Tabitha Bast, Leeds Plan C
1. Make Anxiety your Friend.
Yeah, I mean it. You know that churning in the belly, the tight feeling in your throat, that Feel we call anxiety and use to explain how we can’t deal, can’t do? That’s adrenaline. that’s the rush of superstrength before we go into battle, before we leap into unknown waters, the honing of attention on what needs to be done. That Feel is our very self saying we CAN deal, we CAN do, and we are fucking ready.
2. Suspend Disbelief.
So maybe we never expected this. The death of the Centre, the rise of Populism, Brexit, Trump, Climate Change (though come on, we should have seen that one coming). Like we went to see Frozen and have ended up watching The Human Centipede. The gloves are off, bad acid – the cards on the table have morphed into a laughing pig’s head. So it’s pretty scary and uncertain, but you know what? This is the Time of Sea Monsters, the ungovernable seas and we are Villans of No Nations, we are the Pirates. And we’re gonna need a bigger boat.
3.Train in Disobedience.
The Millenials particularly have had it really bad. I hear you. I understand the conformity and the lure of endless hilarious memes instead of the rainy tear gassy streets. But now is the time to start training and i’m not talking Cross Fit. Kill the Cop in your Head. Steal something from Tesco’s. Go to work late. Talk to a stranger on a bus. Then sticker the bus stop. Live and Love wild and Free. Every night is mischief night. practice, practice, practice. stretch that disobedience muscle, slowly but often. We’re going to need that flex.
4. Stop Hating on the Left.
“We’re losing and we’re shit at everything, and not even funny…you wanna join?” Okay guys, we’ve moaned enough, and put enough people off and now there’s a right wing monster we’ve got to fight so the dwarves and the elves have to put aside their beef, and we have to stop being the lame guy at the back of the Unlikely Hero Crew who is so obviously going to get eaten by zombies cos he’s always whinging.
5. Weaponise Everything.
We use everything at our disposable. That scene in Shaun of the Dead where they chuck records to fight zombies? That’s us. Use popular culture, humour, opera, Trello, everything. We use it all, we take it all as ours, our resources, our weapons, our arms.
6. Create Narratives of Winning.
Let’s big us up and sell this shit. all the disclaimers and apologies for being and the sectarianism and the damning of every single move anyone makes off the Sofa of Doom. Stop it. Now. Throughout history, again and again we have collectively come together in massive adversity and won. Let’s learn from the wins of the Right, it’s about possibilities. Even when they have the guns we have the Power. We have your back and it’s great to be Us. We are Jackie Chan and Katniss Everdeen and Tank Girl and every damn hero you’ve ever longed to be.
That belongs to Us, Let’s FUCKING HAVE IT!
