Filed under: asperger's syndrome, Health, Justice, Parenting, personal development, Politics, Religion, Scotland, Yes Scotland | Tags: Angela Eagle, Boris Johnson, Chilcot Report, Daesh, EU Referendum, George W Bush, Hilary Benn, Iraq, Ireland, racism, terrorism, Tony Blair
I was having a discussion about racism, as one does. Later I was reflecting on racism and my experience of it and relating it to the discussions going on now over the Chilcot Report. A number of apologists for Tony Blair and New Labour refuse to accept that the Iraqi insurgency and the rise of Daesh can in any way be blamed on the war that was launched against Iraq by Tony Blair and George W Bush with the approval of New Labour MPs like Hilary Benn and Angela Eagle. The counter argument is that the invasion of Iraq brought about Daesh as a reaction to invasion.
To describe racism as ‘Prejudice plus power’ is a gross over simplification. However there is a power dynamic in racism that fosters resentment and retaliation. When a more powerful race imposes its will on a less powerful by force it fosters resentment. Racism is not necessarily about skin colour although that is often a factor but occurs when any race considers another as inferior and abuses, exploits, and belittles it accordingly. Obvious examples are the English imposition of a system derived from Norman feudalism on the clan structures of Ireland and later Scotland and the assault on their language and cultures. The treating of black Africans as domestic animals rather than human beings is an even more obvious example. That these attitudes persist may be seen in the current protests in the United States, closer to home even the Prime Minister accepts that black people are unfairly treated by the justice system. The new Foreign Secretary published a poem about the Scots which includes lines like,
“Battening off us with false bonhomie;
Polluting our stock, undermining our economy.”
Effectively saying that Scots are parasites and genetically inferior. The poem ends with an obvious reference to Hitler’s final solution,
“I would go further. The nation
Deserves not merely isolation
But comprehensive extermination.
We must not flinch from a solution.”
Of course when directed at the Scots no one in England bothers about its racism and they ignore the obvious link between racism and anti Semitism because it’s Boris and he’s a buffoon, what a wag, eh? That the underlying foundation of the Conservative General Election campaign was basically the oft repeated claim that ‘If you vote Labour England will be run by Scots because Labour will be in thrall to the SNP.’ demonstrates that the Tories were able to rely on an underlying current of racism to win votes. It was a strategy that rebounded on David Cameron as his opponents in the EU Referendum used promises of cutting immigration to manipulate that racist vote and take the UK out of the EU. But what has any of this got to do with Chilcot?
When I was a child, wherever someone was born they were assumed to be of the same race as their father. My father was Irish, something of which I am proud. However it did make me the target of abuse at school. There is a myth that Irish people have violent tempers so my contemporaries in my English Prep school used to torment me and physically abuse me until I lost my temper at which point they colluded to ensure that I was the one to be blamed for the ensuing melee and any breakages. My property was vandalised and stolen. Were it not for the deliberate goading to see my ‘Irish temper’ I might have just passed it off as bullying, but I am satisfied it was racism. I was not alone, one Asian boy was invariably addressed as ‘Cowshit’ rather than by his own (not entirely dissimilar name) and a Jewish boy was forced to eat pork sausages.
If I could be left with an abiding dislike and mistrust of the English, how much more reason do the Iraqis have to resent the invasion of their country and the killing of their people, many of them civilians. If the western powers insist on bombing other countries they will provoke resentment which can be turned into a will to revenge by those it suits to do so. However well meaning and principled a military action or drone strike may be, it only takes the death of an innocent to breed resentment. However much we may protest that we act in the interests of world peace, when we invade another country we are effectively inviting them to defend themselves. When Britain was threatened by the Nazis, civilians took up arms in the Home Guard to defend their country. When France was invaded by the Nazis hundreds of civilians took up arms to resist them. We should not be surprised when Iraqis, or Afghanis do the same. Worse, because it was an invasion by western forces, whatever the invasion’s objective it made it possible for the unscrupulous to portray it as an attack on Islam. When conflict moves from geography to ideology it ceases to have geographical boundaries. When a conflict spills over from its assigned combatants and makes of civilians ‘collateral damage’ every target becomes a legitimate one and those without sufficient ordinance to pursue a campaign on the battlefield look for easier, softer targets.
