilities is to master the art of reasoning.
Scientists and anthropologists tell us that despite all our technological advances, we are still functioning with the same brains as our cavemen ancestors. Our ancestors weren’t as fortunate as us with our abundant food sources or knowledge on nutrition so our survival then would have depended on occasionally adding the flesh of animals to our diets – for example in winter when foraging nuts, seeds, fruit and leaves wasn’t always possible.
Because the females of our species were generally the carers nurturing our young, female brains developed a considerably larger area given over solely to empathy (roughly the size of your small fingernail) in comparison to males who were generally the hunter gatherers. It benefitted our survival for the part of the brain dedicated to empathy to be either non-existent or the size of a pinhead in those that needed to hunt. It was an evolutionary step in ensuring our survival.
Of course, back then, we weren’t eating meat, eggs or dairy in every meal, so I can’t help but wonder on an evolutionary level what our bodies are making of the fact that we consume so much flesh now. Could it be removing our ability to empathise? What once served us well may now be sucking compassion from us as species. I suspect our bodies are reacting to the volume of flesh consumed as an indication that we are short of the food we should be eating and have gone into survival mode where empathy is not useful. Could it be that the majority of us are devolving because of it? When one considers things like Love Island, Brexit and working class people voting for Tories, you really do have to wonder.
I’m currently reading a book entitled ‘Radical Honesty’ by Brad Blanton and like me, the author believes the only way we can save our species is to start telling the truth. Extinction Rebellion share the same sentiment. Brad also believes that one of the reasons most people struggle with honesty is because most adults never grow out of what he calls ‘spiritual adolescence’ which is a narcissistic and emotionally immature stage of life where only the self matters. Jung presented a similar theory with four stages of life, the first half being primarily concerned with family relations, professional goals and a self aggrandisement in an egocentric attempt to find ‘success’ and the second half leaning more towards a likelihood of the ego receding to allow a larger view on life. Jung held a rather positive view that this can incorporate the vital connection to the personal and collective unconscious but I fear the more pessimistic view that most people never grow out of heir egocentric spiritual adolescence in our modern times. But that is what we are here to change!
We want people to wake up, to mature emotionally and spiritually so we can present an alternative way of thinking that leads to such an abundance of joy and gratitude, I have started to wonder if those that consume death and suffering on their plates three times a day cannot know the what the joy of a clear conscience feels like. Are the lies we tell ourselves getting in the way of our liberation? I believe that our bodies respond to what we put in it, whether that’s the suffering of an animal that wanted to live, or the words of our forefathers filling our brains with lies. But the wonderful thing is we have a choice on what we consume, absorb and accept.
I hope to look at the science behind the power of vibrations and consider how eating death might be altering those vibrational energies another time but the idea is not a new one. Pythagorus said that “ For as long as men massacre animals, they will kill each other. Indeed, he who sows the seed of murder and pain cannot reap joy and love.”
To conclude, we need to eradicate the discrimination we have ingrained in us from birth, and tackle the cognitive dissonance surrounding our speciesism. And tell the truth. When we overcome speciesism, I truly believe we will also end racism, ableism and all the unpleasant isms blighting our society. A beautiful, harmonious future is possible; we just have to want it enough to be held accountable for our actions.
When we stop and question what we’re doing and why we’re doing it; whether that’s repeating destructive generational life patterns or choosing easy options over integrity, we start to evolve. When we start being honest with ourselves, we start expecting others to be honest too.
If you find yourself feeling a little low after the whirlwind of festive celebrations, I hope you start to question why. Did all that expense and stress lead to a sense of peace and goodwill to all men, or will you be secretly relieved when it’s all over? If you want real peace, and real joy in abundance, you have to want realness. Time to get real! Sometimes, the journey to get real feels like falling down the rabbit hole, but it’s an incredible journey so I urge all of you ready to face your demons and heal to take that step. And if all that feels too heavy, then just plant some trees like we did last month.
