thebadrash.com
6Jun/050

McLibel – McHorror – victims of terrorism

After we got home last night we watched the McLibel documentary on BBC2. For the last year or so, I've sort of relaxed my anti-McDonald's stance because of a combination of laziness and greed on my part. Well, it sounds trite but after watching this documentary last night I don't see how I could bring myself to eat another McDonald's burger.

At the same time I feel a gradual radicalisation in my opinions, reversing the changes that have occurred since I left Swansea. The only way I can explain this pleasant change is that I have achieved stability and happiness, become used to them, and have turned back to the ideas I hold to be true. I now have a far clearer understanding of the world (though my view is by no means perfect), but I find that the central tenets of my political attitude have hardly changed since my university days.

For me, the most important duties must be to promote socialism and equality, fight against fascism and discrimination, and to campaign for fairer trade and market conditions which would allow us to repair the damage we have caused to poorer countries, especially in Africa.

Fascism, racism and other discriminatory attitudes on the right wing are growing more widespread all the time. It's true that some people bandy the term 'fascist' around far too much, but this doesn't mean that fascists don't pose a continual threat to our society. In Spain especially, numerous far right wing groups have recently emerged and are using labels such as 'victims of terrorism' as a cover for their explicitly neo-fascist agenda. Racism is endemic, despite the fact that it's now more illegal than ever. But racism is easy to confront because it is wholly irrational. No racism ever stands up to reason - it is therefore easy and rewarding to combat racism wherever it occurs. The same applies to all forms of arbitrary discrimination.

I see the McLibel film as an inspiration - not just to take control and stop eating hamburgers - but to reaffirm the values I hold to be true and right. Helen Steel and Dave Morris stood up for what they believed in and eventually won through, despite being denied a jury or legal aid. I feel invigorated by rediscovering their great story.

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