A very thought provoking and interesting piece. This has given me much to consider, both in terms of everything that's going on in the country and the world at large as well as, to a lesser extent, in my personal life.
Many thanks La Reine and to you, Bear, for sharing.
Every time I feel despair at the performance of the current government, I think of the 14 years we suffered the last lot, and I find my patience clock has reset itself and I feel a bit better. This piece has done the same job, but more so. Thank you.
I do love the way people on Substack are showcasing the work of other writers. Thanks for this Bear. She’s absolutely right. Change is a process not immediate.
Reminds me of an old psychiatrist joke - How many therapists does it take to change a lightbulb? One, but they really have to want to change. Good read though and feel strangely optimistic now. Thanks
Slogans, soundbites, posturing, reports, investigations, commissions, newspaper headlines, shouty social media accounts, grifting “influencers”, flag-waving, lying, point scoring etc etc do not change anything.
Real change is the hard graft of dealing with the detail, of engaging with complexity, of crunching the data, of facing the brutal truth, of applying hard won experience, of listening to experts, of understanding the system and systems, of motivating, engaging and informing stakeholders, of making tough choices, of trade-offs, of leadership.
I like the skateboard analogy best to fit what the government is trying to do in the face of so much knee jerk criticism of it's leaders. There can be very few instant changes to meet media created expectations and we certainly do not need someone shouting loudly that everything is wrong and they know how it should be done if you vote for them next time. The latter will always manage to stir up a mob of disgruntled voters but be incapable of delivering promises. My hope is that the mob will shrink as reality slowly dawns.
A really thought-provoking piece. Thank you, Bear and your guest writer. It particularly spoke to me because of the use of “therapy speak” and the parallels with the grief model. I knew that it would take a long time to turn the ship around after 15 years of austerity, and I still have my doubts about Labour, but change doesn’t happen overnight. Maybe we are in the pit and feeling demoralised, disheartened and desperate, but there may be a way out. And, of course, it isn’t linear. We can go from denial, to bargaining, to depression, back to denial, back to depression, think we are moving towards acceptance and find ourselves back in the pit. I think what we need is patience.
I saw this coming a mile off pre GE and knew that Labour would be facing an impossible task meeting the expectations of the magic wand brigade. Not helped of course by Starmer's lack of public communication skills, political savvy and his authoritarian tendencies.
I already follow the author of this piece on bsky - she comes up with some very good pieces though not quite with the stinging humour of our favourite teddy.
The change will come, just as long as the government can hold their nerve. I think Mr Starmer will be able to do this.
Thank you Bear, that is so interesting and it has given me hope!
A very thought provoking and interesting piece. This has given me much to consider, both in terms of everything that's going on in the country and the world at large as well as, to a lesser extent, in my personal life.
Many thanks La Reine and to you, Bear, for sharing.
Every time I feel despair at the performance of the current government, I think of the 14 years we suffered the last lot, and I find my patience clock has reset itself and I feel a bit better. This piece has done the same job, but more so. Thank you.
I do love the way people on Substack are showcasing the work of other writers. Thanks for this Bear. She’s absolutely right. Change is a process not immediate.
Thanks so much Bear, for sharing your space ❤️🐻 That was really worth reading! It's made me feel just a little bit more optimistic 🍀🤞😘 Xx
Reminds me of an old psychiatrist joke - How many therapists does it take to change a lightbulb? One, but they really have to want to change. Good read though and feel strangely optimistic now. Thanks
Is the ‘pit’ deeper when the ‘change’ is instigated by a hegemonic entity with a hidden agenda I wonder?
Real change only happens with real work.
Slogans, soundbites, posturing, reports, investigations, commissions, newspaper headlines, shouty social media accounts, grifting “influencers”, flag-waving, lying, point scoring etc etc do not change anything.
Real change is the hard graft of dealing with the detail, of engaging with complexity, of crunching the data, of facing the brutal truth, of applying hard won experience, of listening to experts, of understanding the system and systems, of motivating, engaging and informing stakeholders, of making tough choices, of trade-offs, of leadership.
Real change is real work. And it’s hard.
Change is always about someone else, not me, not us. Because we are fine. It’s the “others” that need to change.
Excellent explanation.
I like the skateboard analogy best to fit what the government is trying to do in the face of so much knee jerk criticism of it's leaders. There can be very few instant changes to meet media created expectations and we certainly do not need someone shouting loudly that everything is wrong and they know how it should be done if you vote for them next time. The latter will always manage to stir up a mob of disgruntled voters but be incapable of delivering promises. My hope is that the mob will shrink as reality slowly dawns.
A really thought-provoking piece. Thank you, Bear and your guest writer. It particularly spoke to me because of the use of “therapy speak” and the parallels with the grief model. I knew that it would take a long time to turn the ship around after 15 years of austerity, and I still have my doubts about Labour, but change doesn’t happen overnight. Maybe we are in the pit and feeling demoralised, disheartened and desperate, but there may be a way out. And, of course, it isn’t linear. We can go from denial, to bargaining, to depression, back to denial, back to depression, think we are moving towards acceptance and find ourselves back in the pit. I think what we need is patience.
"Magic money trees" - not realistic.
14 years (and years before also) will take time.
The 'political promises' of politicians have much to answer to.
Best wishes Bear.
I saw this coming a mile off pre GE and knew that Labour would be facing an impossible task meeting the expectations of the magic wand brigade. Not helped of course by Starmer's lack of public communication skills, political savvy and his authoritarian tendencies.
I already follow the author of this piece on bsky - she comes up with some very good pieces though not quite with the stinging humour of our favourite teddy.