I’ve seen quite a few social media posts today where American women report having been approached by men and told “your body, my choice”. It seems like a terrifying devolution of our species and witnessing how quickly we appear to be regressing leaves me with a feeling of despair. I keep having to remind myself that despair is often a precursor to significant change and action. When things go from irritating to enraging, we are often mustered into reacting.
Despair is often a precursor to significant change and action.
I feel the collective rage against the machine gathering momentum and that we are on the precipice of great change. The dying beast of capitalist patriarchy is baring it’s teeth and clawing it’s way into our perception with the audacity of a sociopath that thinks he is invincible. But he isn’t. He’s getting bolshy, but that will be his undoing. You’ll see.
I have said it before right here in my previous blog posts, but I will say it again: brace yourself because things will seem to get worse, however let’s consider that maybe they need to. Where people were hesitant in the past to say the racist or misogynistic things they were thinking, they are now emboldened by this bizarre ‘handmaid’s tale’ development of the ugly political landscape governing our western counterparts across the pond. Dark souls feel safe enough to show us who they are and fragile masculinity has found his voice. Insecure white men labelling their toxic far right narratives as supremacy and by doing so, they out themselves so that we can see their true colours at last. If the genocide of vulnerable people in countries away from your own hasn’t spurred you into action, may the threat of your own safety or those dear to you finally wake you up. Have you seen what’s happening? Do you care? Empathy seems to be dying so if you still have any, this is your call to action.
On a positive note, it is more likely that rather than things getting worse, they are simply getting revealed; the veil disguising the covert darkness that has ruled us is finally being lifted. More and more people can start to see the evil we are dealing with. The good news is that the greedy sociopaths and their minions aren’t particularly bright, so whilst it’s heartbreaking to see the worldwide human and animal rights crisis worsen, we should try to find hope in the old adage that given enough rope, they will hang themselves. The louder they become, the more our global apolitical apathy will alchemise into an uprising that is long overdue. Our general indifference, abject consumerism and the selfishness prevalent in our time needs jolting into awareness and action. So come on, what are you waiting for? Now is the absolute best time to take action! If you still think the privilege you currently enjoy is going to protect you, wake up and look at how close it’s getting to you. If you care about your children, your sisters, in fact all your fellow humans (and non-humans) then it’s time to gather and ready yourself to change things. It’s time to create communities, to meet and discuss ways forward that can replace this dystopian nightmare we think is reality.
The more the pendulum swings towards misogyny, greed, depravity, and darkness, the closer we are to a sharp swing the other way towards kindness, compassion and the evolution we require to survive as a species. In short, the worse it appears to get, the closer we are to a revolution. To evolution.
There has never been a better time to come together and rise up. I am not talking about mass civil disobedience like the violent protesting with the poll tax riots in the 1980s. No, I am talking about coming together as communities to choose between ourselves how we want to live, and then just getting on with doing that. While the rest of the world are arguing, we can exit the system, and do it with love and compassion. Instead of fighting them, we can channel our energy into stepping away from dysfunctional systems designed to have us turning against each other and choose love. It’s very simple really. Reject all that is dark and step into the light. Be honourable. Be willing to be held accountable for your actions. Be honest. Be kind.
Turn the telly off. Stop eating body parts that lower your vibrations and put death in your belly. Stop poisoning yourself. Stop working all the hours to buy things that you do not need and will never make you happy. Stop trying to escape reality with booze and drugs and the fleeting dopamine highs of shallow pleasure seeking. Stop doom scrolling.
We need to be growing our own food and sharing our resources and loving one another regardless of our differences. By coming together and rejecting the divisive narratives being thrust upon us, we can unite and prioritise in ways that lead to better ways of living, of communicating, having better life balances, eating healthier food, and generally waking up and seeing what needs to be done. When it comes down to it, growing our own food as communities and sharing what we have with those less fortunate (without discrimination) is the solution to many of the problems we face.
The worse it appears to get, the closer we are to a revolution. To evolution.
