tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15322549763411238832024-02-24T20:45:02.557+00:00Tom London"A long habit of not thinking a thing wrong, gives it a superficial appearance of being right."
Tom Paine, 1737-1809.
Let's finish the democratic revolution! Tom Londonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17758489868048216894noreply@blogger.comBlogger130125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1532254976341123883.post-1044963865066748042021-04-02T08:15:00.004+01:002021-04-02T13:28:45.633+01:00This Bill effectively bans protests, persecutes Gypsies and gives a maximum 10 year sentence for putting someone at risk of being caused “serious annoyance”<p>The Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill, which is before Parliament now, contains provisions which are inimical to democracy and should be opposed by all means possible. If it becomes law, it will effectively ban meaningful peaceful protests, target the way of life of one group, Gypsies, Roma and Travellers (GRT), and create a new offence which carries a maximum ten-year sentence, including for putting someone at risk of being caused “serious annoyance”.</p><p>The Bill has led to a number of protests already; protests for the right to protest. There are set to be nationwide protests on this Saturday of the Easter weekend.</p><p>The right to protest is a fundamental part of a democratic society. It is recognised as such by Article 11 of the European Convention on Human Rights. The Convention is separate to the EU and is incorporated into UK law. Passing this Bill would breach Article 11 and would mark the UK as an international pariah.</p><p>The GRT communities’ right to follow their traditional way of life and move from place to place is currently protected under the law, including Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights. </p><p>However, Clauses 61 to 63 of the Bill contains measures which are blatantly discriminatory against GRT communities. For years, councils have failed to provide enough legal sites for the GRT communities. Consequently, they have had to stop in unauthorised places. Whereas currently such trespass is a civil matter, the Bill criminalises it and gives the authorities draconian powers to imprison and to confiscate caravans, which are, of course, peoples’ homes.</p><p>Romany Gypsies have been in Britain since at least 1515. The Bill is the most serious threat to their way of life here for 500 years. </p><p>Clauses 54 to 58 of the Bill relate to protests (of more than one person). They effectively ban protests. They do so by giving the police and the Home Secretary new powers which give them the ability to ban protests on grounds which are drafted so widely that they could apply to any meaningful protest.</p><p>The only kind of protests which are likely to be allowed to go ahead are those where the authorities support the aims of the protest.</p><p>Under the current law, the police can ban or impose conditions on a protest if they reasonably believe that the protest may result in serious public disorder, serious damage to property or serious disruption to the life of the community.</p><p>But under the Bill, the grounds for the police to ban or impose conditions are dramatically widened so that they include, among other things, the noise made by a protest. It would be sufficient under the Bill to ban a protest if the noise generated by the protest “may have a relevant impact on persons in the vicinity” and “that impact may be significant”.</p><p>In practice, the Bill would allow the police to ban any protest which generates noise, which is to say, basically any protest.</p><p>As the Good Law Project has noted, “It is difficult to escape the conclusion that an attack on the making of noise is a disguised attack on the very nature of the right to protest.”</p><p>The Bill also gives unfettered power to the Home Secretary, currently Priti Patel, to define the meaning of certain key definitions. She could do this, after the Bill becomes law, by ministerial regulation, with minimal parliamentary oversight. That in itself is highly disturbing.</p><p>Clause 59 creates a new criminal offence. Among other provisions, it provides up to ten years imprisonment for causing someone to suffer “serious annoyance” or even for putting someone at risk of suffering “serious annoyance”. One likely purpose of this oppressive provision is to scare people away from joining protests.</p><p>Clause 60 is concerned with stopping annoying one-person protests. It is rumoured that it is intended to stop one man in particular from protesting – Steve Bray, the indefatigable anti-Brexit campaigner, who is now targeting Tory corruption.</p><p>It is a dark time for our country that this Bill could be brought forward and comfortably pass its first parliamentary hurdle. It is lamentable that our mainstream media have not kept the British public properly informed as to the deeply obnoxious contents of the Bill. </p><p>The blatant discrimination against GRT communities is sickening. Targeting minorities is a typical move by repressive regimes in hard economic times. It serves to distract and to divide and rule.</p><p>The effective ban on protests is a clear stepping-stone away from democracy to Fascism. This is made even clearer given the context. The Johnson Government have shown contempt for the Rule of Law time and time again. Here are just three examples. They unlawfully suspended Parliament; they legislated to break the Withdrawal Agreement in contravention of international law; and they have legislated to allow Ministers and officials in quangos – with no judicial oversight - to license murder, torture or rape by people working under cover.</p><div><br /></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">http://feeds.feedburner.com/TomLondon</div>Tom Londonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17758489868048216894noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1532254976341123883.post-3649892132017277302021-02-28T17:04:00.007+00:002021-02-28T17:38:22.527+00:00How the Mainstream Media Manufactures Consent in a Democracy<p>Nobody can obtain first-hand all the information they need to be properly informed in a democracy. Most people obtain their information from the mainstream media: the newspapers, the broadcasters and their online presences. The role of social media – to be looked at in another piece - is also undoubtedly increasingly important.</p><p>The mainstream media can not only effectively decide what people think on certain issues (especially if they have no other source of information) but it also influences which issues people think about.</p><p>A properly functioning democracy needs a vigilant and courageous mainstream media prepared to challenge those who exercise power.</p><p>But what if there are strong forces operating on the mainstream media which mean that – despite its claims of independence and the absence of overt government control - the news it produces is almost invariably biased in favour of the rich and powerful in and out of government? </p><p>That is the argument of a book published in 1988, by two American academics, Edward S Herman and Noam Chomsky. The book is called Manufacturing Consent. </p><p>The authors’ theory does not depend on powerful people conspiring. It is not a “conspiracy theory”. It is more like a “free market analysis”. The authors argue that there are forces, akin to economic forces, which result in an end product, namely news which is, overwhelmingly, helpful to the rich and powerful. The authors call these forces “filters” and identify five filters, outlined at the end of this piece.</p><p>According to Herman & Chomsky, there is a “guided market system” as governments, owners of large companies, media owners and executives, public relation companies and others take steps to shape the news.</p><p>Of course, the media is not a monolith. Sometimes the government and other elites will be attacked but these attacks will not go to the fundamental issues underpinning their power. So, there may be an outcry in the media about a particular billionaire’s tax-cheating but there will not be a proper campaign highlighting the systemic reasons why the very rich pay so little tax.</p><p>There are many ways bias can be present, and it is often difficult to spot. One of the most powerful means of bias is simply to omit a story completely or to omit important facts. Another way is in the framing of a story: “this is good/bad/sad/no-one’s fault”. Or by not giving any context at all. Or by the way stories are selected. Or by repetition of essentially the same story over and over. Or by choice of words – the enemy is “cowardly, untrustworthy”, our leader is “determined, brave”. Or by placement – front page or top of the bulletin or buried? Or by choice of expert or think-tank to comment. Or by emphasis, nuance and tone. Or by humanising some victims and not others. Or by giving repeated, emotional and prominent coverage to one story. Or by giving no sustained coverage and downplaying another story. Or by many other ways.</p><p>Author Michael Parenti points out, “[Sometimes the media is] dedicated to the greying of reality, blurring popular grievances and social inequities. In this muted media reality, those who raise their voices too strongly against social and class injustices can be made to sound…shrill.”</p><p>In relation to individual journalists, Herman & Chomsky argue that their bias is overwhelmingly subconscious. It is easy for journalists to convince themselves that they operate “objectively”.</p><p>Only journalists who are likely to produce what the organisation requires are employed in the first place and then they will quickly learn the information they need to get on. When a journalist says that no one tells them what to say, it is usually true. Herman & Chomsky remark that “Censorship is largely self-censorship by reporters and commentators.”</p><p>Those who do not internalise what is appropriate and act accordingly, will be regarded as “irresponsible” and are unlikely to last long. </p><p>In 1996, Chomsky was interviewed by Andrew Marr, the current leading UK political interviewer. Marr asked how Chomsky could know that he, Marr, was self-censoring. Chomsky replied, “I am sure you are not self-censoring. I am sure you believe everything you say. I am saying that if you believed something different, you would not be sitting where you are.”</p><p>Herman & Chomsky go to great lengths to prove systemic media bias. Most of Manufacturing Consent consists of detailed accounts of notable events from the previous decade and comparing them with the coverage in the leading American mainstream media. </p><p>It is not possible to do anything like Herman & Chomsky’s detailed analysis here. However, consider, for example, the issue of poverty in a rich country like the UK. Millions of people are living in poverty in the UK. Most of the population are not aware of the scale, reality or causes of this poverty: the poor are out of sight, out of mind. The mainstream media rarely covers the issue and never with proper prominence. There is bias by omission.</p><p>Here are Herman & Chomsky’s “five filters”. </p><p>1.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Ownership</p><p>2.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Advertising</p><p>3.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Reliance on information</p><p>4.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Flak</p><p>5.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Anti-communism (needs updating for 2021)</p><p><u>Ownership</u></p><p>Herman & Chomsky analysed media ownership in the US in 1988. The main media outlets were controlled either by wealthy corporations or by exceptionally rich individuals or families. </p><p>The position is similar in the UK now. Rupert Murdoch was an influential media figure in the US in 1988 and is the most influential media boss in the UK in 2021.</p><p>George Orwell, writing in 1937, was typically to the point, “[Most of] the British press … is owned by wealthy men who have every motive to be dishonest on certain important topics.”</p><p>The BBC is the dominant provider of news in the UK and it is publicly owned. It is in a different category to other news outlet. However, the BBC is dependent on the government of the day for its future income and that government has power over the appointment of most people in charge of the BBC. </p><p>If a news outlet is owned by a very rich corporation or individual, or is susceptible to pressure from a government, people working there are likely to be mindful, at the very least, to avoid or downplay certain subjects that they think would upset the owners or the government. </p><p><u>Advertisers</u></p><p>The great majority of media outlets makes a profit not from people paying for their product but through money paid by advertisers (an exception is the BBC). This fact gives advertisers huge power over media outlets. </p><p>A well-known British journalist in the last century, Hannen Swaffer, said “Freedom of the press in Britain means freedom to print such of the proprietor's prejudices as the advertisers don't object to.”</p><p>In 2015, Peter Oborne, the highly respected Chief Political Commentator at the Daily Telegraph, resigned in protest at the way that the paper’s coverage of global banking had been distorted because HSBC was a major advertiser.</p><p>Many advertisers, for example those working for oil companies, car companies, or banks funding the fossil fuel industry, do not want the media to talk about the climate crisis. It is observable that the media downplays this subject.</p><p><u>Reliance on information</u></p><p>Many journalists find it difficult – or impossible – to do their job without a good relationship with a particular powerful institution they are reporting on, be that a government department, a local council, a large corporation. They need a reliable flow of “news”, in the form of press releases and “off the record” briefings. </p><p>It is not easy, therefore, for a media outlet, let alone an individual journalist, to call out the same institution for lying or corruption. Nor is it easy to give significant coverage to sources hostile to the institution. </p><p><u>Flak</u></p><p>“Flak” means negative responses to media output. It comes in many forms including emails, letters, phone calls, petitions, complaints to politicians or libel threats.</p><p>Flak may be the spontaneous response of an individual. However, it can also be the result of an organised campaign.</p><p>Powerful people and organisations can produce huge amounts of flak. It can be very effective in making a media outlet change its coverage.</p><p><u>Anticommunism</u></p><p>When Herman & Chomsky were writing in 1988, it was, in their words, “a cultural milieu in which anti-Communism is the dominant religion” and people were “paralysed by the fear of being tarred with charges of infidelity to the national religion”.</p><p>In 2021, anti-Communism is no longer a potent force as a result of the end of the Cold War. </p><p>There are a number of beliefs in 2021 which may approach a “national religion” and which support elite values, such as the belief in the superiority of “Western values”. Those who dare to oppose them are liable to be demonised as unpatriotic or worse – a highly effective way to ensure self-censorship.</p><p>…..</p><p>Herman and Chomsky wrote, “raw material passes through the five filters to produce “only cleansed residue fit to print”.” </p><p>Printing (or broadcasting) this “cleansed residue” day after day manufactures consent for the economic, social and political dominance of elite groups and, therefore, undermines democracy.</p><p><br /></p><div class="blogger-post-footer">http://feeds.feedburner.com/TomLondon</div>Tom Londonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17758489868048216894noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1532254976341123883.post-29850876460335164282020-11-16T14:19:00.003+00:002021-05-02T17:12:43.899+01:00Propaganda is a terrible weapon. We need to learn from the Nazis use of it<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;"> </span></div><p></p><p>Adolf Hitler, the leader or “Fuhrer” of the Nazi party, held absolute power in Germany between 1933 and 1945. From the time of his entry into politics in 1919 shortly after the end of the First World War, to his suicide in 1945 at the end of the Second World War, he relentlessly pursued two central goals: a highly aggressive policy, based on racism and hyper-nationalism, to greatly increase the territory and power of Germany and a campaign of hatred against Jews, culminating in the unspeakable horror of the Holocaust. His name has become synonymous with evil.</p><p>Hitler saw propaganda as key to his success. In 1936, at the annual Nazi rally in Nuremberg he said, “Propaganda brought us to power, propaganda has since enabled us to remain in power, and propaganda will give us the means of conquering the world.” </p><p>Propaganda needs the right conditions to be successful. After the First World War, the economic situation was dire for Germans and the country had been humiliated by its defeat and the terms imposed on it after the war. There were widespread calls in Germany for a “strong leader” to emerge as a saviour. </p><p>Nazi propaganda was always accompanied by violence and intimidation. Before they gained power - democratically - in 1933, Nazi Stormtroopers, a paramilitary force, were frequently on the streets. Once in power, the Nazis quickly set up a murderous totalitarian dictatorship, a repressive police state, and a climate of terror. However, there was no pause in their relentless propaganda – people’s hearts and minds could not be won by terror and repression alone.</p><p>Hitler set out his views on how to use propaganda in his notorious and hate-filled book Mein Kampf which he dictated in 1923 and 1924, when he was in prison and was a nobody on the lunatic fringe of the extreme right. Within a decade he had obtained supreme power in Germany.</p><p>He believed the masses could be easily manipulated by propaganda, if used properly. By propaganda, “heaven itself can be presented to the people as if it were hell, and vice versa, and the most miserable kind of life can be presented as if it were paradise.”</p><p>“[Propaganda] is a terrible weapon in the hands of those who know how to make use of it’, said the man, who more than any other was to prove this statement true.</p><p>Hitler studied the propaganda methods of others like the Italian dictator Mussolini (who himself drew inspiration from the Roman Empire), the Russian Bolshevik revolutionaries and British propaganda in the First World War.</p><p>Soon after Hitler wrote Mein Kampf, Joseph Goebbels joined the Nazi Party and later he became the Propaganda Chief. He was influenced by the work on propaganda of the American Edward Bernays and by American commercial advertising techniques. He declared he would use, “American [propaganda] methods on an American scale.” </p><p>Goebbels, like Hitler, believed that the people are easily manipulated by propaganda, “The people are mostly just a gramophone record playing back public opinion. Public opinion, in its turn, is created by the organs of public opinion such as the press, posters, radio, school, universities, and general education.”</p><p>Both Hitler and Goebbels regarded propaganda as work of prime importance that demanded trained specialists, “the most skilled brains that can be found”. Control was centralised and the work closely supervised. The details had to be got right.</p><p>Nazi propaganda necessarily changed over time. In the early years, the Nazi Party was a tiny party of no importance. Hitler wrote about his frustration, “We should have been very pleased if we were attacked or even ridiculed. But the most depressing fact was that nobody paid any attention to us whatsoever. This utter lack of interest in us caused me great mental pain at the time.”</p><p>The Nazis used a variety of propaganda techniques to get themselves noticed. They held public meetings; the posters, leaflets and huge banners were all emblazoned with the party’s symbol, the swastika. In Mein Kampf, Hitler specified that such meetings must be in the evening “when [people] easily succumb to the domination of a stronger will” and the meetings should have “the mysterious artificial dimness of the Catholic churches”. </p><p>Hitler would always speak and use violent, provocative and threatening oratory. </p><p>The “security” would be provided by the Stormtroopers, who would cause and provoke violence, which was a kind of propaganda itself. It meant the Nazis were no longer ignored. It also helped the Nazis own morale. Goebbels remarked that “blood is the best adhesive”.</p><p>Propaganda, according to Hitler and Goebbels, should be aimed at the masses, and not at intellectuals, in fact it should be aimed at the “lowest mental common denominator”. It should appeal to emotion, not reason.</p><p>Goebbels wrote in his diary,” The essence of propaganda is to keep it simple and use constant repetition.” Simplicity and repetition of words and symbols were key.</p><p>Speeches should use simple, short, sharp words, be dogmatic, and always confident. The content was typically to set “Us” against “Them”. “Us” were those Hitler considered “racially pure” Germans and Aryans. “Them” were usually the Jews or could also be Communists, Bolsheviks, Socialists, Gypsies, homosexuals or whosoever was chosen.</p><p>Hitler – of course, not restrained by any moral scruples - sought to make people fear and hate. He would lie freely. He wrote that a big lie was more likely to persuade the masses than a small lie “since [the masses] themselves often tell small lies in little matters but would be ashamed to resort to large scale falsehood.” </p><p>After 1933, the Nazis’ annual rallies held at Nuremberg grew to an enormous size. Rows upon rows of uniformed Nazis marched holding burning torches behind banners with swastikas. Hitler stood before an imperial backdrop. The lighting, the sounds, the colours, the music were all planned minutely. The timings had to be split-second. </p><p>The rallies were modelled on Roman times when uniformed men marched behind eagles and banners emblazoned “SPQR”. They projected power – and fear.</p><p>The Press was recognised by Hitler in Mein Kampf as the most effective form of propaganda. Accordingly, the Nazis set up or bought their own newspapers. The backing of the media empire of Alfred Hugenberg, the largest in Germany, was to play a key role in the Nazis winning power.</p><p>It was the young who were the Nazis’ greatest supporters. Even before they came to power, the Nazis set up youth groups, for boys and girls aged between 10 and 18. They all swore oaths of personal allegiance to Hitler and were told “your life belongs to the Fuhrer”. After 1933, indoctrination started for all school children.</p><p>Even pre-school children might have Nazi children’s books, games and toys. This propaganda sought to shape children’s thoughts so they would grow up to be “good Nazis”.</p><p>Nazi propaganda from the beginning promoted a “Fuhrer cult”. Hitler’s deputy’s declaration at a Nuremberg rally was typical, “The Party is Hitler. But Hitler is Germany, just as Germany is Hitler!” As historian, Ian Kershaw, points out, by 1936, “ubiquitous propaganda made the drug of the ‘Fuhrer Myth’ hard to resist.” </p><p>However, manufactured charisma is dependent on success. When the military tide turned against Germany in 1942, the Fuhrer cult weakened.</p><p>In 1933, Goebbels became Minister for Popular Enlightenment and Propaganda. From now on, Nazi propaganda was almost completely uncontested, there were no dissenting voices. Listening to a foreign radio station, for example, was punishable by death.</p><p>Goebbels took control of all means of public communication, including: radio, films, newspapers, literature, music, theatre, and fine art. He had huge resources at his disposal. He intervened very actively. He would demand certain actors be hired, certain lines in films be changed. Soon after taking power, he presided over the public burning of books he considered “undesirable”.</p><p>In March 1933, Goebbels addressed the press in Berlin. He told them, “the new government no longer intends to leave people to their own devices”. The plan was, “to work on people until they accept our influence.”</p><p>Goebbels wrote in his diary, “The press is now all mine.” He could instruct them what to say. Even when he did not, they knew what was expected of them.</p><p>No one in Germany could avoid Nazi propaganda. Symbols such as the swastika were everywhere. People on meeting others would say “Heil Hitler” and perform the Hitler salute, a straight arm lifted in front of them. Many civilians wore Nazi uniforms. Even the way that soldiers marched – the aggressive goose-step – sent a clear message. And throughout the year, the Nazis promoted festivities for the people to take part in, each with its own particular Nazi ritual.</p><p>The Nazis produced cheap radios which could receive only one wavelength, which broadcast Hitler’s speeches. It was compulsory to install radios with loudspeakers in cafes and public places. It was compulsory to listen.