Another time…

On By Nicholas AlexanderIn New articlesLeave a comment

It feels strange to have nostalgia for the times of GW Bush, but Trump has make President GW Bush into a soft of folksy hero, and a re-evaluation of his time in the White House and his own sense of self-effacing humour contrasts sharply with the humourless, narcissistic approach we have become used to.

Take a look his Present Bush and his imitator Steve Bridges: we hoped thing would improve for the “shiny America”, and a joke about telling the Premier of China to “tear down this wall” contrast so well against the theft of 3.5 billion dollars from the US Miltary budget to build a wall that solves no problems.

The New Fascism

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There is no defense for mass murder. The NZ PM stressed that the shooter should never be named, but forgotten about in jail, for good. It is significant that the El Paso mass-murdering fascist appears to have not known the name of his personal inspiration but to single out the NZ mass murderer and not the Norwegian or many American ones is an indication of his own lack of imagination. He probably does not read anything but hate literature.

There is no defense. There is however a dark shadow cast on the greed and stupidity of our political “leaders” who callously manipulate for personal gain, and shut out swathes of society from any possibility of reward.

The desertification of social spending on health, education and housing, the crime of austerity and the division in our society caused directly by David Cameron, Theresa May and now Boris Johnson: all minority elected leaders in a corrupt old-school-tie political system supporting the real elitism of privileges and protected wealth while bombing the poorest countries as a sort of firework display: these are the real terrorists. America minority elected Donald Trump who has openly stimulated White “Supremacy” and is the true inspiration of the El Paso atrocity.

The unnamable idiots banged up for mass murder are stupid: there is no such thing as a “white person” or racial purity: the very idea of it is ridiculous and pathetic.

It is not Liberalism that is the enemy of Equality. It is this New Fascism that is manufacturing terrorists, and look at them all leading the most Western of countries into chaos.

The American Constitution

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It always seems to me that those American Colonialists were war criminals and then slavers who justified their horrific acts with a sanctified constitution that is worshipped slightly ahead of God. Those words scribbled by old men who won a war became a document that sets laws to justify automatic weapons being used on schoolchildren and the poisoning the very earth we place our feet upon; its hallowed wisdom that has resulted in a destructive and distorted idea of “humanity” that thinks it deserves to be “great again”. It is merely a step in the evolution of humankind, from its brutal infancy to a weaponised adolescence. The West has justified its own indolence by saying it is “more free”. In fact it merely paints the bars of the prison that keeps us from thinking.

Proportional Representation

On By Nicholas AlexanderIn Democracy, Election, UK PoliticsLeave a comment

For many, Labour was seen as the only viable opposition because of our First Past the Post anti-democratic voting system. It distorts voting decisions as the majority vote against instead of for and/or they feel so disenfranchised by the absolute meaninglessness of our democracy their vote is not cast.

I do not feel that the Conservatives represent my interests. I do not feel Labour do, either. A future election will perhaps deny the two largest and most divided parties an automatic mandate due to their gravity. I hope they become honest with themselves and both split off their extremists and then adopt a fair electoral system.

Politics is not just about being in the EU or not. People are suffering as a consequence of this Government and the PM’s own historic track record as a promoter of bigotry and indifference to the needs of the broader population. Her snap election strategy was all about the population investing in Labour as a path to get rid of her.

She does not even have a voice, just soundbites and meaningless equations to justify the wounding of our democratic life.

But neither does the leader of the Opposition. What he said is naturally “holding the Government to account”. But his take on Brexit confuses and he seems to be now having to support a policy he finds difficult. Surrendering to the wiser corners of the Labour party.

The way forward is to have a voting system that creates Governments that are truly representative of the views of people. The Referendum would have been that, if only it has been run honestly, instead it appealed to prejudice and made dreadful false promises.

No, the answer is to represent all views that find a majority or that form a meaningful coalition. The ConLib coalition was not a coalition but a bullying take down of the Liberal Democrat identity. It was no different except Nick Clegg sometimes said “no” but not always at the right time. A coalition is a round table of mutual interest. The UK has not seen one, not yet.

New Zealand and Germany have MMP (mixed member proportional) that keeps the best and most talented MPs in parliament, but also gives more seats to parties that get the votes. It works rather better than AV which Nick Clegg was given a referendum by Cameron so PR could be killed off. Nick Clegg damaged the UK by his poor political judgment. I hope he does better at Facebook.

Democracy can fail

On By Nicholas AlexanderIn DemocracyLeave a comment

Democracy is not a perfect method to create Governments, but when it is done right, it can prevent bad Governments from surviving.

