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Clap for carers started as a spontaneous gesture of gratitude; the conservatives leapt on it because why not, altered the framing to give it schmaltzy, quasi-military, nostalgic overtones ("clap for heroes"), while disregarding the actual experiences of these heroes, in terms of>
pay, conditions, workload and safety. So now a lot of NHS workers are thinking, "save your stupid clapping, I'd rather have a day off/ pay rise and not watch my colleagues die", and a lot of citizens are thinking, "I don't want to clap bc I would hate anyone to think I support>>
the government". The tories basically hijacked it, to turn it into an act of fealty to their authority; but tacitly, so now *all* politicians will have to carry on with it, because none of them will trust us with the sophistication to understand that they *are* grateful to NHS>>
workers, but they refuse to be puppeteered by a bunch of chancers who are using the moment cynically. This trajectory is quite a useful microcosm of what political cynicism does to a country: it's not just callow in itself. It takes moments of genuine feeling and civic unity>>
and turns them on their head, in a way that you can only reject in a private, atomised way. (thank you for coming to my inconclusive ted talk &c)