</p><p>Under the direction and supervision of Hitler and Goebbels, the Nazis used existing propaganda techniques on an unprecedented scale, with persistence and close attention to detail. They combined propaganda with violence and intimidation. Their propaganda was relentless, continuous and impossible to escape. It was highly effective with the most terrible consequences.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><div class="blogger-post-footer">http://feeds.feedburner.com/TomLondon</div>Tom Londonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17758489868048216894noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1532254976341123883.post-12056961983985001512020-10-21T07:31:00.008+01:002020-10-21T07:34:23.575+01:00The UK is on a very slippery slope towards a dictatorship<p><span style="font-family: arial;">On 7 October 2020, Lord Neuberger, a former president of the Supreme Court and one of the most respected legal figures in the UK, said something extraordinary. He issued this warning: the Johnson Government's <i>Internal Markets Bill,</i> which explicitly allows the UK to break international law and which in vital respects deprives people of the right to challenge the Government in court, puts the UK on a <i>"very slippery slope" </i>towards a dictatorship.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Matters have, however, become even more worrying since Neuberger spoke.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">On 15 October 2020, a Bill passed its Third Reading in the Commons and may prove more dangerous to UK democracy and the Rule of Law than even the <i>Internal Markets Bill.</i></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">The Bill was the <i>Covert Human Intelligence Sources (Criminal Conduct) Bill. </i>Covert human intelligence sources (known as "CHIS") are people who operate undercover in order to collect intelligence.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Sometimes, in order to maintain their cover, CHIS have to commit crimes. There have been no cases where the State has ever prosecuted a CHIS for such crimes, because no doubt the prosecuting authorities have always used their discretion. However, the purpose of the Bill, according to the Government, is to put protection from prosecution on a statutory basis.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">The provisions of the Bill are extraordinary. Certain designated persons will have the power to grant <i>"criminal conduct authorisations." </i> These will authorise a CHIS to engage in criminal conduct in connection with an undercover operation. It will guarantee that the CHIS will not be prosecuted.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">From the words of the Bill and the debate in the Commons, it is absolutely clear that such an authorisation has no limit as to the type of crime. A CHIS could commit murder, torture or rape with impunity.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">A CHIS would have James Bond's "licence to kill" or to torture or to rape.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">And this is the list of 14 organisations that would have the power to grant <i>criminal conduct authorisations </i>with no input from a judge.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Any police force. National Crime Agency. Serious Fraud Office. Intelligence Services. HMRC. Armed Forces. Dept of Health and Social Care. Home Office. Ministry of Justice. Competition and Markets Authority. Environment Agency. Financial Conduct Authority. Gambling Commission</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Under the provisions in the Bill, <i>Criminal conduct authorisations</i> should only be granted by one of these 14 organisations for one of three specified purposes: - </span><span style="font-family: arial;">1. National Security 2. Preventing crime or disorder or detecting crime 3. In the interests of the economic well-being of the UK.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">These purposes set a low threshold. Someone at one of the 14 organisations might decide, for example, that campaign groups wanting to help the poor, or to rejoin the EU, or to stop a climate catastrophe could all be targeted legitimately "in the interests of the economic well-being of the UK."</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Sadly, there is a well-documented history of undercover operations being abused by the authorities. It is naive to assume that the extraordinary powers in the Bill are not likely to be abused with serious consequences, not only for individuals but for the Rule of Law and democracy.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">One notorious example of abuse is that an undercover policeman was sent to infiltrate the group around the grieving parents of Stephen Lawrence after his murder.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">A major Inquiry, the Undercover Policing Inquiry, is currently hearing evidence and has heard multiple accounts of State abuse of power. These include evidence from women in campaign groups who had relationships with, and many had children with, CHIS - who they thought were fellow activists - and who now, understandably, feel they have been "raped by the State".</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Over 1,000 political groups have been infiltrated by CHIS over the last 40 years. They include Trade Unions, environmental groups like Greenpeace, peace groups like CND, groups campaigning against measures like the Poll Tax, and groups campaigning for social justice. These groups were not a danger to the State, but may well have been highly irritating to those in government.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">At least one murder has been linked to CHIS. In 1989 a Belfast solicitor, Pat Finucane, was shot dead in his home by loyalist paramilitaries with the since admitted involvement of CHIS.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">It is no doubt true that some undercover operations have helped keep the UK safe from terrorism and crime. It is clearly desirable that there is a proper legal basis to cover crimes committed by CHIS. </span><span style="font-family: arial;">The Undercover Policing Inquiry has not yet reported. When it does so, it will provide recommendations for <i>appropriate </i>law<i> </i>to cover the operation of CHIS. However, the Government is clearly not prepared to wait for the Inquiry's report: they have not explained why the matter is so urgent after decades, that they will not wait.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">The Government claims that there are safeguards against abuse of power in the CHIS Bill, but they are wafer-thin. It cites the Human Rights Act, but the Government itself has previously argued the Act does not apply to CHIS. Furthermore, ministers have made no secret of their wish to scrap the Human Rights Act and withdraw from the underlying Convention.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">The Bill grants the power of oversight to the Investigatory Powers Commissioner (IPC) but that is only to review. No prior judicial authority is needed. The IPC is not remotely adequately resourced to be able to meaningfully oversee, even in retrospect, the use of the powers in the Bill.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">There are tougher safeguards for the police obtaining a search warrant of your house or garden shed than there are in the Bill for someone on the long list above granting <i>criminal conduct authorisations</i>.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Do you trust Priti Patel, Matt Hancock, Robert Buckland or someone you have never heard of in the Food Standards Agency, the Gambling Commission, Environment Agency, HMRC or the rest not to abuse their power?</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Lord Neuberger was right. The UK is on a very slippery slope toward a dictatorship. Unless those putting us on that very slippery slope can somehow be stopped.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><div class="blogger-post-footer">http://feeds.feedburner.com/TomLondon</div>Tom Londonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17758489868048216894noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1532254976341123883.post-19521170671429816532020-06-13T08:59:00.000+01:002020-06-13T08:59:40.553+01:00How the Roman Emperor Augustus used propaganda 2,000 years ago<br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">A very few people, rather than being carried along on the current of events like the rest of humanity, exceptionally manage to divert that current and change the course of history. Their use of propaganda is usually key to their success.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">We are all affected by propaganda – sometimes easy to see, sometimes hidden so that we are not even aware of it. Propaganda has been around for thousands of years. One of the most brilliant users of propaganda in the ancient world was the first Roman emperor, Augustus.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">The word “propaganda” is often used in a derogatory sense, but it can used for good as well as for ill. I use the word in the broad sense of putting out a message, by whatever means, with the intention of influencing people’s opinions.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Augustus was the first emperor of the Roman Empire just over 2,000 years ago. He used many different forms of propaganda including: his description of a comet, political trickery, buildings, statues, history, poetry, coins, a programme of moral revival, “bread and circuses” and his own name and title.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">When Augustus defeated his only then rival for power, Mark Antony, at the Battle of Actium, in 31 BCE, he became the undisputed ruler of the Roman Empire and remained so until his death, 45 years later in 14 CE.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Before Augustus, Rome had been a Republic for 500 years. The Republic was not a democracy; it was an oligarchy. However, the system was designed to ensure that no one man could seize sole power.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Before the Republic - in the mists of time - Rome had been ruled by kings, who still had the reputation of being cruel tyrants centuries later. Augustus was always careful not to use any title that suggested he was a king in all but name. Instead, he used the modest title Princeps, “first citizen”.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Augustus was born in 63 BCE and was a teenager when Rome was in the throes of a bloody Civil War. The victor of that war was Julius Caesar, who was later murdered by a group of Roman nobles in 44 BCE shortly after declaring himself Dictator for Life.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">It was the murder of Julius Caesar – and Caesar’s will - that changed everything for Augustus. In fact, he was not called Augustus at that time. He was born Caius Octavius and was Caesar’s great-nephew. Caesar and his great-nephew were not close, but Caesar decided to make Caius Octavius his heir and adopted him in his will.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Aged only 18, Augustus inherited money and Caesar’s name. He took a new name, Caius Julius Caesar. Mark Antony once sneered that he was<span> </span><i>“a boy who owes everything to his name”. <span> </span></i>The boy at 18 had ambition and an astonishing political maturity but it is true that in the beginning he owed his success to his name and his links with Caesar.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Caesar had been popular with the common citizens in Rome partly because he kept them happy with “bread and circuses”. Augustus borrowed when there was a delay releasing money in Caesar’s will to give a sum to every Roman citizen and to put on lavish games, with gladiators and wild animals, to entertain the people.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">During the games in Caesar’s honour, a comet appeared in the sky. Usually, comets were said to bring bad luck. However, Augustus in a brilliant move declared the comet was Julius Caesar ascending to heaven and had a star attached to Julius Caesar’s statue in the heart of Rome.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Throughout his reign, Augustus spared no expense in putting on games and feasts for the Roman masses. Potent propaganda for his rule.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Soon, Caesar was declared a god. Caius Julius Caesar – that is Augustus - then added to his name the words<span> </span><i>divi filius</i>, “son of a god”.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">The Divine Caesar also had a month named after him, the month of July. Some decades later, in his lifetime, Augustus had a similar honour – the month of August.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Between the murder of Caesar and his defeat of Mark Antony thirteen years later, Augustus was engaged in almost relentless war, first as an ally of Mark Antony and then fighting against him.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">During this period, Caesar was a ruthless, murderous war lord. He ordered the murder of political opponents. He is even said to have gouged out someone’s eyes with his own hands. He became feared.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Augustus used propaganda to ridicule Mark Antony for being under the influence of his lover Cleopatra, the Queen of Egypt. The poet Horace jeered,<span> </span><i>“The shame of it! A Roman enslaved to a woman (you future generations will refuse to believe it)”.<span> </span></i>Mark Antony was painted as being ensnared in a decadent Oriental world.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">After the defeat of Mark Antony, Augustus had no rivals for power. The central message justifying his rule was that he – and he alone – could bring peace after so many years of Civil War.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">In the 45 years of his rule, Augustus’s used different propaganda techniques. He was astonishingly successful at persuading people of his messages. He had a number of advantages: money, a monopoly of the means of propaganda and a long time to spread his message.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">It was essential for Augustus to portray his rule as legitimate. Rome had not been governed by a single individual for half a millennium and Julius Caesar was murdered precisely because other members of the Roman elite would not accept that he should have such power.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Augustus managed to pull off an extraordinary trick. He held supreme power yet could plausibly claim that he did so only because the people demanded it.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">In 27 BCE, Augustus made a speech to the Senate which a later historian, Cassius Dio, described. Dio<span> </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">wrote that Augustus wanted to<span> </span><i>“have his sovereignty voluntarily confirmed by the people, so as to avoid the appearance of having forced them against their will”</i>.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Augustus addressed the Senate,<span> </span><i>“You see for yourselves, of course, that it is in my power to rule over you for life… However, I shall lead you no longer… Nay, I give up my office completely, and restore to you absolutely everything…”</i></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Augustus’s speech was met, as he planned, by cries from the senators<span> </span><i>“begging for a monarchical government”</i><span> </span>and Augustus was<span> </span><i>“forced,<span> </span><u>as it was made to appear</u>, to assume autocratic power.”</i></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">This was also the occasion that the name “Augustus” was granted to the “monarch” by a decree of the Senate.<span> </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">25 years later, Augustus was granted a further title<span> </span><i>pater patriae,<span> </span></i>Father of the Country.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Augustus set out to change the culture of Rome and its empire. He called for Romans to go back to the traditional values which had been lost:</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span> </span>simplicity, self-sufficiency, strict upbringing, order, subservience within family, bravery, diligence, self-sacrifice.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Augustus set himself up as the exemplar of these virtues. He lived a life of “comfortable moderation”. He did not indulge in conspicuous consumption – although he was the richest man alive. He reinvented himself; he was no longer the brutal warlord.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Augustus brought in laws on morals making adultery a crime. This caused him huge problems when first his daughter Julia and then ten years later his granddaughter Julia were found to have committed adultery. Both were sent into exile.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Augustus also revived religious observance. He restored temples to the Roman gods and built new ones. Throughout the empire, local rulers copied what Augustus had done in Rome and also built shrines to “Rome and Augustus”. Augustus, who was made a god after he died, would not allow himself to be worshipped in his lifetime but made an exception if his name was linked with Rome and the worship was not actually in Rome itself.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Not only in temples but also in household shrines, millions prayed to an idealised and divinely sanctioned Augustus.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Augustus boasted that,<span> </span></span><i><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">“I found Rome a city of bricks and left it a city of marble.”</span></i><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span> </span></span></i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">The appearance of Rome was transformed under him and again what happened in Rome was copied</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span> </span>elsewhere in the empire. The imposing new buildings – including a magnificent mausoleum for himself - impressed and awed those that saw them. As did the life-changing but less glamorous constructions providing drinking water and building sewers. Architecture is a powerful form of propaganda.</span><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"></span></i></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Poets produced work to add to the glory of the emperor. Virgil wrote a national epic, The Aeneid, showing the history of Rome from its foundation. He traced back Augustus’s ancestors to gods and showed the age of Augustus as predestined, the result of divine providence.<span> </span><i>“</i></span><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Here is the man whose coming you so often hear prophesied, here he is, Augustus Caesar, son of a god, the man who will bring back the golden years to the fields of Latium… and extend Rome’s empire… to a land beyond the stars.”</span></i></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Everywhere throughout the empire there were statues and paintings with idealised likenesses and mass-produced jewellery, utensils, and all sorts of household items. And everyone handled coins with the image of Augustus. No one could escape seeing his image every day.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Augustus was a military dictator who ruthlessly seized power. Through a wide range of propaganda, he legitimised his rule and reinvented himself as the wise father of the nation. He left a legacy that lasted for centuries after his death.</span></div>
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<div class="blogger-post-footer">http://feeds.feedburner.com/TomLondon</div>Tom Londonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17758489868048216894noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1532254976341123883.post-39278025487432452772019-09-09T21:42:00.000+01:002019-09-09T21:42:30.819+01:00Mary Wollstonecraft was England’s “first feminist”, at least a century before her time
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Mary
Wollstonecraft died aged only 38, after giving birth to a girl, in 1797. She has
been described as “England’s first feminist”. The ideas in her book </span><i style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">The Vindication of the Rights of Woman </i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">written
in 1792, including that men and women have equal ability to reason, and an
equal right to education were considered outlandish and extraordinary by her
contemporaries, both men and women.</span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Wollstonecraft was at least a
century ahead of her time. Her contribution to the cause of women’s equality
was not widely recognised until the 1960s. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #181818; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Advances in women’s rights in
Western countries are still very recent.</span><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">
T</span><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">he words <i>feminist</i> and <i>feminism</i> were
not coined until the 1890s. </span><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #181818; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Take
the crucial example of voting: </span><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">women
got the vote in the USA only in 1920; all women in UK in 1928; in France it was
not until 1944; and in Switzerland it took until 1971.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Like many others who have challenged
the accepted wisdom and standards of their age, Wollstonecraft paid dearly for
it. In her case, she was the target of sustained misogynistic abuse. Horace
Walpole, a leading Establishment figure of the time, described her, in one
notorious example, as </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">“a hyena in a petticoat”. </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">The abuse
intensified <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">after </i>Wollstonecraft’s
death. Her grieving husband of a few months, William Godwin, a radical
philosopher who believed in the paramount importance of truth-telling, wrote a
biography which was loving but revealed scandalous facts, including Wollstonecraft’s
illegitimate child and her two suicide attempts. Godwin’s book provided the
enemies of Wollstonecraft’s ideas with sufficient ammunition to blacken her
name for decades.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">In </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">The
Vindication, </span></i><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Wollstonecraft
made the revolutionary claim that men and women were equal “<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">in reason”</i> and equal in their ability to
be <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“fully human”.</i> The fact that this <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">appeared</i> to many people not to be the
case was, she said, because women were deprived of the education which men
received. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: #444444;">“Until
women are given the tools of reason, their minds valued as well as their
bodies, they cannot be free, or even fully human.”<o:p></o:p></span></i></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">In
the words of Godwin, when Wollstonecraft wrote <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Vindication, “She stept forth boldly, and singly, in defence of
that half of the human race, which by the usages of all society, whether savage
or civilised, have been kept from attaining their proper dignity – their equal
rank as rational beings.”<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">The
key for Wollstonecraft was education. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“I
have</i> <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">a profound conviction that the
neglected education of my fellow creatures is the grand source of the misery I
deplore.”<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Education
is to be understood here as far wider than the classroom. It also means addressing
the cultural conditioning imposed on girls and women.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Wollstonecraft
is clear that <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Vindication</i> is
particularly aimed at middle class women. She is scathing about rich women and
hardly mentions poor women.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Wollstonecraft
argues that women were being educated to be </span><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">“<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">convenient domestic
slaves</i>” or “<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">alluring mistresses</i>”.
