In July 2018, students at the University of Manchester painted over a mural of a poem by Rudyard Kipling, arguing that the writer “dehumanised people of colour”. Kipling’s poem was replaced by a poem by the civil rights activist Maya Angelou.
In response, I wrote my own 2018 version of ‘If’ to reflect the difficulties of being a conservative in this era. Here it is:
If you can keep your shit together when all about you
Are freaking out and blaming it on racism
If you can get through the day without being accused of a microaggression
By keeping a very low profile
If you can speak to a liberal and give that liberal freedom
Of expression despite knowing that the liberal despises everything you stand for
And doesn’t really understand the consequences of their virtue-signalling
But likes the feeling of being on the moral high-ground.
If you can live with accusations of white privilege but not make white privilege your master
If you can know that your success is down to diligence and hard work
If you can meet with triumph and disaster
Yet not try to blame the patriarchy for the disaster
If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools
Or watch the culture you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop to pick up the pieces in the name of ‘progress’
If you can be an advocate for equality of opportunity
And know that equality of outcome is a fool’s errand
And take responsibility for those around you
And realise that there can only be ‘society’ when everyone else does the same
If you can force yourself, through your own endeavours,
To not be a drain on society
To give more than you take
Yet accept that sometimes you will need help
If you can be true to yourself
To the values and traditions that were instilled in you
If you realise that sometimes difficult decisions need to be made
If you can make those decisions yet not shun the consequences
If you can keep your head raised high and know
That you are doing the right things for the right reasons
Everything will be ok
And this insanity will pass.
Atticus Fox 