As we stand on the brink of World War Three over Russian involvement in the Syrian quagmire, our mainstream media feeds us with a steady diet of disinformation about the true causes of death and destruction in the Middle East while entertaining us with juicy stories of sexual misconduct of US presidential candidates. In one
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Universal Welfare vs Individual Freedom
Would global corporations bankroll a universal welfare system without seeking to control our lives? Imagine a society that not only provided all your existential needs, but also gave you wide-ranging lifestyle freedoms and did not compel you to hold down a mundane job just to afford the necessities of life. This usually means clean water,
⋯All in the mind, Computing, human rights
Labour has lost the plot
The British Labour Party could soon split into a pale imitation of Tony Blair’s New Labour and an economically illiterate student protest movement. Jeremy Corbyn’s transition from a lifelong backbench rebel to leader of Her Majesty’s opposition surprised me. I had admittedly underestimated the popularity of the new wave of leftwing activism. For a short
⋯capitalism, corporatism, hegemony, migration
Would a sane Commander in Chief ever deploy Nuclear Weapons?
The British Parliament is about to vote on the renewal of the country’s US-built and US-controlled nuclear missile shield. In case you didn’t know, these nuclear warheads are launched from submarines based in Faslane on the Firth of Clyde, just 20 miles from Glasgow, Scotland. I’ve long realised pacifism, while an ideal we should all
⋯Computing, 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
Shifting Alliances
For a long time Britain’s political parties have failed to represent the views and aspirations of ordinary people. Politicians have become mere implementors of policies devised elsewhere by a maze of global organisations. Labour, Conservatives, the Liberal Democrats and even the SNP have all converged on a variant of Blairism, broadly speaking a form of
⋯capitalism, communism, corporatism, migration
Forget Europe, Brexit was really a peasants revolt against smug elitists
Oddly this referendum has restored my faith in humanity Just over a week ago the global establishment and their cheerleaders in the liberal intelligentsia got the fright of their lives. They had failed to persuade the British electorate to vote remain in the referendum on the United Kingdom’s membership of the European Union. When Labour
⋯All in the mind, corporatism, hegemony, immigration, migration
Is Another Europe Possible?
The Democratic Delusion Only a few days ago opinion polls showed a lead for the Leave side in the upcoming referendum on the UK’s membership of the European Union. A growing cross-section of public opinion has been swung on key arguments on sovereignty and democracy so that the elected British parliament can regain control. From
⋯communism, corporatism, immigration, limits to growth
Rebutted: Top trendy arguments against balanced migration
Immigration control is racist Unless you share your property with others less fortunate than yourself, you’re racist too. Immigration controls ensure we can plan services and look after those already in our country. Besides our country has a limited carrying capacity and with an uncertain global economy it would be unwise to rely too much
⋯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, migration
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
Does Mass Immigration Help the Economy?
As net migration to the UK hits record levels, many opinion leaders, especially in the Labour and Green parties, claim this is no bad thing. Don’t worry about the numbers. They are just a sign of our interconnected times. We get to go on holiday or retire in Southern Europe and they come here to
⋯migration
The #Remain Youth Marketing Campaign
In the forthcoming referendum on British sovereignty, you’d be forgiven for thinking it were some sort of X-factor style contest on the relative merits of continental Europe. The latest propaganda from the StrongerIn campaign press all the right psychological buttons: Youth appeal Young people want to stay in Europe. If you’re young in fact or
⋯All in the mind, corporatism
7 Reasons why you should vote #Remain
You love French wine, German beer, Dutch cheese, Italian recipes, Spanish beaches, Austrian ski resorts, Czech castles, Swedish furniture, Finnish saunas and, did I forget, Belgian chocolate. Beethoven, Debussy, Chopin, Verdi and Mozart may also be music to your ears. Modern philosophy would not be complete without Voltaire, Descartes, Hegel, Nietzsche, Wittgenstein, Plato and Aristotle?