Society was using a disguise to <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“place on
women the silken fetters which bribe her into endurance, and even love of
slavery.”<span style="color: #444444;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><br /></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">In order to be “<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">fully human”</i> she argued, women had to be
independent of a man. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“I love man as my
fellow; but his sceptre real or usurped, extends not to me, unless the reason
of an individual demands my homage; and even then the submission is to reason,
and not to man.”<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><br /></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">She challenged women,
as well as men. “<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">My own sex, I hope, will
excuse me, if I treat them like rational creatures, instead of flattering their
<u>fascinating graces</u>, and viewing them as if they were in a state of
perpetual childhood, unable to stand alone</i>”. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Women,
Wollstonecraft argued, could pursue careers should they so choose, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">"women might certainly study the art of
healing, and be physicians as well as nurses . . . they might,
also, study politics . . . Business of various kinds, they might
likewise pursue."</i></span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"> </span></i><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was not until
1876 that the first woman was admitted as a doctor in the UK and it was many
decades after that before such a thing was common. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Wollstonecraft was
born in 1759 in London into a world in which it was accepted as the natural
state of affairs that women were inferior to men. That had been the position
for almost all of recorded history. As the leading twentieth century feminist,
Simone De Beauvoir observed, </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #181818; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">“Legislators, priests, philosophers, writers,
and scientists have striven to show that the subordinate position of woman is willed
in heaven and advantageous on earth.”<o:p></o:p></span></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #181818; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br /></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">
<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #181818; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">It was generally accepted
that women were too emotional, too hysterical to be capable of rational
thought.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">
<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #181818; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #14171a; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Wollstonecraft understood well the power of
the consensus view. </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">“Men, in general, seem to employ their
reason to justify prejudices, which they have imbibed, they cannot trace how,
rather than to root them out. The mind must be strong that resolutely forms its
own principles; for a kind of intellectual cowardice prevails which makes many
men shrink from the task…”</span></i><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #181818; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br /></span></i></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #121212; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Wollstonecraft had been born into a middle-class family which
got steadily poorer throughout her childhood. She ended up supporting the
family. Her father drank and could be violent and her mother gave her little
attention or love. As Godwin wrote “<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Her
father was a despot and her mother was one of his subjects”.<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #121212; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><br /></i></span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #121212; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Her schooling was basic; she was effectively self-taught. She
first left home to earn her way in the world at the age of 16. She tried a
number of ways of making money including setting up a school and being a
governess. However, aged 28, she found herself homeless, with no job and in
debt. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #121212; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #121212; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">It was at this stage that, in a life-changing move, Wollstonecraft
was helped by Joseph Johnson, a radical publisher with a shop near St Paul’s
Churchyard in central London. She began work as a reviewer, and editorial
assistant. It was Johnson who later published <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Vindication</i> and who provided Wollstonecraft with an entry into
the world of radical literary London. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #121212; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">The French
Revolution of 1789 was a seismic event for the radicals in London. </span><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #181818; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Once the French people had successfully
attacked the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“sacred majesty of kings”</i>,
anything seemed possible. It</span><span style="color: #121212; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"> did not, however, live up to its initial heady expectations. </span><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #181818; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Any hopes that the cry of </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="FR" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #181818; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">liberte, egalite, fraternite</span></i><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #181818; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> would extend to the rights of women were
dashed by the time Wollstonecraft wrote <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The
Vindication. <o:p></o:p></i></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #181818; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><br /></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">
<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #181818; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">It was this failure of the
Revolution that caused Wollstonecraft to write <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Vindication</i> in a remarkable period of only 6 weeks. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">
<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #181818; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #181818; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">The book attacks at length
the ideas on education of Jean-Jacques Rousseau. He had been the principle
intellectual force behind the Revolution but his </span><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #181818; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">ideas about the place of
women in society were anything but revolutionary. </span><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">He argued that women should be educated
for the pleasure of men, to be docile and sweet and to be good wives and
mothers.</span><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #181818; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #121212; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">A few months after she wrote <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The
Vindication</i>, Wollstonecraft went to Paris, which was still very much in the
grip of revolutionary turmoil. It was a characteristically independent step. In
Paris, she saw the doomed King Louis XVI pass by in the street.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #121212; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #121212; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">She also met a man there whom she fell passionately in love
with. </span><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Gilbert Imlay was an <span style="color: #121212;">American adventurer and businessman. Wollstonecraft and
Imlay had a baby girl, but Imlay did not reciprocate Wollstonecraft’s passion
and he deserted her. She left Paris to follow him. Time and again, in France
and then in London, Imlay treated her, now with their baby girl, appallingly.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #121212;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #121212; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Twice, in despair over Imlay, Wollstonecraft
made suicide attempts. In the first, she swallowed an overdose of opium. In the
second, she threw herself off Putney Bridge into the Thames.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #121212; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #121212; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Wollstonecraft’s critics were to later gleefully
point out that the woman who in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The
Vindication </i>had sternly advocated that women be independent of men had not lived
up to her own advice.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #121212; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #121212; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Eventually Wollstonecraft moved on from Imlay
and eventually married William Godwin. </span><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">The
couple had the baby girl whose birth led to Wollstonecraft’s death, and who grew
up to be famous herself. She was Mary Shelley, who wrote the famous novel,
Frankenstein. </span><span style="color: #121212; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="noname" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Wollstonecraft’s message resonates in
the twenty first century far more than in the eighteenth. “<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Rights of man and rights of woman are the same.” <o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Wollstonecraft
was clear eyed about the resistance her ideas would encounter. She wrote these
lines of herself a few months before her death, </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: #121212; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">"Those who are bold enough to advance
before the age they live in, and to throw off, by the force of their own minds,
the prejudices which the maturing reason of the world will in time disavow, must
learn to brave censure. We ought not to be too anxious respecting the opinion
of others... Those who know me will suppose that I acted from principle. - I am
easy with regard to the opinions of the best part of mankind - I rest on my
own."</span></i><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">She urged women
to be strong and independent, for their own sakes, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“I do not wish women to have power over men; but over themselves.” <o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">In the end, it was
a matter of justice. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“It is justice not
charity that is wanting in the world!” <o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<!--EndFragment--><br /><div class="blogger-post-footer">http://feeds.feedburner.com/TomLondon</div>Tom Londonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17758489868048216894noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1532254976341123883.post-31412147878963868502019-03-02T14:55:00.000+00:002019-03-02T14:55:19.854+00:00 Ayn Rand preached selfishness is a virtue. Her ideas have caused terrible harm.<div class="Body">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">No doubt, there have always been selfish people, who care only about themselves and who never help or care about anyone else. However, such nasty behavior has never been encouraged or sanctioned by any major religious or secular system of morality. At least, not until Ayn Rand, Russian-born American writer </span>and<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"> philosopher, created what she described as </span><i style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">“a new code of morality”,</i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"> Objectivism, in the mid-twentieth century.</span></div>
<div class="Body">
<br /></div>
<div class="Body">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;">Contrary to existing ideas of morality and to common sense, Rand preached that selfishness is a virtue and that </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">a person’s only moral obligation is to their own happiness. <i>“Man exists for his own sake, the pursuit of his own happiness is his highest moral purpose.”</i><span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"> <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="Body">
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">Altruism, Rand declared, is evil</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"> and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">"the curse of the world”. <o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<span lang="NL" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Rand’s ideas still matter in 2019 because they have had, and continue to have, a profound influence in the West generally and particularly in the USA and the UK. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #111111; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Tens of millions of copies of Rand’s books have been sold. In surveys conducted in the USA, her book, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Atlas Shrugged,</i> came second only to the Christian Bible when readers were asked which books had "made a difference" in their lives.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Initially through her novels, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Fountainhead </i>(1943) and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Atlas Shrugged </i>(1957), and later through non-fiction books, Rand persuaded some people that it was cool to be selfish. She made nasty people feel good about themselves.</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"> She gave </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">a specious morality, a fraudulent respectability to terrible behaviour. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Rand’s ideas became an important component of the ideology known as neoliberalism which has held sway in the West since President Reagan and Prime Minister Thatcher came to power in the 1980s in the USA and the UK respectively. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Reagan called himself <i>“an admirer of Ayn Rand”</i>. The New York Times referred to Rand as the Reagan administration’s <i>“novelist laureate”</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">In 2019, Rand again has an avowed fan in the White House in Donald Trump.</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Rand’s ideas crossed the Atlantic. Thatcher famously declared in 1987, <i>“There's no such thing as society”</i>. She was echoing a phrase from a book of Rand’s, straightforwardly entitled, <i>The Virtue of Selfishness.<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">In 1986, Berkeley, a prestigious American university, gave the honour of delivering its commencement address to Ivan Boesky, a prominent Wall Street financier. Boesky told the students, some of America’s future leaders, <i>“Greed is all right… Greed is healthy. You can be greedy and still feel good about yourself.”</i><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This was Rand’s message.</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">The following year,1987, the Hollywood film <i>Wall Street </i><span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">popularised the phrase <i>“Greed is good”. </i>T</span>he film-maker had intended to satirise but, instead, many took the phrase at face value.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Interestingly, Rand did not believe that mankind is inherently, naturally selfish. She accepted the evidence that hunter-gatherers must have worked together as a community to hunt and to survive. She argued that the process of civilization meant that such “primitive” behaviour was no longer needed and should – morally – be avoided.</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">American author, Gore Vidal summed up Rand’s ideas, </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="border: none; color: #181818; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 18.0pt;">“Ayn Rand's 'philosophy' is nearly perfect in its immorality, which makes the size of her audience all the more ominous and symptomatic as we enter a curious new phase in our society.... To justify and extol human greed and egotism is to my mind not only immoral, but evil.”</span></i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="NL" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Objectivism was concerned with more than morality. It was also concerned with economics and society. Rand preached that capitalism was the only moral way to organise a society and explained,<i> “When I say “capitalism”, I mean a full, pure, uncontrolled, unregulated laissez-faire capitalism - with a separation of state and economics.” </i><span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #111111; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">One of Rand’s closest disciples in the cultish group that surrounded her for decades, Alan Greenspan, was at the centre of the American and world financial systems as Chairman of the Federal Reserve for almost 20 years up to 2006. His following of Rand’s ideological obsession to do away with regulations and supervision and anything that impeded the “free market”, was held to be a major cause of the Global Financial Crash of 2008.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">It was Greenspan who had given the eulogy at Rand’s funeral in 1982 – standing next to a six-foot-tall floral arrangement in the shape of a dollar sign; the giant dollar sign being a key motif in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Atlas Shrugged.</i> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">Objectivism had consequences for society too. </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Rand lauded individualism and ruthless unfettered selfishness. According to her, success in life was all down to effort and ability and adverse circumstances were irrelevant. Empirical evidence shows that in most societies for most people this is not true. Some will, of course, succeed against the odds but most will not.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Rand was an unapologetic elitist. She taught that the rich, and particularly bosses of big companies, CEOs, were heroic figures who deserved admiration. In her worldview, wealth and virtue were closely linked.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">She had a battery of insults for the lazy and unambitious, including </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;">moochers, parasites, second-handers, leeches and looters.</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">She had contempt for those who do not make it, who struggle in life. In her eyes, they deserved their plight. Even those with disabilities. Even children.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="NL" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Rand opposed all types of what she called <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“collectivism”</i> i.e. the subjugation of an individual to the group. </span><span lang="EN-US" style="background: white; color: #252525; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">She regarded taxation and all redistribution of wealth as theft. In America, opponents of higher taxes on the rich will often use rhetoric taken from Rand and argue that it is immoral to “confiscate”, “loot”, “steal” their money.</span><span lang="NL" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="background: white; color: #252525; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">It is possible to hear Rand’s contempt for the poor echoed in many politician’s speeches and newspaper front pages. The idea that the poor deserve their poverty has been an important factor in levels of inequality soaring under neoliberalism and to increasingly punitive systems of welfare.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;">Rand’s hatred of collectivism was shaped by her childhood. </span><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #111111; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">She was born Alissa Rosenbaum in 1905 in St Petersburg in pre-revolutionary Russia. She was 12 years old when the Russian Revolution turned her world upside down and the Communists seized power. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #111111; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Alissa’s father had a profitable pharmacy business. The Communists confiscated the business and justified their action by saying that it was for <i>“the benefit of the people”</i>.</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">In 1926, aged 21, Alissa Rosenbaum managed to leave the Soviet Union to live in the USA, where she very soon changed her name to Ayn Rand. In the Soviet Union, the horror of Stalinism was to unfold. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">It is easy to see why Rand hated Soviet Communism. However, her hatred extended to <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">any</i> type of collective organisation, any acts of redistribution, regulation or altruism.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">After she arrived in the USA, Rand headed for Hollywood and earned a living there until she hit success with her novel <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Fountainhead</i>. This book and then <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Atlas Shrugged</i>, made Rand a celebrity and a household name in the USA.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;">These two novels are the main vehicles Rand used to set out the contents of Objectivism. Characterisation and plots are subordinated to Rand’s desire to preach.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;">The heroes, Howard Roark in</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"> <i>The Fountainhead </i><span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">and </span>John Galt in <i>Atlas Shrugged</i> are Rand’s conception of ideal men: strong, creative, independent and, of course, selfish. </span><i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Roark is an architect. When his designs for a housing development are changed without his agreement, he blows the development up with dynamite. At his trial, Roark tells the jury that his vision was “<i>mutilated by second-handers”. </i>He explains to the jury how - as the creator - he was within his rights to destroy the building.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">“I came here to say that I do not recognize anyone’s right to one minute of my life. Nor to any part of my energy. Nor to any achievement of mine. No matter who makes the claim, how large their number or how great their need.</span></i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"> <i>I wished to come here and say that I am a man who does not exist for others.</i> <i>It had to be said. The world is perishing from an orgy of self-sacrificing.”</i></span><i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">The jury duly acquits. Roark is vindicated, according to the author.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #111111; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">In <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Atlas Shrugged</i>, the United States is languishing under a government which is stifling business with regulations. The bureaucrats are <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“thieving”</i> and the social workers are <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“simpering”. </i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #111111; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">A small group of CEOs go on strike and hide themselves away in a hidden valley.</span><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #111111; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"> </span><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #111111; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Without these leaders, society collapses, food runs out and people riot. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #111111; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">According to Rand, it is not the workers who create value. It is the CEOs.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">John Galt, the leader of the strike, ends up addressing the citizens and declares, <i>“I swear, by my life and my love of it, that I will never live for the sake of another human being, or ask another human being to live for mine.”</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">The final years of Rand’s life were difficult. Despite inveighing against welfare for decades, she ended up accepting it for herself.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">Rand herself was a deeply flawed person. However, it is the continuing power of her ideas to cause terrible harm that should be of most concern.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Bullet"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Number"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Bullet 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Bullet 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Bullet 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Bullet 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Number 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Number 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Number 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Number 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="10" QFormat="true" Name="Title"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Closing"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Signature"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="1" SemiHidden="true"
UnhideWhenUsed="true" Name="Default Paragraph Font"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Body Text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Body Text Indent"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Continue"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Continue 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Continue 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Continue 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Continue 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Message Header"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="11" QFormat="true" Name="Subtitle"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Salutation"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Date"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Body Text First Indent"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Body Text First Indent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Note Heading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Body Text 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Body Text 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Body Text Indent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Body Text Indent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Block Text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Hyperlink"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="FollowedHyperlink"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="22" QFormat="true" Name="Strong"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="20" QFormat="true" Name="Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Document Map"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Plain Text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="E-mail Signature"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Top of Form"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Bottom of Form"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Normal (Web)"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Acronym"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Address"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Cite"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Code"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Definition"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Keyboard"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Preformatted"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Sample"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Typewriter"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Variable"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Normal Table"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="annotation subject"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="No List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Outline List 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Outline List 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Outline List 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Simple 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Simple 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Simple 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Classic 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Classic 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Classic 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Classic 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Colorful 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Colorful 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Colorful 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Columns 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Columns 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Columns 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Columns 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Columns 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 7"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 8"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 7"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 8"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table 3D effects 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table 3D effects 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table 3D effects 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Contemporary"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Elegant"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Professional"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Subtle 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Subtle 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Web 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Web 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Web 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Balloon Text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="Table Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Theme"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" Name="Placeholder Text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="1" QFormat="true" Name="No Spacing"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" Name="Revision"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="34" QFormat="true"
