#GeneralElection2019 Resist The Third Martini

Principle for the people

Mr Jeremy Corbyn is a man of principle, it took a second failed general election attempt to prove conclusively that he is not a man of the people.

As I read on Twitter yesterday when the exit polls suggested Boris Johnson had successfully gambled and won the general election as the Labour Party was about to be handed its most catastrophic defeat in a century, I could not help but agree that “The problem with the government of the people, by the people, for the people, is the people.”

Yet, to blame the electorate for an electoral loss is to entirely miss the point of elections. Democracy and winning elections are the mastery of the art of persuasion. We have to admit, in spite of and despite the prevailing circumstances, Jeremy Corbyn has been unable to persuade the people of your agenda, no matter how noble, you have not successfully won their hearts, their minds and their votes to your side.

He didn’t help himself either

Now, I do understand that there is a perspective that the whole establishment and the mainstream media had demonised Jeremy Corbyn complete, and he for himself probably with his history and associations did not help matters that much. I for one have voted for the Labour Party since 1992 in all general elections including this, whilst I have given my vote recently to the Liberal Democrats in the local and European elections for the simple fact that the Labour Party had departed from the ground where general elections can be won.

Tony Blair won three general elections comfortably, the last he won even after the taint of the Iraq War had taken hold. Whether Tony Blair is liked or not, you cannot ignore his electoral successes and anyone who wants to win elections with the Labour Party will at the very least study the strategy and methods by which he was able to appeal and win the confidence of the people to govern.

Opposition or government

At this juncture, the Labour Party needs to decide if it wants to be a party of government, 9 years in opposition is a long time and if Boris Johnson runs his full term, the Labour Party will languish in opposition for 14 years.

You cannot do policy from the opposition and it is sad that the Labour Party hierarchy ignored the prescient warning of Tony Blair when for the first time, the opposition parties could control the agenda in parliament having had Boris Johnson on the ropes. They ignored him and now, the Labour Party has become a rump of itself with Jo Swinson being sent on her way.

I voted Labour in the election, not for the sake of Jeremy Corbyn but by recognising my constituency MP, Lucy Powell does a good enough job and that she should not be punished for the unfortunate situation of her party leader. All politics is local, at least that is what I see.

No sweet scent of Jeremy

Yet, I cannot deny that there were so many insurmountable misgivings about Jeremy Corbyn with many of my immediate interactions on social media and the reported issues on the doorstep. People just could not see Jeremy Corbyn being Prime Minister. That I was able to hold my nose and see more of the man, that was not how many others felt, odium and opprobrium seemed to dog him to the point that it overwhelmed the ability to assess him objectively.

Having lost two general elections, there is no doubt in my mind that Jeremy Corbyn is first responsible for the losses along with his team and the cult of Momentum which I would hope falls into the black hole of ignominy and history as Mr Corbyn departs the centre stage. There must be a collective responsibility of the shadow cabinet for this disaster.

You need to win elections to initiate and implement policy, else, your ideas remain on paper and are mere words of no import. The idealism that has driven the Corbyn agenda will not win elections, we need more pragmatism that broadens the church of the Labour Party to include the full spectrum of people and ideas that must embrace the Blairites and the Corbynites in common purpose for the United Kingdom.

The five stages of defeat processing

I appreciate that many of the ardent supporters of Jeremy Corbyn are loss in the first stage of the Kübler-Ross model of the Five Stages of Grief (Defeat), they are in Denial of the truth that Jeremy Corbyn bears the principal responsibility for the loss of the 2019 General Election. Some are expressing Anger at the media and even the electorate, that is misguided.

I doubt there is anything to Bargain for, the time for that passed when between the Labour Party and the Liberal Democrats, they could have a coalesced to keep the Tories out. It is the great regret of missed opportunities for which I hold both Jeremy Corbyn and Jo Swinson responsible.

Then, I hope they will not spend too much time in Depression before they reach the point of Acceptance that Jeremy Corbyn is a failure and he has to go sooner rather than later, that the Labour Party needs a new direction with the fundamental principle that they must prepare for government with a leader to whom the people can relate and a message that can persuade the people of the Labour Party is the better choice.

Missing the prize

As for where we are, the prize is with Boris Johnson and I fear with the infighting, the cult of Momentum, the anti-Semitic charge, and the exodus of Labour Party moderates and centrists, the party of the working people took their eyes off the prize and gave victory to Boris Johnson. What could have been, but we are where we are now.

The world will not end, maybe Brexit will really happen, but Mr Johnson has enough room to manoeuvre without being held hostage by a faction of his party. Heck! We have had three years of Donald Trump and not a world war for each year he has been in office. I fear, that Donald Trump might well win a second term if the Democrats do not refine their socialist tendencies.