⋯capitalism, migration
Infantile Leftwing Globalism
You might naively imagine the main focus of the Green Party is to promote environmental sustainability, while the Labour Party seeks to defend the rights of ordinary working people in their country. Yet increasingly both serve the interests of global corporations, just as much as their nominally centre-right counterparts in misnamed conservative, liberal or separatist
⋯All in the mind, capitalism, corporatism, hegemony, human rights, limits to growth, monopoly
In Defence of Red Ken
Ken Livingstone, former Mayor of London and Labour MP, is back in the news for having allegedly misinterpreted a politically sensitive chapter of the 20th century. John Mann MP, an avid supporter of all recent US-led wars in the Middle East and Central Asia, accused Mr Livingstone of rewriting history by suggesting Hitler’s National Socialist
⋯immigration, migration
On admitting you're wrong
Intellectual Dishonesty and Cognitive Dissonance Is it better to be wrong for the right reasons or coincidentally right for the wrong reasons? For sake of argument, let us imagine a school teacher asks you to write an essay on the origin of the human species and let us also assume the teacher has a strong
⋯capitalism, hegemony, limits to growth, migration
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, migration
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, migration
Our Emerging Brave New World
Mental Health Mantra If you believe vocal lobbies, we can never devote enough resources to tackle our ongoing mental health crisis. Politicians of all hues like to champion the rights of mental health patients to better care. They try to score points on the perceived lack of funding for mental health services. The subtext is
⋯All in the mind, Computing, corporatism
Should we still call the global lingua franca English?
In more innocent times we associated a language with its national community. For much of history nations and languages had a symbiotic relationship. Language is the ultimate vehicle of the cultural traits that hold together communities and build trust in institutions. A multilingual country is effectively an empire, for it has to unite peoples unable
⋯Linguistics
Destabilisation on the eve of WW3
Opinion leaders in the West seem to take four positions on the fast-moving Middle East quagmire: Some favour more proactive military intervention against our purported enemies and welcome more refugees and economic migrants from the wartorn region allegedly to boost the economy. This group clearly believes not only in the concept of humanitarian wars, but
⋯capitalism, corporatism, immigration, limits to growth, migration
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
Why are there so many recruiters?
I don’t know about you, but 90% or more of my linkedin contact requests come from recruiters. I don’t accept them all. Am I the kind of talented high-flyer you would want to headhunt? Probably not, in person I’m rather shy and certainly not management material. I suppose I just know a few esoteric programming
⋯capitalism, Computing, corporatism, hegemony
The Copy and Paste Design Pattern
All good programmers understand the concept of design patterns, creational patterns, structural patterns and behavioural patterns. We apply these patterns in different aspects of our projects. It’s good to recognise common patterns so we can generalise routines into reusable functions or objects. I won’t bore you with the details because you can learn more from
⋯Computing
Creepy Agendas
Do Corbyn and Cameron agree on Policing the human mind? Did anyone notice that we now have a shadow minister for mental health? Until recently we just had ministers for health concerned with the provision of medical services and social welfare. Indeed Labour’s new allegedly anti-establishment leader chose to use his limited time at Prime
⋯All in the mind, corporatism, hegemony
Confusing arguments about Refugees
Some of us are fully aware of the semantic differences between refugees and migrants. A migrant is anyone who moves from one region to another. All people classed as refugees, asylum seekers, immigrants, emigrants, settlers, travellers or nomads are migrants. Migration is a wholly neutral term that implies nothing about our motivations or plans or
⋯capitalism, human rights, immigration
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
Do we really need more economic growth?
If you want to justify any policy whether it’s higher military spending, deregulation of gambling, lower corporation tax or higher levels of immigration to a sceptical public, just claim it’s good for the economy. How could any rational human being be against greater prosperity? In today’s cultural climate could any political party openly advocate greater
⋯corporatism, immigration
Bursting at the Seams
Europe faces an unprecedented stream of human traffic from Africa, the Middle East, Southern and Central Asia. As wars rage from Afghanistan to Yemen and Darfur while deserts expand and arable land available for each inhabitant shrinks, this crisis shows few signs of abating. The heart-wrenching scenes of refugees huddling together on makeshift rafts in
⋯capitalism, immigration, limits to growth, migration
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