Zen and the Art of Marvin Rees

You may think that I’m being snide in thanking the current Labour mayor but I’m really not. Marvin Rees, seemingly the very antithesis of Jeremy Corbyn who played a great part in getting him elected, has probably helped us awaken more as residents than the man who turned the other cheek.

Many say about Corbyn that he was too nice. If he had been more ruthless and got rid of the right-wing faction of Labour and the traitors on the inside then we would have had a chance at something in 2019. We could have had a chance of change.

Getting swept up in a wave of hope is a powerful feeling. It’s a great feeling. Being part of a crowd that feels united is like being 1000 metres tall and feeling unstoppable. All the energy unites for a second and just as with a wave it can drown out everything in its path. That’s power. But when you think that the power is in someone else’s hands rather than your own then there’s nothing to sustain it.

So many people who believed in redistribution of wealth and running public assets for the people and not for private profit found no one to guide them. They didn’t look inward. There is little power without collective action and we’ve become so used to needing someone to lead that action. (see anarchy for a different perspective)