Back in my days as a student, back in 1966-71 I used to take on a Summer job working for the council as a road sweeper. All the street cleaners, bin men and other council workers used to meet up for an extended break every day. It was full of intense knowledgeable debate and argument. They knew their stuff. They were incredibly knowledgeable about the social history of Britain and Europe. They mocked me because I knew so little about the Suffragettes, Tolpuddle Martyrs, Swing riots, Diggers, Chartists and Peterloo massacre. They called me ignorant college boy and instructed me to read CP Snow’s Corridors of Power and The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists. They knew that the establishment had long fought to suppress worker’s rights, pay and voting. They knew all the extremes that had taken place to suppress working people. They knew that every right had been fought for and that if they didn’t fight to keep those rights they would lose them.
What they wanted was a fairer, more equal society, where people were properly rewarded for their efforts and all the money and rights was not going to the wealthy elite. They well knew their social history and could relate it to present society. They knew that people had fought and died for their rights. They never wasted a vote. They were ordinary people, not greatly educated, but alive and aware. Their minds were alert and lively. They certainly taught me a lot.
Freedom has to be defended strongly or it is eroded. The greedy will always steal more if they can. They want a stupid, uneducated and gullible workforce to exploit.
What has gone wrong with our political awareness??
