You have 15 minutes to address the whole world live (on television or radio — choose your format). What would you say?

I haven’t said much about the latest American election on my social media pages. Partly because I’m mindful that not all my readers will agree with my political views, and partly because I feel that as I’m not an American citizen I shouldn’t be criticising anybody.

However, I do think that if I could reach the whole of the world, I would have to talk about the truly terrifying rise of the extreme right wing in many countries in the world. I’d have to talk about how the media are being used to terrify the populace into believing lies by rich, white men who want to damage democracy in order to line their own pockets. I’d have to talk about how schools aren’t being allowed to teach critical thinking, which results in people not being able to see the scare mongering thundercunts who are using them to elect idiots into positions of power in order to carry out the agenda of smarter, shadier figures. I’d talk about the rise of vicious attacks on people of colour, of people who look different because of their dress or religious beliefs or sexual orientation.

I wouldn’t just talk about the hypocrisy of people who claim to follow a certain religion and then blatantly disregard the main tenets – I’d shout it from the bloody rooftops. I’d force people to listen to the stories of people who’ve been betrayed by their own governments and forced to leave their homes because they’ve been bombed, gassed and tortured. I’d make them watch the retrieval of the dead bodies of children that have washed up on the shore as their parents fled in terror from religious fanatics and corrupt leaders.

I’d want people to wake up and see what’s in front of them and realise that everybody can do something to change it.

We can support charities that will support the refugees. We can call and write to our representatives to let them know how we feel about the issues. We can support those individuals brave enough to speak up against injustice. We can challenge those around us who repeat the lies that they’ve been told. We can educate our children about the truth of our world. We can obstruct those who try to make the world worse, not better.  We can refuse to accept the shit that is being forced down our throats by a biased media and seek out those who report the real stories.

I’d want to tell people that the world is going to hell in a handbasket, but there is a chance to save it, if we’re just willing to work together and not let our differences divide us.