How the quest for greater independence is being usurped by power-hungry control freaks I make no bets on the outcome of the snap General Election scheduled for 12th December. Last time a healthy Tory majority seemed almost certain until a couple of weeks before polling and after a disastrous Conservative election campaign. For the first
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The Abolition of Britain and the rise of Global Governance
All in the mind, capitalism, communism, Linguistics
Getting a taste of your own medicine
How hate speech laws have come back to bite their proponents This week Corbynites, who often call for the no-platforming of social conservatives, were on the receiving end of antisemitism allegations. Yet the same BBC stands accused of suppressing the scale of rape gangs to appease the Muslim community. It seems we must now think
⋯All in the mind, hegemony, human rights
Language is more about Meaning than Words
I recently dived into an almighty row with a bunch of EU flag wavers replying to a message celebrating International Native Language Day. You see I’d like to celebrate it too, but the subtext implied EU citizens in the UK promote linguistic diversity. So let’s think this through. Once abroad mingling with the locals and
⋯All in the mind, human rights, Linguistics, migration
Anatomy of a Rebel
We may like to think of people as progressive or conservative, collectivist or individualist, egalitarian or meritocratic, caring or competitive, libertarian or authoritarian, selfless or selfish, nature-loving or materialist. All too often we simplify these issues along an arbitrary left to right spectrum, usually with the more virtuous stances on the left. However, one criterion
⋯All in the mind, corporatism, Linguistics
Billions more on the Symptoms of Social Malaise
In the autumn budget the UK government has just decided to pump an extra £20 billion into the struggling National Health Service. Don’t get me wrong the tens of thousands of sick people on waiting lists for routine surgical operations would certainly welcome the extra funds. Not least the NHS could use the additional cash
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Do the elites want to eliminate us?
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
⋯All in the mind, capitalism, communism, corporatism, hegemony
The Day the World Turned Dayglo
Confusion in an era of instant disinformation To capture the current state of uncertainty that pervades both global socio-economic instability and cultural decay succinctly is no mean feat. Teenage rebellion is a rite of passage at a critical period of transition in our lives, an interlude between childhood innocence and adult responsibility when we question
⋯All in the mind, hegemony
Parallel Universes
When emotions trump logic Do you ever get the feeling that your political adversaries do not respond to the logic of your arguments, but merely to their cultural acceptability from their narrow ideological worldview? Cathy Newman of Channel 4 News believed she could rely on good old emotionalism to defeat the purportedly reactionary arguments of
⋯All in the mind, migration
Why does the Regressive Left worship the NHS?
Or rather why do metropolitan elites not trust the Working Classes? Before you doubt my sanity, let me clarify a couple of buzzwords in the title. By regressive left I mean a widespread political current that positions itself on the progressive left, but always sides, when push comes to shove, with remote institutions who want
⋯All in the mind, communism, corporatism
Guilt by Association
Recently British author Douglas Murray took part in a video chat with the renowned YouTube sensation and self-proclaimed libertarian philosopher Stefan Molyneux. While critical of Radical Islam and mass migration, Douglas Murray has been careful to steer a middle ground. Initially he came across to me as a Blairite, not least because he’s associate director
⋯All in the mind, immigration, Linguistics
Sexual Egalitarianism
Why it will always remain a wild fantasy Sex, as practiced for the last billion years, has been an awfully competitive and selective affair. Erotic desire drives much of human behaviour. It motivates us to keep fit, take care of our appearance, elevate our status by excelling at school and in our careers and show
⋯All in the mind, capitalism, communism
On Social Competitiveness and Human Nature
As a species we combine social solidarity and shared culture with a strong competitive spirit. In a way these variant behaviours represent the true yin and yang of the human psyche, collectivism versus individualism or social cohesion versus self-betterment. One could argue that our social and technological reality would never have progressed without these instincts.
