I am Brian Fish. In 1983, as a young idealist I stood for election in Peterborough and was soundly defeated. At the time of that defeat I realised that "the left" would be out of it for years. Little did I realise how long that would be. It is only now since 2008 (the financial crash) and 2016 (Brexit and Trump) that ideas and possibilities are again in flux -  but time is short.

 

Although I stopped being active in politics and left the Labour Party in 1996 I have always continued to read and think on the subject of politics. Along the way I realised the limitations of acting alone, I acquired a grounding in systems analysis and development, and an MBA. Studying for the MBA was a revelation, it opening up a whole interdisciplinary field of applied knowledge, all of it helpful. Retirement has allowed me to intensify my reading and make it more methodical.

I can now map out a framework on which to hang the things I have learned and provide pegs for the things I have yet to learn. Through the web-site I am getting it “out there”. None of what I have written is original except the synthesis and even here I detect welcome signs that others are coming to similar conclusions, I am sorry it has taken me so long to get here. History is full of contingency, timing is everything, I hope we are not too late.

I wanted a banner that had no party political baggage. The yin-yang symbol  Note: The Yin-Yang symbol? and the shoal of fish Note: The Shoal of Fish   seemed appropriate.

I know about confirmation and other biases, and am acutely aware of the difficulty of attempting a synthesis, especially as I am moving into areas where I am encountering new disciplines in which I have no prior academic specialisation. My reading has often been contingent, I hope enough of it has been serendipitous and therefore the conclusions I find hopeful are realistic. The content is bound to have errors and misunderstandings  which I will seek to remove using reviewers and collaborators. Whether or not I manage to make any impact it will be a long process with success by no means certain.

I am spurred on by the need to make a decent world for my grandchildren; the future looks less certain for them than the one that gave me a considerable leg up.