Nangle Natters: Down with Baddies
The other day I sat down to a Sunday roast with my father. We do this occasionally – go out just the two of us and have quiet chats about how the rest of the family are doing, have I seen my cousins lately, has he seen their father… you know the kind of thing. Times being as they are, I decided to take the plunge and I raised the sticky issue of politics. He had been out doing a bit of campaigning locally to him for the Conservative Party. My mother has always been pretty strongly Labour. I’m very pleased to have Caroline Lucas as my MP. And we have family members who vote Liberal. I like to think that we’re a free-thinking family.
Anyway, normally I tend to presume that my father and I have different ideas on certain aspects of government and just leave it at that. No point in getting into an argument when we’re both pretty certain we’re right. But no one ever changed any minds – or had their minds changed – by just presuming, and so I asked him why he thought that the Conservatives were the best party to vote for in the coming election.
The thing is, I respect my father. I know he’s a thinker. I know he cares about the world. So I genuinely wanted to hear what he had to say. And what was nice was that he respected me too. He said his points and allowed me to say mine. We asked each other questions about our intel, and about practicalities of policy. We both admitted certain ignorances. Pretty nifty for a father-daughter lunchtime.
The thing is, I respect my father. I know he’s a thinker
I don’t know how much our conversation may have changed how either one of our plans to vote, but the fact that we could have it without dismissing the other is something I’m very pleased about. My Facebook feed sees echo-chambers of the left-wing calling out media bias, the right-wing flinging accusations of anti-Semitism, tips on how to spot fake news, and lots of memes ranging from sharp political satire to just plain insulting, no matter who it’s aimed at. Surely after the fiasco that was Brexit felt like it split the country in two, a sneaky chasm that appeared like a missing bridge blown up by Wile E. Coyote, the only way forward is to keep talking to each other. The less we vilify anyone who thinks differently to us, the more we might be able to find a middle ground moving forward.
No one puts together a manifesto rubbing their hands together in wicked glee, twisting their moustaches, and declaring that finally evil will rule over us all. Most people mean well. If they haven’t got the best answers, it’s down to us to show them why. And maybe the other way around too. Or possibly, something that neither of us has thought of yet. Think of it – maybe we’re both wrong?