Whatever those who voted for war in Iraq may claim. Whether they were misled or no. It is too late for excuses. A simple review of the past two millenia should have told them that violence begets violence, they should have challenged the lies they were peddled, they should have pursued alternative means until they were exhausted. When they took the ‘War on Terror’ to the enemy they brought that terror into our homes and wheter they like it or not, they are to blame.
Filed under: disability, Health, Justice, Parenting, Politics, Scotland, social media, Yes Scotland | Tags: Andrew Marr, Angela Eagle, Blairites, Bob Dylan, Brexit, EU Referendum, Europe, European Union, generation gap, Jeremy Corbyn, Labour Party, PLP, revolution, Sixties, Socialism
I watched Jeremy Corbyn politely and courteously knocking all Andrew Marr’s questions for six while remaining relaxed and casual. One thing he said particularly made me prick up my ears and that was, “The times they are a changing”, which is of course, a Bob Dylan song. Andrew Marr who had just been made to look somewhat shallow after admitting that all his opinions were formed from reading newspapers, needless to say, did not pick up on the implications of the remark. In that one line Corbyn demonstrated why he commands a huge following among ordinary people and the young, many of whom have probably never heard the song and certainly weren’t born when it was written. However the words of the song speak directly to the world we live in now.
What the song said back in the Sixties and Corbyn is saying now is that the world has changed and the old certainties no longer apply. There are many among Tony Blair’s disciples like Angela Eagle who think that by dishonestly manipulating rules the status quo can be preserved. Recent events around the world show they are wrong. Unlike many of his opponents Jeremy Corbyn has been an active participant in the movements that transformed society in the second half of the Twentieth Century, unlike the ‘critics who prophesize’ with their pens Corbyn’s eyes are open and he is picking up on the signs of change. The song is not only a song of revolution, but of hope and vision. Corbyn is declaring that he, of all politicians is offering hope because he has a vision that a better future is possible a vision that Angela Eagle’s campaign launch shows she is utterly lacking.
The Brexit vote has revealed that the division between generations so much remarked upon in the Sixties is greater than ever with a very real resentment from the young of an older generation who after dismantling the welfare state, devaluing education, wrecking the economy and destroying employment prospects and rights have now taken the country out of the EU. The younger generation felt European, they felt at home in Europe and now something that they saw as full of promise has been stolen from them. Alone among senior politicians, Corbyn reaches out to the young. Mothers and fathers throughout the land criticise and can’t understand that their interests, aspirations and beliefs are not those of their children, but Corbyn realises that the young demand a voice and a politics that comes from a better future rather than the ‘business as usual’ promised by Eagle and the establishment. The young and disenfranchised look at the Blairites and the Tories and fail to distinguish any difference between them, whereas in Corbyn they see a man who stands, as he has for decades, like a bulwark against a corrupt and oppressive establishment. Whereas the right insist on adhering to the same practices that have allowed the rich to get richer at the expense of the majority, Corbyn is prepared to try something different, to hand power over their own lives back to ordinary people.
The politicians in Westminster and the money grubbers in the city have been so busy feathering their own nests that they have failed to see that outside a battle is raging. Where they do notice protest they either ignore it or use the forces of the state to suppress it. They ban demonstrations from Westminster bridge, put gates on Downing Street, outlaw Trades Union activities, baton charge and ‘kettle’ protestors without regard to their safety, allow the security services unfettered access to citizens private communications, employ venal journalists to propagate the establishment’s claims rather than investigate and challenge them. To every action there is an equal and opposite reaction, ultimately apply to much pressure on society and it will explode. When that day comes it is the politicians and businessmen and their allies who will be swept away by the flood.
