I want to establish a global movement, and I'm 68, so I don't have much time. Here goes. Welcome to my Party. It's called the Honesty, Competence, Respect, Tolerance, Generosity, Compassion and Fun Party, or UTOPIA for short. The UTOPIA Platform Honesty Don't lie. That's it. Honesty does not preclude story-telling, myth-making, fantasy-spinning or imagination. What it does preclude is telling porkies that you know to be porkies. We all make mistakes. For a long time I swore that meringue was spelt merang. Most of us know that sinking feeling that comes with having told a lie that has not been discovered but that makes us seem more interesting, or the lie that gets us out of troub...
Caveat. Other people's stories can be much worse than mine. My material circumstances are good, I'm articulate and advantaged. I write this in a large, comfortable, warm house which I own outright. I am financially very comfortable. I am white, cisgender, and was born into privilege. I grew up in a comfortable (if single-parent) household, had many educational opportunities, have the gift of the gab, have so far and have always had relatively good health and sound mind, and I have lived in three of the wealthiest countries in the world two of which have universal health care. All of this makes me very lucky. Bear with me though, because in spite of all the above, I have put up with some shit. It’s nothing compared to the shit millions of others, particularly women, have to put up with, but shit is shit whichever way you look at it. Peace and Quiet in Satan's Kingdom, Massachusetts ***...