SEASON 1 - JONTY

I wanted my second interviewee to be someone controversial who not everyone may agree with, yet someone confident enough to let their ideas loose without holding back. This description fitted my good friend Jonty who has very unique political views and a very unique take on current events. This interview gave me a lot more respect for people who are 100% open about their views and also taught me a lot about how different events can have different impacts on different people.

Photo Credits: @document.it (instagram)

Q: Starting with a basic question, how did you get involved in politics and how important do you think it is for other young people to get involved too?

A: I don’t actually know when I got involved in politics, I think it was when the migrant crisis was happening in 2015 because, there were so many ramifications surrounding the issue that it was almost impossible not to get involved. For young people I think it’s extremely important because, after all it is your future that you are putting into your own hands and when you go to that ballot box, you are deciding your future.

Q: I think what’s great about this is you’re quite unique in your political opinion compared to other young people so I’d like to ask about Corbyn, I am also aware you used to work a zero-hour contract job so I’m very interested for this answer. Do you think he’s as good as the majority of the youth make him out to be?

A: No and I’m going to give a straightforward answer. My problem with Jeremy Corbyn is he seems like the type of person who would shame competition, so basically, he wants to expand government spending for things like the NHS and education which seems good but, everyone else has to pay for it and it disincentives people who work the hardest and create the most wealth. With respect to zero-hour contracts and Jeremy Corbyn, I think he’s wrong and I don’t think he considers that zero-hour contracts work for young people who are at university or doing their A Levels or GCSE’s. They also help a lot of people who are, for example, mothers of newly born children and other various brackets of working people.

Q: Something I’ve noticed in youth politics is that young people who are right leaning are sometimes associated with racism and fascism and they generally get tied in with the alt-right movement. Do you believe this is the case or do you think it is a result of misinterpretation and fake news?

A: No, I think it’s misinterpretation caused by a more progressive leaning media who have spoon-fed the public for a long time. Becoming more conservative doesn’t really equate to the rise of conservative authoritarianism and the hatred and discrimination of people based on race. I think those people who are more right leaning, and this is my opinion, are drawn towards some of the better qualities of traditionalism such as hard work, competitiveness and self-reliance and not the daunting qualities of racism and discrimination. Despite this, I do think there’s a problem with the right, I would call myself right-wing but there are problems which needs to be addressed.

Q: With Gabe, I spoke to them about tolerance, I want to ask you the same question because I’m interested in the diversity of your answers. How far do you think pluralism and tolerance belong in our society?

A: I think pluralism is important because you have so many different ideas from so many different people and it determines which ideas have merit by discussing them. Without pluralism, you are essentially banning these ideas and saying that the ideas which may have some merit with all factors considered, should not be taken into account and this is not the best for society and the individual as a whole. Furthermore, I don’t agree with tolerance because I fundamentally disagree with the idea of banning ideas because we have to be tolerant of others. So, I am fully supportive of pluralism but I am not in favour of silencing extreme opinions.

Q: One thing I truly respect about you is your ability to talk honestly about a controversial topic, such as tolerance. A lot of people tend to avoid it but immigration is one of the most hotly debated topics of the political scene. What is your opinion on the state of immigration and do you think it needs to be modified by the government?

A: I can’t actually say there’s a definite answer of ‘I am in favour of low immigration or high immigration’. Of course immigration is extremely good for the free-market, it brings in skilled Labour to fill vacant employment positions in medicine, construction and engineering which I encourage because it helps build a healthy strong population, but you then build this reliance on the importation of this labour which brings social issues such as housing and perhaps even crime rates. This is not to say immigration causes crime but there are people from different cultures clashing so there is a risk of crime going up. We should encourage people not to hate immigrants but you have to respect the cultural homogeneity that people exist in.

Q: With Evesham being such a highly conservative area, immigration is a dividing line between the youth who are often pro-immigration and the more traditional adults who are often anti-immigration. Do you think that multiculturalism, especially in Evesham, is beneficial to society in small doses, large amounts or simply not beneficial at all?

A: I can’t say that there’s one answer to this but, multiculturalism is good in a sense because you gain a knowledge of other cultures, this expands your mind and helps you accept various cultures when coming into contact with them. Despite this, multiculturalism doesn’t set itself a barrier naturally so what you have is different cultures colliding and this is where, as I said previously, there is tensions relating to crime and housing. The problem with multiculturalism is not the concept itself but how the government promotes it, it’s how they say there are a certain number of people in an area and you have to accept it. The government needs to listen to peoples problems with multiculturalism, year on year people are having more problems with it and you have to respect your constituents opinion.

Q: On a similar topic, Brexit is another controversial hot topic and I think a lot of young people would give a straight ‘remain’ answer to this question. What is your opinion on Brexit and do you think it is being executed well by the government?

A: I’m ardently pro-Brexit. Brexit is gonna happen and I’m fully supportive of it because of the EU’s organisation. It’s trying to promote this ‘European Identity’ which simply doesn’t exist because Europe is filled with so many different peoples and it’s evolved over such a long period of time that trying to mould these cultures into one ideal of a ‘European’ is very difficult. The British isles is very different to Europe in respect to its organisation and how it has approached issues in the past, one of my problems is how the Germans have assumed control. They almost want to make Europe an economic superstate and it seems very close to what the National Socialists were doing in the 1930s.

Q: Sticking to Brexit, all opinions aside, what would you suggest that local authorities and young people can do to make Britain emerge from Brexit in the best possible way and is there anything we can do locally to help the nation progress through these uncertain times?

A: I would advise young people to really, say your opinion. The country is going through Brexit but this doesn’t mean you can’t speak to your Local MP about the issues that affect you, your family and also your community in relation to Brexit. We all have a right to be heard by our Local government and young people should exercise this right.

Q: Before Brexit, there was a huge shift in the world towards globalisation, however, right wing parties in Europe have been gaining a lot of political influence. Do you think globalisation is an inevitable reality or do you think it will be halted by the rise of the right? Furthermore do you agree with globalisation or are you against it?

A: Globalisation at the moment seems to be on a seesaw, the rise of technologies and free-trade economies, essentially capitalist ones, bring economic growth, skilled labourers and the ability to learn about new cultures. However, I think people have their own cultural biases that they’d rather maintain than expand their economic prosperity. Globalisation is also implemented by force and has the potential to create mass social upheaval which is not good for society.

Q: One final question, you’re so open with your political views and I highly respect that, I think a big problem with politics is many people are restricted by party lines and also fear of being disliked for their views, what advice would you give someone to be more open about their political views regardless of criticism?

A: Just don’t care to be honest, I’ve always taken that approach. People are so stifled by political correctness due to the punishments that you can receive, hate speech laws are present and frankly, that’s wrong. You need to make yourself heard and you need to make sure that your ideas have merit because if you discuss your ideas with other people, people may agree but they may also disagree. I think that people have the right to be heard but people also have the right to tell you to fuck off as well so, just say what you have to say and if your ideas have merit, they will stand up to criticism.