Diary Of A Part Time Futurist - Manchester

Text by Actuarius

    I sit writing this a week after the terrible atrocity at Manchester. We have had time to establish the full extent of the crime, to know what causes are claimed for it and for there to have been the inevitable reactions on social media. My understanding is that the appalling explosion was an act of terrorism inspired by Isis, or Isil or whatever name they wish to give themselves at the moment. No matter what lies behind this though, it was an indiscriminate attack on the young. The only criteria were that it was a “soft target”, the opportunity for media coverage would be maximised and the citizens of the world would be outraged. No religion, race or section of the community would be shielded from risk and, if any have escaped untouched, then this is purely by chance. Of course it is easy to be bullish from a distance and I am sure that if I am ever unfortunate enough to witness such things at close hand then I will be terrified. However it is clear to me that the intent is to cause division and conflict, it is my hope instead that it will cause unity and focus. If nothing else it is in the interest of all to resist the agenda of these murderers and to thwart such barbarity in the future. Above all we cannot afford to play their game. Anyone involved in terrorism can revel in their own damnation but I wont join them, anyone who targets children must be denied from having any influence on how we live our lives. No matter how shocking their methods, they must be made irrelevant to our society.
 
This is one of the reasons why I am angered by those who, from behind the barrier of the computer screen, paste up the usual bile filled rubbish about “sending them back”, “shutting down the Mosques”, etc. Hateful, broad sweeping views they would at least think twice about expressing in public if they did not have that internet invoked disconnection. Such frothing at the mouth is usually followed by calls to “do something about this”; because of course a chaotic rabid mob will achieve so much more than our security forces, armed forces and police currently do. The delusions of the keyboard warrior which sadly could goad the impressionable into actually doing something stupid. Joining such idiocy this time are memes claiming “Enoch Powell was right” (a reference to his controversial “rivers of blood” speech) and panicky chatter of race wars on the streets of Britain. We cannot see into the future, I cannot say they will not prove to ultimately be correct, but I stand by my faith in the finer qualities of the British people.
 
 I look back further than Powell for my inspiration, for examples of the values and strengths within the social DNA of our country - a product of wider cultural touchstones. I look to the fighter pilots and ground crew of the Battle of Britain, I look to sailors on the arctic convoys of the second world war, I look to the Tommy in the mud slicked trenches of the Western Front and I look to the thin red line of Waterloo. Their strength came from their bravery and they wielded this strength through standing firm while under attack. An implacable wall for our enemy to break themselves against, drawing them into wasting their own effort and inevitably weakening until the orders came to take the fight back under a planned and disciplined strategy.
 
Powell's speech was delivered about a Britain of long ago. We may still not be entirely free of that time's influence but it is now largely irrelevant. If aspects of his predictions should come to pass it will not be because he was some kind of oracle but rather because the weak – the pitiably weak – have picked it up for their rallying cry today. Likewise with those, like rabbits in the headlights, who see a spiral into civil war based on race or religion. It will not happen if enough have the backbone to stand against it, it may happen if enough give themselves up to hate and fear. If Isis succeed in cracking us, and they will try to, then we will become their willing agents; driving a split through our values and our society.
 
We must hold the line against hate because hate is what the mean minded, uncivilised and bigoted sections of our society want; and because these sections of our society will take advantage of this tragedy to push their loathsome agenda. Hate is insidious because it is an understandable animalistic response that if left unchecked will demean us personally, it will create an ever tightening spiral of self-destruction. Hate does not lead to justice, it leads to revenge because it is an inefficient and indiscriminate emotion. Hate is what created the environment for the atrocity of the Manchester attack, and hate is what the terrorists want. To surrender to it is to collude with the enemy.
 
We are under attack, the public are on the front line and the time has come for us all to stand firm. If you need to, then look to the past and draw your inspiration from the Union Jack because if history has taught us anything its that these colours do not run.