More that unites us
We're always being told society is at war, we are divided, "more divided than ever" even. I think this is largely a play to sell newspapers and social media engagement. I don't think it's true.
So when I read this article by George Monbiot I went to the group he mentions, Common Ground, and signed up. There was someone else from my area so we got together and have now gone out a few times around the county and talked to people and it's been so great.
Basically, we go somewhere and try to stop people on the street to put stickers on the board in response to the questions. It ends up looking like this:
My very own handwriting
They call them democracy meters. I call mine "a foam board from a D&D map sellotaped onto my camera tripod". It's kind of janky but flipboard stands are large and expensive. And honestly I think janky works for the non-corporate grassroots vibe. The questions are standardised across the country and do change. We send HQ a picture and I think it's then all collated and whatnot.
The city I live in is extremely diverse and left-leaning. The county... not so much. The county council went Reform. This is not unusual - to see an electoral map where the cities are red dots in a sea of blue. So we go to those shades of blue areas.
It's nowhere near as scary to actually do as it sounds. Most people will simply ignore me or say no. But others are curious and easy to engage with. A lot of people really want to talk. Only one person has ever been rude about it.
These are completely random people walking past in areas that vote Tory and Reform. One of the points is that people's views are more liberal than their votes. Look at everyone who wants to renationalise stuff! What people say they want is in direct opposition to the policies of who they are voting for. I tell people "These are all the opinions of people in this town in the last hour." Which I think is eye-opening in itself. You're not alone. It's not like the headlines say.
On the left we can get disconsolate and doomy and on the right people feel everyone is against them. We're all told we're so divided. But people want the same things.