⋯All in the mind, capitalism, communism, Computing, human rights
Manufacturing Identities
Humanity has always had a wide range of cultures, vocations and two biologically defined sexes. For most of our history we identified with our family, our tribe, our gender and our vocation. We had no choice over family and gender, seldom switched tribes and had a limited window of opportunity to find a vocation within
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Intellectual Freedom
In the era of hate speech laws, safe spaces and fact checkers Many may argue that hunger, environmental depredation, nuclear war or extreme disparities of wealth are the main challenges of our times. I don’t dispute for a moment that without life’s necessities, a hospitable environment, peace and social stability, free speech may seem a
⋯All in the mind, capitalism, communism
The Emerging Age of Absolutisms
What do corporate globalism, Islamic fundamentalism, communist idealism and neo-fascist romanticism all have in common besides being abstract isms? If you look at their attitudes to the key ethical questions of our age, their notional position on the left-right spectrum or their virtuosity in the public mind, they may appear at variance or even diametric
⋯All in the mind, capitalism, communism, Computing, corporatism, migration
Just gimme some Truth
On the importance of intellectual freedom Hardly a week passes without a brand new high profile campaign against the Orwellian concept of hate speech, perceived public ignorance or the spectre of unofficial fake news. Naturally ignorance no longer denotes an absence of knowledge, but a failure to internalise a specific worldview or cultural attitude. By
⋯All in the mind, hegemony, migration
The Brave New World Test
Human history has had plenty of upheavals, but I believe we have never experienced such a rapid rate of technological and cultural change with worldwide reach. In 1931 Aldous Huxley wrote Brave New World not so much as a reliable prognosis of human development over the coming six centuries (as the story is set in
⋯All in the mind, communism, Computing, corporatism, monopoly
Our Workless Future
Could the universal basic income usher in an age of hyper-dependence, hyper-surveillance and a growing divide between technocratic elites and mainstream humanity? Two of the most influential business leaders in the tech industry have thrown their weight behind the hitherto fanciful universal basic income, a cause until recently championed only by idealistic greens not known
⋯All in the mind, Computing
Your services are no longer required
Universal Basic Income for all (Terms and conditions apply) On behalf of trendsetting businesses around the world, we’d like to thank all semi-skilled workers for your tireless devotion to the complex industrial system on which we all depend. We are truly grateful to all our past and present colleagues and business partners including production line
⋯All in the mind, capitalism, communism, corporatism, monopoly
Engineered Chaos
In the great debate on the relative merits of Islam, Christianity, Judaism, Hinduism, Buddhism and atheism as dominant ideologies, let me declare my relative agnosticism. Sure, on a purely empirical level I’ve long been an atheist and have yet to find any credible evidence of the existence of supernatural beings. However, I doubt we will
⋯All in the mind, capitalism, communism, corporatism, immigration
Hackneyed Jargon and Intellectual Honesty
What I really mean by globalists, elitists and corporatists A couple of weeks ago someone chastised me on Twitter for using the term Deep State to explain Donald Trump’s Damascene conversion over Syrian regime change. Apparently the concept that the US Administration may be beholden to secretive cliques with close ties to the military industrial
⋯All in the mind, hegemony, Linguistics
Mainstream Fake News Kills
On the Brink of World War Three Over Misappropriated Chemical Attacks. Call me old-fashioned, but facts do actually matter even if they’re inconvenient and do not fit with your preferred narrative. Your enemy may be bad, but your enemy’s enemy may be even worse. That said, disinformation and emotive propaganda should concern us most when
⋯All in the mind, Computing
The Trump Delusion
Let’s agree that the left-branded neoliberal dream best associated with the Clinton Dynasty in the US and with Tony Blair and David Cameron in the UK has failed their core working class electoral bases. Ordinary working people are fed up with know-it-all talking heads on TV lecturing them on what they should think and belittling
⋯All in the mind, capitalism, corporatism
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
Whom should we believe?
The War on Dissident News The establishment media have now coined a term for news sites that regularly challenge their orthodox narrative, fake news. This is rich for news organisations that have cheerled wars in the Middle East, turned a blind eye to atrocities committed by our allies and consistently supported the suppression of viable
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Does the Trendy UK Left Support British Workers?
Or does it just think we need better mental healthcare I’ve long admired Ken Loach, a radical film producer who rose to fame with his 1965 classic, Cathy Come Home, about the homelessness of a young couple. Anyone who challenged the establishment had my support. More recently he has fallen into line with the infantile
⋯All in the mind, corporatism
On the Brink of War
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
⋯All in the mind, capitalism, communism, immigration, migration
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
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
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
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
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