Name="List Paragraph"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="29" QFormat="true" Name="Quote"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="30" QFormat="true"
Name="Intense Quote"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="19" QFormat="true"
Name="Subtle Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="21" QFormat="true"
Name="Intense Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="31" QFormat="true"
Name="Subtle Reference"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="32" QFormat="true"
Name="Intense Reference"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="33" QFormat="true" Name="Book Title"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="37" SemiHidden="true"
UnhideWhenUsed="true" Name="Bibliography"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" SemiHidden="true"
UnhideWhenUsed="true" QFormat="true" Name="TOC Heading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="41" Name="Plain Table 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="42" Name="Plain Table 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="43" Name="Plain Table 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="44" Name="Plain Table 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="45" Name="Plain Table 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="40" Name="Grid Table Light"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46" Name="Grid Table 1 Light"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51" Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52" Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="Grid Table 1 Light Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="Grid Table 1 Light Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="Grid Table 1 Light Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="Grid Table 1 Light Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="Grid Table 1 Light Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="Grid Table 1 Light Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46" Name="List Table 1 Light"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="List Table 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="List Table 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="List Table 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="List Table 5 Dark"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51" Name="List Table 6 Colorful"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52" Name="List Table 7 Colorful"/>
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<div class="blogger-post-footer">http://feeds.feedburner.com/TomLondon</div>Tom Londonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17758489868048216894noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1532254976341123883.post-45675118364983782252018-10-28T11:34:00.000+00:002018-10-28T11:42:28.216+00:00GUEST BLOG @TomLennard Why Aren't We Worrying More About Climate Change? Action not Words<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: left;">In July, Green Party candidate and academic Rupert Read declined to appear on a BBC programme. The tweet in which he justified this, read as follows: </span><i style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: left;">BBC Radio wanted to have me on today to debate a climate-denier in the context of the drought/heatwave. I said NO. I told them it was a disgrace that they still give climate-deniers airtime at a time like this. I won’t be part of such charades any longer. Please RT if you agree. @GreenRupertRead</i></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; text-align: left;">Read's
contention is that giving climate-deniers airtime is a ridiculous move from the
BBC, when there are more important debates about climate change; it is </span><i style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; text-align: left;">here</i><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; text-align: left;">,
and is </span><i style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; text-align: left;">dangerous</i><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; text-align: left;">. This impatience is echoed by other activists, but ones
that will not wait for a comfortable discussion around the pros and cons of
different strategies. They are unwilling to make polite appeals to our government,
when it is clearly in the pocket of big business and major polluters.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">On September 25<sup>th</sup> I chaired a
discussion entitled “Why Aren't </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">We
Worrying More About Global Warming?”</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">
</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">where one of Extinction Rebellion's main activists, Roger Hallam,
spoke. At this event he laid out his arguments – arguments for starting a
public rebellion against the government over their climate change inaction -
and then he left before the Q & A began.</span><i style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </i></div>
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<i style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Action</i><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">, he explained, not </span><i style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">words</i><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">,
are important in the little time we have to do something. We should not get
caught in the over-analysis of the information. He painted a picture of
activism as a sacrifice of personal freedom, and the importance of rule
breaking to achieve ones goals. And knowing Roger a little, I can corroborate
that he lives by these ideals. Here is a link to Roger's speech <a href="https://ytcropper.com/cropped/EA5bd4dc118a72b">https://ytcropper.com/cropped/EA5bd4dc118a72b</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; text-align: left;">It is
easy to view the non-violent action that Roger proposed as extreme and drastic –
<i>it is</i>. It was only a week after the talk, on October 1<sup>st, </sup>that
the IPCC released their damning report: we have only 12 years to keep climate
change temperatures under </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; text-align: left;">control:
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/oct/08/global-warming-must-not-exceed-15c-warns-landmark-un-report">https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/oct/08/global-warming-must-not-exceed-15c-warns-landmark-un-report</a> </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; text-align: left;">And
this is to put widespread devastation and societal unrest into emotionless
facts and figures.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; text-align: left;">I am no longer convinced that political
parties of the Left have enough energy or gumption to turn us toward serious
responses and solutions to climate change. Political cycles are short and
politicians have even shorter memories. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #14171a;">Roger's
walk away from the discussion, and abandonment of polite convention had a very
polarising affect. It generated an emotional response – and such responses are <i>necessary </i>for
going beyond our willingness to rationalise and normalise the impending chaos. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Whilst
the positive stories are definitely something that can keep us going in the
darker moments outside activism, many people around the globe are engaged in
great projects that facilitate us moving to a more ecological way of living.
But these are </span><i style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">alternatives</i><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">, and </span><i style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">not the mainstream, socio-political
reality</i><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">Extinction Rebellion's method is to <i><span style="color: #14171a;">shock</span></i><span style="color: #14171a;"> the system. They plan to do this in the coming months, starting with a big demonstration
and direct action in Parliament Square, with the backing of George Monbiot </span></span><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/oct/18/governments-no-longer-trusted-climate-change-citizens-revolt">https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/oct/18/governments-no-longer-trusted-climate-change-citizens-revolt</a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: left;">
<span style="color: #14171a; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">The present moment seems
terribly fragile and frightening. Even the climate change deniers seem to be
keeping rather quiet. But since the IPCC report the media has returned to its
regular coverage of minutiae and gossip. It is a fragile moment that we live in,
but fragile moments, are ones in which the </span><i style="color: #14171a; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">status quo</i><span style="color: #14171a; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"> is broken. How
things will look from the other side of a social revolution is much harder to
say. But to be climate extremist in these times is nothing but common sense.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="color: #14171a; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Tom Lennard @TomLennard</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #14171a; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Kensal and Kilburn Better 2018 @KKBetter2018 </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><o:p> </o:p></span><i style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">You
can become involved in the necessary campaign to force politicians to account
over climate change at Extinction Rebellion - </span></i><a href="https://risingup.org.uk/XR/">https://risingup.org.uk/XR/</a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: center;">
<i><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></i><i style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">For a
recent, short analysis of the political strategy of Left Wing politics see
Graham Jones' “The Shock Doctrine of the
Left” (published by Polity)</span></i></div>
<!--EndFragment--><br /><div class="blogger-post-footer">http://feeds.feedburner.com/TomLondon</div>Tom Londonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17758489868048216894noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1532254976341123883.post-70827559269513773762018-08-21T21:01:00.000+01:002018-08-21T21:01:51.199+01:00Edward Bernays: the invisible master manipulator of the West over last 100 years<div data-test-id="message-view-body" style="background-color: white; color: #26282a; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">
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Few people have had as profound an effect on the Western world over the last century as Edward Bernays, who died in the USA at the age of 103 in 1995. He is often referred to as the “Father of Public Relations”.<span class="yiv4507622521ydpae6ffd26Apple-converted-space"> </span></div>
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<span class="yiv4507622521ydpae6ffd26s2">Bernays opened the world’s first public relations office in New York in 1919. He has been the invisible master manipulator of the West over the last 100 years.<span class="yiv4507622521ydpae6ffd26Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></div>
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<span class="yiv4507622521ydpae6ffd26s2">He would not mind being called a “master manipulator”. In fact, he would be proud. Manipulating the thoughts and ideas of ordinary people, whom he often called “the masses”, was his life’s work.<span class="yiv4507622521ydpae6ffd26Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></div>
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<span class="yiv4507622521ydpae6ffd26s2">Nor would he mind being called “invisible”. He saw himself as part of an “invisible government”.<span class="yiv4507622521ydpae6ffd26Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></div>
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<span class="yiv4507622521ydpae6ffd26s2">Here is the opening paragraph of a book he wrote in 1928, called <i>Propaganda.</i></span></div>
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<span class="yiv4507622521ydpae6ffd26s2">“<i>The conscious and intelligent manipulation of the organised habits and opinions of the masses is an important element in democratic society. Those who manipulate this unseen mechanism of society constitute an invisible government which is the true ruling power of our country.”<span class="yiv4507622521ydpae6ffd26Apple-converted-space"> </span></i></span></div>
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<span class="yiv4507622521ydpae6ffd26s2">The invisible governors according to Bernays are <i>“the higher strata of society - the cultivated, the learned, the expert, the intellectual.”</i><span class="yiv4507622521ydpae6ffd26Apple-converted-space"> </span>They would not necessarily even know each other but would control the masses,<i>“It is they who pull the wires which control the public mind.”</i></span></div>
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<span class="yiv4507622521ydpae6ffd26s2">Bernays regarded rule by the invisible governors as necessary and benign. The alternative he said would be chaos and confusion. He thought the masses </span>“<i>were really pretty stupid”, </i>according to his daughter Ann Bernays, quoted in The Century of the Self, a BBC TV series by filmmaker Adam Curtis.</div>
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<span class="yiv4507622521ydpae6ffd26s2">Bernays viewed the power of manipulation as going far beyond politics, “<i>We are governed, our minds moulded, our tastes formed, our ideas suggested, largely by men we have never heard of”.<span class="yiv4507622521ydpae6ffd26Apple-converted-space"> </span></i></span></div>
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<span class="yiv4507622521ydpae6ffd26s2">For most of the twentieth century, Bernays manipulated the masses for an extraordinary array of purposes on behalf of those who could afford his services.</span></div>
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<span class="yiv4507622521ydpae6ffd26s2">At the heart of Bernays’ work were two core beliefs.<span class="yiv4507622521ydpae6ffd26Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></div>
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<span class="yiv4507622521ydpae6ffd26s2">The first was the belief that the masses are too stupid and irrational, too swayed by emotion and impulse, to be trusted to make decisions. This, of course, was the same rationalisation used to justify colonialism and to deny the vote to women, poorer men and others.</span></div>
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<span class="yiv4507622521ydpae6ffd26s2">After the First World War in most Western countries - after years of struggle - most adults were finally able to vote. This fact made the task of manipulating the masses and ensuring they did not take control, one of urgent and grave importance for Bernays and his clients.</span></div>
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<span class="yiv4507622521ydpae6ffd26s2">It is striking to read Bernays candour about his views of the masses. Many in today’s elites may share his views but few would be so open about it.</span></div>
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<span class="yiv4507622521ydpae6ffd26s2">The second core belief was that the insights of Sigmund Freud, the famous father of psychotherapy, could be used to effectively manipulate people on a mass scale.<span class="yiv4507622521ydpae6ffd26Apple-converted-space"> </span>Freud was Bernays’ uncle. In fact as Bernays’ mother was Freud’s sister and his father was the brother of Freud’s wife, Freud was Bernays’ “double uncle”.<span class="yiv4507622521ydpae6ffd26Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></div>
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<span class="yiv4507622521ydpae6ffd26s2">Bernays was particularly attracted to Freud’s view of the unconscious. Freud believed that people’s thoughts and actions are often motivated - without their being aware - by factors<span class="yiv4507622521ydpae6ffd26Apple-converted-space"> </span>in their own unconscious, which they have forgotten or repressed. One expert has described the unconscious as being <i>“guided by instinct, by the most primitive dimensions of our essence.”<span class="yiv4507622521ydpae6ffd26Apple-converted-space"> </span></i>The emotions found there, according to Freud, are often aggressive, fearful, sexual or needy.</span></div>
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<span class="yiv4507622521ydpae6ffd26s2">Whereas Freud used his knowledge to try and cure people, Bernays used the same knowledge to manipulate people by targeting their unconscious rather than their rational mind.<span class="yiv4507622521ydpae6ffd26Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></div>
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<span class="yiv4507622521ydpae6ffd26s2">Ann Bernays has said her father<i> </i>thought the masses<i>, “might easily vote for the wrong man or want the wrong thing: so they had to be guided from above. It’s enlightened despotism in a sense. You can tap into their deepest desires or their deepest fears and use that to your own purposes.”</i></span></div>
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<span class="yiv4507622521ydpae6ffd26s2">Most of Bernays work was for huge corporations. He was central to an extraordinary change that happened in Western economies in the twentieth century, namely the advent of consumerism. He persuaded people to become consumers, to buy not only what they <i>needed</i> but what they <i>wanted</i>, what they <i>desired</i>.</span></div>
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<span class="yiv4507622521ydpae6ffd26s2">An early example of Bernays’ work occurred when the giant American Tobacco company<span class="yiv4507622521ydpae6ffd26Apple-converted-space"> </span>gave him the task of doubling their potential market by getting women smoking.</span></div>
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<span class="yiv4507622521ydpae6ffd26s2">Bernays enlisted the help of a Freudian psychoanalyst, who suggested the cigarette was a symbol of male power. If women could see it as a symbol of their own power and independence, then they would take up smoking. Cigarettes were to be held out to women as<i> “torches of freedom.”</i></span></div>
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<span class="yiv4507622521ydpae6ffd26s2">Bernays organised for a number of stylish young women to take part in the Easter Sunday Parade in New York and for all to light up cigarettes at the same time on a signal from him.<span class="yiv4507622521ydpae6ffd26Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></div>
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<span class="yiv4507622521ydpae6ffd26s2">Bernays ensured nationwide coverage of the women smoking under headlines, <i>“Torches of Freedom”</i>. Millions of women took up smoking.<span class="yiv4507622521ydpae6ffd26Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></div>
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<span class="yiv4507622521ydpae6ffd26s2">Today, we are constantly exposed to appeals - in advertisements and elsewhere - which bypass our rational minds and target our unconscious.<span class="yiv4507622521ydpae6ffd26Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></div>
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<span class="yiv4507622521ydpae6ffd26s2">Bernays techniques are highly effective. He was shocked when he learnt that the infamous Nazi propaganda chief Joseph Goebbels, used his ideas as the basis for his campaigns. Goebbels targeted the unconscious of the German people and was terrifyingly successful in creating adoration of the Fuhrer and hatred of the Jews.</span></div>
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<span class="yiv4507622521ydpae6ffd26s2">In 1954<i> </i>Bernays was central to overturning a democratically elected government in Guatemala. He worked for the giant United Fruit Company and his client was very unhappy with the policies of the democratically elected President Arbenz.</span></div>
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<span class="yiv4507622521ydpae6ffd26s2">Although, Arbenz was neither a Communist nor had links with the Soviet Union, Bernays convinced the American public that they faced the Communist Menace in Guatemala. He was tapping into the fear in the American people’s unconscious and accomplished this through his manipulation of the US press. In the words of a New York Times reporter, reflecting later, <i>“A hostile and ill-informed American press helped to create an emotional public opinion. This in turn worked on [government].”</i><span class="yiv4507622521ydpae6ffd26Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></div>
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<span class="yiv4507622521ydpae6ffd26s2">According to Larry Tye, Bernays’ biographer, <i>“He totally understood that the coup would happen when conditions in the public and press allowed for a coup to happen and he created those conditions…Ultimately he was reshaping reality and reshaping public opinion in a way that’s undemocratic and manipulative.”</i></span></div>
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<span class="yiv4507622521ydpae6ffd26s2">The technique used by Bernays in Guatemala - to build up an enemy and then demand its defeat - has been used on a number of occasions since 1954.</span></div>
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<span class="yiv4507622521ydpae6ffd26s2">It is reported that Bernays also persuaded President Eisenhower that fear of Communism should be induced and encouraged, because by unleashing irrational fears it would make people more loyal to the USA. Some might argue that some governments exaggerate the threat of terrorism in 2018 for similar reasons.</span></div>
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<span class="yiv4507622521ydpae6ffd26s2">Adam Curtis wrote that <i>“in the 1980s, Bernays’ ideas had come of age.” </i>This was the time when Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher started the current neoliberal era in the West.</span></div>
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<span class="yiv4507622521ydpae6ffd26s2">Margaret Thatcher famously once declared, “<i>there is no such thing as society”. </i>This was a description of the kind of society Bernays had helped create. Many individuals had come to believe that <i>their </i>feelings and desires were the most important thing. They had little or no care for the wider society.</span></div>
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<span class="yiv4507622521ydpae6ffd26s2">In 2016, Donald Trump came to power in a campaign that was almost textbook Bernays. Trump made no real effort to appeal to voter’s rationality. He tapped into some of the most powerful and dangerous unconscious forces, such as fear and hatred.</span></div>
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<span class="yiv4507622521ydpae6ffd26s2">Bernays provided the world with an effective means of mass manipulation. So that people can be made to do what others, with money and power, want them to do: be that to buy what they don’t need or elect someone who does not represent their interests or to do the bidding of powerful leaders.</span></div>
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<span class="yiv4507622521ydpae6ffd26s2">Two final Bernays quotes read as if they could have been written in a dystopian novel by George Orwell.<span class="yiv4507622521ydpae6ffd26Apple-converted-space"> </span>Every day powerful people are using Bernays’ techniques. This is part of modern life. We should at the very least be more aware of what is going on. Then, perhaps, we can start to combat it.</span></div>
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<span class="yiv4507622521ydpae6ffd26s2"><i>“Universal literacy was supposed to educate the common man to control his environment…But instead of a mind, universal literacy has given him rubber stamps inked with advertising slogans, with editorials, with scientific data, with the trivialities of the tabloids and the platitudes of history, but quite innocent of original thought. Each man’s rubber stamps are the duplicates of millions of others; so that when those millions are exposed to the same stimuli, all receive identical imprints.</i>”</span></div>
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<span class="yiv4507622521ydpae6ffd26s2"><i>“Propaganda is universal and continuous; and in its sum total it is regimenting the public mind every bit as much as an army regiments the bodies of its soldiers.”</i></span></div>
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<div class="blogger-post-footer">http://feeds.feedburner.com/TomLondon</div>Tom Londonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17758489868048216894noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1532254976341123883.post-66357015399184121722018-08-12T14:20:00.000+01:002018-08-12T14:20:17.943+01:00Proposal for a TV programme called PM 1-to-1 to strengthen our democracy<div style="color: #222222; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0.75em 0px 0px; position: relative;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">All is not well with democracy in the UK. I propose improving it by letting a far wider range of people into the centre of the political process by means of a new TV programme on which the prime minister of the day would meet one-to-one with representative members of the public. The "reality TV element" is likely to ensure high ratings.</span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Just as for centuries, ordinary people were denied the right to vote, now they are excluded from the crucial democratic business of setting the political agenda and holding power to account. These roles are restricted overwhelmingly to a privileged few in our politico-media elite who almost always share all or most of the following characteristics - well-educated, well-off, middle-aged, white, London-based. Their agenda inevitably reflects their own background and experience.</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">On the proposed new programme, members of the public would be given proper airtime. They can have their say without having to yell a question to the PM visiting a hospital at election time or being packaged in a <i>vox pop</i> or shouting down from the audience to the panel on BBC’s Question Time.</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The PM would meet a genuinely representative sample of the public, “the questioners”, in a monthly live show. They would be in one-to-one conversation with each of the questioners, one after another. </span></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If a questioner is shy, inarticulate or angry it will be for the PM to deal with the conversation as best they can. The PM would demonstrate their own qualities such as empathy (or lack of empathy).</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The programme would include all sorts of people from the whole range of our diverse population, who are not currently heard in the national political debate, such as: an 85 year old pensioner, an 18 year old single mother, a deep-sea fisherman, a paraplegic ex-soldier, a corner-shop owner or someone working hard on poverty wages and relying on a food-bank.</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The proposal is rooted in the belief that everyone matters in a democracy and everyone has political concerns. It would dramatically widen the range of voices that are heard in the political debate, increase political engagement and help people escape their own information bubbles and better understand their fellow citizens.</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In the same way that it is not necessary to be on Twitter to be aware of President Trump’s tweets, the programme would affect the political agenda beyond those who watch it.</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Here are details of the proposal.</span></span></div>
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<li class="li2" style="-webkit-text-stroke: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"></span><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">UK would be divided into 12 areas and the programme would come from a different area each month.</span></span></li>
<li class="li2" style="-webkit-text-stroke: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"></span><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">An independent body would select (like a jury) ten questioners per show from the area where the programme is based that month.</span></span></li>
<li class="li2" style="-webkit-text-stroke: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"></span><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">The questioners should collectively form a representative sample from that area. The factors used to select a representative sample may, for example, include sex, income, race, age, religion and disability. The selection process must be rigorous and transparent.</span></span></li>
