It also strikes me that the fabricatted narratives dissolve over time - there's a fascinating time issue with regard to truth and false narrative
Jesus was a white man with blue eyes.
The British Empire civilised the world.
Dropping the atomic bomb on Nagasaki three days after Hiroshima was necessary and without it the war in Japan would have carried on for many more years.
There is no black history in the UK before the 1960s.
How are we doing on those? Not convinced we've got close to the truth on any of these.
it's worth focusing a lot of attention on how narratives work, and the uses to whic they are put, in the here and now.
Ding, ding, ding. Identify the narrative. And the motive. Politics is like a good murder mystery all the time! Treat it as such.
He who controls the narrative is important. Who are they and what do they want. (A variation of follow the money).
What is the difference between what someone says is their political ambition and what their political ambition actually is?
What is the difference between what you say and what you do? Do they look like what they say they are? (The regressive progressives. The illiberal liberals).
What things are immovable in practice?
Where does pragmatism meet ideology?
This is where you read between the lines and get closer to knowing what is really going on.
Our interpretation of history changes too. It often reflects the present better than the reality of history. But we don't usually look at the present first.
You should look to how and why people do it. Its rarely to do with the latest historical evidence. When people turn to the past to make a point, why are they doing it? Not just is it valid. Are we judging by the standards of the time or our standards now?
Retrospective views of Blair are a good example. He is criticised for the way he span things (rightly) but to say Corbyn has more integrity and doesn't spin things, because he does it in a different manner is fundamentally wrong.
As a rule, I say trust your gut. You know when things feel off kilter. You might not be able to pin point it, to identify exactly what it is but you know. It doesn't mean you are right or wrong, it means you are missing a piece of information.
If thats the case beware of the person who offers you the explanation that makes perfect sense. There is never a perfect explanation. Question their motives. Don't jump to conclusions.
Try and ask difference questions about the same issue from a slightly different angle or perspective.
If lots of people suddenly start jumping up and down its because the issue needs looking at, but the thing they say they are jumping up and down about, or you think they are jumping up and down about, might not be right.
Often we come up with 'solutions' before we have asked the right question. Asking questions and offering alternative explanations that are credible helps others to consider if they were right.
But you have to be credible to be listened to. Who makes the case is important.
Above all else, just keep asking flaming questions, and be afraid of the man who refuses to answer and to offer a debate.
They have something to hide.
I will keep coming back to it, but we have lost the meaning of word liberalism in democracy to notion of the wrongs of neo-liberalism in economics. We have lost the meaning of democracy in the will of the people rather than the importance to keep talking.
Hold onto the principles and foundations of liberal democracy for dear life. All our political parties have abandoned them. We either tread a long and dark path back to them the hard way, or we champion what really makes us free ahead of tribal loyalties and allegiances. Far from improving our situation those type of identities can often control us and trap us.
Look instead at what drives them and the principles that underpin them. Thats where you find the common ground.
Fwiw I've learnt at least as much about politics and history in the last two years than I ever did at university studying similar things. And only with the clarity that listening to others has given me.
I see glimmers of hope, mixed with really dark clouds. The lights haven't gone out. Yet.