There has always been a thin dividing line between legal and illegal or between therapeutic and recreational drugs. We tend to call bad psychostimulants “drugs” and good officially sanctioned mind-altering pills “medication”. While the former are distributed by underworld dealers, praying on our psychological weaknesses and the cool factor, and the latter are aggressively pushed
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Surprise: The Big Business Party won
I predicted a hung parliament that would ditch any manifesto promises at the behest of corporate lobbyists. A weak government is arguably more malleable than a strong one, unless the strong government does exactly what its true masters want. I suspect the new Conservative administration will disappoint many traditional small-c conservatives as it pursues a
⋯capitalism, Computing, corporatism, human rights, immigration, migration
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
Why do people get depressed?
With so much media attention, you’d seriously think depression awareness raising charities would want to answer this very simple question. As the purported biological disease model of depression has now become almost an act of faith, debate now seems to revolve mainly around the relative merits of different forms of treatment. Whether it’s medication or
⋯All in the mind, capitalism, hegemony, human rights
Question Time on Rise of UKIP
How would members of the panel deal with the rise in UKIP support among working class whites?
⋯All in the mind, capitalism, migration
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, migration
What the enlightened elites really think of you
Opinion leaders love to use inclusive first person plural forms, like we, us and our, when addressing unenlightened plebs who fail to share their enthusiasm for all things post-modern and mistakenly reminisce about the positive aspects of our recent past, like greater social cohesion, more respect for age and experience, simpler rules of social etiquette
⋯All in the mind, capitalism, Computing, corporatism
Why Labour will not bring about a fairer Britain
In less than 5 years, the Labour left seemed to have forgotten the sheer treachery of the last Labour administration. Rather than focus their attention on the real ruling classes sitting in corporate boardrooms or relaxing on Caribbean yachts, they prefer to demonise the bunch of overgrown public school boys and girls in the current
⋯All in the mind, corporatism
How to Help the Needy
At this time of year, we are supposed to turn our minds to the wider community around us, so everyone can enjoy a Merry Christmas and restore their faith in humanity. People in the UK seem to have three competing personas. The do-gooder: always thankful of one’s relative financial privilege and eager to share some
⋯All in the mind, corporatism
Ten Trendy Actions which are very bad for the Environment
Economic growth: Once people have clean water, a healthy diet, adequate housing with plumbing and electricity, meaningful employment, access to modern healthcare and a few other essential personal possessions, all additional consumption does very little to improve life expectancy or happiness. Yet our GDP growth drains many finite resources that could be better used by
⋯All in the mind, corporatism, human rights, immigration
Does Scottish Independence really matter?
As a half-Scot and half-Englishman, I never really identified as either. I grew up to believe in Britain as my father owed his career in the army and later British Aerospace to the archipelago’s imperial legacy. Whenever my English mother would inadvertently confuse England with Britain, my brother would correct her. I’d support Scotland in
⋯capitalism, hegemony, human rights
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
The Trouble with the NHS
How disease-mongering turns patients into customers The closest thing modern Britain has to a unifying state religion is universal admiration of the beloved National Health Service or NHS for short, although its remit has expanded considerably since its early days when it aimed to provide essential healthcare to all irrespective of income. As a proportion
⋯All in the mind, capitalism, communism
Twitter Mob: Don't Blame the Users
How lobbies have turned consumer groups into victims Twitter does not exactly lend itself to critical analysis. I doubt many people have changed their minds on anything after reading a mere 140 character tweet. Such short messages tend to reinforce existing prejudices and opinions and often build on concerted advertising and awareness-raising campaigns. You can
⋯All in the mind, Computing, human rights
Propaganda Wars
For too long an unholy alliance of North American and European media outlets, principally BBC, CNN, Fox News, but also their French, Spanish, Portuguese and German-language equivalents, ensured coverage of evolving world events reflected the message that NATO, the EU and the leading global corporations wanted us to hear. Not only do they set the
⋯corporatism
Now for something different: Web Fonts
You may wonder just how I added these custom font types. I’m the last person to believe your choice of font should affect the message you wish to convey. Alas Web designers love custom fonts and often spend countless days wrestling with various technical solutions to reproduce the graphic designer’s wishes on all browsers. Back
⋯Computing
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, migration
What's going on in Ukraine?
