Tea with Tony Benn

Hey all, so before I get to the long and epic journey through europe, I had to talk about my experience today. My mother's friend Ken Leech gave me the information of Tony Benn, a former MP who retired from parliament in 2001, so he could "pay more attention to politics." I phoned him today around 12:45 asking if he could spare a half an hour to talk about Socialism. He said that I should come by later today. So I did. He lives in Notting Hill Gate, not too far down the road from where I am located with a white picket fence and a red door. Very quaint house. His daughter answered the door, and told me to come right in. She was so kind. Tony had forgotten he had an interview with a journalist from the Guardian this afternoon, so she told me to come and and wait a little bit, offered me some tea. The kitchen was very small, connected to the living room and the dining room, nothing fancy at all about the place, clutter her and there. But on the walls there was William Morris wallpaper, both in the hallway and the kitchen. Already, I like this guy. His daughter was leaving soon, had to "go be a mummy, attend to my children." But she said that he is rather tired and "If he falls asleep, don't worry. Just put your cup in the sink and let yourself out. He probably wont, but just in case he does." She made me a cup of tea while I waited. the Reporter from the guardian was going saying how wonderful his family is, how political they are and how Tony doesn't force his beliefs on them. How they have the ability to disagree and no urge to agree just because of blood relation. Also, how that the whole family was interested in Politics and how hard that is to have younger generations follow careers of their parents.
His daughter and the reporter left. She said her goodbye to her father and Tony and I sat down. I started to talk about why I was talking to him, as an American fascinated by the UK socialist ideals and the power of the people in such a democracy. He is the premier socialist of the UK. He started talking about the origins of socialism, saying that democracy was the best thing so far for it. The most important thing in the word is the vote! He is not and never has been a part of the New Labor party, he is a member of the Labor party, before Tony Blair. Blair changed it by adapting the economical ideals of Thatcher because that was the only way to get elected. he says that the New Labor is not a socialist party, nor a working class party. His party was never in power, because power is always controlled by the rich. "if you're rich, it's easy to get power, and if you have you're powerful, it's easy to get money."
He said that it is about Justice is what it's all about. The right to justice is for all. That word really sums up socialist ideals. The injustice given to the poor based upon their social status needs to be justified. It was hard to ask more questions about his ideals because I had a hard time disagreeing with them. I kept saying things in hope that they were questions but they came across as statements. I just kept asking how is it is possible to have such a government invested highly in health and well being of their people, while the US constitution is a much more democratic, but is bought off by lobbyists and the rich.
Socialism cannot be put together by force, it cannot be forced upon the people, or it becomes a dictatorship. "Socialism comes hand in hand with democracy."
After  a while he asked about my parents being priests, he was intrigued and a large supporter of women priests. His ideas of religion is that he uses the bible to understand society and help democracy. To listen to the prophet before the kings. He has some great lines where I have read elsewhere such as, "When you think of the number of men in the world who hate each other, why, when two men love each other, does the church split?" He said about how Thatcher said her greatest achievement was New Labor. And "The Labor Party is not a socialist party, but it has socialists in it, just as there are some Christians in the church."

This really was a fantastic experience. I felt so at home in this atmosphere, being raised, just as the reporter said, with open minds. The clutter everywhere, William Morris wallpaper, and the ideals of social justice. After I had asked my questions, he wanted to know more about me, about my parents. He has been known to listen, constantly listening, no matter how deaf. He talked about Women priests just got the right about 10 years ago in the UK, and is avid supporter of women's rights. I told him about our family quarrels with Bishops and strong women being suppressed by the church. "The use of religion, listening to the pope, or you have to go to war, is not a democratic idea."

He ended with "Have confidence in yourself, thats the main thing." Great man. If you don't know how he is, look him up, If you have seen Sicko, he was interviewed by Michel Moore in that about the NHS.
He game me the information of a member on the other side of the argument, Lord Norman Tebbitt, and said to say that Tony Benn gave you the number, so i can get the Tory  side of Socialism. Because I agreed too much with Tony, it was hard to question him.