But as a human right, as a way to run things, democracy has a fatal flaw. Despite its raw power of being able to topple a government or president overnight, it is not very efficient at making good decisions. The worst are those made by the masses, ones that matter, ones that affect multiple generations.

Important decisions are not always best left to democratic decision making, often though, it ends up being the fairest and most appropriate way to settle differences. As a body count it achieves its highest purpose; but, as an influential and collective mind, it is a poison that guarantees madness.

Democratic decisions apportion profitability or cost of land or other assets, but they do not partake in expanding capital or creating new markets, the needs of the individual include hunger and an awareness that conditions change. Democracies are driven by common values, common ground or just plain advantage. Theirs is the blunter instrument. We elect these people and they collect the votes from the opinions they spout

The needs of the few cannot dictate the experience of the many. But that is not what happens.

Empire of Dirt

On By Nicholas AlexanderIn Environment, New articlesLeave a comment

Sustainability is a word that casts a political shadow, in the same dark place where “a vote for Green is a wasted” vote lives, i.e. discouraging people to take action to protect life on Earth.

Empire building takes many forms. The 20th Century saw major world powers allow mega-corporations to ruin the natural world with oil, plastic, and pollution. This Empire is self-destructive, threatening not just our future but the future of all lives and thus thousands of millions of years of evolution. How do we re-create insects? We can not. If we do not do something about pollution and the insanity of greed, there will be one less life supporting planet in our realm of the universe.

See also: Cars are Killing us

Trump’s Wall

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President Trump realises that his base do not follow logic, they follow their feelings of displacement. It is a world-class con to represent his values as anything but “elite”, his wall does not keep out criminals but it creates a barrier that makes him and other people who do not consider that it really does little to protect America or its neighbors.

Real protection comes from being smart and maintaining a strong relationship with your allies. Walls and barriers do not celebrate the American spirit of freedom.

Stupid People

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“Stupid People” muttered Jeremy Corbyn. The Stupid People in the ranks of the Conservative Government rounded on him claimed he muttered “Stupid woman” directed at the Prime Minister Theresa May. You can read his lips, he said “Stupid People”. Yet many very convinced Right Wing believers were adamant that he said something he did not apologise for, that he pointed out that he would also have objected to, he is not a misogynist, and he said “Stupid People”. It was a moment of political clarity.

And the media frenzy was about the question of what he said rather than why he said it. Shortly after this indicative event, Gatwick Airport was closed down due to the use of drones allegedly. How were these two events related?

This Tory Government has been so focused on their core policy of austerity, and implementing an invalid referendum to break the UK away from the EU. Their negotiations have been lamentably awful. The Prime Minister took charge of the negotiations and got a deal with the EU, but will not let Parliament vote on it because it will lose. Now she is using the threat of reaching no-deal and causing economic and political collapse as a lever to ensure her deal gets approved. Under the conditions of austerity, the UK has seen a terrible catastrophe when Grenfell Tower caught fire and due to ridiculous regulations the building was clad unsafely, and 72 people died. There were no sprinklers, there was one fire exit and the fire brigade could not control the blaze. Under conditions of austerity, the Crossrail project has gone ahead, the largest most significant project but it has overrun its completion date by a year and several billion pounds. Under austerity, local councils have been decimated and local services have suffered. Under the guidance of the Transport Minister, a smug and awful Chris Grayling, there has been chaos on the railways, including strikes and an timetable train that was not planned correctly, causing billions wasted in business. Under this Government, retail has gone to the wall. There is simply no actual intelligence in the Government’s planning. China, in the meantime, has a thriving economy, so it can be done.

Jeremy Corbyn was right, this Government is comprised of Stupid People. Worse than fiddling while Rome burns, this Government is plotting with PR to actually make conditions for its citizens worse and appeasing the ultra Right Wing who gathered terrible momentum, starting with the murder of MP Jo Cox.

And now Gatwick has been buzzed by drones, so this stupid government send in the Army! Over 4 days, they have demonstrated how a lack of Government planning and spending cripples them. They can not find the person controlling these drones! They can not even shoot them down.

150,000 citizens with a ruined holiday and countless business losses is the cost. This Government has wasted billions and cost the UK many thousands of lives by their negligence to pursue a policy to turn the UK into a subsidiary of Trump’s America with ultra low-taxes. All so the UK is not subject to tax haven regulations to be brought in by the EU just after the date that Britain is set to crash out of the EU.

Stupid People in Government. Stupid People who voted for them.

see also https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/dec/20/national-emergency-brexit-vote-westminster?CMP=fb_gu&fbclid=IwAR1YlOmaflNZQRqc6RhAnf-7rJ-N2RXae-McziksnysZFrnRo7nDrQl311E