Resist the third martini

I do not have a palate for strong alcohol, a Martini will probably kill me, if I attempted a shot and dared a second, but by all means, I must resist the third Martini, just as Jeremy Corbyn should not have a third shot at leadership or the general election and the Labour Party as it now will fail at a third visit to the people, if it does not radically reform and return to winning ways.

We’ll be fine, everything has a shelf life and the era of Boris Johnson will pass. Lastly, I congratulate Boris Johnson on his victory, and I hope he sees the great calling of office to lead and be a successful Prime Minister. Our prayers follow with great expectations. Our hope remains strong for a bright future.

Courtesy of the William Kentridge exhibition at Zeitz MOCAA, Cape Town.

The people are high on opium - IV - Rejoinder

A reader wandered into my blogosphere and left comments that require a robust response to the obvious fact that he had not followed the thread that lead to the contents of the blog he commented on.

I intersperse his comments with my replies.

Hatred at bliss?

Should I say, Hatred at bliss? How pathetic. Should I ask whether it’s Islam you hate? Or the people practicing the religion, because your post does not directly point to what actually is your problem with your revelation.

I would not know what you mean by this, but it is obvious that you have not taken time to read my other instalments before drawing your conclusions with this.

Earlier I had commended both the pragmatism and tolerance of my grandfather and the humility of my uncle.

I do not think reading that, you would have justifiably been able to make the crude judgments you arrived at.

Using an umbrella, as you expressed yourself in your excerpt "Another instalment on my Muslim heritage when I witnessed another face of Islam that included stuttering, possessions and prophecy - as at that time - it was the strangest thing to witness."

My experiences are mine to recount

Indeed, this is a personal experience of mine; your view of my experience is patently of no significance. I recount my tale from my vantage point of close observation.

Just to educate you. A woman that chooses to wear the black veil or whatever did so at her own will especially in a community like Nigeria. I am sure you would be the first to raise your voice when it comes to Freedom of dressing?

I do not need educating in this matter; I have lived in both the North and South of Nigeria where I have seen lots of women in Purdah.

The lady mentioned was indeed free to wear whatever she wanted, but there was considerable concern when we were in mechanical workshops. Thankfully, there were no mishaps.

Health and safety issues in the West would have barred her from attending those classes without having all clothing properly bound to the body.

In no place did I condemn her dressing; in fact, I said she was both honourable and pious.

A model example for civil unrest

Religious debates have been done in an intellectual way, and have never ever caused riots in foreign exposed lands. A preacher like Ahmed Deedat, is a perfect model example to that. Ask the South Africans.

I do not know who your reference is, but I have simply stated my observations to which you really cannot draw any particular inference.

However, debate is fine, but debunking the basis of other people’s faith rather than reinforcing the validity of yours is hardly peace making. Winning the argument is not everything in religious service. [1][2] See references

I have however, heard some of his ideas bandied around by some Muslim colleagues when I was at school.

You probably have a good idea of why he was refused entry into both Nigeria and France on the basis of the possibility of causing civil unrest if he was such a perfect model.

In Nigeria, Africa's most populous country, the prevalence of epilepsy varies from approximately 0.53% to 3.7%, depending on the part of the country and its respective development and available health care facilities. Linking it with Islam and making conclusions to what you did not actually partake in, is quiet ridiculous, don’t you think? I don’t remember seeing any occurrences of such in Muslim congregations.

This is where you really have completely missed the plot. This event had nothing to do with epileptic fits. I was at a Muslim religious meeting and not just one girl went into the ‘epileptic’ fit – many did and it was very much like analadura church.

Your not having witnessed it does not mean it does not happen and there were at least 20 from my class who witnessed the events I recounted. [3] See reference.

Only two days ago, I conversed with one of my then classmates who is a friend of 20 years standing and raised these issues just to ensure my recall was true to the events.

Sharia Law ONLY for the adherents

Shariah has been hypocritically introduced in Nigerian and hence, most Nigerians are not well educated in that relation, so I don’t blame you for yet another hating judgement.

When I was in primary school in Kaduna, I attended a Sharia court and saw the proceedings. I have nothing against Sharia law for the adherents of Islam, but it should not be imposed on non-adherents, even if they live amongst Muslims.

The issue here is whether modern society has adapted to Sharia or Sharia has adapted to modernity. But it is quite within reason that some things that could have been the norm centuries ago might not sit well in our society of today.

For instance, we no more impose the death penalty in Europe - justifiable as it might seem in other parts of the world.

Kano State in Nigeria has even had the Sharia police begin to act as alternative law enforcement whilst seeking foreign aid for intelligence training. [4] See reference

Baseless attributions

Christianity also has its own wicked past, if we are using an incident to justify an umbrellic conclusion. Between 1450 to 1792 have your forgotten the massacre on "Satan worshipers" & other heretics? by Christians? Perhaps you might want to research more on that.

No, I am living in a contemporary world, trying to judge a current issue on Andalucia (AD 1492) and so on is disingenuous. I remember Al-Qaeda using that in their justification of 9/11 and other attacks.

