Between hope and terror

From the UK to the US, politics today feels like a white-knuckle ride into unknown territory…

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We refer to seesaws a lot in our house.

Not, you understand, because we’re major playground fans – although I do struggle to walk past a swing set. We use seesaw as a kind of shorthand for offering support – “need the seesaw, babe?” – to tell each other that we’ll hold the weight when the other needs a boost.

The point is to acknowledge that some days are easier than others, that sometimes we’re low and sometimes we’re high – and that as a family unit, we can work together to try and make sure that we’re always somewhere approaching level. Stable. Balanced.

Usually, it works pretty well.

This week though, balance has felt like a mad suggestion. At the risk of extending the metaphor beyond its usefulness, we’re a playground full of bloody seesaws right now, each of us bouncing up and down multiple times in a day, or even an hour.

It sounds dramatic, but I don’t imagine we’re the only ones currently ricocheting between giddy optimism and apocalyptic dread. Right now, it’s hard to imagine many people feeling any different. How could you?

For those of us sick of seeing the rich get richer while the poor stay poor, get sick, get relegated to the bottom of a waiting list and then get blamed for it to boot, the UK election campaign is offering some reason to be cheerful right now. The parallels with 1997 have been obvious since that boombox made its appearance during Rishi Sunak’s rain-soaked election announcement on Downing Street back in May. Change is in the air. You can feel it.