“There’s power in our struggle” – No Paradise, Santigold
The seven largest oil firms made a profit of over £150 billion this year. It’s difficult for us to comprehend how large a number that is. Even defining a billion as one thousand million is still difficult to visualise. Meanwhile British customers are paying 96% more than in winter 2021, and 30% more than the rest of Europe for their energy. These companies and the British government are both blaming the Russian invasion of Ukraine. However the impact is being shouldered by ordinary people. Many in Britain unable to pay their bills and in danger of falling into fuel poverty.
This reminds us of who has power in this country; the wealthy, with capitalism alive and well. Of course if there is anger or resentment at high energy bills, big business, of which corporate media is a part, tells us to look away – usually towards the ‘other’. In this case it’s either immigrants, or Russia. This is not to say that the Russian invasion of Ukraine does not play a part in rising costs. However it is worth noting that Britain is the only G7 economy forecast to shrink in 2023.
Running low on energy
The shadow of Covid still looms large over all of our lives, despite it’s increasing absence from the news. We’ve gone from 90% of people wearing masks on public transport, to almost none. People who do wear a mask are sometimes treated with suspicion now. However many people I speak to, myself included, are still having trouble coming to terms with being in large crowds again, to filling our days with social activity and attempting to ‘get back to normal’. It is understandable that we want to put those years behind us and forget. It was always bizarre, and sometimes traumatic to live through. Capitalism thrives on disaster, as Naomi Klein and others have pointed out. It is no surprise to me that a global disaster like Covid would lead to record profits for big businesses, and record desperation for ordinary people.
There has been political turmoil with three different Prime Ministers over three years, increasing corruption, de-funding of our NHS, and attacks on our rights to protest and strike. The consequences of Brexit continue as well, none of which are benefiting ordinary people. Amidst all of this it is understandable if you are feeling depleted, exhausted, or that you have run out of energy.
How do we re-energise?
Mostly I have learned to look at news media from a distance. Instead I focus on what I can change in my own life and for those I love. I have been involved in different levels of political activism at various points in my life, but I have had to learn the hard way when to step back and focus on re-energising myself. At times I became so caught up in fighting against certain government policies and actions that I made myself sick. I am very grateful to have had much counselling of my own, which helped me to connect with the shape of my own power. I am more familiar now with how to recharge my own batteries, and where to focus my energy. The political situation in Britain re-stokes the fire in me, and reminds me of what I can and can’t change. For me it is important to focus on what is within my own sphere of influence.
Everybody will have different ways of recharging. I know to focus on the important relationships in my life, to find time to be silly, to escape into fantasy through comic books or cinema, or to connect with my body and nature. All will help renew my energy.
Recognise your power
I’m aware of my own power in my dual identity as a white man, in the context of patriarchal white supremacy in the UK. I recognise that this comes with privilege, and with responsibility. But I also see that this system damages white men — as well as trans people, cis women, Black people and other marginalised identities of course. Men are three times more likely to end their own lives than women. Men are less likely to seek therapy, and make up 95% of the prison population. 73% of adults who ‘go missing’ are men.
Awareness of your own power is the first step towards accepting yourself as you are. What follows is responsibility – the ability to respond, to step forward, to seek help, and to help others.
The power in community
Our capitalist society is also individualist. This is sold as empowering, but has the opposite effect in isolating us from one another. Theories of human development through an existential lens can help offer a radical alternative to this. They suggest that we are born into the world in relationship, before we separate and form our own identity. The theory is that we are not born as isolated individuals who then seek relationship, but the opposite. Our lives depend on others, and we would not exist without them.
As we grow and develop our own personalities, we separate ourselves and may think of ourselves as self-reliant to some degree. However no man is an island of course, and the most self-reliant person in the world would not survive without other people or the world around them. Phenomenology teaches us to go back to ‘the things themselves’ and attempt to strip away assumptions. You may have worked hard your whole life to build up a comfortable life, and buy yourself a car, or even a house. There is real achievement in this, but to suppose that this was solely the result of your isolated actions may be a stretch. The simple act of buying a coffee involves so many people – from the barista to those who tended the soil where the coffee beans grew.
One of the most re-energising practices for me is to remember my reliance on others and on the world around me, and to lean into this. It reminds me that I am an inseparable part of the world, and that the smallest acts of compassion can have great consequences.