Billy Jones, Gloucestershire Socialist Party
Last year I found myself looking at the state of the world and thinking it was completely dire. I wanted to get involved somehow to make things better, but had no idea how to go about it – plus the feeling that, because I live in Cheltenham, I was too far away from any sort of action didn’t help either.
Then one day I was walking down the high street and came across two Socialist Party members selling papers at a stall. What at first I thought would be a quick chat turned into a really interesting conversation about the effects of 14 years of Tory rule, particularly on the NHS, and how, under a socialist system, society would be run to benefit the majority of people, as opposed to only the top 1%.
Over time I found myself going to local branch meetings, and I genuinely believe that listening to the Socialist Party members at these meetings, jotting down notes of what they say, has led to my understanding of politics rising tenfold in a matter of months.
All this time I’ve felt completely welcomed – one of the goals of the party is to represent regular working-class people and to help them raise their voice, regardless of their background or identity. This was made very clear when I attended Socialism 2024, where we were able to meet socialists from all across the country and discuss everything from economics to the rise of the far-right in Europe.
Looking at the state of the world used to make me feel hopeless, but now that I’ve been able to adopt a socialist framework into my life – there is hope! Being a young person trapped inside a vicious two-party system, both sides just as greedy as the other, can make politics seem like a dead-end.
Socialism has shown me that, through mass workers’ struggle we can fight for and achieve the world that we want – and I’ve joined the Socialist Party in order to help make that a reality.
