The emperor has no clothes

Hello, lovelies. 

    From the day we are born we start on a lifelong journey of growing, learning and trying to be the very best selves we can be. With school, sixth form, university and in my case, drama school, we are always learning. We learn to drive, learn on the job, learn the everchanging layout of the supermarkets. And with any luck we use that knowledge to improve our lives, and hopefully we can impact the lives of those around us. All we can ask is that at the end of it all that we can leave this planet in a better state than when we first arrived. But what if we take all that hard-won knowledge and instead of putting it to better use, we spin it, corrupt it, and hoard it all for ourselves. Would that make us the villains of the piece? Or an entrepreneur? What if our very livelihood depended on the world never knowing what we’re up to? Is it possible to hide in plain sight, all the while taking everything we can get? If we can get all the people to fall for the lies, does that mean we really are as great was we think we are? Or is the old saying true, that the emperor really doesn’t have any clothes? 

   It’s true to say that I was brought up in a very liberal household. I see people as people, no matter what they choose to believe, who they choose to love or whatever county they happened to be born in. I honestly couldn’t care less. People are people. And that’s fantastic. So I was very surprised to find myself knees deep in a conversation with a friend of mine that rocked my little corner of the world. And what were you talking about, I hear you ask. Well, in a nutshell, we were talking about Eurovision. And our Nil points. Now, I’m a great lover of the camp yet iconic Eurovision legacy, and with the discussion of the new voting system out of the way, our chat turned in the direction of why we are now seen as the laughing stock of, not only Europe, but of the entire world. Quite a jump from the new voting, and the travesty that Iceland didn’t win, to our new place at the bottom in the world pecking order. But was our mediocre entry really to blame for our result? Or is there a much deeper reason behind our newfound position on the world stage? In recent years we have been drip fed untruths, falsehoods and lies. It didn’t start off as one great whopper after another, but rather a small, almost insignificant, twist of the truth. A white lie here, a half-truth there. Nothing too big that would expose the liars and lift the veil to reveal the corruption beneath. Like a magician with their sleight of hand, just enough to keep us looking the other way as they rob, steel and destroy everything we have worked so hard for. And the question I found myself asking was, why can’t the people see what is happening right in front of them?

   Am I the one who is in the wrong? Am I seeing the worst in those set to lead us through these trying times? Am I a secret member of Qanon and I don’t know it? Why then does my friend truly think that the man at the top of this festering pile is doing the very best he can for us and the country? How can people see the very best in a man bumbling his way through one disaster to another, while all I can see is a disgusting, naked, flabby custard filled pile of lies and crud as he lumbers around telling the world that he is in possession of all the finery that his donors money can buy? I was once told, in a random conversation, that I was a useful idiot. To say that I was a little confused by the insult, would be an understatement. But not knowing what one was, I quickly Googled it, in case it turned out to be a compliment. It wasn’t. In political jargon, a useful idiot is a derogatory term for a person who is easy to persuade with their altruistic ideas to do, say, or believe things that help a group or another person politically, even if it goes against their own beliefs. Someone who is perceived as propagandizing for a cause without fully comprehending the cause's goals, and who is cynically used by the cause's leaders. Basically, the ‘useful idiot’ let’s their faith be used as a political tool, making them become useful idiots for one party or another, even without meaning to. As a useful idiot, it was assumed that I had little to no idea of what was really happening in the world. That I let my emotions rule my head, and cloud my judgement on some of the more ‘politically sensitive’ situations we find ourselves in. So instead of the blame being laid at the feet of those in power, as they fail every person living in this beautiful, if not exhausted land, the blame should be handed over to me. I am the reason for all the wrong done in the name of moving forwards and not looking back. I am stopping progress. If I would only place my faith, trust and future in the hands of those who are better educated than I am. Have spent their lives working in the world of politics, whereas I have only spent my life focused on my children. Trust those with more money, more connections, and with better, more expensive wallpaper than I do. I should let them do what they want with the world that they have been given the job of looking after.

    Am I really the one who is to blame? Am I choosing to see the bad, when the rest of the world can see the man in charge with all his fine clothes? Is he just doing his job under extraordinary circumstances? Or is it all in the misdirection? Should we be demanding the official review into the handling of the pandemic now? Or should we all be talking about a 25-year-old interview?The disgraced official advisor trying to score points or the Duke if Sussex? It seems like smoke and mirrors to me. I would love to be wrong. It’s a very lonely place to be where I am.

     But I cannot stay silent. I cannot stand by as the world is destroyed, and everyone is looking the other way. Those on the right believing that they are right, just because. Where do you stand? What do you see when you look at those in charge? Is it all glamour and boy’s clubs? Don’t mention the pigs head! Or can you see what is truly in front of you? I just hope that it’s not too late.