I’m seeing more and more communities form with people choosing to kill their egos and embrace a more altruistic lifestyle; where the bigger picture takes precedence over feathering their own nests. If the apocalypse is coming, or perhaps is already upon us, then compassion and humbleness is what will save us, not grappling to have more or pursue personal shallow desires. It’s time to find what connects us rather than focussing on what divides us.
People are finally realising the pursuit of happiness is a negative experience as it focusses on what you lack. Instead, we can give up chasing the more shallow goals of wealth, status and worldly success, and enjoy a paradoxical manifesting of the abundance we have already. It calls us to serve one another and practice gratitude for choices we can make that will unite us. We actually have everything we need to thrive without causing harm to each other so it’s time to collectively choose that. It’s time to get back to basics. Back to nature. Back to each other. Devoting your life to causing as little harm as possible creates a purpose that compensates for the struggles of doing so. Being aware of the consequences of your actions and choosing better is how to evolve.
The sheer arrogance of anyone thinking what happens to another being’s body is their choice should create a dialogue where carnists start to see their own arrogance in thinking fellow sentient beings are mere body parts to put on their plates.
The feminist position that no man should be able to govern women’s reproductive systems must surely also translate to what we do to females that are not human. The toxic superiority that anyone can think that someone else’s body is for the taking or exploiting or governing without their consent is finally being discussed the world over because of recent events, so let’s keep that going. Consent was a buzz word with the ‘me too’ movement, so let’s revive the concept of consent; not just amongst humans but to all beings that deserve the right to live, to be free and to choose their way of life.
You can’t call yourself a feminist and be okay with babies being taken from their mothers because you want their breastmilk in your tea. You can’t challenge the toxic superiority that we have the right to control, exploit or govern body parts of sentient beings without also examining your own choices. The hypocrisy will become more obvious as the backlash regarding consent reaches a momentum where it’s on the lips of the majority. The mirror being held up as to who we are as a species is truly topical at the moment and that is a good thing. It’s time to challenge the reflection. To encourage kinder choices. To become more compassionate. To celebrate what is good and kind about us.
The saying that it is your body, your choice must also mean it’s your planet and your choice. Choose wisely and choose quickly as future generations are depending on you.
The meek will inherit the earth, so choose kindness. Your soul is yearning for it, the planet is desperate for it. It’s time.
You haven’t read any UK political party manifestos and don’t really know what you’re voting for when it comes to most party policies. You vote on instinct if you vote at all. Ask yourself, what do you really know? There’s no shame to admit it; after all politics is woefully boring if you’re privileged enough that it doesn’t affect you too much, like how often your bins get collected, or how you’re pretty healthy and not on any waiting lists for NHS procedures.
Okay, maybe this doesn’t apply to all of you, but there’s enough of you out there to warrant me spending many, many hours reading all the manifestos that are relevant to Wales, UK (as that is where I live) so that you don’t have to! I have done all the hard work and produced summaries that you could read in your lunch break if you wanted it all over with in one hit. The goal of this is that you can finish reading it with a bit more confidence to vote in a way that benefits you, your family and your community.
Annoyingly, the main parties haven’t updated their websites or manifestos since the 2024 general election, so I have tried to update their policies where I know they have changed, and will update this post, or produce a new one as things evolve. As an autistic perfectionist, I have aimed to keep the summaries unbiassed; drawn directly from party manifestos and free from my opinion on them, but as with anyone that has a heart, it’s hard not to be completely without agenda. So, here is my agenda: I would like there to be greater understanding of the consequences of what each individual vote means for the future because we are at the precipice of considerable change now that the public seem to have lost faith in both Labour and Conservatives. What are the options and what would it mean if any of those got into power?