<li class="li2" style="-webkit-text-stroke: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"></span><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">If someone selected does not want to take part, then someone else similar would be selected.</span></span></li>
<li class="li2" style="-webkit-text-stroke: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"></span><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">Each questioner would have five minutes one-to-one with the PM. </span></span></li>
<li class="li2" style="-webkit-text-stroke: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"></span><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">There would be no chairperson and no studio audience. There would be the necessary security.</span></span></li>
<li class="li2" style="-webkit-text-stroke: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"></span><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">The programme would go out live (with usual short delay) and there would be an edited version of highlights.</span></span></li>
<li class="li2" style="-webkit-text-stroke: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"></span><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">An independent body would deal with any complaints or other issues</span></span></li>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There is an obvious risk for any political leader in taking part. A questioner might launch a furious attack on them and they would be trapped for five minutes and it would all go out live. But the likely benefits for a politician should outweigh the risk and, as for the risk of a furious attack - even if the person attacking them is unlikely to be convinced, they can defend themselves and may persuade some of the watching public.</span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We should not fear the people, as those who denied them the vote once did. We should trust them to speak on their own behalf and to ask the questions that matter to them and to put their own issues on the agenda.</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">One day, a programme like this may well be seen as an essential part of any properly functioning democracy. </span></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="background-color: white; font-kerning: none;"><b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If you would like to help turn this proposal into a reality, please email me on tomlondon@rocketmail.com</span></b></span></div>
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<div class="blogger-post-footer">http://feeds.feedburner.com/TomLondon</div>Tom Londonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17758489868048216894noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1532254976341123883.post-51058380549900652522018-06-11T14:46:00.002+01:002021-01-08T15:12:16.543+00:00<div style="font-family: verdana, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">
<b style="color: #26282a; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><u><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14pt;">Thomas Paine: champion of the common man</span></u></b></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span class="yiv9651248179ydp82614a3ayiv1214379998ydpe0a3aa46yiv6249927862ydp21bca5bcyiv0217074060ydp9b90846cyiv6115281360ydpa3a86480yiv6896014829ydpea64ad5byiv2673304349ydp86ecf9beyiv8550661767ydp9edf7225s1"><b><i><span style="font-size: 14pt;">“The world is my country, all mankind are my brethren, and to do good is my religion.” </span></i></b></span><span class="yiv9651248179ydp82614a3ayiv1214379998ydpe0a3aa46yiv6249927862ydp21bca5bcyiv0217074060ydp9b90846cyiv6115281360ydpa3a86480yiv6896014829ydpea64ad5byiv2673304349ydp86ecf9beyiv8550661767ydp9edf7225s1"><i><span style="font-size: 14pt;">-</span></i></span><span class="yiv9651248179ydp82614a3ayiv1214379998ydpe0a3aa46yiv6249927862ydp21bca5bcyiv0217074060ydp9b90846cyiv6115281360ydpa3a86480yiv6896014829ydpea64ad5byiv2673304349ydp86ecf9beyiv8550661767ydp9edf7225s1"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Thomas Paine</span></span></span></div>
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<span class="yiv9651248179ydp82614a3ayiv1214379998ydpe0a3aa46yiv6249927862ydp21bca5bcyiv0217074060ydp9b90846cyiv6115281360ydpa3a86480yiv6896014829ydpea64ad5byiv2673304349ydp86ecf9beyiv8550661767ydp9edf7225s1"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="yiv9651248179ydp82614a3ayiv1214379998ydpe0a3aa46yiv6249927862ydp21bca5bcyiv0217074060ydp9b90846cyiv6115281360ydpa3a86480yiv6896014829ydpea64ad5byiv2673304349ydp86ecf9beyiv8550661767ydp9edf7225p1">
<span class="yiv9651248179ydp82614a3ayiv1214379998ydpe0a3aa46yiv6249927862ydp21bca5bcyiv0217074060ydp9b90846cyiv6115281360ydpa3a86480yiv6896014829ydpea64ad5byiv2673304349ydp86ecf9beyiv8550661767ydp9edf7225s1"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14pt;">If the writer Thomas Paine, who died in 1809, were alive today, in the age of Trump, he would be a brilliant, uncompromising and effective voice of opposition, writing in a way that reaches the common man and woman. In his lifetime, much of what he wrote affected contemporary events. Much is still relevant to this unsettled world of 2018.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span class="yiv9651248179ydp82614a3ayiv1214379998ydpe0a3aa46yiv6249927862ydp21bca5bcyiv0217074060ydp9b90846cyiv6115281360ydpa3a86480yiv6896014829ydpea64ad5byiv2673304349ydp86ecf9beyiv8550661767ydp9edf7225s1"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Often called the first international revolutionary, Paine’s weapon was his pen. He denounced government by one unelected individual or small elite, and argued for equality, human rights, freedom, representative democracy and social justice.</span></span><span class="yiv9651248179ydp82614a3ayiv1214379998ydpe0a3aa46yiv6249927862ydp21bca5bcyiv0217074060ydp9b90846cyiv6115281360ydpa3a86480yiv6896014829ydpea64ad5byiv2673304349ydp86ecf9beyiv8550661767ydp9edf7225apple-converted-space"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> In his lifetime, </span></span><span class="yiv9651248179ydp82614a3ayiv1214379998ydpe0a3aa46yiv6249927862ydp21bca5bcyiv0217074060ydp9b90846cyiv6115281360ydpa3a86480yiv6896014829ydpea64ad5byiv2673304349ydp86ecf9beyiv8550661767ydp9edf7225s1"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">these were dangerously radical ideas. Paine challenged many of his society’s ruling assumptions. Slavery, monarchy and the Christian religion were just three of his targets.</span></span></span></div>
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<div class="yiv9651248179ydp82614a3ayiv1214379998ydpe0a3aa46yiv6249927862ydp21bca5bcyiv0217074060ydp9b90846cyiv6115281360ydpa3a86480yiv6896014829ydpea64ad5byiv2673304349ydp86ecf9beyiv8550661767ydp9edf7225p1">
<span style="background-color: white;"><span class="yiv9651248179ydp82614a3ayiv1214379998ydpe0a3aa46yiv6249927862ydp21bca5bcyiv0217074060ydp9b90846cyiv6115281360ydpa3a86480yiv6896014829ydpea64ad5byiv2673304349ydp86ecf9beyiv8550661767ydp9edf7225s1"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Before Paine, educated people had written political works for other educated people. Paine was different, noting, <i>“As it is my design to make those that can scarcely read understand, I shall therefore avoid every literary ornament and put it in language as plain as the alphabet." </i></span></span><span style="font-size: 14pt;">At a time when many people were illiterate, his works would be read aloud in coffee-shops, homes and taverns.</span></span></div>
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<div class="yiv9651248179ydp82614a3ayiv1214379998ydpe0a3aa46yiv6249927862ydp21bca5bcyiv0217074060ydp9b90846cyiv6115281360ydpa3a86480yiv6896014829ydpea64ad5byiv2673304349ydp86ecf9beyiv8550661767ydp9edf7225p1">
<span class="yiv9651248179ydp82614a3ayiv1214379998ydpe0a3aa46yiv6249927862ydp21bca5bcyiv0217074060ydp9b90846cyiv6115281360ydpa3a86480yiv6896014829ydpea64ad5byiv2673304349ydp86ecf9beyiv8550661767ydp9edf7225s1"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14pt;">Paine was born into a family of modest means in England in 1737. He played an important part in the 1776 American Revolution (or the American War of Independence) and the 1789 French Revolution, writing later, <i>“A part played in two revolutions is a life lived to some purpose”. </i>He died in poverty and isolation in the USA, then still a new country.</span></span></div>
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<span class="yiv9651248179ydp82614a3ayiv1214379998ydpe0a3aa46yiv6249927862ydp21bca5bcyiv0217074060ydp9b90846cyiv6115281360ydpa3a86480yiv6896014829ydpea64ad5byiv2673304349ydp86ecf9beyiv8550661767ydp9edf7225s1"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="yiv9651248179ydp82614a3ayiv1214379998ydpe0a3aa46yiv6249927862ydp21bca5bcyiv0217074060ydp9b90846cyiv6115281360ydpa3a86480yiv6896014829ydpea64ad5byiv2673304349ydp86ecf9beyiv8550661767ydp9edf7225p1">
<span style="background-color: white;"><span class="yiv9651248179ydp82614a3ayiv1214379998ydpe0a3aa46yiv6249927862ydp21bca5bcyiv0217074060ydp9b90846cyiv6115281360ydpa3a86480yiv6896014829ydpea64ad5byiv2673304349ydp86ecf9beyiv8550661767ydp9edf7225s1"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Paine’s first thirty-seven years did not suggest that he would later become an important historical figure. They were marked by failure. He left school at 12 and was apprenticed to his father as a maker of ladies’ corsets. He later had a succession of jobs - corset maker, sailor, teacher, excise man, and shop owner. None were successful. Married twice, his first wife died in childbirth, as did the child; and his unhappy and childless second marriage fell apart. At thirty-seven, he was sacked from his job and sold everything he owned to pay off his debts.</span></span><span class="yiv9651248179ydp82614a3ayiv1214379998ydpe0a3aa46yiv6249927862ydp21bca5bcyiv0217074060ydp9b90846cyiv6115281360ydpa3a86480yiv6896014829ydpea64ad5byiv2673304349ydp86ecf9beyiv8550661767ydp9edf7225apple-converted-space"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span></span></span></div>
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<span class="yiv9651248179ydp82614a3ayiv1214379998ydpe0a3aa46yiv6249927862ydp21bca5bcyiv0217074060ydp9b90846cyiv6115281360ydpa3a86480yiv6896014829ydpea64ad5byiv2673304349ydp86ecf9beyiv8550661767ydp9edf7225apple-converted-space"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="yiv9651248179ydp82614a3ayiv1214379998ydpe0a3aa46yiv6249927862ydp21bca5bcyiv0217074060ydp9b90846cyiv6115281360ydpa3a86480yiv6896014829ydpea64ad5byiv2673304349ydp86ecf9beyiv8550661767ydp9edf7225p1">
<span class="yiv9651248179ydp82614a3ayiv1214379998ydpe0a3aa46yiv6249927862ydp21bca5bcyiv0217074060ydp9b90846cyiv6115281360ydpa3a86480yiv6896014829ydpea64ad5byiv2673304349ydp86ecf9beyiv8550661767ydp9edf7225s1"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14pt;">This was when Paine’s life changed. He took a boat across the Atlantic to America, arriving in December 1774. The American colonies were then part of the British Empire. He arrived just months before the start of the American Revolution, which turned out to be perfect timing.</span></span></div>
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<span class="yiv9651248179ydp82614a3ayiv1214379998ydpe0a3aa46yiv6249927862ydp21bca5bcyiv0217074060ydp9b90846cyiv6115281360ydpa3a86480yiv6896014829ydpea64ad5byiv2673304349ydp86ecf9beyiv8550661767ydp9edf7225s1"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="yiv9651248179ydp82614a3ayiv1214379998ydpe0a3aa46yiv6249927862ydp21bca5bcyiv0217074060ydp9b90846cyiv6115281360ydpa3a86480yiv6896014829ydpea64ad5byiv2673304349ydp86ecf9beyiv8550661767ydp9edf7225p1">
<span class="yiv9651248179ydp82614a3ayiv1214379998ydpe0a3aa46yiv6249927862ydp21bca5bcyiv0217074060ydp9b90846cyiv6115281360ydpa3a86480yiv6896014829ydpea64ad5byiv2673304349ydp86ecf9beyiv8550661767ydp9edf7225s1"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14pt;">Soon after his arrival in America, Paine wrote a magazine article denouncing slavery, commenting<i>“Our traders in men (an unnatural commodity!) must know the wickedness of the slave-trade, if they attend to reasoning, or the dictates of their hearts.” </i>Such views were not popular with the American elite. Paine was, as he so often would be in the future, brave and ahead of his time.</span></span></div>
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<span class="yiv9651248179ydp82614a3ayiv1214379998ydpe0a3aa46yiv6249927862ydp21bca5bcyiv0217074060ydp9b90846cyiv6115281360ydpa3a86480yiv6896014829ydpea64ad5byiv2673304349ydp86ecf9beyiv8550661767ydp9edf7225s1"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="yiv9651248179ydp82614a3ayiv1214379998ydpe0a3aa46yiv6249927862ydp21bca5bcyiv0217074060ydp9b90846cyiv6115281360ydpa3a86480yiv6896014829ydpea64ad5byiv2673304349ydp86ecf9beyiv8550661767ydp9edf7225p1">
<span style="background-color: white;"><span class="yiv9651248179ydp82614a3ayiv1214379998ydpe0a3aa46yiv6249927862ydp21bca5bcyiv0217074060ydp9b90846cyiv6115281360ydpa3a86480yiv6896014829ydpea64ad5byiv2673304349ydp86ecf9beyiv8550661767ydp9edf7225s1"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">What was to make Paine famous overnight in America was a pamphlet called <i>Common Sense,</i>published in February 1776, arguing for independence at a time when many Americans were unconvinced. He also argued that what was at stake in America was of universal significance,<i> “The cause of America is in a great measure the cause of all mankind.”</i></span></span><span class="yiv9651248179ydp82614a3ayiv1214379998ydpe0a3aa46yiv6249927862ydp21bca5bcyiv0217074060ydp9b90846cyiv6115281360ydpa3a86480yiv6896014829ydpea64ad5byiv2673304349ydp86ecf9beyiv8550661767ydp9edf7225apple-converted-space"><i><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span></i></span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> <span class="yiv9651248179ydp82614a3ayiv1214379998ydpe0a3aa46yiv6249927862ydp21bca5bcyiv0217074060ydp9b90846cyiv6115281360ydpa3a86480yiv6896014829ydpea64ad5byiv2673304349ydp86ecf9beyiv8550661767ydp9edf7225s1"><i>Common Sense </i>sold half a million copies and is credited with decisively changing opinion and paving the way for the Declaration of Independence in July 1776.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span class="yiv9651248179ydp82614a3ayiv1214379998ydpe0a3aa46yiv6249927862ydp21bca5bcyiv0217074060ydp9b90846cyiv6115281360ydpa3a86480yiv6896014829ydpea64ad5byiv2673304349ydp86ecf9beyiv8550661767ydp9edf7225s1" style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="yiv9651248179ydp82614a3ayiv1214379998ydpe0a3aa46yiv6249927862ydp21bca5bcyiv0217074060ydp9b90846cyiv6115281360ydpa3a86480yiv6896014829ydpea64ad5byiv2673304349ydp86ecf9beyiv8550661767ydp9edf7225p1">
<span class="yiv9651248179ydp82614a3ayiv1214379998ydpe0a3aa46yiv6249927862ydp21bca5bcyiv0217074060ydp9b90846cyiv6115281360ydpa3a86480yiv6896014829ydpea64ad5byiv2673304349ydp86ecf9beyiv8550661767ydp9edf7225s1"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14pt;">Paine attacked monarchy and ridiculed the hereditary principle. He also argued that the Rule of Law must be supreme,<i> “But where say some is the King of America? In America, THE LAW IS KING.”</i></span></span></div>
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<span class="yiv9651248179ydp82614a3ayiv1214379998ydpe0a3aa46yiv6249927862ydp21bca5bcyiv0217074060ydp9b90846cyiv6115281360ydpa3a86480yiv6896014829ydpea64ad5byiv2673304349ydp86ecf9beyiv8550661767ydp9edf7225s1"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><i style="background-color: white;"><br /></i></span></span></div>
<div class="yiv9651248179ydp82614a3ayiv1214379998ydpe0a3aa46yiv6249927862ydp21bca5bcyiv0217074060ydp9b90846cyiv6115281360ydpa3a86480yiv6896014829ydpea64ad5byiv2673304349ydp86ecf9beyiv8550661767ydp9edf7225p3">
<span style="background-color: white;"><span class="yiv9651248179ydp82614a3ayiv1214379998ydpe0a3aa46yiv6249927862ydp21bca5bcyiv0217074060ydp9b90846cyiv6115281360ydpa3a86480yiv6896014829ydpea64ad5byiv2673304349ydp86ecf9beyiv8550661767ydp9edf7225s1"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">By the end of 1776, however, the fight for American independence was not going well. Paine wrote another pamphlet, <i>Crisis, </i>which was so powerfully inspirational that Washington ordered it to be read out to all his soldiers on the eve of battle. <i>“These are the times that try men’s souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph.”</i></span></span><span class="yiv9651248179ydp82614a3ayiv1214379998ydpe0a3aa46yiv6249927862ydp21bca5bcyiv0217074060ydp9b90846cyiv6115281360ydpa3a86480yiv6896014829ydpea64ad5byiv2673304349ydp86ecf9beyiv8550661767ydp9edf7225apple-converted-space"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span></span></span></div>
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<span class="yiv9651248179ydp82614a3ayiv1214379998ydpe0a3aa46yiv6249927862ydp21bca5bcyiv0217074060ydp9b90846cyiv6115281360ydpa3a86480yiv6896014829ydpea64ad5byiv2673304349ydp86ecf9beyiv8550661767ydp9edf7225apple-converted-space"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="yiv9651248179ydp82614a3ayiv1214379998ydpe0a3aa46yiv6249927862ydp21bca5bcyiv0217074060ydp9b90846cyiv6115281360ydpa3a86480yiv6896014829ydpea64ad5byiv2673304349ydp86ecf9beyiv8550661767ydp9edf7225p3">
<span class="yiv9651248179ydp82614a3ayiv1214379998ydpe0a3aa46yiv6249927862ydp21bca5bcyiv0217074060ydp9b90846cyiv6115281360ydpa3a86480yiv6896014829ydpea64ad5byiv2673304349ydp86ecf9beyiv8550661767ydp9edf7225s1"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14pt;">The Americans won the battle and it was a turning point in the war.</span></span></div>
<div class="yiv9651248179ydp82614a3ayiv1214379998ydpe0a3aa46yiv6249927862ydp21bca5bcyiv0217074060ydp9b90846cyiv6115281360ydpa3a86480yiv6896014829ydpea64ad5byiv2673304349ydp86ecf9beyiv8550661767ydp9edf7225p3">
<span class="yiv9651248179ydp82614a3ayiv1214379998ydpe0a3aa46yiv6249927862ydp21bca5bcyiv0217074060ydp9b90846cyiv6115281360ydpa3a86480yiv6896014829ydpea64ad5byiv2673304349ydp86ecf9beyiv8550661767ydp9edf7225s1"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14pt;">At the end of the war in 1783, Paine’s energies went in a completely new - and surprising - direction. He designed a new iron bridge and his (ultimately fruitless) search for funds to build it took him to France and then back to his home country of England.</span></span></div>
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<span class="yiv9651248179ydp82614a3ayiv1214379998ydpe0a3aa46yiv6249927862ydp21bca5bcyiv0217074060ydp9b90846cyiv6115281360ydpa3a86480yiv6896014829ydpea64ad5byiv2673304349ydp86ecf9beyiv8550661767ydp9edf7225s1"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="yiv9651248179ydp82614a3ayiv1214379998ydpe0a3aa46yiv6249927862ydp21bca5bcyiv0217074060ydp9b90846cyiv6115281360ydpa3a86480yiv6896014829ydpea64ad5byiv2673304349ydp86ecf9beyiv8550661767ydp9edf7225p5">
<span class="yiv9651248179ydp82614a3ayiv1214379998ydpe0a3aa46yiv6249927862ydp21bca5bcyiv0217074060ydp9b90846cyiv6115281360ydpa3a86480yiv6896014829ydpea64ad5byiv2673304349ydp86ecf9beyiv8550661767ydp9edf7225s1"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14pt;">In England, despite his role in the American Revolution, Paine did not face arrest, but the government targeted him with something that we can recognise today - a smear campaign. They made lurid claims: that Paine was a fraudster; that he beat his first wife to death when she was pregnant and - for good measure - that he had sex with cats!</span></span></div>
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<span class="yiv9651248179ydp82614a3ayiv1214379998ydpe0a3aa46yiv6249927862ydp21bca5bcyiv0217074060ydp9b90846cyiv6115281360ydpa3a86480yiv6896014829ydpea64ad5byiv2673304349ydp86ecf9beyiv8550661767ydp9edf7225s1"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="yiv9651248179ydp82614a3ayiv1214379998ydpe0a3aa46yiv6249927862ydp21bca5bcyiv0217074060ydp9b90846cyiv6115281360ydpa3a86480yiv6896014829ydpea64ad5byiv2673304349ydp86ecf9beyiv8550661767ydp9edf7225p1">
<span style="background-color: white;"><span class="yiv9651248179ydp82614a3ayiv1214379998ydpe0a3aa46yiv6249927862ydp21bca5bcyiv0217074060ydp9b90846cyiv6115281360ydpa3a86480yiv6896014829ydpea64ad5byiv2673304349ydp86ecf9beyiv8550661767ydp9edf7225s1"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">In 1789, while Paine was in England, the French Revolution took place. Edmund Burke - now known as the father of modern Conservatism - wrote a book denouncing it and Paine took up his pen and wrote his most famous work <i>The Rights of Man</i> in direct reply.</span></span><span class="yiv9651248179ydp82614a3ayiv1214379998ydpe0a3aa46yiv6249927862ydp21bca5bcyiv0217074060ydp9b90846cyiv6115281360ydpa3a86480yiv6896014829ydpea64ad5byiv2673304349ydp86ecf9beyiv8550661767ydp9edf7225apple-converted-space"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span></span></span></div>
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<span class="yiv9651248179ydp82614a3ayiv1214379998ydpe0a3aa46yiv6249927862ydp21bca5bcyiv0217074060ydp9b90846cyiv6115281360ydpa3a86480yiv6896014829ydpea64ad5byiv2673304349ydp86ecf9beyiv8550661767ydp9edf7225apple-converted-space"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="yiv9651248179ydp82614a3ayiv1214379998ydpe0a3aa46yiv6249927862ydp21bca5bcyiv0217074060ydp9b90846cyiv6115281360ydpa3a86480yiv6896014829ydpea64ad5byiv2673304349ydp86ecf9beyiv8550661767ydp9edf7225p1">
<span class="yiv9651248179ydp82614a3ayiv1214379998ydpe0a3aa46yiv6249927862ydp21bca5bcyiv0217074060ydp9b90846cyiv6115281360ydpa3a86480yiv6896014829ydpea64ad5byiv2673304349ydp86ecf9beyiv8550661767ydp9edf7225s1"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14pt;">Paine insisted that men were free and equal in respect of their rights. <i>“It is by distortedly exalting some men, that others are distortedly debased, till the whole is out of nature.”</i></span></span></div>
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<span class="yiv9651248179ydp82614a3ayiv1214379998ydpe0a3aa46yiv6249927862ydp21bca5bcyiv0217074060ydp9b90846cyiv6115281360ydpa3a86480yiv6896014829ydpea64ad5byiv2673304349ydp86ecf9beyiv8550661767ydp9edf7225s1"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><i style="background-color: white;"><br /></i></span></span></div>
<div class="yiv9651248179ydp82614a3ayiv1214379998ydpe0a3aa46yiv6249927862ydp21bca5bcyiv0217074060ydp9b90846cyiv6115281360ydpa3a86480yiv6896014829ydpea64ad5byiv2673304349ydp86ecf9beyiv8550661767ydp9edf7225p1">
<span class="yiv9651248179ydp82614a3ayiv1214379998ydpe0a3aa46yiv6249927862ydp21bca5bcyiv0217074060ydp9b90846cyiv6115281360ydpa3a86480yiv6896014829ydpea64ad5byiv2673304349ydp86ecf9beyiv8550661767ydp9edf7225s1"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14pt;">He attacked monarchy as oppressive and absurd, and the aristocracy as useless <i>“mere consumers of rent.”</i></span></span></div>
<div class="yiv9651248179ydp82614a3ayiv1214379998ydpe0a3aa46yiv6249927862ydp21bca5bcyiv0217074060ydp9b90846cyiv6115281360ydpa3a86480yiv6896014829ydpea64ad5byiv2673304349ydp86ecf9beyiv8550661767ydp9edf7225p1">
<span class="yiv9651248179ydp82614a3ayiv1214379998ydpe0a3aa46yiv6249927862ydp21bca5bcyiv0217074060ydp9b90846cyiv6115281360ydpa3a86480yiv6896014829ydpea64ad5byiv2673304349ydp86ecf9beyiv8550661767ydp9edf7225s1"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><i style="background-color: white;"><br /></i></span></span></div>
<div class="yiv9651248179ydp82614a3ayiv1214379998ydpe0a3aa46yiv6249927862ydp21bca5bcyiv0217074060ydp9b90846cyiv6115281360ydpa3a86480yiv6896014829ydpea64ad5byiv2673304349ydp86ecf9beyiv8550661767ydp9edf7225p1">
<span class="yiv9651248179ydp82614a3ayiv1214379998ydpe0a3aa46yiv6249927862ydp21bca5bcyiv0217074060ydp9b90846cyiv6115281360ydpa3a86480yiv6896014829ydpea64ad5byiv2673304349ydp86ecf9beyiv8550661767ydp9edf7225s1"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14pt;">Paine wanted to educate the common man.<i> “Ignorance is of a peculiar nature: once dispelled, and it is impossible to re-establish it…though many may be kept ignorant, they cannot be made ignorant.” </i></span></span></div>
<div class="yiv9651248179ydp82614a3ayiv1214379998ydpe0a3aa46yiv6249927862ydp21bca5bcyiv0217074060ydp9b90846cyiv6115281360ydpa3a86480yiv6896014829ydpea64ad5byiv2673304349ydp86ecf9beyiv8550661767ydp9edf7225p1">
<span class="yiv9651248179ydp82614a3ayiv1214379998ydpe0a3aa46yiv6249927862ydp21bca5bcyiv0217074060ydp9b90846cyiv6115281360ydpa3a86480yiv6896014829ydpea64ad5byiv2673304349ydp86ecf9beyiv8550661767ydp9edf7225s1"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><i style="background-color: white;"><br /></i></span></span></div>
<div class="yiv9651248179ydp82614a3ayiv1214379998ydpe0a3aa46yiv6249927862ydp21bca5bcyiv0217074060ydp9b90846cyiv6115281360ydpa3a86480yiv6896014829ydpea64ad5byiv2673304349ydp86ecf9beyiv8550661767ydp9edf7225p1">
<span style="background-color: white;"><span class="yiv9651248179ydp82614a3ayiv1214379998ydpe0a3aa46yiv6249927862ydp21bca5bcyiv0217074060ydp9b90846cyiv6115281360ydpa3a86480yiv6896014829ydpea64ad5byiv2673304349ydp86ecf9beyiv8550661767ydp9edf7225s1"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">He<i> </i>also went into considerable detail about his proposals for what is in effect a welfare state, well before such a thing existed anywhere in the world. He produced tables setting out how progressive taxation and inheritance tax could fund<i> </i>support for the poor, for children, pensions for the aged and State education.</span></span><span class="yiv9651248179ydp82614a3ayiv1214379998ydpe0a3aa46yiv6249927862ydp21bca5bcyiv0217074060ydp9b90846cyiv6115281360ydpa3a86480yiv6896014829ydpea64ad5byiv2673304349ydp86ecf9beyiv8550661767ydp9edf7225apple-converted-space"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span></span></span></div>
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<span class="yiv9651248179ydp82614a3ayiv1214379998ydpe0a3aa46yiv6249927862ydp21bca5bcyiv0217074060ydp9b90846cyiv6115281360ydpa3a86480yiv6896014829ydpea64ad5byiv2673304349ydp86ecf9beyiv8550661767ydp9edf7225apple-converted-space"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="yiv9651248179ydp82614a3ayiv1214379998ydpe0a3aa46yiv6249927862ydp21bca5bcyiv0217074060ydp9b90846cyiv6115281360ydpa3a86480yiv6896014829ydpea64ad5byiv2673304349ydp86ecf9beyiv8550661767ydp9edf7225p1">
<span style="background-color: white;"><span class="yiv9651248179ydp82614a3ayiv1214379998ydpe0a3aa46yiv6249927862ydp21bca5bcyiv0217074060ydp9b90846cyiv6115281360ydpa3a86480yiv6896014829ydpea64ad5byiv2673304349ydp86ecf9beyiv8550661767ydp9edf7225s1"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">In a later work, Paine advocated that every man and woman reaching 21 years of age should receive £15<i> </i>(a significant sum) <i>“to enable HIM or HER to begin the WORLD!”</i></span></span><span class="yiv9651248179ydp82614a3ayiv1214379998ydpe0a3aa46yiv6249927862ydp21bca5bcyiv0217074060ydp9b90846cyiv6115281360ydpa3a86480yiv6896014829ydpea64ad5byiv2673304349ydp86ecf9beyiv8550661767ydp9edf7225apple-converted-space"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> This </span></span><span class="yiv9651248179ydp82614a3ayiv1214379998ydpe0a3aa46yiv6249927862ydp21bca5bcyiv0217074060ydp9b90846cyiv6115281360ydpa3a86480yiv6896014829ydpea64ad5byiv2673304349ydp86ecf9beyiv8550661767ydp9edf7225s1"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">idea can be seen as an early version of modern proposals for a Universal Basic Income.</span></span></span></div>
<div class="yiv9651248179ydp82614a3ayiv1214379998ydpe0a3aa46yiv6249927862ydp21bca5bcyiv0217074060ydp9b90846cyiv6115281360ydpa3a86480yiv6896014829ydpea64ad5byiv2673304349ydp86ecf9beyiv8550661767ydp9edf7225p1">
<span class="yiv9651248179ydp82614a3ayiv1214379998ydpe0a3aa46yiv6249927862ydp21bca5bcyiv0217074060ydp9b90846cyiv6115281360ydpa3a86480yiv6896014829ydpea64ad5byiv2673304349ydp86ecf9beyiv8550661767ydp9edf7225s1"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="yiv9651248179ydp82614a3ayiv1214379998ydpe0a3aa46yiv6249927862ydp21bca5bcyiv0217074060ydp9b90846cyiv6115281360ydpa3a86480yiv6896014829ydpea64ad5byiv2673304349ydp86ecf9beyiv8550661767ydp9edf7225p1">
<span style="background-color: white;"><span class="yiv9651248179ydp82614a3ayiv1214379998ydpe0a3aa46yiv6249927862ydp21bca5bcyiv0217074060ydp9b90846cyiv6115281360ydpa3a86480yiv6896014829ydpea64ad5byiv2673304349ydp86ecf9beyiv8550661767ydp9edf7225s1"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Paine was driven by a desire for social justice and abhorrence at great wealth co-existing with dire poverty.</span></span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> <span class="yiv9651248179ydp82614a3ayiv1214379998ydpe0a3aa46yiv6249927862ydp21bca5bcyiv0217074060ydp9b90846cyiv6115281360ydpa3a86480yiv6896014829ydpea64ad5byiv2673304349ydp86ecf9beyiv8550661767ydp9edf7225s1"><i>"The contrast of affluence and wretchedness continually meeting and offending the eye, is like dead and living bodies chained together.”</i></span></span></span></div>
<div class="yiv9651248179ydp82614a3ayiv1214379998ydpe0a3aa46yiv6249927862ydp21bca5bcyiv0217074060ydp9b90846cyiv6115281360ydpa3a86480yiv6896014829ydpea64ad5byiv2673304349ydp86ecf9beyiv8550661767ydp9edf7225p1">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span class="yiv9651248179ydp82614a3ayiv1214379998ydpe0a3aa46yiv6249927862ydp21bca5bcyiv0217074060ydp9b90846cyiv6115281360ydpa3a86480yiv6896014829ydpea64ad5byiv2673304349ydp86ecf9beyiv8550661767ydp9edf7225s1"><i style="background-color: white;"><br /></i></span></span></div>
<div class="yiv9651248179ydp82614a3ayiv1214379998ydpe0a3aa46yiv6249927862ydp21bca5bcyiv0217074060ydp9b90846cyiv6115281360ydpa3a86480yiv6896014829ydpea64ad5byiv2673304349ydp86ecf9beyiv8550661767ydp9edf7225p1">
<span style="background-color: white;"><span class="yiv9651248179ydp82614a3ayiv1214379998ydpe0a3aa46yiv6249927862ydp21bca5bcyiv0217074060ydp9b90846cyiv6115281360ydpa3a86480yiv6896014829ydpea64ad5byiv2673304349ydp86ecf9beyiv8550661767ydp9edf7225s1"><i><span style="font-size: 14pt;">The Rights of Man</span></i></span><span class="yiv9651248179ydp82614a3ayiv1214379998ydpe0a3aa46yiv6249927862ydp21bca5bcyiv0217074060ydp9b90846cyiv6115281360ydpa3a86480yiv6896014829ydpea64ad5byiv2673304349ydp86ecf9beyiv8550661767ydp9edf7225s1"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> made Paine a marked man in England. Facing arrest and likely execution for treason, he fled to France in 1792.</span></span></span></div>
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<span class="yiv9651248179ydp82614a3ayiv1214379998ydpe0a3aa46yiv6249927862ydp21bca5bcyiv0217074060ydp9b90846cyiv6115281360ydpa3a86480yiv6896014829ydpea64ad5byiv2673304349ydp86ecf9beyiv8550661767ydp9edf7225s1"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="yiv9651248179ydp82614a3ayiv1214379998ydpe0a3aa46yiv6249927862ydp21bca5bcyiv0217074060ydp9b90846cyiv6115281360ydpa3a86480yiv6896014829ydpea64ad5byiv2673304349ydp86ecf9beyiv8550661767ydp9edf7225p1">