What Corbyn offers is a real alternative. Not only a kinder politics, but a participative politics. It is no accident that he has built the Labour Party into the largest popular political party Britain has ever seen. Unlike his enemies in the Parliamentary Labour Party, Corbyn is offering ordinary people the chance to participate in the government of their country. Millions of Leave voters voted ‘to get their country back’ and now the Conservative Parliamentary Party, mostly Remain voters, have appointed a Prime Minister without any input from the electorate, a Prime Minister who campaigned to remain in the EU. We know from research that much of the Leave vote was motivated by a sense that Westminster ignored ordinary people. It is to this discontent with the establishment that Corbyn speaks. One of the PLPs criticisms of Jeremy Corbyn is that he was not unquestioning in his support of the EU. His stance was clearly that the EU requires radical reform and it is best to stay in and fight for them, it is a stance that many Leave supporters share. Corbyn’s vision for Europe was one based on social justice rather than greed. However the British people have spoken and unlike other politicians Corbyn puts the will of the people above the interests of career politicians or the profits of financiers. The economic problems caused by Brexit are already leading the establishment to demand further austerity, and let’s not forget Angela Eagle and most of the Labour rebels refused to vote against austerity measures, Jeremy defiantly voted against. If Brexit does cause economic damage, under Corbyn Labour would fight to share the burdens equitably rather than accept disproportionate austerity, whereas Angela Eagle’s record suggest she might complain, but would than abstain and allow the Tories to do what they liked. Since Corbyn became leader Labour has been actively opposing the government and the establishment for the first time in years.
Look around the world, we’ve had a rise in peoples movements, even in the USA socialism is no longer a dirty word. Ordinary people are demanding a voice everywhere and in Britain only Corbyn (and in Scotland, Sturgeon) is prepared to give them that voice.
“Come senators, congressmen
Please heed the call
Don’t stand in the doorway
Don’t block up the hall
For he that gets hurt
Will be he who has stalled
There’s a battle outside ragin’
It’ll soon shake your windows
And rattle your walls
For the times they are a-changin’” (Bob Dylan)
Filed under: disability, Health, personal development, Politics, Writing | Tags: choices, Daily Greatness Journal, depression, EU Referendum, goals, journaling, Labour Party, migraine, scheduling, vertigo
The last few days have been traumatic. The English voted to drag us out of the EU. Throughout England foreigners and anyone who’s skin or features identifies them as not being pure English have been subject to verbal and in some cases physical abuse. The right wing is rallying to control the UK and to protect war criminals like Blair by taking control of the Labour party back from its members and into the hands of the professional expenses claimers and friends of business, anyone who thinks they can turn a profit from being a Labour MP. It is all very depressing. Ho hum.
I woke up tired today. I woke up late. I woke up feeling unwell. Perhaps that is in part to the events of the last few days. I suspect it is more likely because of the instability in my left knee and the effects of the pain killers I am using to get by. I haven’t taken any today, but I’m still suffering severe vertigo. I felt so bad this morning I almost did not use my Daily Greatness Journal and that is an integral part of my morning routine.
In the end I reluctantly compelled myself to open the book and write. I am glad I did. Without journalling or some other form of planning it is all too easy for the hours of the day to drift by to no real purpose. An active decision to spend a day relaxing and recovering is one thing, but a day allowed to drift pass is a wasted day and does not provide the benefits of deliberate rest. A futile day is, in my experience, often the first step towards a recurrence of depression.
Making the choice to journal put me back in control of my day, of my life. Yes I am suffering a degree of physical inconvenience, however by planning I can still make my day both productive and satisfying. By proper pacing of my time and activity I can accommodate even a threatened migraine (why do these physical problems never come singly) the optical part has started, I hope I can finish this and lie down before any pain hits, and it might not, it doesn’t always.
The useful thing about the Daily Greatness Journal is that it presents me with prepared questions to provoke a response and enable me to set a context and intentions for my day. Even if my intention were to rest it would be a positive intention, my choice not a manifestation of powerlessness. As it is, I have stirred myself to phone for a doctor’s appointment (two weeks and not the doctor I want!), to doing a food plan for the week, some gentle housework, some research and now blogging. It had looked earlier as if nothing would be done.
Perhaps the best thing about journaling today is its effect on my attitude. As I have said it puts me back in control. By setting appropriately scheduling activities however light, and setting goals, however small, it provides a measure of accomplishment and even a small victory boosts morale. This evening when I complete today’s journal I shall have learnings and accomplishments to record and intentions for tomorrow. Perhaps I may have insights of benefit to society, I may even have ideas I can act upon to do my part of digging us out of the shit into which we have been dumped. Above all I will have optimism because I have proven to myself that I can keep going. One day at a time is enough for now.
