Context [for posterity?]: There’s a global pandemic situation at the moment from a virus referred to as COVID-19 and one of the strong recommendations in tackling the spread of it is to wash your hands - a message endorsed by various governments around the world, including the current Tory government in the UK, regarded by some (or many, depending on your sample) as immoral and the cause behind many of the current problems being faced by British society, especially with regards to the response to and handling of the current situation, hence the comic below.
Introduction
I’ve seen a comic seemingly expressing a certain divisive sentiment come up in my social media feeds several times over the last week or so (in specific reference to the current Tory government in the UK) and frankly find the fact that it’s being shared so much - particularly by people I generally consider as open-minded, fair, and kind - a little alarming, especially when the current quarantine/’lockdown’ situation has arguably seen a rise in altruism. So, I’m going to try to write about [my interpretation of] the comic and the apparent problems/contradictions I notice - not with the comic itself, but rather the sentiment it seems to express - and, as ever, would appreciate constructive [and polite, please!] feedback on it, please, particularly from those who agree with the sentiment, whether it’s to say if I’ve completely misinterpreted it, am missing some vital information, something else, or even if you agree (and why).
The narrative here seems to imply two things:
That if you voted this government i.e. voted Tory, then it doesn’t matter who you are or what your reason/s for doing so are or anything else about you - you are all tarnished with the same brush. I consider this reduction a form of Prejudice.
That it also doesn’t matter how much you may have changed or could change since then and what you do with your life, even if you do a complete U-turn - you are guilty and beyond redemption. I consider this judgement a form of Discrimination.
Prejudice
Regarding the first point, what is meant by “[voting] for this government”? Rarely (if ever?) has any entity/party/government remained as it was at the time of voting nor acted exactly in the way those who voted for it envisioned. By sweeping all who voted Tory under one label, it reduces any and every other aspect about that individual into a single characteristic and paints a very “Us vs. Them”-picture, much like in anti-immigrant/xenophobic, anti-Semitic, Islamophobic, homophobic, sexist, etc. propaganda. Such propaganda, often attributed to and employed by the “Right”/“Far-Right”, is usually (and rightfully, in my opinion) heavily criticised, particularly by those on the “Left”. Except in this case, this sentiment is coming/echoing from some of those on the Left themselves and, sadly, this apparent hypocrisy isn’t new either.
There are numerous reasons and circumstances that can lead to somebody voting Tory, just as there are for Labour or any other party (or even not voting at all) - which certainly doesn’t mean they’re all justified, but that itself doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try to understand those reasons and circumstances ourselves. What would lead some people - such as those who work in the NHS, who identify as Muslim, who are working-class, etc. - to vote for the Conservative Party, a party portrayed/considered to actively work/be against and despise such groups? Or, for a basic counter-example, what would lead to some Jewish people voting for Labour, a party portrayed/considered to actively be anti-Semitic? Or even if we don’t necessarily identify as any of the aforementioned groups/labels, but actively sympathise with and support them, how could any of us still vote for a party mired with such problems and apparent immorality? Are there any parties that we’d consider completely free of immorality, where we’re not compromising some of our values in favour of upholding some of our other values?
As it stands, there aren’t, and so other things start factoring into our decision, and it’s not so black-and-white a situation as some would paint. Maybe there are legitimate reasons to vote Tory, maybe there aren’t and it’s a case of misinformation and manipulation, maybe it’s a mix of both. Although, having said that, there are sadly those who actually are effectively facing life-or-death situations, arguably as a direct result of the current government and its policies (though also arguably not just because of that, but ourselves as a society - another discussion for another time). And there are also those for whom it’s a different type of black-and-white situation, because they actually have relatively privileged lives where they are unaffected by all the other factors and so they really do see it as a simple decision between two things without having to weigh up the consequences of the rest. In any case, the point is that there’s more to a person’s identity than who they voted, especially when trying to conform them to some simplified political model that typically has only one or two dimensions as a proxy for “Good” and “Bad” (and who’s to say we can fit people into those two boxes in the first place?). Again, the situation is not so black-and-white, and trying to make it into “Us vs. Them” and lump the problems on “Them” doesn’t really achieve anything other than trying to wash our own hands clean of any blame and accountability, to be blunt.
Discrimination
As for the second point, that “[your hands] will never be clean” - this raises a whole bunch of questions. Does this mean we’re saying certain things, like voting Tory (or equivalent), are beyond redemption, or even ‘rehabilitation’ given the tone of criminalisation in both the comic as well as accompanying text in some instances of it being shared? That even if you were to completely renounce whatever affinity for the Tories/political-right you may have and instead sincerely identify with the political-left, it doesn’t matter who you are or what genuine convictions you have now, you will always carry that mark with you? If it is indeed an unforgivable moral crime to vote Tory, does that make somebody who voted them permanently morally corrupt, and what would that mean? That we’re better than them for not doing so? Superior to them? That they’re second-class citizens, subject to a different set of standards to what we hold for ourselves i.e. the notions of equality and “basic human rights” typically espoused and revered by the Left go out the window? That it’s okay to permanently guilt them and demonise them? Surely we shouldn’t discriminate against them because they hold a different opinion to us, because that would be something only the Far-Right do, and they’re “Evil”*, right? Who’s even calling the shots on morality?
