Now is not the time to relax your caution! Would love of country be done surreptitiously and without anything but the need to stoke fear of alien appropriation of ‘our’ homes, women and children by men in black balaclava face coverings, overnight
Posted on by stevendouglasblog
A short film appeared on X, flagship of hatred and nationalism in Elon Musk’s hope, the day on which we woke to find St. George’s Flags attached to every flagpole in the small market town of Crook in County Durham. The film toured the ring roads and town centre whee the flags are accompanied by music asserting English superiority as proven in imperial war.
Meant to confuse, these flags are mistook by some as a celebration of English victory in women’s sport, but on the week of their arrival they were met by a very small demonstration of resistance in the market square to a proposed hostel for asylum seekers. It was soon reported that they were put up overnight by men with identities concealed under black face covering balaklavas.
Only weeks before the first act of a majority-Reform Party County Durham Council was to ban the use of Gay Pride or other flags than the Union Flag or the St. George’s Flag on Council property. In the town square, the Town Hall, once the home of a District Council, stood impassive and declared itself unready to act against this spontaneous act of patriotism. Meanwhile, it is clear that the move is a national one, planned and contextualised to match demonstrations that copied the ‘success’ of demonstrations outside the Bell Hotel in Epping Forest, and threats to the safety of current residents of failing hotels used to house migrants and asylum seekers.
Nigel Farage announces his immediate repatriation policies to cover the forced deportation of any ‘illegal’ entrants, not stopping short of unaccompanied women and children.
These flags show best against louring storm clouds and aggressive wind rather than hanging limp in the truth of full light, but we are in the early days of a movement that looks for, but has not yet seized, national power, awaiting the next election as potentially the last democratic election, for by then crisis feelings will sweep on the urgency of national ‘unity’ and the need to suppress doubters and naysayers. Meanwhile, the British establishment shores up their rhetoric with versions of the nationalust success potential to the Brexit message, even a Labour government in power.
How near the day of national ‘patriotic’ rallies? Those of us who find nationalist hate a poor expression of our humanity can only hope it won’t happen, for open political expression is already marginalised except in nationalist forms.
For me, the chill of state self-glorification is already the message of this surreptious attempt to seize symbols of populist pride by aping it in as yet undercover operations. Interviewed on TV, its vox pop supporters say it is ‘about time’ we looked after ‘our own’. Asked whether that meant sending the vulnerable back to oppressive and murderous states, they say with anger on their face, ‘I Don’t Care’. The same phrase is spoken aloud by Farage on national media.
Frankly, I fear this. Its aim is to silence those who might, without caring, be silenced more effectively later. The signs are there. They are much more popularly supported than in the twentieth century campaigns of the National Front and are emboldened by the success of Brexit, which is already bringing about a state of irrational fear of otherness and hatred of cooperative global alliances.
Now is not the time to relax your caution!
With love and appropriate terror,
Steven xxxx
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