Filed under: disability, Health, Justice, Parenting, Politics, Religion, Scotland, Travel | Tags: Adolf Hitler, Battle of the Somme, Brexit, ECSC, EU Referendum, European Coal and Steel Community, European Union, Falangists, Fascists, Great War, League of nations, Liam Fox, Marine Le Pen, Nazis, peace, Second World War, Somme, Soviet Union, Treaty of Paris, Treaty of Versailles, Weimar Republic
Yestereven I watched a documentary about the Battle of the Somme, whose Centenary begins next month. The documentary, drawing on accounts by some of the participants, focused on just the first couple of days of the battle. The Battle of the Somme lasted into November and had implications for the Battle of Verdun and the Russian Brusilov offensive by tying up vast numbers of German troops. However the program just looked at the first offensive and the nearly sixty thousand British casualties incurred, many within the first few hours. The men who died were buried largely close to where they fell and today their graves are marked by long rows of white markers. Thousands of graves in each of several grave yards and among those thousands many hundreds of graves without a name merely the inscription ‘A Soldier of The Great War: Known To God’.
A couple of years after the Great War ended the Paris Peace Conference established The League of Nations to preserve world peace, but it had no real powers and no means to bind its members into any sort of union. It depended upon the goodwill of the Great Powers to preserve peace and the Powers had their own prorities. The Great War was ended by the German surrender and their humiliation in the Treaty of Versailles. It left Germany not only resentful of the allies but in economic chaos. Adolf Hitler directly blamed the Treaty for the state of the German economy and we all know what followed.
After the Second World War with its millions of dead, not only combatants, but civilians some politicians sought to bind European nations particularly France and Germany into alliances of mutual interest beginning in 1951 by another Treaty of Paris that established the European Coal and Steel Community which had been proposed by the French Foreign Minister specifically as a means to prevent war between France and Germany to “make war not only unthinkable, but materially impossible”. The ECSC was followed by other institutions each designed to bind Europe more closely. The primary purpose of the ECSC and its development ultimately into the European Union has always been to preserve peace in Europe and to avoid the sort of economic conditions in any nation that brought about the rise of Hitler and the Second World War.
It has been sad seeing the glee with which politicians of the Right like Liam Fox and Marine Le Pen have welcomed the possibility that Britain’s leaving the EU may cause other nations to follow suit and bring about the end of the EU. We know from the collapse of Yugoslavia that there are historic grudges within Europe that can easily lead to violence, even war. Drawing into the Union the countries that had been satellites of the former Soviet Union gave them stability and aspiration and a new identity as European countries. Within the EU it is true that some nations subsidised others however it generally has prevented the sort of economic collapse seen in the Weimar Republic. Yes there have been serious problems such as the treatment of Greece, but the overall impetus has been to contain crises and prevent the circumstances that cause war.
The Brexit vote in the UK has encouraged the extreme right with their racist thugs to come crawling out of their holes and make their presence felt once more. I take no comfort in the argument that they are a small minority, so were the Nazis in Germany, the Fascists in Italy and the Falangists in Spain. Given a collapsing economy and suitable scapegoats like foreigners, Jews (or Muslims), Socialists, and Trades Unions a previously ridiculed minority political party can rise to power. It has happened before. Without a shared vision of peace it could happen again. I hope that those negotiating for the UK in the Brexit negotiations are not driven by jingoism and that the EU negotiators do not decide to make an example of the UK to discourage others from leaving. The times are sensitive and I hope before anyone decides to rattle a sabre they take a long hard look at those rows of white grave markers and remember the millions of men some known only to God and realise that nothing in the EU is as bad as war.
Filed under: asperger's syndrome, disability, Health, Justice, Politics, Scotland, Travel, Yes Scotland | Tags: Brexit, Britain, culture, EU Referendum, Europe, Glasgow Herald, history, intolerance, Ireland, nationalism, Scotland, United Kingdom, xenophobia
This is a statement of my personal position. You may think differently, I will not think any less of you if you do.