I would recommend that you follow up by reading full party manifestos for all the parties as I can’t squeeze it all in here and still keep it readable in a lunch break. If further reading doesn’t appeal, fear not as I have selected the main points in links to short PDF documents – most no more than two sides of an A4 piece of paper, (printable if you are so inclined) so you can have a balanced picture of what and who and why and be better informed and able to help shape the place we live into a happier, healthier and less scary place to live, for us and future generations. You may not like everything you read, particularly if you currently feel loyal to a party, but take comfort in this: the more intelligent you are, the more likely you are to shift your perspective when presented with information that challenges what you thought to be true.
There is no such thing as a stupid question, so for those new to politics, I’ve included a glossary of terms and some questions that might help understanding what’s what.
What is left-wing, right-wing and centrist politics in the UK and which parties are which?
Generally speaking, working class people prefer socialist, left wing governance and the upper class, wealthy and ‘elite’ favour more capitalist, right wing power that helps preserve their wealth and keeps historic traditions alive. Left-wing politics generally supports social equality, challenging hierarchies, and advocating for disadvantaged groups, with a focus on social welfare, workers’ rights, and progressive change, contrasting with right-wing focus on tradition and hierarchy; these ideas stem from the French Revolution where “left” supported revolution and “right” supported monarchy. Centrist parties tend to have both left-wing and right wing policies. From left → right:
SWP (Socialist Workers Party) – Far left
Your Party (when established) – Left
Green Party of England & Wales – Left
SNP (Scottish National Party) – Centre-left (slightly left of Labour)
Labour Party – Centre-left (used to be left)
Plaid Cymru – Centre-left
Liberal Democrats – Centre
Conservative Party – Right
Reform UK – Far right
What is the difference between communism, socialism, capitalism and fascism?
Communism: Common ownership/no private ownership with an ultimate goal to be stateless and moneyless usually with a single authoritarian party controlling the state. In a communist society, whilst nobody should be wealthy, no-one experiences poverty.
Socialism: Equality, public ownership of utilities and transport systems, co-operation and collective well-being. In a socialist, left-wing society, anybody can be wealthy and own assets, but no-one should be poor.
Capitalism: An economic system where private owners control industry for profit and greater GDP (gross domestic product) and financial growth. In a capitalist, right-wing society, great wealth can be achieved but is often at the expense of the poor. Ways to increase profits by reducing labour costs creates poverty.
Economic growth is not sustainable on a planet with finite resources.
Fascism: A far-right, authoritarian regime with extreme nationalism, militarism and a strong dictatorial leader where the nation’s interests are prioritised above individual rights, often suppressing opposition through force and rejecting democracy. Often associated with ‘purification of the nation’ and a ‘master race’ with racist, misogynist and other discriminatory narratives. In a fascist society, unquestioning loyalty to the leader (Duce, Führer) is required. Fascist superiority dehumanises certain peoples so that atrocities become normalised.
We used to be a two-party-politics nation. What happened?
Following many years of austerity (cuts on public spending) from both Labour and Conservative leadership, a cost of living crisis, the disastrous effects of Thatcher’s capitalism in the 90s, leaving the EU in 2020 and the gap between the wealthy and the poor growing ever wider, the public have lost faith in the previously popular parties. Labour’s ongoing pro-Zionist support of the Israeli genocide against Palestinians have cost them many supporters. With the emergence and increased popularity of parties such as Reform UK and the Green Party both gaining majority ratings in the polls, the choices now seem to be between six main parties each appealing to different voters.
When it looks like an existing government is going to lose power and there isn’t a clear lead, parties tend to form alliances to secure power.
What if there isn’t a party that meets all my requirements to vote for them?
It is unlikely that any one party will exactly match your ethics and beliefs for how we should govern our nation. Where a party is truly democratic and listens to its members, it is easier to shape policy with proposed motions however the best way to decide is to pick the party that resonates most with your ideas and not get too caught up on policies that aren’t ideal if they are few and do not affect you directly. Consider the consequences of what your future will look like if you vote for a party based on just one or two policies that you like when the other policies may end up harming you.
