Why I Am a Bolshie Dissenter

Bolshie – (more commonly) an adjective meaning that someone is very assertive in the pursuit of something and/or hostile to authoritarian manoeuvres by others. A bolshie person gets cross if confronted and is likely to say “what’s it to you?”, “mind your own business” and stuff like that a lot.  Source: Urban Dictionary.

In my adult life, I have always been a bit (actually a lot) of a rebel. This probably has something to do with the fact that I grew up in a quite dysfunctional household.  As a child, I was a timid little mouse, because being otherwise wreaked havoc on my personal safety.  I always felt, though, that I had a voice. That there would come a time in my life when I would not be quietened. Would not be silenced. And that time did come. As an adult, I now have trouble being anything other than a voice for what I (personally)  see as injustice and unfairness – whether it’s against myself or someone else. Ethics, honesty and integrity are values I hold dear, and they guide many of my decisions. And personal judgments.

For judge I do. And I make most of my judgments about authority, particularly in my workplace. I rail against decisions that affect the little people; those who have no voice and little power.

Any society, any nation, is judged on the basis of how it treats its weakest members—the last, the least, the littlest. ~ Cardinal Roger Mahony.

I am sure that any psychologist worth their salt would probably say that I use authority figures to reinvent my childhood… or words to that effect. And they are probably right. Putting that aside though, what if it’s my Purpose In Life to be the voice of the disempowered? What if my experiences as a child are a direct result of a master plan or theme agreed upon before I was born? When I think about it, this makes sense and I explored this idea further here.

I am driven to speak out against injustice and unfairness because it is what I was born to do. I am a bolshie dissenter.

I cannot be anything else.

Did this post resonate with you?

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