Or do they just want to control us by getting us hooked on their technology? As we progress into the 21st century, most of us find it harder and harder to understand the pervasive technologies that underpin our daily lives. This emerging reality can lead us to radically divergent conclusions. While many of us may
⋯Filtered by sustainable
We cannot stop wars unless we tackle their causes
How greed, distrust, decadence and unsustainability engender conflicts Most of us agree wars are best avoided, but we have long debated whether and when they can ever be justified. In theory at least, we can assert the right of all communities to self-defence against incursions and conquest, but in practice life is seldom that simple,
⋯capitalism, communism, Computing, hegemony
On the Value of Human Life
Two subjects are bound to enrage puritans, especially those with devout religious beliefs of one persuasion or another: abortion and birth control. Don’t get me wrong, I favour vigorous debate on both issues and totally respect the rationale behind an absolute repudiation of the murder of innocent human life. Nothing is more human than a
⋯hegemony
Patronising Social Conformists
How the new left merely cheerleads the new globalist establishment As millions heed the call of the establishment media and celebrity charlatans to protest the inauguration of a new conservative American president, we must ask why the same media outlets barely reported massive grassroots opposition to recent military interventions in the Middle East. These stage-managed
⋯All in the mind, capitalism, communism, corporatism, limits to growth
Is Oceania still at war with Eastasia?
How President Trump could signal the demise of the USA as a superpower and how the globalist elite may switch allegiance to other centres of power. In George Orwell’s 1984 Oceania appeared to be in a never-ending war against Eastasia. Airstrip One, the new name for Great Britain, belonged to Oceania with North America and
⋯capitalism, communism, Computing, corporatism, hegemony, human rights, immigration
Am I Left or Am I Right?
Once again we return to the superseded left vs right spectrum or is it good vs bad, collectivism vs individualism, state control vs private enterprise, equality vs meritocracy or ecological responsibility vs economic growth? Few real world issues can be simplified on a one-dimensional scale. Some would now describe some of my opinions as embarrassingly
⋯capitalism, communism, Computing, corporatism, hegemony
Expertocracy: the political Elites don't trust you
Unless you believe their experts Today people power, or democracy if your prefer a more Hellenic term, means little more than mood management. You may express your feelings on a range of options that other presumed experts and high-profile opinion leaders offer you. However, you are not supposed to have any original thoughts or seek
⋯All in the mind, capitalism, hegemony, immigration
Does the Trendy Left trust you to do anything?
If you listen to the debate on Britain’s membership of the European Union you could be forgiven for believing that it’s a clash between progressive philanthropists and selfish Little Englanders determined to restore Britain to Victorian values. To the likes of Caroline Lucas the EU represents green fields with solar panels and wind turbines interspersed
⋯All in the mind, capitalism, communism
Fair Trade Not Free Trade
Free trade has now become an untouchable sacred cow, which alongside economic growth and free movement of labour forms a sort of mercantile holy trinity. Without free trade, we are told, we would have a smaller variety of more expensive products and, worst of all, economic stagnation. However, all this assumes an idealised world of
⋯Computing, hegemony, limits to growth
Meet the new Universalist Establishment
Trendy leftwingers are the new ultra-conformists Many observers still tend to simplify political analysis on a one-dimensional left / right spectrum. We might use many other scales such as state ownership vs private enterprise, libertarian vs authoritarian, individualism vs collectivism, local vs national, national vs international or environmental friendliness vs economic growth, equality vs meritocracy
⋯capitalism, communism, corporatism, hegemony, human rights, immigration
Out-of-touch Euro-phobic Elites
I love Europe, its peoples, its cuisines, its landscapes, its architecture, its music, its literature, its languages and its philosophers. Call me a nostalgic but I don’t want the French to become German, the Germans to become English, the English to become Polish, the Italians to be Swedish or the Swedes to become Moroccan. I’m
⋯capitalism, corporatism, hegemony, immigration
Left vs Right: The Yin and Yang of political analysis
As an idealist teenager I always wanted to side with the notional left on everything. The left represented progress towards a better tomorrow freed of human suffering, prejudice, inequality and exploitation, a panacea in which all human beings could enjoy life to the full in a giant communal garden of Eden. The right, on the
⋯All in the mind, capitalism, communism, corporatism, hegemony, human rights
Imagine there's no countries...
