Seeking My Political Home - Part 1 of 3

The following is the first full article I had published in Nationalist circles and was written when I was quite new to active involvement in politics and was a member of the National Democrats (from Wikipedia). For those that may not know, the National Democrats, now long gone, were formed as a result of the majority of the membership of the National Front voting to change the name of the party.

At the time I wrote the article I was a civil servant and to avoid any problems as a result I used the pseudonym Bob Case, created by Martin Wingfield I seem to recall.

I am not sure what year the article was published, but it was probably around 1995 / 1996, due to the fact there is no mention of the National Front, as though this was a conscious effort to try and make the National Democrats appear new and fresh and “untainted” by that association. In a subsequent blog I will fill in the gap that seems to have been left as a result.

The article appeared in Vanguard No 46 and the editorial in that magazine says “Vanguard is published to advance the cause of British democratic racial nationalism. In the United Kingdom this is only upheld by the National Democrats”. Stephen Ebbs was the editor at the time and articles penned by Martin and Tina Wingfield also appeared in that edition. Simon Darby was also a member of the National Democrats and stood as a candidate for them prior to the National Front formally changing it’s name, by way of a test of the public reaction to a candidate standing for the proposed new party name. I recall he did quite well, adding weight to the case for a name change.

Having been on quite a political journey since that time it is apparent I was also a lot less wise than I am now when I wrote this! It also perhaps emphasises my current belief that although the British National Party is dead in the water, the British Freedom Party is not the answer and according to information available over the last 24 hours already seems to be having difficulties with John Savage, the National Treasurer and a five-minute Nationalist, publicly resigning from the party after disagreeing with the wording of an article penned by Lee Barnes and which appeared on the BFP web-site.

Anyway, on with the article: -

Foreword (presumably by Stephen Ebbs) – There are an infinite number of routes which can be taken from becoming politically aware to finding a political home which reflects that awareness – this applies to all political parties not just the National Democrats. In this article, member Bob Case describes the path together with the political observations which he made in the route to his eventual political home.

The fact you are reading this indicates that you are either already a member of the National Democrats or have sympathies with some or all of our policies. We all have different reasons for believing what we do, it may be that you realised early in life the policies of the National Democrats matched your own beliefs and ideals. For me it was not quite that straightforward.

I became politically aware in the early to mid-seventies when the hippy culture was breathing its last breath. The greater individual freedoms resulting from this culture appeared to lead many people, particularly those like myself of the younger generation from working-class families, to believe that the socialist ideal was the ultimate way to lead a fulfilling life. We naively believed all that was necessary to make the country a better place was for everyone to be equal. We simply though it was just a matter of distributing wealth and goods equally.

I left school at eighteen and started work immediately, fortunately unemployment was not something with which we were greatly concerned in the late seventies. Once in the real world, the world of adults and responsibilities, I rapidly realised that, although all people are born equal, inequalities resulting from parentage, schooling, the class system and so on seemed as strong as they ever were. It soon dawned on me that to enable the equality of the socialist ideal, would in socialist terms, require taking from the wealthy, regardless of whether rich through their own endeavours or resulting from, for example, inheritance, to give to the poor. In reality it was not the romantic Robin Hood theory of economics, but the politics of jealousy and envy. It meant that those with something worth having would be made to suffer for it in order to prop up those without. Now that’s not always a bad thing, but more often than not the prop would be for those who could not be bothered and those who considered the world owed them a living. Ultimately all ambition, competitiveness, class, privacy, geographical boundaries, sovereignty and so on would be removed.

I did not want this, I believed I had to make my own way in the world and stand or fall by the decisions and choices I made. Because of my traditional upbringing I believed in myself, had what I considered sound morals, was well behaved and had respect for people and property. I felt I could get somewhere in life and that I had something to give. I knew I was better than some but not as good as others. I wanted to improve my lot by my own efforts and did not expect or want anything to be handed to me on a plate. My “red” phase was short-lived and I knew it was not going to return.