<span class="yiv9651248179ydp82614a3ayiv1214379998ydpe0a3aa46yiv6249927862ydp21bca5bcyiv0217074060ydp9b90846cyiv6115281360ydpa3a86480yiv6896014829ydpea64ad5byiv2673304349ydp86ecf9beyiv8550661767ydp9edf7225s1"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14pt;">Arriving in France, as the famous author of <i>The Rights of Man,</i> Paine was immediately offered French citizenship, and elected to the Parliament of Revolutionary France.</span></span></div>
<div class="yiv9651248179ydp82614a3ayiv1214379998ydpe0a3aa46yiv6249927862ydp21bca5bcyiv0217074060ydp9b90846cyiv6115281360ydpa3a86480yiv6896014829ydpea64ad5byiv2673304349ydp86ecf9beyiv8550661767ydp9edf7225p1">
<span class="yiv9651248179ydp82614a3ayiv1214379998ydpe0a3aa46yiv6249927862ydp21bca5bcyiv0217074060ydp9b90846cyiv6115281360ydpa3a86480yiv6896014829ydpea64ad5byiv2673304349ydp86ecf9beyiv8550661767ydp9edf7225s1"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="yiv9651248179ydp82614a3ayiv1214379998ydpe0a3aa46yiv6249927862ydp21bca5bcyiv0217074060ydp9b90846cyiv6115281360ydpa3a86480yiv6896014829ydpea64ad5byiv2673304349ydp86ecf9beyiv8550661767ydp9edf7225p1">
<span class="yiv9651248179ydp82614a3ayiv1214379998ydpe0a3aa46yiv6249927862ydp21bca5bcyiv0217074060ydp9b90846cyiv6115281360ydpa3a86480yiv6896014829ydpea64ad5byiv2673304349ydp86ecf9beyiv8550661767ydp9edf7225s1"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14pt;">Whereas, in England Paine had been seen as a highly dangerous radical, in Revolutionary France he was a moderate compared to the leaders of the Revolution. This moderation almost cost him his life.</span></span></div>
<div class="yiv9651248179ydp82614a3ayiv1214379998ydpe0a3aa46yiv6249927862ydp21bca5bcyiv0217074060ydp9b90846cyiv6115281360ydpa3a86480yiv6896014829ydpea64ad5byiv2673304349ydp86ecf9beyiv8550661767ydp9edf7225p1">
<span class="yiv9651248179ydp82614a3ayiv1214379998ydpe0a3aa46yiv6249927862ydp21bca5bcyiv0217074060ydp9b90846cyiv6115281360ydpa3a86480yiv6896014829ydpea64ad5byiv2673304349ydp86ecf9beyiv8550661767ydp9edf7225s1"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="yiv9651248179ydp82614a3ayiv1214379998ydpe0a3aa46yiv6249927862ydp21bca5bcyiv0217074060ydp9b90846cyiv6115281360ydpa3a86480yiv6896014829ydpea64ad5byiv2673304349ydp86ecf9beyiv8550661767ydp9edf7225p1">
<span class="yiv9651248179ydp82614a3ayiv1214379998ydpe0a3aa46yiv6249927862ydp21bca5bcyiv0217074060ydp9b90846cyiv6115281360ydpa3a86480yiv6896014829ydpea64ad5byiv2673304349ydp86ecf9beyiv8550661767ydp9edf7225s1"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14pt;">The leaders of the French Revolution wanted to execute the French King. Paine, brave to the point of foolhardiness, argued the King ought to have a trial and, in any event, should not be executed. He made powerful enemies and was later arrested and thrown into prison. Due to be guillotined, he escaped only because an “X” was marked on his door when it was open, and so was not visible to those collecting prisoners for the guillotine when the door was later closed. The very next day, the revolutionary leader, Robespierre, himself fell from power and was guillotined. Paine’s life was saved.</span></span></div>
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<span class="yiv9651248179ydp82614a3ayiv1214379998ydpe0a3aa46yiv6249927862ydp21bca5bcyiv0217074060ydp9b90846cyiv6115281360ydpa3a86480yiv6896014829ydpea64ad5byiv2673304349ydp86ecf9beyiv8550661767ydp9edf7225s1"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="yiv9651248179ydp82614a3ayiv1214379998ydpe0a3aa46yiv6249927862ydp21bca5bcyiv0217074060ydp9b90846cyiv6115281360ydpa3a86480yiv6896014829ydpea64ad5byiv2673304349ydp86ecf9beyiv8550661767ydp9edf7225p1">
<span class="yiv9651248179ydp82614a3ayiv1214379998ydpe0a3aa46yiv6249927862ydp21bca5bcyiv0217074060ydp9b90846cyiv6115281360ydpa3a86480yiv6896014829ydpea64ad5byiv2673304349ydp86ecf9beyiv8550661767ydp9edf7225s1"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14pt;">Paine’s motivation was not sympathy for the French King but his belief in the Rule of Law and his - then unusual - opposition to the death penalty<i>.</i></span></span></div>
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<span class="yiv9651248179ydp82614a3ayiv1214379998ydpe0a3aa46yiv6249927862ydp21bca5bcyiv0217074060ydp9b90846cyiv6115281360ydpa3a86480yiv6896014829ydpea64ad5byiv2673304349ydp86ecf9beyiv8550661767ydp9edf7225s1"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><i style="background-color: white;"><br /></i></span></span></div>
<div class="yiv9651248179ydp82614a3ayiv1214379998ydpe0a3aa46yiv6249927862ydp21bca5bcyiv0217074060ydp9b90846cyiv6115281360ydpa3a86480yiv6896014829ydpea64ad5byiv2673304349ydp86ecf9beyiv8550661767ydp9edf7225p1">
<span class="yiv9651248179ydp82614a3ayiv1214379998ydpe0a3aa46yiv6249927862ydp21bca5bcyiv0217074060ydp9b90846cyiv6115281360ydpa3a86480yiv6896014829ydpea64ad5byiv2673304349ydp86ecf9beyiv8550661767ydp9edf7225s1"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14pt;">Paine wrote his final famous work, <i>The</i> <i>Age of Reason,</i> in France. He made it clear that he believed in a God but launched a fierce attack on Christianity, deeply shocking many people. </span></span></div>
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<span class="yiv9651248179ydp82614a3ayiv1214379998ydpe0a3aa46yiv6249927862ydp21bca5bcyiv0217074060ydp9b90846cyiv6115281360ydpa3a86480yiv6896014829ydpea64ad5byiv2673304349ydp86ecf9beyiv8550661767ydp9edf7225s1"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="yiv9651248179ydp82614a3ayiv1214379998ydpe0a3aa46yiv6249927862ydp21bca5bcyiv0217074060ydp9b90846cyiv6115281360ydpa3a86480yiv6896014829ydpea64ad5byiv2673304349ydp86ecf9beyiv8550661767ydp9edf7225p1">
<span class="yiv9651248179ydp82614a3ayiv1214379998ydpe0a3aa46yiv6249927862ydp21bca5bcyiv0217074060ydp9b90846cyiv6115281360ydpa3a86480yiv6896014829ydpea64ad5byiv2673304349ydp86ecf9beyiv8550661767ydp9edf7225s1"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14pt;">In 1802, Paine returned to the USA. The next seven years until his death were not happy ones. He was widely shunned because of <i>The Age of Reason </i>and also because he had furiously attacked George Washington, by now revered in the USA, for having abandoned him in the French prison.</span></span></div>
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<span class="yiv9651248179ydp82614a3ayiv1214379998ydpe0a3aa46yiv6249927862ydp21bca5bcyiv0217074060ydp9b90846cyiv6115281360ydpa3a86480yiv6896014829ydpea64ad5byiv2673304349ydp86ecf9beyiv8550661767ydp9edf7225s1"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span class="yiv9651248179ydp82614a3ayiv1214379998ydpe0a3aa46yiv6249927862ydp21bca5bcyiv0217074060ydp9b90846cyiv6115281360ydpa3a86480yiv6896014829ydpea64ad5byiv2673304349ydp86ecf9beyiv8550661767ydp9edf7225s1"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14pt;">In 2018, Thomas Paine has much still to offer the world. He would be appalled at what is happening in the USA. He would take up his pen - or tap his keyboard - and attack the assaults of the Trump administration on democracy, freedom, the Rule of Law, human rights and truth itself.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span class="yiv9651248179ydp82614a3ayiv1214379998ydpe0a3aa46yiv6249927862ydp21bca5bcyiv0217074060ydp9b90846cyiv6115281360ydpa3a86480yiv6896014829ydpea64ad5byiv2673304349ydp86ecf9beyiv8550661767ydp9edf7225s1"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">He would attack corruption and perhaps single out the particular evil of encouraging wars in order that some may profit. </span></span><i><span style="font-size: 14pt;">“That there are men in all countries who get their living by war, and by keeping up the quarrels of nations, is as shocking as it is true; but when those who are concerned in the government of a country, make it their study to sow discord and cultivate prejudices between nations, it becomes the more unpardonable.”</span></i></span></div>
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<b><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14pt;">Additional Quotes</span></b></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"> <span style="font-size: 14pt;">On Paine challenging received wisdom</span></span></div>
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<i><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14pt;">“A long habit of not thinking a thing wrong, gives it a superficial appearance of being right.” </span></i></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14pt;">On Paine insisting on the Rule of Law, even for unpopular people</span></div>
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<i><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14pt;">"He that would make his own liberty secure, must guard even his enemy from oppression; for if he violates this duty, he establishes a precedent that will reach to himself.”</span></i></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14pt;">Paine on social justice</span></div>
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<i><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14pt;">‘“When it can be said by any country in the world, my poor are happy, neither ignorance nor distress is to be found among them, my jails are empty of prisoners, my streets of beggars, the aged are not in want, the taxes are not oppressive, the rational world is my friend because I am the friend of happiness. When these things can be said, then may that country boast its constitution and government.”</span></i></div>
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<div class="blogger-post-footer">http://feeds.feedburner.com/TomLondon</div>Tom Londonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17758489868048216894noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1532254976341123883.post-74993037690961677892017-09-22T22:48:00.000+01:002017-09-22T22:48:02.973+01:00A new kind of politics: a practical proposal to help the many and not the few set the political agenda and hold power to account.<div class="p1">
<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">All is not well with democracy in the UK. I propose improving it by letting a far wider range of people into the centre of the political process by means of a new programme – on TV or YouTube - on which party leaders would meet one-to-one with representative members of the public. The “reality TV element” is likely to ensure high ratings.</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Just as for centuries, ordinary people were denied the right to vote, now they are excluded from the crucial democratic business of setting the political agenda and holding power to account. These roles are restricted overwhelmingly to a privileged few in our politico-media elite who almost always share all or most of the following characteristics - well-educated, well-off, middle-aged, white, London-based. Their agenda inevitably reflects their own background and experience.</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">On the proposed new programme, members of the public would be given proper airtime. They can have their say without having to yell a question to the PM visiting a hospital at election time or being packaged in a <i>vox pop</i> or shouting down from the audience to the panel on BBC’s Question Time.</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Party leaders would meet a genuinely representative sample of the public, “the questioners”, in a monthly live show. The leader would be in one-to-one conversation with each of the questioners, one after another. </span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">If a questioner is shy, inarticulate or angry it will be for the leader to deal with the conversation as best they can. Leaders would demonstrate their own qualities such as empathy (or lack of empathy).</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The programme would include all sorts of people from the whole range of our diverse population, who are not currently heard in the national political debate, such as: an 85 year old pensioner, an 18 year old single mother, a deep-sea fisherman, a paraplegic ex-soldier, a corner-shop owner or someone working hard on poverty wages and relying on a food-bank.</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The proposal is rooted in the belief that everyone matters in a democracy and everyone has political concerns. It would dramatically widen the range of voices that are heard in the political debate, increase political engagement and help people escape their own information bubbles and better understand their fellow citizens.</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">In the same way that it is not necessary to be on Twitter to be aware of President Trump’s tweets, the programme would affect the political agenda beyond those who watch it.</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Here are details of the proposal.</span></span></div>
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<li class="li2"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span class="s2"></span><span class="s1">UK would be divided into 12 areas and the programme would come from a different area each month.</span></span></li>
<li class="li2"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span class="s2"></span><span class="s1">An independent body would select (like a jury) ten questioners per show from the area where the programme is based that month.</span></span></li>
<li class="li2"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span class="s2"></span><span class="s1">The questioners should collectively form a representative sample from that area. The factors used to select a representative sample may, for example, include sex, income, race, age, religion and disability. The selection process must be rigorous and transparent.</span></span></li>
<li class="li2"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span class="s2"></span><span class="s1">If someone selected does not want to take part, then someone else similar would be selected.</span></span></li>
<li class="li2"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span class="s2"></span><span class="s1">Each questioner would have five minutes one-to-one with the leader. </span></span></li>
<li class="li2"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span class="s2"></span><span class="s1">There would be no chairperson and no studio audience. There would be the necessary security.</span></span></li>
<li class="li2"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span class="s2"></span><span class="s1">The programme would go out live (with usual short delay) and there would be an edited version of highlights.</span></span></li>
<li class="li2"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span class="s2"></span><span class="s1">An independent body would deal with any complaints or other issues.</span></span></li>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Ideally, the prime minister, Theresa May, would agree to take part in the programme. Unfortunately, it is unlikely she would. She has shown an aversion to unscripted meetings with the public and the current arrangement suits her.</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Jeremy Corbyn, however, should, I hope, agree to take part. The programme would be good for democracy and good for him too. He showed in this year’s election campaign how comfortable and effective he is talking to people of all ages and all backgrounds, whether or not they agree with his views.</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Imagine if Corbyn is PM and under relentless attack from the media. This programme would enable him to bypass the media and go direct and unmediated to the public.</span></b></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">There is an obvious risk for any political leader in taking part. A questioner might launch a furious attack on them and they would be trapped for five minutes and it would all go out live. But the likely benefits for a politician should outweigh the risk and, as for the risk of a furious attack - even if the person attacking them is unlikely to be convinced, they can defend themselves and may persuade some of the watching public.</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">We should not fear the people, as those who denied them the vote once did. We should trust them to speak on their own behalf and to ask the questions that matter to them and to put their own issues on the agenda.</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">One day, a programme like this may well be seen as an essential part of any properly functioning democracy. </span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">If you would like to help turn this proposal into a reality, please email me on to</span><span style="color: #0433ff;"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(4, 51, 255);"><span style="font-size: large;">mlondon@rocketmail.com </span></span></span></b></span></div>
<div class="blogger-post-footer">http://feeds.feedburner.com/TomLondon</div>Tom Londonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17758489868048216894noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1532254976341123883.post-125172625880910802017-09-07T23:13:00.001+01:002017-09-09T10:52:52.199+01:00Dealing with North Korea is significantly more difficult because of Libya 2011<div class="p1">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;">The current confrontation over North Korea's nuclear weapons is probably the most serious such crisis since the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962. Unlike in 1962, when the two main actors John Kennedy and Nikita Khrushchev could be expected to act rationally, the same does not apply to Kim Jong-un or Donald Trump.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Under any circumstances, the position would be highly difficult and dangerous. What happened in Libya in 2011 makes a successful resolution - of this or any future similar nuclear stand-off - significantly more difficult.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">North Korea claims the same justification as the eight other known nuclear armed countries - the USA, Russia, China, France, the UK, India, Pakistan and Israel</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> - for having nuclear weapons, namely that they are needed for its own defence.</span><span class="Apple-converted-space" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> </span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">If the world community and in particular the USA is going to persuade Kim to give up his nuclear weapons, it needs to persuade him that North Korea will not then be invaded and that he personally will be safe.</span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">However, NATO's action in Libya in 2011 makes this almost impossible. In a recent interview Gary Locke, a former US Ambassador to China and an expert on North Korea, gave his assessment of the thinking of Kim and the North Korean leadership<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><i>“they believe that as long as they have a nuclear capability, the United States and South Korea will not invade them. They look at what happened to Muammar Gaddafi [in Libya]. He gave up his nuclear weapons, and where did it get him? … North Korea feels like the nuclear weapons represent their safety net.” <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></i></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Why should Kim now trust any guarantees given by the US (let alone by President Trump)?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span class="s1"></span><br /></span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Between 2003 and 2009 the Gaddafi regime voluntarily disarmed its nuclear capability. There have only ever been five voluntary nuclear disarmaments and this was the fifth. The others were three ex-Soviet states which found themselves with nuclear weapons after the collapse of the Soviet Union and apartheid era South Africa which disarmed before black majority rule.</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span class="s1"></span><br /></span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">The US and the UK promised repeatedly that they would not attack a non-nuclear Libya. In 2011, they did precisely that and Gaddafi was killed.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">If Gaddafi had retained his nuclear weapons, in all likelihood he would still be in power and alive today. From the perspective of the regime in Pyongyang, the way the West behaved with Gaddafi must look rather like a sheriff in the Wild West telling the bad guy that if he puts his gun down he will be safe; and then, when he does so and is defenceless, shooting him.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Here is some relevant history.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></div>
<ul>
<li class="li2"><span style="font-size: large;"><span class="s3"></span><span class="s1"> <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Gaddafi led a coup against the US-backed King Idris in 1969</span></span></span></li>
<li class="li2"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span class="s3"></span><span class="s1"> <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>For the next thirty years or so, Gaddafi was an enemy of the West and was held responsible for a number of terrorist outrages such as the Lockerbie bombing in 1988</span></span></li>
<li class="li2"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span class="s3"></span><span class="s1"><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Libya surprised the world by announcing that it would disarm its nuclear weapons on 19 December 2003.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></li>
<li class="li2"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span class="s3"></span><span class="s1"><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>The key part of the 2003 deal was George W Bush, fresh from regime change in Iraq, explicitly guaranteeing there would be no such policy in Libya. There were words of reconciliation on both sides. Tony Blair said: -<i>“Problems of proliferation can, with good will, be tackled through discussion and engagement.”</i><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></li>
<li class="li2"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span class="s3"></span><span class="s1"><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Professor Jentleson, an expert in the field, wrote in the academic journal International Security in 2005, that in order to understand why Libya agreed to disarm : - <i>“The repeated assurances the US and Britain gave Libya about not pressing for regime change were absolutely crucial.”</i></span></span></li>
<li class="li2"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span class="s3"></span><span class="s1"><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>When IAEA and US inspectors visited Libya in January 2004 they found that Gaddafi’s nuclear weaponry was significant and larger than they had presumed</span></span></li>
<li class="li2"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span class="s3"></span><span class="s1"> <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>On 27 January 2004, a US plane left Libya with the first consignment from its nuclear arsenal. George W Bush attended for a photo op to celebrate the unexpected and welcome victory against non-proliferation. The White House hailed Libya for its co-operation and said its good faith in dismantling weapons would be reciprocated</span></span></li>
<li class="li2"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span class="s3"></span><span class="s1"> <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Libya became an ally in Bush’s “war on terror” and sanctions were lifted<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></li>
<li class="li2"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span class="s3"></span><span class="s1"> <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>In 2007, George W Bush sent the first US ambassador to Tripoli for 35 years</span></span></li>
<li class="li2"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span class="s3"></span><span class="s1"> <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>In 2008, Bush’s Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice visited Tripoli</span></span></li>
<li class="li2"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span class="s3"></span><span class="s1"> <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>On 9 July 2009, Gaddafi shook hands with Obama during the G8 summit. The White House said that Obama <i>''wants to see cooperation with Libya continue in sectors such as Tripoli's decision a few years ago to give up its nuclear program, an absolutely voluntary decision that we consider positive."</i></span></span></li>
<li class="li2"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span class="s3"></span><span class="s1"><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>On 21 December 2009, a Russian plane removed the last nuclear material from Libya</span></span></li>
<li class="li2"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span class="s3"></span><span class="s1"><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>In March 2011, only 14 months after the six year disarmament program was finally complete and Libya no longer had nuclear weapons, NATO attacked Libya and effected regime change. Gaddafi was killed.</span></span></li>
</ul>
<div class="p1">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">In 2011, the North Korean Foreign Ministry said, that what happened in Libya </span><i><span style="font-size: large;">“fully exposed before the world that “Libya’s nuclear dismantlement”, much touted by the US in the past, turned out to be a mode of aggression whereby the latter coaxed the former with such sweet words as “guarantee of security” and “improvement of relations” to disarm itself and then swallowed it up by force.”</span></i></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Whatever the justification for breaking the pledges made to Gaddafi, doing so has seriously harmed the chances of dealing with nuclear-armed "rogue states" - not only North Korea but potentially elsewhere too in the future.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">.</span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="blogger-post-footer">http://feeds.feedburner.com/TomLondon</div>Tom Londonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17758489868048216894noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1532254976341123883.post-3220002118973026942017-09-01T20:29:00.001+01:002017-09-01T20:29:52.049+01:00Let the many and not the few set the agenda and hold politicians to account<div class="p1">
<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Many would agree that all is not well with democracy in the UK. One way to improve our system would be to let a far wider range of people set the national political agenda and hold leading politicians to account. I propose doing this by means of a new programme – on TV or YouTube - which would mix real politics with reality TV.</span></span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s2"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Just as for centuries, ordinary people were denied the right to vote, now they are excluded from the crucial democratic business of setting the agenda and holding to account. These roles are restricted overwhelmingly to a privileged few in our politico-media elite who almost always share all or most of the following characteristics - well-educated, well-off, middle-aged, white, London-based. Their agenda inevitably reflects their own background and experience.</span></span></div>
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<span class="s2"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span class="s2"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">On the proposed new programme, people would be given proper airtime. They can have their say without having to shout out a question to the PM visiting a hospital at election time or being packaged in a <i>vox pop</i> or trying to engage from the distance of the audience to the panel on BBC’s Question Time.</span></span></div>
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<span class="s2"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span class="s2"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Party leaders would meet a genuinely representative sample of the public, “the questioners”, in a monthly live show. The leader would be in one-to-one conversation with each of the questioners, one after another. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></div>
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<span class="s2"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span class="Apple-converted-space"><br /></span></span></span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s2"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">If a questioner is shy, inarticulate or angry it will be for the leader to deal with the conversation as best they can. They will demonstrate their own qualities such as empathy.</span></span></div>
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<span class="s2"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span class="s2"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The programme might include all sorts of people from the whole range of our diverse population, who are not currently heard in the national political debate, such as: an 85 year old pensioner, an 18 year old single mother, a deep-sea fisherman, a paraplegic ex-soldier, a corner-shop owner or someone working hard on poverty wages and relying on a food-bank.</span></span></div>
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<span class="s2"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span class="s2"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The proposal is rooted in the belief that everyone matters in a democracy and everyone has political concerns. It would dramatically widen the range of voices that are heard in the national political debate, increase political engagement and help people escape their own information bubbles and better understand their fellow citizens.</span></span></div>
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<span class="s2"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span class="s2"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">In the same way that it is not necessary to be on Twitter to be aware of President Trump’s tweets, the programme would affect the political agenda beyond those who watch it.</span></span></div>
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<span class="s2"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span class="s2"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Here are details of the proposal.</span></span></div>