Reflections on Global Convergence As an idealist teenager John Lennon’s Imagine became my anthem. I yearned for a future devoid of the seemingly pointless nationalist rivalry and imperialism that had fuelled two world wars and enslaved millions in the colonial era. I dreamed innocently of a world where different peoples would learn from each other,
⋯capitalism, corporatism, human rights, immigration, limits to growth
Managing the Opposition
Jeremy Corbyn looks set to become Labour Leader and may soon trigger a realignment of the variety show called British parliamentary politics. Don’t get me wrong, Jeremy Corbyn was one of the few Labour MPs to take a consistent stand against recent military interventions and oppose the government’s love affair with global corporations. I’d certainly
⋯capitalism, corporatism, hegemony, human rights, immigration
The Wealth Illusion
A much publicised factoid, popularised by many left-leaning campaigners for greater equality, shows that the richest 85 people in the world are as wealthy as the poorest half or around 3.5 billion human beings. That would make each multibillionaire a staggering 41 million times richer than your typical Sub-Sarahan African, Indian or Indonesian. I’ve done
⋯All in the mind, limits to growth
Whoever wins the election it will be business as usual
I wish ballot papers had an extra box titled None of the above for I might very well be tempted to use it. None of the parties have a coherent set of policies that can deal with the fundamental stresses and strains of our overheated economy and overburdened environment, but some have policies I can
⋯capitalism, communism, corporatism, immigration, limits to growth
The Nice Party Manifesto
As an environmentally friendly, safety-aware, anti-racist, disability-positive, anti- homophobia, feminist, pro-growth, pro-children, pro-happiness party, we oppose all nasty policies that may harm other human beings. Global minimum salary: If elected the UK Nice Party will provide everyone in the world with access to an online bank account and transfer 1 bitcoin ( £150) a day
⋯All in the mind, Computing, immigration
Question Time on Rise of UKIP
How would members of the panel deal with the rise in UKIP support among working class whites? Dame Penelope Guardian Reader This may surprise you, but on my mother’s side I’m of White English working class extraction myself and have some friends and relatives who still live in white working class communities. A great aunt
⋯All in the mind, capitalism
Extreme Labour Mobility
Rethinking the Migration Debate Were we to debate the ethics of racial prejudice, the relative merits of other societies or the wonders of humanity’s rich cultural diversity, I would not hesitate for a moment both to stand against all forms of xenophobia and to celebrate true cultural diversity. However, as soon as someone suggests the
⋯capitalism, human rights, immigration, limits to growth
Rewriting History: The Myth of the Good War
As we mourn the deaths of millions of young Europeans in a futile dispute between rival empires, British, French, Russian and American leaders perpetuate the myth of a simple battle between good and evil, freedom and tyranny, democracy and dictatorship. Yet without the deep scars left by the blood-stained aftermath of the Great War, much
⋯capitalism
Dictatorship by Consent
Apparently, if we believe many opinion leaders, we fought most recent wars to spread freedom and democracy. Allegedly people across the world admire us because of our deep-rooted civic political culture. Never mind any inconvenient conflicts between personal freedom and true democracy, but what do the international ruling elites and their faithful cheerleaders actually mean
⋯All in the mind, capitalism, communism, corporatism
The Globalist Mindset
If you love planet earth and the human race, may I humbly suggest corporate globalisation leading to a grotesque misappropriation of resources may not be such a good idea after all. However, some self-proclaimed progressives disagree. They somehow associate the onward march of transnational organisations, the proliferation of branded retail outlets and the relentless expansion
⋯capitalism, communism, corporatism, hegemony, limits to growth
11 million empty homes, in the wrong places
The Guardian newspaper has just revealed to its credulous readers that EU-wide no fewer than 11 million dwellings stand empty. This apparent news has been endlessly recycled by various well-funded lobbies and think-tanks to suggest there is no housing crisis in the regions that have recently attracted most inward migration. Meanwhile to accommodate 4 million
⋯corporatism, immigration, limits to growth
All true conservatives are green
I sometimes enjoy Peter Hitchens‚ antidote to mainstream trendy Neo-Liberal thinking, but fear he is on some subjects in bad company and a tad ill-informed. No rational person could deny volumes of hard evidence showing the exponential rise in humanity’s collective impact on our planet’s delicate ecosystem, both in terms of our numbers (rising from
⋯All in the mind, capitalism, Computing, corporatism, limits to growth
Hedonism Ablaze
What a coincidence! Just days after the US administration agreed to raise their country’s debt ceiling and let the global consumption party go on for a few more months or maybe years, In London marauding mobs run riot, loot retail outlets and set commercial and residential buildings on fire. Reportedly it all started in Tottenham
⋯All in the mind, capitalism, communism, corporatism
Corporate Mercenaries
The LM Gang are back, this time advocating, in a new C4 documentary Britain’s Trillion pound Horror Story, the privatisation of healthcare and education and downsizing of the rest of the public sector to reduce taxes, the national debt and stimulate economic growth. Back in 1998 a post-modern intellectual associated with the former Revolutionary Communist
⋯capitalism, corporatism, immigration, limits to growth
The Keynsian Dream is Over
None of the major parties in the UK have had the courage to tell the electorate the unpalatable truth. They act as mere middle managers or public relations officers, somewhere between their masters in global banking, energy cartels and military-industrial establishment and the hundreds of thousands of minion bureaucrats in the UK`s non-productive public and
⋯capitalism, corporatism, hegemony