I cannot think of any political campaign in my lifetime as grubby as this EU Referendum (except perhaps the No Campaign in the Scottish Referendum) and I absolve neither side. It is clear that both the Tory led campaigns for In and Out have stooped to scaremongering, abuse, xenophobia, and blatant lying. Repeatedly fact checkers have debunked arguments and the figures used. I think the whole referendum debate has exposed how unpleasant is the phenomenon of ‘Britishness’ or British Nationalism.
I shall vote remain because I am a European, my culture is European. I am not, nor have I ever been ‘British’. I was born and am a citizen of the United Kingdom (a political union whose validity I do not recognise). I am Scots Irish. When I was four, watching Rugby on television, my mother made the mistake of laughing when England won and I in my anger overturned the tea table. I like to think my opposition to Britain has matured since then and my tolerance of the English grown along with it. However my lifelong passion for history led me to read of how during The Hunger the English allowed millions of Irish to starve while exporting food, that might have saved lives, from Ireland to England. I read of the thousands of Scots and Irish shipped by England as slaves for the sugar plantations. I read of the deliberate destruction of the Irish and Scots cultures and languages. I read of how thousands were forced from their homes by a landowning system imported from England that favoured the few over the many. Apart from the abuses to which England subjected the Scots and Irish (I must confess my reading never did justice to the treatment of the Welsh) I read of the abuses of the British Empire across the world. The slave trade. The destruction of India’s irrigation systems, the smashing of Indian weavers’ hands to compel Indians to purchase inferior cotton cloth from Lancashire, the Bengal famine and Churchill’s enjoyment of it. The compelling by of China to import opium. The arbitrary parcelling out of foreign territory. As far as I can see the overiding ethos of Britain is to turn a profit regardless of ethical consideration.
However, in fairness it must be said, many of the criticisms of Britain’s imperial past can be equally levelled at France, Spain, Germany, and to a lesser extent other nations like Italy. Neither can it be said that xenophobia, Islamophobia, and anti semitism are qualities reserved to the English as they seem to manifest amongst right-wingers across the continent. No one can honestly say Vote Leave is any worse than other right-wing movements. Many of our European neighbours have nationalist movements every bit as ugly as the British Nationalism of the English so why would I stay in Europe?
Yes Europe contains Nationalists, but it contains many nationalisms and many nations who are prevented by its structures from dominating the continent. History shows us that for centuries Europe has been blighted by war after war, national boundaries have changed again and again. The European Union provides a structure that guarantees to every nation a degree of sovereignty and security from European wars, the price is a sharing of some part of each nation’s sovereignty with the community as a whole. I believe that a price worth paying to preserve peace and our individuality as a nation. I look at the determination of the Brexiteers to withdraw from the European Convention on Human Rights and shudder. This would destroy the constitutional agreements that provide our Scottish Parliament and underpin the Northern Irish Peace Process, I can see no good coming of that and neither will it promote peace and security in these islands.
I am European because my culture is European both Scotland and Ireland have always had close links with Europe sharing both ideas and art. I remember travelling down the Loire on a coach trip booked through the Glasgow Herald. At attraction after attraction our guide began sentences with, “When we were fighting you in the Hundred Years War…” eventually I took him aside and pointed out that the trip came from Scotland. The guide’s whole demeanour changed and from then on his commentary changed to, “When we were fighting together against the English…”. But it’s not just the Auld Alliance, we enjoy our shared culture and have welcomed, and still welcome, immigrants of every nation. The genes and culture of Italy, France, Poland and many other countries, European and otherwise, are part of us, I learned of Gigli from a railwayman and ex miner of Irish descent in Cambuslang, of Tito Gobbi from a Glaswegian telephone operator of Italian descent. We have no difficulty being both Scots and European, indeed many, like myself, find it more natural than trying to accommodate being Scots with being British. Like other small nations, including Catalonia, we find that our national identity can shine in Europe rather than being lost in a foreign culture like Britain that has adopted middle class London as its cultural norm and persistently undermines even English regional variations.
I vote remain because I am European. Having voted on Friday I will learn whether I can keep the passport I have or if I need to apply for an Irish one, but I will remain European. That is my position, but there are many who sincerely consider themselves British as opposed to European and others who consider themselves both British and European. In the end you must vote as your conscience directs and accept that others will vote differently and that however we vote there will be consequences that must not be allowed to drag us into violence. I find it hard to see how any worthwhile vision of the UK can survive this campaign whatever the result. However whatever the result we must somehow rebuild positive relationships and we cannot do that without mutual respect and that includes respecting the right of others to believe, think differently and even vote differently.