<ol class="ol1">
<li class="li3"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span class="s3"></span><span class="s2">UK would be divided into 12 areas and the programme would come from a different area each month.</span></span></li>
<li class="li3"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span class="s3"></span><span class="s2">An independent body would select (like a jury) ten questioners per show from the area where the programme is based that month.</span></span></li>
<li class="li3"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span class="s3"></span><span class="s2">The questioners should collectively form a representative sample from that area. The factors used to select a representative sample may, for example, include sex, income, race, age, religion and disability. The selection process must be rigorous and transparent.</span></span></li>
<li class="li3"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span class="s3"></span><span class="s2">If someone selected does not want to take part, then someone else similar would be selected.</span></span></li>
<li class="li3"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span class="s3"></span><span class="s2">Each questioner would have five minutes one-to-one with the leader. </span></span></li>
<li class="li3"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span class="s3"></span><span class="s2">There would be no chairperson and no studio audience. There would be the necessary security.</span></span></li>
<li class="li3"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span class="s3"></span><span class="s2">The programme would go out live (with usual short delay) and there would be an edited version of highlights.</span></span></li>
<li class="li3"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span class="s3"></span><span class="s2">An independent body would deal with any complaints or other issues.</span></span></li>
</ol>
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<span class="s2"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span class="s2"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Ideally, the prime minister, Theresa May, would agree to take part in the programme. Unfortunately, it is unlikely she would. She has shown an aversion to unscripted meetings with the public and the current arrangement suits her.</span></span></div>
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<span class="s2"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span class="s2"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Jeremy Corbyn, however, should, I hope, agree to take part. The programme would be good for democracy and, I believe, good for him too.</span></span></div>
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<span class="s2"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s2"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">There would be an obvious risk for any political leader in taking part. A questioner might launch a furious attack on them and they would be trapped for five minutes and it would all go out live. </span></span></div>
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<span class="s2"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s2"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">But the likely benefits for any politician should outweigh the risk. They could connect with voters across the UK, speaking to them directly and not mediated by an unsympathetic or hostile media. And as for the risk of a furious attack - even if the person attacking them is unlikely to be convinced, they can defend themselves and may persuade some of the watching public.</span></span></div>
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<span class="s2"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span class="s2"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">We should not fear the people, as those who denied them the vote once did, but should trust them to speak on their own behalf. Let them ask the questions that matter to them and put their own issues on the agenda.</span></span></div>
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<span class="s2"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span class="s2"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">One day, a programme like this may be seen as an essential part of any proper democracy.</span></span></div>
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<span class="s2"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="blogger-post-footer">http://feeds.feedburner.com/TomLondon</div>Tom Londonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17758489868048216894noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1532254976341123883.post-1229226877796621592017-08-09T11:04:00.000+01:002017-08-09T11:04:37.829+01:00 Six facts the commentators ignored when they wrote Corbyn off <div class="p1">
<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;">The day revolutionaries stormed the Bastille, 14 July 1789, King Louis XVI wrote in his diary a single word to record the day’s events - “Rien”. Sometimes, there can be a profound disconnect between elites understanding of their own society and the reality.</span></div>
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<span class="s2"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s2">In the UK, the middle-aged solid-middle-class, the Establishment, have for the most part such a visceral dislike of Jeremy Corbyn that they have demonised him.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s2"></span><br /></div>
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<span class="s2">But Corbyn is no monster. A .L. Kennedy has described the “threat” from him as “strangely beige and gentle”. What he advocates is mainstream in many European countries; it is social democracy not Trotskyism. Since 1979, the UK has travelled very far to the right. Corbyn is offering a corrective.</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s2"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s2">Outside the Establishment, in the UK in 2017 there is widespread political, economic and social dissatisfaction and unhappiness. It should have been no surprise that a politician who spoke to voters as grown-ups and offered them achievable ways to improve their lives would do well.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></div>
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<span class="s2"></span><br /></div>
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<span class="s2">Corbyn offers hope. The comfortable often sneer at that but hope is the essential element in democratic politics.</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s2"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p3">
<span class="s2">It’s true that when the 2017 General Election was called, the polls pointed to Corbyn’s Labour party suffering a landslide defeat. However, there was plenty of other evidence - for those who looked for it - to suggest that Labour might defy the polls and do well.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></div>
<div class="p3">
<span class="s2"><span class="Apple-converted-space"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="p3">
<span class="s2">Almost all of the UK’s national political commentators inhabit a bubble within a bubble. They work inside the Westminster Bubble where the views of national politicians and their own colleagues inform their versions of reality.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></div>
<div class="p3">
<span class="s2"><span class="Apple-converted-space"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="p3">
<span class="s2">They also live inside the Establishment Bubble where almost everyone - prior to 8 June 2017 - repeated as a fact the accepted wisdom of the Westminster Bubble since the summer of 2015: - Jeremy Corbyn deserved all manner of criticisms but, in any event, he was <i>unelectable</i>. It was taken as inarguable, that Labour could only be elected if it moved to the political centre and courted the press-barons as Tony Blair had done in 1997.</span></div>
<div class="p3">
<span class="s2"><br /></span></div>
<div class="p3">
<span class="s2">Then, on 8 June 2017, Corbyn’s Labour party won 40% of the vote. A 10% increase on the vote won by Labour only 2 years before. Labour now leads the polls - polling above what Tony Blair achieved in 1997.</span></div>
<div class="p3">
<span class="s2"><br /></span></div>
<div class="p3">
<span class="s2">Different commentators responded in different ways to being proved wrong. Jon Snow of Channel 4, with commendable honesty declared: - <i>“I know nothing. We the media, the pundits know nothing. We simply didn’t spot it.”</i></span></div>
<div class="p3">
<span class="s2"><i><br /></i></span></div>
<div class="p3">
<span class="s2">Most commentators were far more defensive than Snow. Some wrote <i>mea culpas </i>but then went on to excuse themselves on two grounds - first, <i>“everyone was saying the same”</i> and second <i>“there were no reasons to doubt the opinion polls which pointed to a Tory landslide”</i>.</span></div>
<div class="p3">
<span class="s2"><br /></span></div>
<div class="p3">
<span class="s2">Within the bubble within a bubble, it was true - everyone <i>was </i>saying the same. Plenty outside the bubble(s) were saying something different but the commentators simply dismissed their views, with what seemed to be patronising contempt - not least from the pages of the Guardian.</span></div>
<div class="p3">
<span class="s2"><br /></span></div>
<div class="p3">
<span class="s2">There were plenty<i> </i>of reasons to think Corbyn’s Labour might do well. Here are six facts which commentators ignored. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></div>
<div class="p3">
<span class="s2"><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></div>
<div class="p3">
<span class="s2"><b>Fact One. 2017 is not 1997. Different rules apply.</b></span></div>
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<span class="s2"><b><br /></b></span></div>
<div class="p3">
<span class="s2">When Tony Blair, Neil Kinnock and others repeatedly warned that Corbyn was leading the party to disaster, they would cite the hard lessons that Labour learned in the 1980s and 1990s. They failed to recognise how electoral politics has been changed by the Global Financial Crisis (GFC) of 2007/8.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></div>
<div class="p3">
<span class="s2"><span class="Apple-converted-space"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="p3">
<span class="s2">In the 1980s and 1990s, the grip of the ideas underpinning Thatcherism/Neoliberalism was so strong that a party of the left had to accept them in order to win - this they called “moving to the centre ground”.</span></div>
<div class="p3">
<span class="s2"><br /></span></div>
<div class="p3">
<span class="s2">The GFC, however, has changed the rules of British politics. Some have done well economically since the GFC. The majority are still suffering a decade on and after seven years of austerity.</span></div>
<div class="p3">
<span class="s2"><br /></span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s2">The very rich have seen their fortunes swell. The middle-aged solid-middle-class (which includes most of the political commentators) have been largely untouched by austerity while the value of their assets, primarily property, has increased.</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s2"><br /></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;">For most people in the UK, however, living standards have been declining; millions are feeling insecure; and millions - including people working full-time, disabled people, and children - are in penury and are even needing to turn to food-banks.</span><span class="Apple-converted-space" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;"> </span><span class="s2"></span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s2"><span class="Apple-converted-space"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;">It should have been obvious to anyone that the status quo had widely failed.</span><span class="s2"></span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s2">It was <i>predictable </i>that an argument for change might be electorally appealing and the counter-argument of “steady as she goes” might not.</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s2"><br /></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<b style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;">Fact Two. Across the democratic world the established order was in turmoil - Corbyn would benefit as the anti-establishment candidate.</b><span class="s2"></span></div>
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<span class="s2"><b></b></span><br /></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s2">An anti-establishment wave has touched many countries since the GFC. In Greece Syriza; in Spain Podemos; in Italy Five Star; in the Netherlands, the Freedom Party; in the USA Trump; in France both the traditional left wing and right wing parties performed disastrously in the presidential election; and in the UK, there had been the vote for Brexit.</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s2"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s2">Elites - political, business, financial - are widely disliked throughout the democratic world. They have done well since the GFC, while at the same time, millions have not only suffered but see no prospect of things improving.</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s2"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s2">Corbyn was the anti-establishment candidate in the election. It was <i>predictable</i> that he might do well.</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s2"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p3">
<span class="s2"><b>Fact Three. Media coverage up to the election had been systematically biased against Corbyn but that would change during the election period due to strict election broadcast rules and fairer coverage would benefit Corbyn.</b></span></div>
<div class="p3">
<span class="s2"><b><br /></b></span></div>
<div class="p3">
<span class="s2">For almost two years preceding the election, Corbyn was subject to a systematic campaign of bias and in some cases vilification in the mainstream media.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></div>
<div class="p3">
<span class="s2"><span class="Apple-converted-space"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="p3">
<span class="s2">A study by the LSE concluded that 75% of press coverage misrepresented Corbyn. A study by MRC and Birkbeck showed marked and persistent bias at broadcasters including the BBC.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></div>
<div class="p3">
<span class="s2"><span class="Apple-converted-space"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="p3">
<span class="s2">No current leading politician has faced as hostile a press as Corbyn. This reflects the fact that he represents the most serious threat to the power of the elites for decades. Corbyn’s unpopularity as reflected in opinion polls before the election was largely created by the mainstream media; previously obscure backbench Labour MPs hostile to Corbyn found themselves near fixtures on the front pages.</span></div>
<div class="p3">
<span class="s2"><br /></span></div>
<div class="p3">
<span class="s2">Here is a non-exhaustive list of the media’s smears against Corbyn. He has been labelled all the following and more.</span></div>
<div class="p3">
<span class="s2"><br /></span></div>
<div class="p3">
<span class="s2">Joke. Terrorist-sympathiser. Pacifist. Extremist/loony left and/or Communist.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Weak.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Anti-semite. Stalinist. Stupid. Cult leader. Misogynist. Unpatriotic. To blame for Brexit. Naive. To blame for Venezuela… Above all - <i>unelectable.</i></span></div>
<div class="p3">
<span class="s2"><i><br /></i></span></div>
<div class="p3">
<span class="s2">Not a single one of these labels, I would argue, are true - and some, of course, are contradictory.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Naturally, if enough mud is thrown, some of it will stick. Many people in the Establishment repeat these smears as facts.</span></div>
<div class="p3">
<span class="s2"><br /></span></div>
<div class="p3">
<span class="s2">Different rules apply to broadcasters during an election period - they are obligated to be fair and to give appropriate airtime. This was crucial to the result.</span></div>
<div class="p3">
<span class="s2"><br /></span></div>
<div class="p3">
<span class="s2">It was <i>predictable</i> that once people had more of a chance to see Corbyn and his message, unmediated, the more they would support him.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>The more people saw a decent, reasonable man with a passion to help the poor and comfortable in his own skin, the more ludicrous the media smears appeared.</span></div>
<div class="p3">
<span class="s2"><br /></span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s2"><b>Fact Four. Corbyn’s policies were known to be popular, particularly his anti-austerity message. He would reap the benefit when he had fairer media coverage.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></b></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s2"><b></b></span><br /></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s2">Labour’s 2017 manifesto sets out in clear language a pragmatic, achievable vision of a better society. It is not “extreme”, let alone “Communist”.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Nothing in the manifesto should have come as a surprise to the commentators. Much had already been announced or trailed.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s2"><span class="Apple-converted-space"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;">Opinion poll evidence before the election showed that Corbyn’s policies were popular.</span><span class="Apple-converted-space" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;"> </span><span class="s2"></span></div>
<div class="p3">
<span class="s2"><span class="Apple-converted-space"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="p3">
<span class="s2">At the centre of Corbyn’s policies is anti-austerity. This was a clear break with Labour in 2015 under Ed Miliband.</span></div>
<div class="p3">
<span class="s2"><br /></span></div>
<div class="p3">
<span class="s2">At Corbyn’s election count in 2017 he said: - “<i>You know what? Politics has changed, and politics isn’t going back into the box where it was before. Because what’s happening is people have said they’ve had quite enough of austerity politics. They’ve had quite enough of…underfunding our health service, underfunding our schools…and not giving young people the chance they deserve…people are voting for hope…and turning their backs on austerity.”</i><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></div>
<div class="p3">
<span class="s2"><span class="Apple-converted-space"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s2">Theresa May wanted the election to be about Brexit. Corbyn effectively neutralised the issue for Labour. He whipped the party to support Article 50, thereby signalling clearly to Leavers that he respected the result of the referendum and he argued for a soft Brexit thereby attracting Remainers.</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s2"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s2">Corbyn attacked the harsh, unforgiving Thatcherite vision of the Tories. He offered an message that was both hopeful and credible. It was <i>predictable</i> he would do this and it was <i>predictable</i> it would be effective.</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s2"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p3">
<span class="s2"><b>Fact Five. </b>I<b>n the hundreds of thousands of new members and in Momentum, Corbyn had grass-roots support not seen in British politics for decades.</b></span></div>
<div class="p3">
<span class="s2"><br /></span></div>
<div class="p3">
<span class="s2">Between Corbyn’s emergence as the likely party leader and the time the election was announced, hundreds of thousands, perhaps as many as half a million, joined the Labour Party. The Labour Party had more members than all the other parties combined. This was a remarkable reversal of decades of declining party membership in the UK.</span></div>
<div class="p3">
<span class="s2"><br /></span></div>
<div class="p3">
<span class="s2">During both of his leadership campaigns, Corbyn attracted large enthusiastic crowds of a type not seen in the UK for decades. People were actually excited about politics!</span></div>
<div class="p3">
<span class="s2"><br /></span></div>
<div class="p3">
<span class="s2">Momentum, a group set up to support Corbyn’s agenda, had demonstrated before the election that they were savvy and highly effective.</span></div>
<div class="p3">
<span class="s2"><br /></span></div>
<div class="p3">
<span class="s2">Time and again commentators declared that none of this would be significant when the General Election came. This was frankly a bizarre conclusion. How could a mass, motivated party not make a significant difference? In the event, <i>predictably, </i>it did.</span></div>
<div class="p3">
<span class="s2"><br /></span></div>
<div class="p3">
<span class="s2"><b>Fact Six. The public had been sold by the media, false images of May and Corbyn - which would predictably be exposed. Corbyn was a known excellent campaigner. May not so.</b></span></div>
<div class="p3">
<span class="s2"><b><br /></b></span></div>
<div class="p3">
<span class="s2">Before the election, Theresa May had high poll scores. By the end of the campaign she had suffered a precipitate decline - unmatched in recent memory.</span></div>
<div class="p3">
<span class="s2"><br /></span></div>
<div class="p3">
<span class="s2">May had been seen as “strong and stable”. But the world now knows that she is neither. She is widely seen as wooden, insincere, lacking empathy, robotic and uncomfortable meeting “real people” unscripted.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></div>
<div class="p3">
<span class="s2"><span class="Apple-converted-space"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="p3">
<span class="s2">Corbyn’s popularity moved in a mirror image of May’s during the campaign. By the end of the campaign, he was seen by many as principled, decent and sincere.</span></div>
<div class="p3">
<span class="s2"><br /></span></div>
<div class="p3">
<span class="s2">None of this should have been a surprise to the commentators. May and Corbyn’s images before the election were media fabrications. The commentators had access to the “real May” and the “real Corbyn”.</span></div>
<div class="p3">
<br /></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s2">It was <i>predictable </i>that May would be awful in the campaign.</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s2"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s2">It was <i>predictable </i>that Corbyn would perform well.</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s2"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s2"><b>Conclusion</b></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s2"><b></b></span><br /></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s2">Unfortunately, some commentators, know what is expected of them whatever the facts maybe and write accordingly. In the words of the American novelist Upton Sinclair: -“<i>It is difficult to get a man to understand something, when his salary depends upon his not understanding it!”<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></i></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s2"><i></i></span><br /></div>
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<div class="p2">
<span class="s2">For those who genuinely want to understand the significance of the 40% vote for Corbyn’s Labour and what may happen next in British politics, it is essential above all that they escape the confines and the assumptions of the Westminster Bubble and the Establishment Bubble too.</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s2">.</span></div>
<div class="blogger-post-footer">http://feeds.feedburner.com/TomLondon</div>Tom Londonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17758489868048216894noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1532254976341123883.post-52649980606974265592017-06-10T08:20:00.000+01:002017-06-10T08:20:10.217+01:00Cognitive Dissonance, Corbyn and the Labour big beasts<div class="p1">
<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;">Cognitive dissonance occurs when someone is presented with evidence that a pre-existing belief is wrong. Holding two contradictory thoughts in your head at the same time is upsetting, even painful. People naturally seek to resolve cognitive dissonance as quickly as possible. One way is to accept the new evidence and amend their pre-existing belief. The other way is to reject the new evidence by rationalising it away, which gives people the </span><i style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;">comfort</i><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;"> of retaining their pre-existing belief - even though the evidence shows it is wrong.</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s2"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s2">People’s approach to cognitive dissonance depends on how important the pre-existing belief is to them. For example, a UKIP supporter is likely to rationalise away any evidence presented to them which undermines their beliefs about the EU. Such rationalisation might be: - <i>“I don’t believe that is true. You are just saying that because you are a Remainer.” </i>It is easy to think of examples concerning climate change, politics, economics, nationalism and many other fields. </span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s2"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s2">The American novelist Upton Sinclair pointed out an additional factor which might prevent someone following an argument where it leads: -<i> "It is difficult to get a man to understand something, when his salary depends upon his not understanding it!”</i></span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s2"><i></i></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s2">For two years, I have argued that the fabric of our society is being gravely damaged by the Tories and that Jeremy Corbyn deserved support as the person best placed to beat them. This has been a very unpopular argument among my peer group - the leftish-leaning, middle-aged, solid-middle-class. I have constantly been told that Corbyn “<i>is unelectable”</i>.</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s2"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s2">The journalist Gary Younge has clearly been having the same experience as me. In an article published a few days before the election he wrote this:-</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s2"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s2"><i>For the past two years, it has been received wisdom that, when put before the national electorate, the Labour party under Corbyn was unelectable. Not simply that it would lose, but that there was no plausible way it could compete. These were not presented as opinions but as facts. Those who questioned them were treated like climate change deniers. Those who held the wisdom were the scientists. To take Labour’s prospects seriously under Corbyn was to abandon being taken seriously yourself</i>.</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s2"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s2">In the event, Corbyn did very well in the election. After a highly impressive campaign, he won 40% of the vote - 10% above Ed Miliband two years ago. He also mobilised millions of voters who had previously not engaged with the political system at all. He has put the party in a good position to win the next election.</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s2"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s2">If Corbyn had been trounced I hope I would have had the intellectual honesty to admit I was wrong. I know that would have been painful - even somewhat humiliating. It would certainly have been tempting to rationalise away what had happened. Perhaps I would have chosen that tempting option. I really hope not. </span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s2"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s2">What matters is not who was right and who was wrong. What matters is that Labour people who have opposed Corbyn on the grounds that he was unelectable, now accept the clear evidence that he is certainly electable. There may well be another election within 12 months. Corbyn can win that but he needs all possible support - very much including the influential leftish-leaning, middle-aged, solid-middle-class.</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s2"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s2">In particular, the Labour big beasts - like Yvette Cooper, Hilary Benn, Chuka Umunna, Owen Smith, Angela Eagle, Ed Miliband and Sadiq Khan - need to accept the evidence of this election. They need to now commit and work wholeheartedly behind Corbyn’s leadership and they need to serve if asked. </span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s2"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s2">It won’t be easy for them. They will need to swallow their pride. It will be painful.</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s2"></span><br /></div>
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<div class="p1">
<span class="s2">But the country needs them to do this and to do it urgently.</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s2"><br /></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s2"><br /></span></div>
<div class="blogger-post-footer">http://feeds.feedburner.com/TomLondon</div>Tom Londonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17758489868048216894noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1532254976341123883.post-49769917742802111622017-06-07T20:42:00.000+01:002017-06-07T20:42:10.732+01:00Why I would like to see Jeremy Corbyn as prime minister<div class="p1">
