Não é todos os dias a política comunista em Glasgow e os colunistas de opinião de The New York Times Encontre-se na etapa de bloqueio. Endereço
But 50-years ago today, the NYT described the words of a Scottish trade unionist as “the greatest speech since Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg address ”.
O orador era Jimmy Reid. Ele era um trabalhador do estaleiro de Glasgow que se tornou um sindicalista, político e jornalista, apesar de deixar a escola aos 15 anos sem qualificações. Nos anos 70, esse tipo de coisa ainda aconteceu especialmente nas comunidades anglo-irlandesas de Glasgow, Liverpool e Birmingham. Homem. Nacionalistas escoceses em busca de independência. Sua eleição foi em parte uma resposta dos alunos à sua liderança das greves do estaleiro de Clydeside. Ou, como nos EUA nos referimos, a privação de direitos. EUA. Ruína. Os danos ecológicos a nossos rios, oceanos, solo e vegetação causados por grandes empresas também reconhecerão essas frustrações.
Jimmy Reid was a Communist – elected on that ticket to Glasgow City Council. In the 70’s that kind of thing still happened especially in the Anglo-Irish communities of Glasgow, Liverpool and Birmingham.
That is enough to scare most Americans stiff, because the perception is so closely intertwined with the horrors of Stalinist Russia and Maoist China.
But Jimmy Reid was a thoughtful, caring man.
Jimmy Reid is probably best described as an ‘anti-capitalist’ and struggled to find a political home throughout his career – being banished from the Great Britain Communist Party for not swearing allegiance to their Moscow and Beijing paymasters, spent time in the Labour Party, and then the Scottish Socialist Party – before finally joining the independence-seeking Scottish Nationalists.
He never won a parliamentary election and is often described as “the greatest MP Scotland never had.”
The speech in question was his oration as the newly nominated Rector of Glasgow University. His election was in part a response by students to his leadership of the Clydeside Shipyard Strikes.
It is a speech which, perhaps, is more relevant to Americans today than when it was so feted and lauded 50 years ago.
If you haven’t read it, here it is Jimmy Reid Speech
He spoke about alienation, or as we in the US refer to it, disenfranchisement.
And his words have, sadly, aged well, seeming more relevant to Americans struggling with the gravest economic, social and environmental challenges for generations.
He talks about those who get left behind by society, are not valued by our elected representatives, and the divergence of what matters to those with power and the priorities of the rest of us.
His speech talks about how alienation “is the cry of men who feel themselves the victims of economic forces beyond their control.”
That will sound mighty relevant to voters in the Rustbelts of Ohio, New Jersey, Philadelphia and upstate-New York, where manufacturing and industrial jobs have disappeared leaving communities decimated and in social ruin.
He speaks of “the feeling of hopelessness and despair that pervades people with justification that they have no real say in shaping or determining their own destinies.”
The anger expressed in America’s communities of colour, by opponents of rampant development changing the nature of the suburban, rural and coastal neighbourhoods we call home, and those fighting the ecological damage to our rivers, oceans, soil and vegetation caused by big business will recognise these frustrations too.
Mas, talvez o mais revelador, Jimmy Reid fala sobre como “ Sociedade e seu senso predominante de valores ... alienam alguns da humanidade”.
Reid’s oration of 50 years ago is known in shorthand as the “rat race speech” – when the firebrand trade unionist painted the picture of people “scurrying around for position, trampling on others, backstabbing, all in pursuit of personal success.”
Reid explains “it partially dehumanises some people, makes them insensitive, ruthless in their handling of fellow humans, self-centred and grasping.”
And he was ruthless in his portrayal of big business and government’s 'muito aconchegante' Relacionamento. O pai do major de personagem do livro - "
He references “Catch 22”, Joseph Heller’s great American satirical novel, poking fun at the bureaucracy which makes irrational decisions seem rational.
Reid recalls Heller’s description of the book’s character Major Major’s father – “ sua especialidade era alfafa, e ele fez uma coisa boa por não crescer. O governo lhe pagou bem por não crescer. They paid him well for every bushel of alfalfa he didn’t grow, and the more he didn’t grow, the more money the government gave him, and he spent every penny he didn’t earn on new land to increase the amount of alfalfa he did not produce.”
For Brits smarting about the government’s billion-dollar loss on substandard Personal Protection Equipment acquired from ‘politically-friendly’ contractors, or US residents bewildered by government incompetence Como a decisão há anos de ano de gastar vários milhões de dólares em taxas de licenciamento de camuflagem verde escura para cair em nossas tropas que vão para os desertos do Afeganistão-essa crítica cômica de como nossos governos priorizam e gastam o dinheiro dos imóveis, alguns do dinheiro do imposto que se suavirão.
Again, those struggling to grasp some – qualquer - dos recursos em declínio e finito para fornecer suporte a aplicativos de imigração, moradia adequada, assistência social, empregos seguros, assistência médica ou financiamento acessível para educação, se referirá a se indicar como protagonistas não quentes na batalha.look after number one’ – or as Reid comically referred to it – ‘bate a campainha, Jack, estou no ônibus”. '
But while Reid’s words are as relevant today as they were when he delivered them in Glasgow University’s Bute Hall, it is America’s populist Right who have embraced them for their benefit rather than the radical Left.
It is Trump and his acolytes who now talk about ‘ Alienação' e ' aqueles que deixaram para trás'. Disatisfação para não '
It was the Brexit-promising Tories who profited from the dissatisfaction of the working classes in the UK’s traditionally socialist industrial and urban North and Midlands, and now the Right, especially the nationalist leaning ones, are using this dissatisfaction not to ‘ Levante -se e exija poder para as pessoas' como Reid pediu, mas para dividir e lançar comunidades uma contra a outra na luta por esses recursos e oportunidades. “
On this, the 50th anniversary of this monumental speech, it is worth pondering Reid’s conclusion – “ Tudo o que é bom na herança do homem envolve o reconhecimento de nossa humanidade comum, um reconhecimento sem vergonha de que o homem é bom por natureza.”
Como Jimmy disse: “ para medir o progresso social por avanço material não é suficiente. Nosso objetivo deve ser o enriquecimento de toda a qualidade de vida. ” “ é uma meta que vale a pena lutar para.”