Filed under: asperger's syndrome, autism, Gardening, Health, Justice, personal development, Politics, Religion, social media, Steampunk, Travel | Tags: Brexit, EU Referendum, FaceBook, football, hatred, Jo Cox, political violence, retreats, Twitter, xenophobia
Society of St. Francis Friary, Alnmouth
Sometimes it is difficult to make sense of this world. Within the space of a week we have seen a homo0phobic mass shooting in a Gay nightclub in Orlando and an English Member of Parliament murdered, it would seem for her support for refugees, but as yet we can’t be entirely sure of the killer’s motivation except that he is a supporter of Britain First. We have seen English football fans attacking people on the streets of France, but to be fair, thuggery seems to be the distinguishing feature of football fans of several nations. I must admit my mood is not improved by this being the season of Orange Walks and the inconvenience and disruption they cause, even when orderly. The media and social media are full of people spouting xenophobia and hatred to try and secure Britain’s departure from the European Union while many who spouted the same hatred a little while ago are now are arguing with similar language to keep Britain in the EU. What is astonishing and depressing is the sheer amount of vitriol from both sides and the incessant negativity. No one is making any sort of case for why a vote in either direction will make the world better or even, Britain. The inescapable conclusion looking at both camps is, that in the words of Private Fraser “We’re a’ doomed, Doomed I tell ye!”
Regardless of the violence of the last few days there is little to celebrate elsewhere in the news. The Chancellor can say what he likes, but I can see the empty shops and closed businesses in our streets. Sometimes the government seems to forget there is a Britain outside London.
It is impossible to escape the information onslaught. Every pub and every bank and office seems to have television screens either feeding us football or news. Nearly every shop and restaurant insists on playing music, often of dubious merit. On social media I find friends being unpleasant to each other merely because they express divergent opinions. It seems that the inevitable consequence of free speech is hatred and ruptured relationships
Sometimes this world is just too demanding, the amount of information too overwhelming, the lack of clarity and validated fact too confusing, and the incessant sensory stimuli too omnipresent. It is time to escape. Turn off the television, stop reading newspapers, ignore Facebook and Twitter except perhaps the Steampunk and Cosplay sites where participants are interested in more important things than politics…okay fluffy kittens are fairly safe too.
Sometimes it is necessary just to shut down. It is a couple of years since I last made a silent retreat, but I feel the urge to escape building. A break in the country with no phone signal nor wifi would be very acceptable too, just a pile of books and my wife to keep me company, that would be good.
I had a friend who used to swear by flotation tanks. I am too suspicious of shared water, although I don’t suppose it’s any worse than a swimming pool, indeed given recent articles about ‘floaters’ (another reason to avoid newspapers), probably cleaner than a swimming pool. Even a walk by the river, or digging the garden can help. We all need sometimes to stop and let go. To pause. To relax and just breathe.
At the moment Britain is awash with emotion, with anger and hatred, xenophobia and sectarianism. We need to cool ourselves and release the pressure now. If we do not something will have to give, and an uncontrolled explosion of violence in the streets of our cities is something none of us need. I almost said ‘none of us want’, but unfortunately the death of Jo Cox shows that is not so. There is a very real danger of hatred and resentment leading to violence and the levels we have reached, I believe, make that imminent. I hope our television screens are not going to be filled with images of violence, I think perhaps I shall leave mine turned off a little longer.
Filed under: Health, Justice, Poetry, Politics, Religion, Scotland, Travel | Tags: Brexit, Christians, EU Referendum, genetics, Jews, Muslims, peace, Psalms, Shakespeare
Today as I read my bible (still looking for a loophole) I was struck by the words of Psalm 133.
“Behold how good and pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!