We in this century cannot be held responsible for those events, just as the Germans of today cannot be held responsible for the actions of the Nazis in the last century.

I was talking of events I witnessed; I was not alive between 1450 and 1792, more so, this is where your poorly constructed commentary begins to show you up. [5] See reference

When you make attributions like this, you should and must provide guide references to support your assertions, commentary like this without references is poor research and not authoritative, your views can so easily be dismissed because of that lapse in quality.

I invite reasoned and researched commentary

Well it’s your blog, and you can write on whatever you feel like writing, I just taught I should add a little comment to clear things out. Religion is not at blame. The human race is evil in nature and hence each individual should be picked out singly and blamed for his/her own crime.

Indeed, it is my blog and I would write what I want to, however, next time you see a Roman numeral after any blog topic I have written, endeavour to read what precedes that blog.

In this case, it was IV. You have every right to comment on my blogs too, but doing with a lot more finesse, understanding and enlightenment.

To be kind, I have not been too impressed by your commentary, maybe next time, you will apply yourself better, but nothing in my blog singled out anyone for blame.

You lost the irony, ignored the satire and befuddled the context apart from the fact that you probably need a bit of schooling about commenting on blogs. Tips on commenting [6]

Anyway, thanks for visiting my blog and finding time to comment therein.

References

[1] The Ahmed Deedat Rebuttal Page

[2] Ahmed Deedat - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[3] Religious Experience And Women Leadership In Nigerian Islam – an example of the experience I witnessed.

[4] BBC NEWS | Africa | Crackdown on Nigeria Sharia group

[5] Al-Qaeda | Still out there | Economist.com: Al-Qaeda’s references to Andulica in 1492

[6] Tom Peters - FAQs on placing comments

The people are high on opium - I

I have a Muslim heritage

My interaction with Muslims is a lot deeper than appears in my commentary. I never knew my maternal grandfather; he passed on over 4 years before I was born.

My paternal grandparents however, I did know well, I even once had a great-grandmother in that scion and whilst many thought she was old and near death, she went on and on after falls and sicknesses bouncing back stronger that by the time she died she had long lost all her contemporaries.

Many wondered how we just got on so well, as we chatted about everything imaginable for hours on end. They have all since departed, but the memories of their lives abide.

It appears only my maternal grandfather was literate, he kept journals of all sorts of stuff that I have not had the time to examine.

In my early years, we met up with cousins in the long holidays by visits to my ancestral village which had my mother’s people as indigenes and my father’s people as settlers.

No more village people

My father’s enthusiasm for those village visits and patriarchal patronage did not however become the passion of first my mother, then my siblings and ultimately myself.

We are driven to distraction about it, that it made us completely averse to anything to do with that village – a reconciliation of views seems a little bit far off for now.

Whilst my other grandparents were not literate; they were smart, knowledgeable and interesting.

They traded farm produce and ready-prepared labour-intensive foods at the weekly market which was every 5 days, when traders from far off came round with their produce to indulge a microcosm of globalisation – trade still matters for the emancipation of village and country alike.

Muslim marries Christian

My grandfather was a Muslim, he was married to a Christian, they had six children, without duress or prompting; half turned out Christian and the other Muslim.

In a time when women’s rights was completely unheard of; my grandmother was able to go to church without hindrance, whilst my grandfather went to the mosque.

Their children celebrated both religious festivals without prejudice and neither were they ostracised for being who they were.

My father, for instance was the first born; in a setting that meant you carried on the mantle, he is Christian, his only brother, however, is a Muslim.

Pragmatism worthy of emulation

The pragmatism of my grandfather even goes further; they all realised that education was essential and ploughed all their resources into my father’s education – my great-grandmother being the person who did the most to get him through the early schooldays with the help of her brother who was a school teacher.

He became a qualified and certified accountant, a trail-blazer amongst his contemporaries and those after; we ended up with just fewer than 10 certified accountants from our village.

My father was allowed to select a surname that had no religious connotations and when I was born, my grandfather offered a name that had no religious leanings even though it was his prerogative to offer a purely Muslim name.

I see in my grandparents an understanding of religion; tolerance of other faiths; a willingness to accommodate and live in peace; an example worthy of following.

Instruction for others

This quality of religious pragmatism unfortunately did not extend down to my parents in dealing with their affairs and children. It is probably the most divisive element of our relationships; it has caused ructions to the extent that reason cannot gain prominence over entrenched beliefs – this especially from quite well-educated people.

Sometimes, I wonder if this schism with my parents also affects my ability to foster a strong God-son relationship the context that views God as father – Christianity.

My grandparents were not under the influence of opium, driven by dogma, instructed by unscrupulous religious leaders or educated beyond the capability of instructive reason, they were people who worshipped God and were considerate of other people.

My grandfather was a model Muslim; I doff my hat to him.