All of sudden the world’s media turns its attention to the transition of power in one of Europe’s most mysterious regions extending from Eastern Poland, Slovakia,Moldova and Romania in the West, Belarus to the north and the Russian Federation to the East. While the mainstream media in the West lay the blame for the Ukrainian
⋯capitalism, corporatism, hegemony
Huxleyan School Report
This may seem a parody of postmodern social reality and eerily suggestive of a future dystopia, but it is only a slight exaggeration. Schools tend to focus more on mainstream socialisation, engaging with mass-marketed youth culture and pastoral care than with reading, writing, maths and real science. Self Confidence Sam’s self-esteem has grown throughout the
⋯hegemony
Having your cake and eating it
Imagine you had a choice of three political parties. The welfare party promised better public services, but admitted it may need to increase taxes. The small business party promised lower taxes, but admitted it will need to cut public services. However the magic bullet party promised to slash taxes and boost investment in healthcare, education
⋯capitalism, immigration, migration
Rebel without a cause
Do you like to indulge in drugs and booze ? Surely only boring losers would abstain from the exciting social life facilitated by binge drinking, cocaine parties and ecstasy-enhanced all-night raves. Maybe you like to gamble or play first-person shooters online with your virtual friends and imaginary foes. And what self-respecting young adult would not
⋯capitalism, Computing, corporatism
A culture of automotive entitlement: the anti-cycling brigade
Cycling been very much in the headlines in the UK. In the last fortnight 6 cyclists have been killed on the streets of London and today a young female motorist was fined for boasting on Twitter about how she accidentally knocked over a cyclist and did not bother to stop. To many the rivalry between
⋯corporatism, limits to growth
The Sheer Arrogance of Tony Blair's Clone
“But let me be clear – Britain may be a small island, but I would challenge anyone to find a country with a prouder history, a bigger heart or greater resilience.” David Cameron So presumably thousands of years of Chinese, Indian or Middle Eastem history, literature, innovations count for little, and Britain’s neighbours have little
⋯hegemony, human rights
Left, Right and Plain Wrong
When political analysts first chose to classify opinions on a left-right spectrum during the French Revolution over 210 years ago, the left stood up for the underprivileged working classes, while the right defended the interests of the aristocracy and the emerging class of entrepreneurs. That was long before the emergence of the welfare state, mass
⋯capitalism, communism, migration
Multinational Scroungers and Tax Dodgers
Just before Christmas the British media revealed some large up and coming multinational outfits had taken advantage of tax loopholes and the wonders of early 21st century globalised trade to evade taxes. Suddenly Labour supporters had a cause they could all rally behind and win support from hardworking voters rightly fed up with high taxes
⋯capitalism, Computing
Double Ungood: Brave New World Film
Things might not have panned out quite how George Orwell predicted in his infamous dystopian novel, 1984. In many ways rather than progress towards austere authoritarianism, modelled on Stalin’s Soviet Union, penalising expressions of excessive joy, the latest phase of corporate globalisation has seen the spread of mass consumerism and commercialised hedonism as tools of
⋯All in the mind, hegemony
Monbiot denies peak oil.
In reply to:‚ We were wrong on peak oil. There’s enough to fry us all Dear George, Once again I feel constrained to write to you in defence of cool-headed rationalism rather than vapid emotionalism. I refer of course to your recent piece in the Guardian on peak oil. I would really welcome any hard‚
⋯immigration
Italians and Greeks don't pay taxes
The title is ironic and may be partly true of course as many oft-repeated statements are. The most obvious riposte in defence of small-time Italian and Greek entrepreneurs is neither do large multinationals and awareness-raising charities, pay very much tax, more on that later. The accusation serves a simple purpose, to justify the huge cutbacks in public
⋯capitalism, corporatism, monopoly
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