The problem with Defeatism

I've seen too many people on my Facebook feed posting about how it's a waste of time to vote because the outcome of the EU referendum has been predetermined by a higher power, it's apathetic, it's defeatist, and it's one of the biggest problems regarding political discourse.

Defeatism in politics is very, very dangerous and all it does is help to maintain the conservative status quo. If you have the mentality that "one vote never made a difference" and that the higher powers are going to ignore the real outcome of the referendum because they've predetermined whether or not we're leaving, the message you're presenting is "things are a bit crap as they are, but I'm not going to do anything to try to make it better because it's not worth my time", you are accepting and essentially justifying injustice and inequality because you don't think it's worth your time because you don't think things can or will change - can you imagine how many inequalities would be able to continue if every protest group and every campaigner shared that mentality? The world we live in would be a very different, even darker place - it may not be quite as relevant in the case of the EU, but defeatism itself is a problem that needs to be defeated (pun intended).

I've said it before and I'll say it again, I am very empathic towards those who are apathetic when it comes to politics and it's very easy to get into this defeatist mentality, but what you need to do is take the anger and resentment you hold against the status quo and use that to fight for a better tomorrow (ew cringe but I'm going somewhere with this). Tony Benn believed that there are two prerequisites for social change: "the burning flame of anger at injustice, and the burning flame of hope at a better world". I believe that defeatism encompasses that anger and upset at the way things are currently, but you're going to have a hard time bringing about social change if the only thing you are doing is sharing posts on Facebook.

Long story short, you think the outcome of the referendum has been predetermined? Fine, you can hold that belief, but you should still vote in the chance that it's not. Sitting on a fence is not progressive, so it saddens me to see people who claim to be radical and anti-establishment sitting back and doing nothing and essentially aiding conservative agenda. Also, FYI, you can be anti-establishment and a voter, the two things are not mutually exclusive.

If you haven't registered to vote in the referendum, this is probably just me screaming into the void but defeatism is a poison and I'd like to see a lot less of it from the left. If you did register, I hope you all go out and vote (cough cough remain).

The importance of voting

Political participation is one of our most valuable human rights, but it is one that 7.5 million people in the UK are not utilising as they're not registered to vote in the upcoming EU referendum. We are socialised with this belief that one vote never made a difference, but if all of the people who believed that (like the 34% of registered voters in 2015 who didn't vote and that's not even including the people who didn't register), it could and would swing the vote.

I completely understand why political apathy is at an all time high, especially amongst the youth. The political discourse that's often presented to us is overcomplicated and saturated with buzzwords, it confuses people and I wholeheartedly believe this is deliberate, it is done in the hope that the generally more open-minded, empathic youth don't get invested in politics and so we develop a cognitive dissonance so we feel disconnected from the issues that are being discussed. This tactic is used specifically to maintain the conservative status quo - we all joke about it being old, white men in government but the situation is as it stands because they are trying to keep the youth from getting interested. Youths tend to care about people, and this directly conflicts with conservative ideology. Long story short, it's dangerous for Tories to standardise political education in schools because if the youths became engaged in politics and all voted, the right would crumble.

For true, representative democracy (I'm not arguing that First Past the Post is representative, but I digress) 100% political participation is ideal. If you don't feel like any of the options available to you represent your political beliefs, you can spoil your ballot which is in itself a political statement but do not under any means just abstain from voting. As Owen Jones often says "we are standing on the shoulders of giants" - from the Chartists, to the Suffragettes, people have been fighting for our vote, fighting for democracy, for centuries. If you don't vote, you are actively dismissing and discrediting everything these people fought for. We cannot allow ourselves to be marginalised, our voice matters and political participation is a right we should protect at all costs.

The deadline for registering to vote in the EU Referendum is the 7th June - you can register here, it only takes about 2 minutes at most and the outcome of this referendum will affect youths most.

Ten things and ten blogs #3

one.