Keep in mind smear campaigns and propaganda designed to brainwash you into voting from a place of fear. If you ‘follow the money’ with newspapers, propaganda and fake news, it becomes easier to see who will benefit from misleading you. Millions of pounds are currently being spent on turning us against each other and apportioning blame for the current crisis on anyone but the ones that should be held accountable. While we are fighting each other, we are not considering what we need to thrive and improve our lives. It is time to focus on solutions rather than apportioning blame.
Also worth noting is that parties often make promises they do not keep. Labour, Conservatives (Tories), Lib Dems and even Plaid Cymru have a history of doing this and have destroyed faith in their credibility because of it, but newer parties that have never held office are also in danger of underestimating what they can achieve with their lack of experience in governing.
What is proportional voting and do I need to vote tactically to keep a party out of power?
A new system for voting in the Senedd is called a ‘closed proportional list system’ and means that every vote in the next election counts so there is no longer any need to vote tactically for a party if they are not your first choice. Wales is being split into 16 areas and each will have six seats. If a party wins 50% of the votes, it will be awarded three out of the six seats. It means to get a seat only requires 13 – 16% of the votes so if you want your chosen party to get at least one seat, you need to vote for a candidate, either affiliated to a party or independent.
What is the ECHR?
The European Convention for Human Rights was created after WWII to prevent atrocities and protect individuals from state power by guaranteeing fundamental rights and freedoms. It includes the right to life, liberty, fair trials, free expression, assembly, privacy, and freedom from torture and slavery. It entitles people to due process and fair legal processes, so if the UK were to leave the ECHR, people (including ALL British Nationals) could lose the right to challenge the system, protest publicly or have their human rights protected. Both Reform UK and the Conservatives have said they would leave the ECHR.
What is the difference between Anti-Zionist and Anti-semitic?
Zionism is a movement for the re-establishment of a Jewish nation in Palestine by an Israeli government. Semitism is all things Jewish and relates to Semitic peoples with Jewish, Hebrew, Arab and Aramaic languages and cultures, but to be antisemitic is to be hostile against Jews in particular, wherever they are from in the world. To be anti-Zionist is to be opposed to the Israeli government and relates to the genocide of Palestinian people in Gaza. Anti-Zionists are often accused of being antisemitic but the two are very different and should not be confused. It is possible to be Jewish and anti-Zionist.
Here it is then:
A brief summary of each partywith links to printable PDF summaries of policies and relevant information:
Labour Party – currently in power in Westminster; used to be a left-wing party created in 1900 to represent working people, trade unionists and socialists but previous leader Tony Blair and current leader Keir Starmer have taken the party to a more Centrist position, some would even say right-wing with increasing support coming from hedge fund managers and entrepreneurs. Click here to read a summary on them and their policies.
Conservative Party – right-winged party also known as the Tories supporting a capitalist society favouring private enterprise, privatisation, low taxation and reduced state control over industries. It supports a strong military presence and commitment to NATO. Click here to read a summary on them and their policies.
Reform UK – a far right party favouring strict immigration control, with reduced rights for people in order to prioritise nationalist traditional values. Drastic tax cuts, scrapping net zero targets to endorse and promote fossil fuel and aviation expansion. It supports intensive expansion of the military, police force and detention centres and wishes to leave the ECHR. Click here to read a summary on them and their policies.
Green Party of England & Wales – a left-leaning social justice party focussed on progressive change and radical transformation, pushing for peace, environmentalism and equality. Click here to read a summary on them and their policies.
Plaid Cymru – centre-left party of Wales, a nationalist party focussed on independence and promoting the Welsh language. With many policies advocating de-centralised socialism and anti-war policies, they are often considered left-leaning and a voice of the people of Wales. Click here to read a summary on them and their policies.
Liberal Democrats – centrist party however previous alliance with the Tories (Conservative Party) has given them a reputation to lean towards the right despite their focus on building a fair, free and open society by balancing liberty, community and advocating for internationalism and environmentalism. Click here to read a summary on them and their policies.
