I saw this quote today via @anon_online on Twitter it crystallised some thoughts I have been meditating on regarding who speaks for me.
I tend to be to the ‘left’ politically but what does that mean exactly? Is it the same definition as yours? I don’t belong to a political party as none of them accurately represent me. When they speak it is not with my voice. There has been a lot in MSM lately painting Russell Brand as the public voice of anon and the left. Others have blogged on this @Maxjfreeman has an excellent post. Leaving aside my feelings on Russell the person does he speak for me like they portray? NO!
There are many positive reasons for banding together with or aligning oneself with a group of similar thinkers, I always espouse awareness of our collective consciousness and connectivity BUT and it is a big but (yes I have seen it in the mirror) I refuse to have any person or organisation speak for me: with me yes. That is an entirely different thing.
I don’t have the right to speak for anyone else unless they have specifically asked me and for good reason feel that they cannot use their own voice (I’m thinking about professions with restrictions) and I do not wish anyone to assume that they speak for me unless I have asked them, or for any media outlet or group of people to grab a hold of a figurehead and assume that because there are some similarities in our opinions that my voice is being heard simultaneously. I try very hard not to do this for others and I want that reciprocated.
Having said all that, I feel that not speaking out and then proactively DOING something about the beliefs I hold makes me complicit in the charade, if I don’t speak up then I am allowing this misconception to continue. This holds true for all behaviours.
Opinion: a view or judgement formed about something, not necessarily based on fact or knowledge.Opinionated: arrogant assertiveness and dogmatism.
Thoughts of a Wolf in Sheep's Clothing 
I agree to a degree with what you are saying. Being ConDemLaboural myself, I can’t understand why in this day and age rightism and leftism isn’t a thing of the past. Also, acting as a devils advocate I have to ask you, if you do not want anybody to speak for you, who will govern?
PS: Love the music 🙂
I was not thinking about governance as I wrote: more about popularist spokespeople whom have been seized upon for various reasons ☺
Thanks so do I!
It’s times like these that social media frustrates me. So much to ask and so much to say that just putting it down here doesn’t get the messages across. I’m not sure if I’m going off on a tangent here, but I just listened to a Russel Brand interview to try to get a better understanding of your blogg. Whether you agree with him or not, I believe we need more people like him to speak up and hasten the changes needed in the antiquated thinking of the British system. Not living in the UK, I’m not sure how RB is portrayed in the press but Evan Davis of BBC Newsnight gave him a fair hearing, I thought. Are you saying you don’t want him or people like him to voice an opinion on your behalf? If that’s the case, how will you voice your opinion?
I must not have been clear in expressing my thoughts: I have no animosity to RB, I like his ability to speak HIS views how HE sees them. What I am objecting to is the MSM pushing him as the alternative spokesperson for the left. He is not. He is one of many people who speak out/up. He is not my voice. That’s all. It’s about assumptions being peddled as facts.
I voice my opinion here and by my actions, on many occasions I join with others to make our voices a choir of protest. It is an active choice not a default choice or one that a newspaper has decided to make for me.
Yes, starting to undestand. Thats why I say I needed more than a few sentences. It’s the sort of thing one needs to sit down and discuss thoroughly in order to understand the others point of view.
Reblogged this on Dave's Bankside Babble and commented:
Never assume that someone who uses similar words to you actually thinks the same way you do…