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'Politics'

Actor Politicians and Post-Truth Politics

15th July 2016

The state of UK politics at the moment… not great. The EU referendum had a very strong media campaign by many media outlets based on lies and misinformation, such as portraying the EU as ‘unelected beaurocrats’ (a lie) and talking about £350m/week (another lie, plus the fraud of talking only about money out instead of […]

'Politics'

Attempting to Explain the 24th June 2016

24th June 2016

To many, the result of the UK’s EU Referendum might be a shock. Here, I try to explain what I think happened. This is, of course, all going to be historical interpretation by me. Everything I present as fact I believe to be so and with sound evidential basis, even if I haven’t had the […]

'Politics'

The EU Referendum and Black Swan Events

22nd June 2016

Note: This post is a bit raw. Usually, I would write something in draft, then come back and redraft and edit it. Usually that means some changes, making sentences smoother and the whole thing flow better. On this occasion, I wrote this whole post in one go and have published it without redrafting or editing. […]

'Politics'

Othering and Empathy

11th June 2016

Instead of seeing people as humans like us, we see many as something ‘other’. They aren’t like us: they’re muslims, refugees, jews, negros, gays, homeless, whatever. This undermines the feelings we should have towards them, means that we treat them as sub-human. Don’t help them – they aren’t like us. Leave them to […]

'Politics'

Freedom and the Free Market

8th February 2016

This post discusses ‘Freedom’, which is actually quite complex (because there are multiple conflicting aspects to it), and then discusses how Free the (so-called) Free Market is.

It’s a fairly long post, but it’s in sections. Battle that short attention span if you think it’s worth it.

Freedom is Complicated

Imagine a society in which there is complete freedom. Ah. You can’t. Though you might not have realised it yet. This is because the concept of ‘freedom’ which we have is not one which can increase, as such; rather, it’s a tension between different types of freedom. It’s a bit strange really – but it is rarely properly understood in journalism.

'Politics'

Hilary Benn’s Speech: An Analysis

14th December 2015

Abstract: Hilary Benn MP’s speech got such high praise by the media, I thought I would check it out. It fell well below deserving of the praise it got, and here I explain why. Benn’s argument was full of emotional appeals, in what I believe was an attempt to obscure and misdirect from the substantive defects in the case for bombing. He bases it on our self-defence, but does not explain (and nor is it this case) how this bombing will make us any safer. He argues for an opposition in principle to Daesh, but this argument is illogical, again full of emotional appeals, and still does not explain why this bombing action is a method of opposition which is good. I also question the way that the media fling praise at this speech, pointing out my suspicion of the “mainstream” and how this angle on the speech fits with narratives they support.

This is the sort of analysis that I wish journalists might attempt, yet is so lacking from any reports about Benn’s speech, from discussion of Cameron’s case for bombing, and the way that journalism now is much more about reprinting press releases than having a proper ‘public watchdog’ approach to challenging what those with power are saying and doing.

'Politics'

Towards a better understanding of “Islamic State”

4th December 2015

By way of introduction, I’ll use a quote from later in this post:
“To deal with a problem, you must understand the problem. If you misunderstand a problem, your response will be inadequate and not deal with it. So this is written to attempt to better understand the problem – which the media and politicians are (on the whole) not portraying properly.“

Here I discuss the name of “so-called Islamic State”, the real nature of the threat that we face “from them” (which is about “home grown jihadis”, not a war we are in), challenge the language and narrative currently dominant about “war”, and ask questions about the role of Islam in all of this.

'Politics'

Some thoughts on bombing ISIS

2nd December 2015

Some background.

It is rare to see any sort of meaningful discussion about the history, where ISIS came from, and so on. He who controls the past controls the present…

-> Our interventions in the middle east (Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria a couple of years ago) have done the opposite of what their claimed objectives were. We went to war in Iraq on some sort of vague notion that there were ‘weapons of mass destruction’, though in retrospect it turns out that Bush and Blair knew that this was not the case, and Blair lied to the people and to parliament about it (having promised to Bush that he was going to war, while telling the

'Politics'

Lessons From Berlin//Be VIGILANT

21st November 2015

I was going to write about how I’m worried that our country is becoming more ‘extremist’ and how the aftermath of the Paris attacks is worse than the attacks themselves… but first, some foundation to how I think.

Narrative Introduction

The thoughts for this post happened over a year ago… but as I was doing my final year of university, writing blogs took a backseat.

'Politics'

Despair

29th October 2015

So… in this backdrop of terrible stuff going on, I find myself with some despair. Big problems in the world, and as an individual I feel powerless. It’s a bit tricky to find much meaning in the normal life, in what society tells you to do (study well, get a good job, have a family, don’t worry about these issues because they stop you being happy), knowing this is going on. Hence despair.