Your Party (when fully established) is a left-wing socialist party led by Jeremy Corbyn and Zara Sultana who both defected from Labour, saying that Labour is no longer a socialist party that serves the people. As they have yet to create a manifesto and have its members decide their policies, I have not created a link with more details.
SWP (Socialist Workers Party) – a far left socialist party that works closely with trade unions, running campaigns to overthrow capitalism through working class action. As they are not typically a major election force, I haven’t created a link to more details on their policies.
SNP (Scottish National Party) – a centre-left Scottish nationalist party pushing for independence and devolvement from Westminster. With policies like free university tuition and equality and fairness for all they are considered progressive and often left-leaning. As this particular guide is focussing on Welsh politics, I haven’t done a link to a summary of their policies.
Global Influences
The UK is closely allied with many countries and influenced by current affairs and conflicts around the world, but for this version of this report, these are the main ones you should be aware of.
Europe
In 2020 the UK voted to leave the European Union for reasons such as increased sovereignty and improvements fiscally. Since Brexit however, it is claimed that the UK is now up to £90 billion a year worse off, with reports that the UK economy is now £140 billion smaller than it was before leaving the EU. Non-London households across the UK are now £2000 a year worse off, adding to the cost of living crisis.
A campaign was led by Nigel Farage that included touring the UK with a large red bus, stating on the side of it that £350 million a week savings would go to the NHS instead of Europe, however it is now well known that not only were these figures incorrect, but that the NHS has not seen any of the ‘savings’.
Deals the UK had with France to send back immigrants arriving on boats are no longer valid since leaving the EU. Critics claim that UK immigration issues and the extensive backlog of processing claims (resulting in asylum seekers and refugees being housed in hotels) are critical because of Brexit.
After the vote to leave the EU, a lucrative trade deal could not be found and many called for a referendum to vote again as a decent deal was not forthcoming but this was denied to UK voters despite many petitions. Many are saying that the campaign leaders, namely Nigel Farage, Boris Johnson, David Cameron and Theresa May (Conservatives and now Reform) should be held accountable for the misinformation spread to encourage people to vote to leave and the incompetence of being able to broker a good trade deal for when we left the EU.
United States of America
President Donald Trump, a Republican (with right-wing political leanings similar to our Conservative Party/Reform UK here) was voted in for a second term in America after promising to help with the cost of living crisis, lower bills and remove immigrants straining the system.
Known for posting on social media many times a day, his views are controversial, and often anti-Democrat (their equivalent to Labour/left-winged politics here) and anti-‘AntiFa’ (AntiFa stands for anti-fascist, so to be anti-anti-fascist is to be pro-fascist?).
Trump is often accused of being a dangerous narcissist, using wealth and power to manipulate public opinion with propaganda that dehumanises certain races and demography in order to make their suffering acceptable. With the construction of concentration camps and non-white people being regularly ‘disappeared’ without due process, this has caused global concern for human rights in America. His most recent attack on Venezuela is against international law, with many calling for sanctions against the US.
Having several convictions, the Presidential felon has a large following of people that believe he will ‘Make America Great Again’ (MAGA) and any evidence that he is failing at this, or news that he regularly breaks the law with his use of privately run mercenary unit ‘ICE’ and military to further his agenda, is largely overlooked. There are accusations that he was one of Epstein’s fellow pedophiles, and that regular ‘sensational’ political moves are staged to distract the public from the truth.
Accusations that he ignores amendments in the Magna Carta, and comparisons of his leadership to Nazi Germany 1930s has led some to suggest that America is turning into Gilead (Margaret Atwood’s ‘Handmaid’s Tale’) where women’s rights are being eroded and even that child marriage is being encouraged to raise the dwindling birth rate with a far right narrative that is deeply discriminatory.
Trump believes that Europe is facing grave issues due to immigration and therefore increased crime and has vowed to intervene, along with many other claims pertaining to other Nations where he has tried to influence outcomes of political and conflict issues to varying degrees of success or unwelcomeness.
