Soliloquy on monotony (1951)

From the March 1951 issue of the Socialist Standard

Variety is the spice of life we are told but deadly monotony characterises the speeches of our politicians when with outworn phrases they seek to hornswoggle the workers into accepting the idea of another shooting war (defence, of course). The whole bunch of phrases could be collected and broadcast on a gramophone record whenever it was deemed necessary to jerk us to attention.

Whether it be the precise enunciation of Mr. Attlee; the gusty rodomontade of Mr. Churchill; the golden voice of Mr. Bevin splitting infinitives and shedding aspirates right and left, or the nasal twang of Mr. Truman, they all use the same hackneyed phrases and raise the same bogeys. It is true the bogeys differ as the various powers reshuffle. Late enemies become comrades in arms and vice versa with startling rapidity but “san fairy ann,” its all one in a capitalist world.

How many times have we heard that “our way of life is in danger?” (Our lives being such a giddy whirl, we sob ourselves to sleep over this threatened catastrophe). “Our hard-won liberty is at stake,” “Civilisation itself is in danger.” “To ensure Peace we must prepare for War.” “Our whole economic structure is threatened. We must stand firm against aggression.” “The democratic countries must unite, there must be no appeasement; we must defend the rights of small nations,” “The free world must buttress its defences and combat aggression.” “We must fight for freedom and human rights.” And so on till the cows come home.

Monotony also characterises the lives of the workers the world over, and whilst on the subject we must admit that our Socialist message suffers from that complaint. By its very nature it cannot vary. But it differs in this respect from the messages of present day politicians—it holds out hope of peace and plenty, not war and want.

F.M. Robins