I don't call myself 'leftist', 'leftwing', or any similar descriptors.
My politics are complex, sometimes contradictory, and open to persuasion by a competent, intelligent, considered, fully accounted case. In my life, I've voted for Conservatives, Labour, and UKIP, as well as Independents and Green Party candidates in local elections.
The constants in my political beliefs are as follows:
. No human being is 'illegal' - although there may, at times, be better options for someone fleeing persecution, war, or poverty than simply being poor and/or despised in a 'better' country.
. There are as many genders as there are individuals, but those genders have terms and conditions attached to them - including the genders of 'cis man' and 'cis woman'. Gender isn't hair dye; it's not 'what I like', but which 'terms and conditions' are most acceptable to you. It's not about how you identify, but how you live.
. Housing the unhoused, funding cradle-to-the-grave medical care, paying an all-inclusive, modestly generous, no-strings salary to the unemployed, and enabling businesses to be established at a loss to landlords all save the State money in the long run, and usually result in higher net returns in time.
. You can't solve inequality by deprivileging the dominant group; there needs to be systemic change, and a genuine recognition that anyone can experience genuine barriers, anyone can be subject to prejudice and discrimination, and everyone deserves to be supported to achieve their ambitions, as long as those ambitions do not rely on the oppression, exploitation, or taking-for-granted of others.
. Business exists to serve society, not the other way around.
. Those who have derived the greatest benefit from society so should do the work of 'levelling up' others.
. It is the responsibility of employers to provide pensions for their staff, with the State's no-strings Universal Income continuing until death, and being more than sufficient in itself.
. Rights are the payment citizens receive for carrying out responsibilities, and those responsibilities should be tailored to an individual's limitations and capabilities.
. The support of children is, outside of emergencies, that of the parents of those children, not taxpayers.
. A Universal Income, and a Maximum Wage, are more effective for resolving the issue of working poverty than raising the Minimum Wage.
I'm not entirely sure where these consistent beliefs place me on the political scale, but they certainly don't endear me to contemporary leftists, and I'm more than happy with that.
I don't see much of worth in the modern UK left, because I have never been a fan of people being enabled to dump their responsibilities, and simply expect other people to pick up after them.
The UK left is so eager to be "inclusive" and "not like the right" that - as is always the risk with open minds - they'll accept any rubbish that people want to throw in.
The UK left is hostile, it has a superiority complex, and it is utterly disinterested in detaching from violence as a ready-to-hand response.
The lifestyle I live has been very little affected by lockdown.
I can see how I would continue with my businesses and other concerns should the internet be censored beyond a reasonable level (it is reasonable to censor promotion of harm - so, no, paedophiles, dog fighters, abusers, those who try and promote eating disorders, self-harm, anti-vax theories, etc, should not be allowed to go uncensored "because personal freedoms"), or if the internet stops being a thing, and electricity becomes something that is rationed (which may well have to happen if renewables are to become the majority supply source.)
Many on the left wouldn't have the first idea of how to carry on if the way of life they're familiar with disappeared overnight.
Some on the right, however, both could, and desire to.
The left will refuse any and all criticism.
The left claims an equality and tolerance they are, in fact, very far from possessing.
'Ecogenics' - the idea that, in order to achieve environmental perfection and 'justness', anyone whose disabilities or circumstances mean they can't follow whatever 'woke' prescription is issued by the Twitterati should just accept that their life is a barrier to 'necessary progress', and, like all barriers, should be removed, is entirely a leftwing consent.
The right is, surprisingly, more inclined towards self-reflection, and a deliberate distancing from toxic elements, than much of the left, where toxicity is peversely celebrated, with the snidest, most spoiled-brat bullies often turned into overnight social media sensations.
Both sides, however, are happier throwing insults and mocking each other than they are in the genuine discourse that would actually move society as a whole forward to a standard of living that is genuinely inclusive, progressive, and which benefits everyone.
I voted Remain in the Brexit referendum, but I have had some good, intellectually sound conversations with people who voted Leave, for reasons not related to prejudice (and who are finding they have been lied to - I saw it coming, but the fact that they didn't is not something I will ever join in deriding them for.) I voted Remain because I felt the UK would be in a better position to demand, and force, genuine (necessary) reform of the European Union from a position as a member nation, and because I did not trust the Conservatives to protect the interests of all citizens without the outside force of the European Union - something I've been sadly proved right on.
The government, to my mind, has no business telling people what their diet should be, or who should be allowed in particular spaces - those are a matter for individuals and businesses, and, as such, are open to challenges by other businesses and individuals.
It is not the job of the State to provide for peoples' children, but it is the responsibility of the State to ensure a basic standard of living, affordability and accessibility of food and transport, healthy, clean air and living conditions, opportunities for employment that meets the conditions of 'decent work', and accessible, genuinely affordable, compassionate and appropriate health care.
I believe in personal responsibility, supported by core provision from the State, and additional State support where an individual's circumstances limit their ability to enact personal responsibility.
I believe the skills the State should promote are literacy, numeracy, political and financial competence, adaptability, resilience, and emotional intelligence, as these underpin almost every form of work that any situation, epoch, or technological progression may bring.
I believe in valuing history and tradition, but also being open to, and curious about, the range of possible futures that progress can open up.
I don't know what that makes me, but it works for me.