Elon Musk, originally from South Africa and now domiciled in America is the world’s first trillionaire. He has been funding far-right rallies and what he believes is the much needed ‘purification’ of Britain. Once a firm friend of Trump, they had a public falling out but Elon has not stepped back from trying to influence global affairs and has become ever more bold in displaying his Nazi sympathies.
Nigel Farage and Reform UK have said they would like to mirror many of Trump’s policies, like copying their private healthcare models and limiting human rights for immigrants in order to remove them.
Russia/Ukraine
Russia’s Putin invaded Ukraine in 2014, occupying Crimea and annexing it from Ukraine, targeting both military and people’s homes. More than 2 million people became refugees. Fighting still continues with support for Russia and Ukraine being a complicated matter for Europe and America with NATO politics making it even more complex.
Israel/Palestine
There has been a decades long conflict between Zionist Israelis and Palestinians over land, identity and the right to self-determination. Partition by the UN in 1947, the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, and occupation of territories going back to 1967 when Israel captured the West bank, East Jerusalem, the Gaza strip and other territories have all influenced the current conflict, with an attack by Hamas, Palestinian militants in 2023 on Israel killing 1200 civilians triggered the declaration of war and the mass genocide of Palestinians including civilians. Ceasefires have not lasted and globally the public have been lobbying their governments to condemn the actions of both Hamas and Israel and stop selling arms to either of them. Labour suggest a two-state solution with an independent Palestinian state coexisting alongside Israel. The Green Party condemn Israel’s actions but want to keep diplomatic relations going and Your Party founder Zara Sultana wants to cut all ties with Israel and try them for war crimes.
Keir Starmer proscribed protest activists ‘Palestinian Action’ as a terrorist group. The media have been filming and airing the many arrests of OAPs and peaceful protesters holding placards who now face up to 14 years in prison for terrorism. Both Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves are known as committed Zionists and Israeli apologists which has not helped Labour maintain British popularity.
US-China Rivalry
Trade restrictions, export controls and military posturing (around Taiwan) is influencing global trade and export deals, and not just with China but with many Nations unhappy about the tariffs Trump is imposing in his bid to make America great again.
Shifting Alliances and ‘Ego-Politics’
International affairs are being influenced by the rise of ‘ego-politics’ and instability while predominantly old white men erode democracy and global human rights. Some say this is the beast of Patriarchal control thrashing in its dying throes but with time restraints like climate change and fragile authoritarians posturing while having nuclear power, many fear what we are heading towards.
Climate Change
Rising global temperatures are leading to more extreme weather (heatwaves, floods, droughts, wildfires), melting ice, rising sea levels and ocean acidification which disrupts eco systems. The crisis threatens food and water security, impacts human health, displacing entire communities and increases extinction risks for all species, including our own.
Heavy dependence on animal agriculture as a food source has led to vast deforestation, gigantic deadzones in the ocean (due to cattle slurry getting into our rivers and seas) and an unsustainable water and land use that is contributing to global warming and pollution.
Climate migrants seeking food and water security will increase and conflict over land that is farmable will also influence what happens around the world and here in the UK when food imports start to fail and storms and floods destroy our own crops.
Aviation and fossil fuels such as oil and gas are a lead contributing factor in the crisis, but because so much money is made from aviation, oil and gas moguls who have the finances to influence politics and deny the climate crisis, politicians that accept money from these billionaires then create policies that reflect their contributions regardless of whether it threatens long term land, food and water security.
Poverty
The cost of living crisis is a global issue, not just here in the UK. With the gap widening between the excessively wealthy and the poor, the threat of civil wars, austerity rebellion and economic migrants seeking a better life will all influence what plays out here in the UK.
Pandemics/Covid
We all learned the hard way in 2020 that pandemics overseas find their way to us and influence how we need to govern our communities.
If you would like to print out or download global influences, click here.
Platform 14 