My constituents are ... leaving town

I’ve shared platforms with Westminster parliamentarians twice in the last few months, and more than that in the last few years, who’ve been dismissive in one way or another of my case for agrarian localism. Given that that case is itself quite dismissive of the ability of parliaments and centralized politics to deal with the problems of our times, perhaps it’s not surprising that I tend to find myself at loggerheads with such folks.

Generally on these occasions, I’ve been on the receiving end of a mini-lecture along the lines that (1) the present world is one of mass urbanism, globalism and intensive trade; (2) that these are good things; and, (3) that this isn’t going to change in the future. To which my replies would have been (I’ve rarely had the chance to make them on the occasions in question – professional politicians are good at having the last word): (1) Yes, that’s true; (2) Well, it’s a bit more complicated than that; and, (3) Yes it is. The ignorance and complacency of the political class on this last point, the precariousness of the existing global political economy, is one reason why I find it hard to see the kind of renewal that’s needed emerging from centralized mainstream politics. It’s also a reason why the global political economy is so precarious.

Anyway, here I’m going to home in on the most interesting of my recent sword-crossings with a politician, namely with Clive Lewis MP at a panel we were both on along with Simon Fairlie at the Green Gathering in July.

Let me first say that I think Clive is one of the most incisive, thoughtful and honourable members of parliament in Britain right now. The bar isn’t high, I know, but I still want to record my appreciation in case what I’m about to say seems aimed over-critically at him. That isn’t the purpose of this post.

And in truth, our sword-crossing wasn’t much of a sword-crossing. An audience member asked about building agrarian communities, to which I replied with an anodyne remark about the need in this present historical moment for people to be experimenting with exactly this, but in doing so to draw from the lessons of existing agrarian societies past and present. Whereupon, if my memory serves me correctly (which it may not), Clive interjected something along the lines that we had to be careful ...