Do our global policy makers welcome Scottish Separatism? As the first exit polls came in after polls closed on Thursday 12 December, one key trend caught my attention. While the working classes in the Midlands and North of England had swung to the Conservatives, many voting Tory for the first time in their lives, Scottish
⋯Filtered by hegemony
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, Power dynamics
Extinguishing Open Debate and Personal Freedom
In the age of narcissism, mass-consumerism and hyper-dependence All of a sudden, the streets of major European cities are full of impressionable virtue-signallers demanding immediate action against our modern way of life to save the planet from the spectre of man-made climate change. I instinctively sympathise with rebels, even if I don’t always share either
⋯capitalism, communism, corporatism, hegemony, human rights, limits to growth, migration, population, Power dynamics
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, population, Power dynamics
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, migration, population, Power dynamics
The trouble with Zionism and Islamism
I wish we could wish away any historical or geopolitical controversies related to Jews or Muslims and all live together in peace and harmony. As it happens, for many years Jews, Christians and Muslims managed somehow to reconcile their differences in countries like Turkey, Syria, Lebanon, Egypt and Iraq where today Islamic fundamentalism threatens religious
⋯hegemony, Power dynamics
How to spot an Élitist
or rather how to spot their sycophants. There is a certain category of pseudo-intellectual whose views are utterly predictable, though this subspecies of mildly affluent trendy lefties may come in a variety of shapes, sizes and intelligence levels. In an insular British context we might refer to this group loosely as Guardian readers, the kind
⋯capitalism, communism, corporatism, hegemony, Power dynamics
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, Power dynamics
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, population, Power dynamics
End of an Era
The Eclipse of American Power Just 15 years ago in the run-up to the invasion of Iraq, the alternative antiwar media was abuzz with talk of the Project for a New American Century, championed by the likes of Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld as they pushed for more proactive military interventions to spread the USA’s
⋯hegemony, immigration, Power dynamics
Is Capitalism Morphing Into Communism?
Under communism you buy everything from a single state outlet, whereas under fully mature capitalism you buy everything from Amazon. Karl Sharro I once dreamed of a socialist utopia devoid of hate, fear, anxiety, poverty and interpersonal rivalry with common ownership of the means of production. This fantasy comes in two main flavours, idealistic anarcho-communism
⋯capitalism, communism, Computing, corporatism, hegemony, Power dynamics
Destabilising Europe
What’s going on in Catalonia? I seldom comment on unfolding events before I can establish some basic facts and investigate all the forces at play. I woke up this morning to a twitter stream showing violent clashes between the Spanish Guardia Civil and unarmed Catalan citizens attempting to vote in the region’s independence referendum. I
⋯corporatism, hegemony, Power dynamics
NewSpeak for the Masses
Over the last 10 years I have slowly but surely convinced myself the pace of cultural change is accelerating at an unprecedented rate. The only certainty now seems uncertainty itself. Scenarios we deemed unthinkable just five years ago now seem emerging realities. We’re all in a way prisoners of our age and may easily lose
⋯hegemony, Linguistics, Power dynamics
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, population, Power dynamics
Capitalism is Dead, long live global corporatism
Why some greedy bankers may want Corbyn to win I had wanted to expand on my Brave New World thesis in relation to mounting calls from the trendy left and business leaders for a universal basic income. We now see an alliance stretching from social justice warriors, environmentalists and no-borders activists to corporate CEOs all
⋯capitalism, communism, Computing, corporatism, hegemony, immigration, limits to growth, Power dynamics
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, Power dynamics
What Kind of Freedom Do You Want ?
We all yearn for freedom. Instinctively nobody wants to submit to the will of others whom we cannot trust to act in our best interests. However, in today’s complex high-tech society we’ve become so interdependent that we relinquish our personal freedoms and submit to higher authorities in all our daily interactions with the rest of
⋯capitalism, communism, corporatism, hegemony, human rights, limits to growth, population, Power dynamics
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, migration, population, Power dynamics
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, migration, population, Power dynamics
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, Power dynamics
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, Power dynamics
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, Power dynamics
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, Power dynamics
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, Power dynamics
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, population, Power dynamics
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, Power dynamics
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, population, Power dynamics
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, population, Power dynamics
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, Power dynamics
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, software
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, Power dynamics
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, population