What about compared to statutory crimes? Where would voting Tory rank compared to other crimes, in terms of how you perceive somebody “guilty” of it? Would you rather find out a close friend voted Tory, or that they instead stole something, or assaulted someone, or murdered someone? Does that mean that those who commit crimes ‘greater’ than it are also beyond redemption and rehabilitation, i.e. if somebody is found guilty of murder, regardless of their reason or circumstance (again, not a justification for murder), does that mean there’s no chance for them, according to this narrative, and so we shouldn’t bother with rehabilitation programmes for them? Would that then lead to a growing prison population if certain sentences are to never be granted parole or come to an end, because the prisoner in question would always be regarded a murderer, and therefore a danger to society? Would they be forever considered a second-class citizen? And if not, if they can’t be reintegrated into society, but are forever left in prison instead with no hope of being accepted by society, then what? I’m not trying to say one way or the other is right, I’m just trying to find some consistency, because those sharing the comic in agreement with its narrative have also been those to typically express views that are pro-rehabilitation and understanding/sympathetic towards those found guilty of various “serious crimes”, rather than passing permanent/absolute judgement on others, so it seems like a contradiction to me.
Summary
Now, I’m not trying to justify voting or not voting Tory, or say that I think every vote is right in its own way, since I don’t think that plus that’s a whole other set of discussions, but the point I’m trying to make is two-fold:
To encourage and call for us to genuinely, fairly, and reasonably try to understand a situation before judging it (again, as a reminder to myself first and foremost); and
To bring light to what seems to be the recurring hypocrisy within (but not exclusive to) some/a lot of the [vocal] Left in the hopes that the situation is addressed/resolved, learnt from, and improved upon.
This latter point doesn’t mean entire causes on the Left itself, where this particular hypocrisy seems to live, are at fault themselves (“the Fallacy fallacy”), but that we should try to improve our own faults first before calling out “others” on those same faults (as ever, this goes for myself), and certainly not let it get to the current stage where the moral high ground is assumed and demonisation of “others” is considered as acceptable. Otherwise we’ll probably just carry on with the same ongoing political ‘reasoning’ of the divisive “Vote Us because We are not Them”, which isn’t really progressive at all, rather than something unifying like “Vote Us because We are X, Y, Z, etc.” instead.
Also, a few closing ‘meta’ remarks:
I can understand the sentiment, as well as the frustration, sadness, and anger (as well as many other feelings) behind the comic and in many ways sympathise with it, but that doesn’t mean I can necessarily justify it. And I’m certainly not having a go at the author of the comic, especially as I don’t personally know them. Rather, as I said in the introduction, I’m asking the above to try to understand the underlying sentiment expressed within it better, and if my interpretation and apparent observations regarding it hold or not. I’m particularly asking this to those who hold this view that I personally know, given how it seems to contradict views they’ve previously expressed and apparently not changed on (unless they have, of course, and if so, would be curious as to why).
I get that me pointing this apparent flaw out will almost inevitably lead to some painting me as the “Them” in whatever false dichotomy they hold (in this case I “must be” a Tory-supporter or something), since this has happened many times before whenever I’ve tried to address problems in the various circles/communities I seem to have a foot in, especially so with those who identify on the Left as “open-minded and liberal”. As in, the very fact that I am questioning something within a certain [political] ideology apparently means I am challenging it (rather than trying to understand it first), and if I’m challenging something rather than blindly accepting it, it must mean I’m against it and therefore from ‘the other side’…If anything, this happening seems to further confirm the aforementioned “Us vs. Them”-mentality and hypocrisy problems, but gotta try to keep an open (yet reasonable!) mind about it all. I will allude back to something I said above though, which is that I’ll try to fix the problems caused by me and my ‘own’ first before calling out the same problems being caused by ‘others’.
Of course, my whole approach here is based on the premise that it’s worth having at least some faith in humanity itself, even though I have a ton of evidence (both personal and historical) that says not to, so who knows, maybe me trying to improve society is a pointless endeavour…=/
*Bit of a personal tangent here, but I feel it necessary to point out the recurring irony and blatant hypocrisy of some people - who hold and express the sentiment that voting Tory, Republican, and so on is equivalent with being “Evil” - also being the ones who previously/continuously complain about “all religious people” apparently being very judgemental about others, especially if they consider anybody who doesn’t agree with their views as “Evil”…This is something I’ve had to put up with a lot over the years, especially at university, by virtue of identifying as a Muslim, even though I’ve long held and expressed the belief that it’s not for us - as people - to judge whether people are “good” or “bad”…but hey-ho there we go. Also, I get this is a very direct and blunt approach to trying to address this particular problem, so apologies for that, but numerous attempts - starting off as subtle/gentle questions to increasingly direct comments (yet still maintaining diplomacy) - have evidently failed, so I don’t know what else I can do at this point.