It is like the precious ointment upon the head that ran down upon the beard, even Aaron’s beard: that went down to the skirts of his garments;
As the dew of Hermon, and as the dew that descended upon the mountains of Zion: for there the Lord commanded the blessing, even life for evermore.” (Psalm 133)
I couldn’t help but reflect on how relevant the psalmist’s words remain. I have been observing the EU Referendum debate and am horrified at how facts and reason have been replaced by anger and abuse. Follow a thread on social media and see how a simple insertion of validated statistics that contradict a claim by either side is not met by counter arguments, but by insult and obscenity.
People think that after the referendum things will settle down and everyone will be friends again. There is still simmering resentment in Scotland and a refusal to forgive after the independence referendum. You may argue that that is less than two years ago, not long. The Miners Strike was thirty years ago and the wounds still have not healed. Let’s be honest in these islands we are nursing grudges that go back centuries.
Can things remain the same after a Brexit? Everyone knows Brexit will precipitate further campaigning for Scottish independence. Of more concern perhaps is the call of Sinn Fein for Brexit to lead to a vote on the reunification of Ireland, experience tells us that that argument has a way of spilling out onto the streets.
I love the image of the oil running down Aaron’s beard. Aaron the brother of Moses, the prophet revered by Jews, Christians and Muslims. And so the Israelis cut off water supplies to the West Bank during Ramadan. Muslims kill Muslims and anyone of any other tradition across Asia while Christians bomb hospitals with drones. So much for brothers dwelling together in unity.
Apparently human life began in Africa and thence spread across the globe. Geneticists tell us that one in every two hundred men is descended from Gengis Khan.The descendents of Sommerled Lord of the Isles are scarcely fewer. I doubt there is a single person alive in any country who can honestly claim that there is not an immigrant among their forebears, certainly not in Britain.
The divisions between us are all artificial, all made up. Study the mythology of any religion and you’ll find the same myths recur in other traditions. The world has natural boundaries: rivers, mountains, seas that affect the distribution of population, however every political border is an artificial construct. The barriers we raise between us arise entirely out of fear and greed and the laws that follow those barriers seek only to perpetuate division.
There is no sensible reason not to dwell together in unity. This world is abundant enough to support us all if we are willing to share. There is not a difference of opinion that cannot be discussed and subjected to logic if people are amenable to reason rather than bound by prejudice. Even if we choose to retain our rich diversity of culture and belief, and I hope we do, there is no reason why we cannot live together as neighbours sharing our planet.
I am reminded of the famous words of Hamlet, I just wish we would realise them for ourselves.
“ ‘What a piece of work is a man! How noble in reason, how infinite in faculty! In form and moving how express and admirable! In action how like an Angel! in apprehension how like a god! The beauty of the world! The paragon of animals!”
Filed under: Politics | Tags: Brexit, EU, EU Referendum, European Union, Jack Dee
I had intended this weekend to avoid the mind numbing tedium of the EU Referendum. I didn’t listen to Any Questions or generally Xenophobic ‘Bigots’ Corner that always follows it on a Saturday. Today I refrained from watching the Andy Propagandists, the Andrews Marr and Neil, sooking up to the most right wing of Tory politicians. Like most people in Britain today I now discount the BBC as a reliable news source.
Despite my best intentions I watched Jack Dee’s EU Referendum Helpdesk. Well it was in my I Player downloads and I had time to spare. So far the referendum debate has consisted more or less of politicians on either side contradicting each other with little regard to any factual evidence. The debate goes more or less,
“The EU is good.”
“No it’s not.”
“It is.”
“Tisn’t.”
“It is so!”
“Liar, liar, pants on fire!”
And so it goes on. The most unedifying phenomenon is perhaps that of recent immigrants (within a couple of generations) like Priti Patel and Boris Johnson, having made it to Britain, trying to pull the drawbridge up behind them.
The EU Referendum Helpdesk was a welcome change from the grubby nastiness of the EU debate. Unlike almost every ostensibly serious program on the subject, the Helpdesk was intelligent and contained as much useful information as any BBC News program has recently. It is a shame that the only program to lift the debate above the level of the playground was one consisting of a panel of comedians. Meantime, with the exception of Jeremy Corbyn and his colleagues, the politicians involved on either side approach the debate in much the same way English football fans approach French police.
I shall be glad to see the referendum over, preferably with the rational result of remaining in the European Union. In the meantime there is the EU Referendum Helpdesk to lift the level of the debate.
Springingtiger's Blog 