When the government has let us down time and time again, even those that are furthest on the left can be forgiven for beginning to question their faith in the state.
Earlier last week a friend of mine, a freelance painter and tattoo artist who has been self-employed for as long as I’ve known them, posted on Instagram a message to all of their potential customers telling them to ‘bring cash’ to all future appointments. This was a post on their story preceded by a slew of shared posts, videos and articles covering predominantly the assault on Gaza and the genocide case that had recently been brought against Israel by South Africa, and the controversial airstrikes on the Houthi’s in Yemen by the US and UK. And it was a change in business policy explained only in the final line of the post, which read, ‘fuck the government.’
The implication here was simple enough to understand; more cash equals less tax. And in the context of these headlines it is not hard to see this change as a purely simple and logical response to the government’s perceived misdeeds. Yet it hung in my mind because, in principle, it was a move that contradicted the very foundations of my political views, and, more to the point, my friends’. Taking steps to avoid the taxman was a brag of the rich; the wealthy who wanted the government out of their way, who exploited legal loopholes or even disregarded the law altogether in a bid to pad their wallets while those supported by the state suffered the loss. In short; those people to whom first Boris and then Braverman and Rishi have been, and so desperately still are, trying to suck up to. Meanwhile, the left —- at least the one i know —- was built upon a foundational belief in the state as both necessary and, with the right people running things, benevolent. The politics of the left depends on the willingness of the people to help support their community, in many ways, and perhaps primarily, through tax. In this most ideological light, how dare my friend cheat the system. My friend with their walls adorned with posters hailing socialist slogans and a quilt hung above their sofa declaring themselves to be ‘Working Class and Proud.’ Had it all become hypocritical? The short answer to this is; of course not. My friend remains a die-hard socialist, and likely one of the most generous and community-centred people I have ever had the good fortune of meeting. The change, then, had not been ideological. As they would likely argue, there hadn’t been a change at all.
The ways in which the public go about making their voices heard have always been varying, and resultantly, can often seem somewhat contradictory. After all, the public voice is the quintessential element of politics, and there is perhaps no better word to describe politics than ‘contradictory.’ And when it comes to public activism there are little techniques more tried and tested than a good old fashioned boycott. Starbucks, Dominoes and McDonald’s are just some of the big brands that have been the subject to social-media fuelled boycott campaigns as a result of their stance (or perceived stance) on the Israel-Gaza conflict. The appeal of a boycott is easy to understand as a political move; not only is it effective, but as the point is simply to not do something, it is incredibly easy to get large numbers of people on board. Even the laziest or busiest individuals, have they only a slight inclination towards political consciousness or activism, can take part with very little sacrifice to themselves or their lifestyle. Those who can’t find a break in their schedule to attend a march, or don’t have the income to donate to campaigns, can contribute to a productive protest simply in the choices they make. It is also a form of activism that is looking increasingly appealing to those fearful of the major crackdown on the people’s right to protest in the UK. You may now be liable to get arrested for standing in the street with a picket sign, but you can’t get thrown in jail for simply not buying your coffee from a particular shop.
Okay, true; you can get thrown in jail for tax evasion. But this brings into focus a point of contention with left-wing politics that often crops up when thinking about how we should ultimately behave in a democratic society. Though our ideological belief lies in a governing state as an enforcer of equality, it hardly takes a genius to see that this is far from the situation we find ourselves in today. The conflict of politics on the left is belief in a democratic, government system that would bring about necessary change, while simultaneously holding no or dwindling faith in established systems to actually do so. As an ideological socialist, it only seems logical to fork over as much change as you can spare to the government, for them to redistribute where it’s needed most. But in a capitalist reality, my friend — a self-employed working-class trans person — can be forgiven for not blindly supporting, based purely on principle alone, an organisation that has let them down at almost every turn. The directive of the government, of any government, is to serve the people. If, in a democratic state, an individual should feel that this is not the case, is boycotting not just one way of making their dissatisfied voice heard?
The issue with boycotts, if you haven’t worked it out already, is that they rarely consider those caught in the crossfire. Just as a successful boycott campaign bankrupting a food chain would ultimately result in all of its staff becoming suddenly unemployed, the biggest concern I have with the notion of a government boycott is not the impact on the Etonians at the top but those in the already underfunded NHS, those relying on state support for childcare, and those on benefits. As understandable as a desire to boycott is, it stands to reason that this may not be the most productive method of protesting against a government. As effective as it may be, too many lives would fall through the gaps of such tectonic activity. It’s a depressing reality, and one that inevitably leads many to conclude that if they can’t boycott the state that let them down, they’ll settle for boycotting democracy. And where does this trend lead but to neo-liberal populism, as those on the right, much of the time those who tanked the system in the first place, swoop in, claiming to be the solution to ‘big government’ and all the meddling that comes with it.
I don’t have an answer to whether or not my friend is right or not. For now, one disaffected fellow to another, I am happy to pay my taxes and I am happy to pay for my fresh tattoo in cash. Despite what some people may like you to think, we are not a country teetering on the edge of a vicious revolution of all established politics, economics and culture. In our current position, we may instead be a country doomed to be marched, and to march itself, closer and closer to an inevitable populist doom. We most certainly are a country that knows that meaningful change could come about if only everyone who desired it actually acted upon it. And we are a nation of individuals who do not have enough faith in others to do so, and so do not bother to do so ourselves. And can you hear the marching drums? Slow and steady. Slow and steady. It’s okay. Just keep calm and carry on.
Pomelo 
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