Big day in the beauty world for Bess - I bought my first MAC lipstick! I got it in the shade 'Taupe' and I think I'm going to get a lot of wear out of it, the cheapskate in me (and my purse) was telling me no but my heart was telling me yes.

two.
The lovely Hazel Hayes of the YouTube channel ChewingSand uploaded a video about voting which I think every person, mostly young people around 18-25, should watch. I only turned 18 in November but I've always been very annoyed at the prospect of people not using their vote, so if you're sceptical about the parties or if you're just not sure about whether to vote or not. Watch the video, at least you'll be a little bit more informed on how much your vote matters.

three.
I did my first outfit post (here) and it was honestly one of the most nerve-racking things I've ever done, I have a really really bad body image (for reasons I won't go into here, but may talk about in a future post) but I really wanted to start doing outfit posts on here to incorporate more of the fashion part of 'fashion, beauty and an existential crisis', so I braved it - personal goal achieved!

four.
Having not done a great deal of work through half-term (I did some, but does the homework ever end with A levels?) I decided I needed to just sit down and work, work, work. I caught up on the Great British Bake Off Comic Relief Special to pump myself up for work, and after about two hours of scrolling aimlessly through Tumblr, I decided to do some Philosophy homework whilst watching Cinderella. It's never been my favourite Disney film and it's one that I've neglected through the years, but I was in the mood for Disney and for some reason, in the mood for Cinderella, so I watched it and it was good. In the same day, I went on to watch Mulan and Mulan 2 so you can tell I'm living the high life here. The next day, I watched Emperor's New Groove too - there is no stopping me.

five.
Blur released the video for their new song Go Out because their new album The Magic Whip* has been announced to come out in April (are you as excited as I am???) I quite like the new song, it sounds similar to some of the other stuff they've done but a bit Oasis-esque which is ironic given that Oasis was Blur's rival in the Battle of Britpop. Perhaps not as catchy as Parklife or There's No Other Way, but I quite like it and I'm looking forward to the new album.

six.
I went to my friend's 18th birthday party, which was comprised of two sections. The first part was playing The Hunger Games in a big field, we were put into districts with one other person, I was in district 4. It was very muddy but a lot of fun. Then we went back to my friend's house and had pizza and listened to music and stuff, I'd be lying if I said there wasn't alcohol. I'd also be lying if I said I hadn't drank a lot but y'know #YOLO

seven.
I'll be one of the first to say that Glee used to be great, y'know it made fun of itself and it was generally really good up until about series 4-5. I didn't even finish series 5 although I was obsessed from series 1-3, seriously obsessed (we're talkin' 200% gleek), but series 6 is really really good. I wanted to watch it because it's the last series but I'm actually really enjoying it, plus you've got trans representation in it! Like seriously finally a big show talking about trans people - this is important folks. Plus Klaine and Britanna getting married - can I get a hells friggin yeah?

eight.
I'm sure you've all heard of what happened between Zendaya Coleman and Giulana Rancic but I just have to say again that Zendaya's response to Giulana's racist comments was so articulate and gosh just damn girl protect the POCs.

nine.
My Philosophy teacher provided an interesting twist on the existential crisis that I've been suffering with since the age of 12 today, he said existential crisis' happen as a result of the realisation that you have too much freedom and you have to make a decision regarding your life and, like in Bill and Ted, 'all we are is dust in the wind, dude' but my teacher said this can be a good thing, I forgot why, I couldn't see how my permanent state of existential crisis could be a good thing but y'know it's a different twist on it I guess.

ten.
I've fallen in love with Ben Folds Five all over again, like I never went off them and they've been one of my favourite bands for as long as I can remember and I'm pretty certain I listen to them every day, but I've been listening to their live performance albums on Spotify and their Naked Baby Photos album a lot and I just think they're so so good - if you've never listened to Ben Folds Five, do yourself a favour and give into the wimp rock piano music, you won't regret it.

blogs.
Makeup Savvy
Hello November
Dainty Ditsy
LJLV
Bethany Worrall
That Northern Girl
Bed in the Kitchen
Feel Bella
Rosie Louise Love
Ellabooxo

What's the best thing that's happened to you in the past couple of weeks?

*Not some sort of bondage situation, I'm guessing

Bloglovin | YouTube | Tumblr | Twitter | Instagram