<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;">Some weeks after Jeremy Corbyn was elected leader of the Labour Party - for the first time - in September 2015, I went to a meeting in Harlesden, north west London, called to consider setting up a branch of Momentum, an organisation that supports Corbyn’s agenda and the Labour Party. There were about 60 people there. During the meeting we went round the room with every person explaining why they had come.</span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;"> </span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s2"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s2">For me - a middle-aged, solid-middle-class left-winger - it was a powerful experience to hear what people had to say. Most of the people were working-class; many were struggling to make ends meet. Some spoke of their struggles and described the kind of scenes as later depicted in <i>I, Daniel Blake. </i>The message that was repeated over and over was that in Corbyn, for the first time in decades, they saw a politician who actually cared about people like them and who gave them hope.</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s2"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s2">Some people sneer at “hope” but consider its absence - hopelessness. Hope is the essential ingredient behind all progressive change.</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s2"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s2">If “being left-wing” means anything, it means I believe wanting to help people like those who spoke at that meeting in Harlesden. </span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s2"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s2">I hope that people will read the Labour Manifesto before voting. It is not a “loony left” document - as some “respectable” publications claim - but a realistic, fully-costed and necessary blue print to save our country from the dark, divisive future that the Tories promise, complete with food-banks and US style public services.</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s2"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s2">Corbyn has shown remarkable leadership since September 2015. He has faced a constant barrage of lies, abuse and distortions. (Corbyn is no more a “terrorist-sympathiser” than Barack Obama who faced the same accusation in 2008). He has kept his cool and never responded in kind to the personal attacks. He has produced the best manifesto for decades. He has achieved polling figures which Labour has not seen for many years. He has engaged millions in the political process. He has run a highly professional campaign. He is, to coin a phrase, “strong and stable”.</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s2"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s2">As to the question that Theresa May wants to be at the centre of the campaign - who would be better negotiating Brexit? Just consider the two alternative teams. May, Davis, Johnson, Fox on the one hand or Corbyn, Starmer, Thornberry, Gardiner on the other.</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s2"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s2">Is Corbyn “electable”? Often when people ask this, they mean in effect, is he acceptable to Rupert Murdoch and Paul Dacre (who between them control over half the UK press). Since 1979, Murdoch has backed the winner at every single General Election. Tony Blair made a deal with Murdoch - and Murdoch naturally extracted a heavy price.</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s2"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s2">Corbyn thinks the UK deserves better than to be in thrall to Murdoch and the rest of the super-rich. </span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;">I would like to see Jeremy Corbyn as prime minister not only for people like those at the meeting in Harlesden but for my family and all of us. Corbyn can create a </span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;">society which no longer values greed and which has contempt for the poor - as has been the case throughout the decades where Thatcherite values have held sway - but instead a society which values every person, community and simple decency. I would very much like to see that.</span><span class="s2"></span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s2">.</span></div>
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</style><div class="blogger-post-footer">http://feeds.feedburner.com/TomLondon</div>Tom Londonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17758489868048216894noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1532254976341123883.post-42313928885221970822017-06-01T21:57:00.001+01:002017-06-01T21:57:07.657+01:00The fundamental issue at the election is a moral one <div class="p1">
<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;">On 5 July 1945, the great war leader Winston Churchill was, against all expectations, decisively beaten at the polls by his Labour opponent Clement Attlee. The Labour manifesto in 1945 laid out an unashamedly Socialist vision for the UK and by the time the Attlee government left office six years later, it had transformed Britain’s political culture. All governments that followed in the next three decades - Tory as well as Labour - accepted Attlee’s underlying moral vision: in our society, the more fortunate have a duty to help those less fortunate.</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s2"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s2">The “Attlee consensus” lasted until 1979 and the election of Margaret Thatcher. In an interview in 1981, Thatcher made her aim in government very clear:-“<i>Economics are the method; the object is to change the heart and soul.”</i></span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s2"><i></i></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s2">Thatcher succeeded. Her government was as transformative to the UK’s political culture as Attlee’s. The name for the new governing morality - and the economics and politics that it underpinned - is Thatcherism. The name given to the same ideology internationally is Neoliberalism.</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s2"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s2">As expressed in Thatcher’s often quoted phrase that <i>“there is no such thing as society”, </i>Thatcherism emphasises individuals over the collective. It sees people as naturally selfish, competing individuals.</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s2"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s2">We still live in the Thatcherite age. Thatcher (and her key associates like Rupert Murdoch) did not invent greed, nor admiration for the rich, nor contempt for the poor. But what they did, was to make these attitudes socially acceptable. </span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s2"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s2">Tony Blair and New Labour deserve credit for some progressive measures and investment in public services. However, as Polly Toynbee one of the foremost cheerleaders for New Labour admits, Blair and Brown never challenged Thatcher’s <i>“pervasive political legacy”</i>. Toynbee writes: -<i>“They did much good but stealthily, never shifting the public discourse. … (As a result) how easily David Cameron and Theresa May have grubbed up New Labour’s legacy.”</i></span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s2"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s2">Under Thatcherism, rich people are admired by virtue of their wealth - and they are given licence.</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s2"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s2">There was some tax-cheating by the very rich before 1979, of course, but since then the scale has increased dramatically. Now paying tax for the super-rich has become in effect voluntary. No moral stigma attaches to these tax-cheats under Thatcherism. One of them is Sir Richard Branson; yet he is allowed to bid for and profit from UK public services such as trains and parts of the NHS.</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s2"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s2">Economically, those in the top 1% by income or by wealth have prospered mightily since 1979, with barely a pause at the time of the Crash of 2008. Within the 1%, the 0.1% have prospered even more while the 0.01% have accumulated wealth beyond imagination. </span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s2"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s2">The rich tend to like Thatcherism, of course: not only has it increased their wealth but it also teaches that they <i>deserve </i>their riches. Many like to pose as if they are swash-buckling, risk-taking entrepreneurs. The vast majority, however, owe their position to luck - luck of inheritance or education or some other factor. Many are rentiers - they live off their capital. <i>“There are two types of rich people. Some who are lucky, who think they are clever. Some who are clever, who know they are lucky.”</i></span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s2"><i></i></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s2">Meanwhile, social inequality, which was at an historic low in 1979 has, since then, returned to levels last seen before the First World War and in Victorian times. There are some 13 to 14 million people in the UK living in poverty. </span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s2"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s2">Since 2010, contempt for the poor by their own government has been on a scale not seen previously in the period since 1979. The bedroom tax, the cutting of benefits, the sanctions regime and the tests that disabled people have to endure have all led to hunger (and the explosion in food-bank use), misery, despair and a sharp rise in suicides.</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s2"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s2">May’s treatment of refugees - including unaccompanied child refugees - has been shockingly callous.</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s2"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s2">Thatcherites it seems, find it possible to ignore the suffering of others and withhold natural compassion by convincing themselves that others <i>deserve</i> their fate. Even those who have worked for years and have fallen on hard times. Even the disabled. Even the children. Even those fleeing war and persecution. </span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s2"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s2">A core Thatcherite claim is that anyone can rise from poverty to wealth if they work hard enough. This is a cruel lie in 2017 when social mobility is very low and most people in poverty live in households where someone is working - often very hard.</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s2"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s2">The Attlee consensus lasted from 1945 to 1979, that is 34 years. The Thatcher consensus has lasted from 1979 to date, that is 38 years so far. </span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s2"></span><br /></div>
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<div class="p1">
<span class="s2">I hope on 8 June 2017, something will happen which will be as unexpected as what happened on 5 July 1945. I hope the adherents of the immoral, nasty, soul-sapping Thatcherite ideology lose. I hope that the long road back to a decent society - an Attlee society fit for the Twenty First century - can then start.</span></div>
<div class="p1">
.</div>
<div class="p1">
<br /></div>
<div class="blogger-post-footer">http://feeds.feedburner.com/TomLondon</div>Tom Londonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17758489868048216894noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1532254976341123883.post-6856102750585070682017-05-28T10:24:00.000+01:002017-05-28T10:24:27.240+01:00Percy Bysshe Shelley and the Guardian<div class="p1">
<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;">Jonathan Freedland is a senior commentator at the Guardian. In one of his tweets early in the election campaign he asked, derisively, if “Corbynistas” (a term of abuse) knew that the Labour slogan </span><i style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;">“For the Many, not the Few” </i><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;">was originally a Blairite slogan. His tweet encapsulates the problem with the Guardian’s coverage of the Labour Party, since it first became clear Jeremy Corbyn would be elected leader in the summer of 2015. Almost everything is seen through the prism of the internal split in the party and time and again the Guardian has got its facts wrong.</span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;"> </span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s2"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s2">Corbyn has routinely been described on the Guardian news pages as “hard-left” despite his domestic policies being in the mould of Attlee and Scandinavian social democracy. His opponents have been called “moderates” even when supporting harsh welfare measures or further bombings abroad. Previously obscure MPs have been given regular platforms to vent their anti-Corbyn views. The paper ran and ran with vile smears of anti-Semitism against Corbyn; the smears are entirely untrue but real and lasting harm has been done. </span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s2"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s2">The Guardian’s narrow focus on the internal Labour power play has meant that it has, consequently, managed to miss the real story which is that Corbyn has developed a coherent and electable alternative to the truly dire Tory government. And they have underestimated Corbyn’s supporters. They are the most serious, committed and numerous body of political activists the UK has seen for decades: not “cult members”; not “Trots”; not “Islington poseurs”.</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s2"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s2">Anyone who relied on the Guardian solely for information about British politics is likely to be bemused by the fact that the Tory lead in the opinion polls over Labour has shrunk from 24 points at the start of the campaign to only 5 now. Was Corbyn not meant to be incapable of leading, unelectable? Would not <i>anybody</i> - even Owen Smith - be better? Tony Blair made an actual deal with Rupert Murdoch; surely, Labour would <i>have to</i> compromise with the Tory-Murdoch-Dacre agenda to have any prospect of winning? </span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s2"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s2">The Guardian is not the paper it once was. The fact that it is described as left-wing is because the rest of the press is so right-wing. In an editorial, Labour’s manifesto pledge only to raise taxes on incomes over £80,000 was dismissed as <i>“virtue-signalling”</i> - the sort of comment one would expect from the Mail or Telegraph. In 2010, the Guardian advised its readers to vote Liberal Democrat. It may do so again in 2017.</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s2"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s2">Of course, the Guardian has had a proud and long history of radicalism. It was originally set up as the Manchester Guardian by a business man John Taylor who witnessed the aftermath of the Peterloo Massacre. On 16 August 1819, a crowd of more than 50,000 met at St Peter’s Fields in Manchester to support extending the franchise beyond the tiny amount of rich men then allowed to vote. The local magistrates sent in the cavalry to break up the peaceful crowd. At least 15 people were killed. The name Peterloo was given to point out the bitter irony that the same cavalry had fought at the real battle of Waterloo four years before in 1815. Nobody was ever held to account for the Peterloo Massacre.</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s2"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s2">The source of Labour’s slogan <i>“For the Many, not the Few” </i>is Percy Bysshe Shelley’s poem The Masque of Anarchy, which was written in response to the Peterloo Massacre.</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s2"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s2">It is a brilliant poem. It has many contemporary resonances. Three monsters terrorise England - Murder, Fraud and Anarchy - but they are conquered by Hope.</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s2"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s2"><i>“I met Murder on the way -</i></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s2"><i>He had a mask like Castlereagh” </i></span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s2"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s2">Or <i>“a mask like Theresa May”</i> would scan too. If you think that’s a bit strong, have you seen <i>I, Daniel Blake? </i> Have you read the reports of multiple suicides linked to May’s cruel welfare system?</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s2"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s2"><i>“Next came Fraud, and he had on,</i></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s2"><i>Like Lord Eldon, an ermined gown;</i></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s2"><i>His big tears, for he wept well,</i></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s2"><i>Turned to mill-stones as they fell.</i></span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s2"><i></i></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s2"><i>And the little children, who</i></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s2"><i>Round his feet played to and fro,</i></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s2"><i>Thinking every tear a gem,</i></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s2"><i>Had their brains knocked out by them”</i></span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s2"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s2">For Lord Eldon, one could put any number of greedy, super-rich antisocial tax-cheats. How about Philip Green or Rupert Murdoch or Richard Branson? Their tax-cheating leads to deeper cuts to services and a rising number of hungry little children having to use food banks.</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s2"><i></i></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s2"><i>“Last came Anarchy: he rode</i></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s2"><i>On a white horse, splashed with blood;</i></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s2"><i>He was pale even to the lips,</i></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s2"><i>Like Death in the Apocalypse.”</i></span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s2"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s2">Anarchy in the poem is the anarchy of the rich and powerful, who do what they want. In 2017, Anarchy should stand for Donald Trump - a man who could literally cause an apocalypse and whom May hurried to hold hands with - only predictably to now be treated with the disdain with which bullies always treat sycophants.</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s2"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s2">But Shelley’s poem is hopeful. Murder, Fraud and Anarchy despite their huge power can be beaten.</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s2"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s2"><i>“When one fled past, a maniac maid,</i></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s2"><i>And her name was Hope, she said:</i></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s2"><i>But she looked more like Despair</i></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s2"><i>…</i></span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s2"><i></i></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s2"><i>A rushing light of clouds and splendour,</i></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s2"><i>A sense awakening and yet tender</i></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s2"><i>Was heard and felt - and at its close</i></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s2"><i>These words of joy and fear arose</i></span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s2"><i></i></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s2"><i>…</i></span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s2"><i></i></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s2"><i>Rise like Lions after slumber</i></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s2"><i>In unvanquishable number,</i></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s2"><i>Shake your chains to earth like dew</i></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s2"><i>Which in sleep had fallen on you -</i></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s2"><i>Ye are many and they are few.”</i></span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s2"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s2">The Guardian would once have been supportive of Corbyn, who has the same anger against injustice and passion for social justice as Shelley. Not only has it not been with Corbyn but worse it has been actively undermining him since 2015.</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s2"></span><br /></div>
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<div class="p1">
<span class="s2">I hope the Guardian will rediscover its radical roots, as a matter of urgency.</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s2">.</span></div>
<div class="blogger-post-footer">http://feeds.feedburner.com/TomLondon</div>Tom Londonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17758489868048216894noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1532254976341123883.post-28142756413379267542017-05-14T07:57:00.000+01:002017-05-16T08:08:43.856+01:00 UK’s National Debt - both a Tory failure and a media failure. Some questions.<div class="p1">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: "arial";">Consider these two facts.</span><span class="s1"></span></span></div>
<div class="p5">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span class="s1"></span><br /></span></div>
<div class="p4">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: large;">When Cameron and Osborne came to power in 2010, the UK’s National Debt was </span></span><b style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-size: large;">£979 BILLION, which amounted to 65% of GDP. </span></b></div>
<div class="p3">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span class="s2"><b></b></span><br /></span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span class="s1">The latest figures, which are for 2016, show that the UK’s National Debt was then </span><b style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;">£1.73 TRILLION, which amounted to 89% of GDP. </b><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;"> By May 2017, the National Debt has doubled - or nearly doubled - after seven years of Coalition and Tory rule.</span></span></div>
<div class="p3">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span class="s1"></span><br /></span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: large;">In 2010, Cameron and Osborne wanted the Deficit (the annual gap between income and expenditure) and the Debt (the total amount owed by the government) to be at the centre of the public debate in the UK.</span></span></div>
<div class="p3">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span class="s1"></span><br /></span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: large;">In 2017, May does not want the two facts above to be highlighted.</span></span></div>
<div class="p3">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span class="s1"></span><br /></span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: large;">The UK’s mainstream media have faithfully followed the Tory wishes both in 2010 and now. Their failure to hold the Tories to account on this and most other issues is an appalling dereliction of their democratic duty.</span></span></div>
<div class="p3">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span class="s1"></span><br /></span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: large;">In 2010 and following, print media and broadcasters talked about Deficit and Debt incessantly. </span></span></div>
<div class="p3">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span class="s1"></span><br /></span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: large;">They failed to hold Osborne to account when he said that the UK was on the brink of bankruptcy. That was a barefaced lie. If the UK’s Debt meant this was true in 2010, how can the Tory narrative that the economy is doing well in 2017 also be true, when the Debt is now double that of 2010?</span></span></div>
<div class="p3">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span class="s1"></span><br /></span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: large;">All this matters hugely because it was the Deficit and Debt narrative that the Tories used to justify their programme of austerity. If anyone had the temerity to oppose austerity they were derided in the media - including by BBC correspondents - as a “Deficit-denier”.</span></span></div>
<div class="p3">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span class="s1"></span><br /></span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: large;">Austerity was a con, perpetrated primarily on the poorest in society but also on many in the middle of society. Austerity did not touch the 1% - UK’s “elites”. </span></span></div>
<div class="p3">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span class="s1"></span><br /></span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: large;">Austerity was not justified by economics. Leading economists including Nobel laureates warned in 2010 that austerity would not work. They have been proved right with low growth, stagnant wages, crumbling infrastructure and a doubling of the Debt in seven years. Admittedly, they were wrong about mass unemployment - instead millions are trapped working in insecure jobs for poverty wages.</span></span></div>
<div class="p3">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span class="s1"></span><br /></span></div>
<div class="p3">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;">The Deficit and Debt narrative was used as an excuse to allow the Tories to impose an ideological Thatcherite vision on the UK. This was to have the State as small as possible.</span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;"> </span><span class="s1"></span></span></div>
<div class="p3">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="p3">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span class="s1"></span></span></div>
<div class="p3">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;">Austerity led to an unprecedented transfer of wealth from the poor to the rich.</span><span class="s1"></span></span></div>
<div class="p3">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span class="s1"></span><br /></span></div>
<div class="p4">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: large;">By 2013, child poverty was rising sharply, Oxfam and the Red Cross were helping the poor in the UK for the first time since WW2, Sure Starts had closed, as had libraries. Life for millions in UK was very bleak and to get bleaker.</span></span></div>
<div class="p5">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span class="s1"></span><br /></span></div>
<div class="p4">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: large;">At the same time, the wealth of the rich - the top 1% and particularly the top 0.1% - saw very large increases.</span></span></div>
<div class="p5">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span class="s1"></span><br /></span></div>
<div class="p4">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: large;">Very few people will get the opportunity to press Theresa May on live TV in this election. I dream that one of them will do so without fear or favour. Here are some questions I would like asked of the PM.</span></span></div>
<ol class="ol1">
<li class="li4"><span class="s1"><span style="font-size: large;">The National Debt has doubled since 2010. Since then the Tories have sold off many public assets. They have not invested much in infrastructure. They have made swingeing cuts. Where has all the money gone?</span></span></li>
<li class="li4"><span style="font-size: large;"><span class="s3"></span><span class="s1">If depriving severely disabled people of benefits was justified because of the Debt, how could it at the same time be right to slash Inheritance Tax? </span></span></li>
<li class="li4"><span style="font-size: large;"><span class="s3"></span><span class="s1">Isn’t the truth that the cuts to the poorest and most vulnerable in our society were not motivated by a desire to reduce the Debt but by an ideological obsession to reduce the size of the State? It was a con, wasn’t it PM?</span></span></li>
<li class="li4"><span style="font-size: large;"><span class="s3"></span><span class="s1">Have you seen <i>I, Daniel Blake?</i> No? Well, you really should prime minister. Ken Loach has done what Dickens did for the Victorians and Orwell did in the 1930s - that is he has revealed to the comfortable middle class what is going on for the poor and vulnerable in their country. As PM and as a professed Christian, I would urge you to see the film and act on it.</span></span></li>
<li class="li4"><span style="font-size: large;"><span class="s3"></span><span class="s1">I have here a list of leading Tory donors. These people have prospered greatly since 2010. It looks like some kind of deal - they fund you, you look after them. What do you say PM?</span></span></li>
<li class="li4"><span style="font-size: large;"><span class="s3"></span><span class="s1">Thank you</span></span></li>
</ol>
<div>
Blog amended on 16 May to say National Debt has doubled - OR NEARLY DOUBLED - between 2010 and May 2017</div>
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</style><div class="blogger-post-footer">http://feeds.feedburner.com/TomLondon</div>Tom Londonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17758489868048216894noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1532254976341123883.post-13896558006898985302017-05-13T19:11:00.000+01:002017-05-13T19:11:29.580+01:00GUEST BLOG by a Deputy Head about harm that school funding cuts will cause to children, teachers and the country<div id="yiv6350525308yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1494669268160_7560" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; font-family: verdana, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">
<span id="yiv6350525308yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1494669268160_7561" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;">I am a Deputy Head in a large inner city comprehensive, which has been much praised for the all-round education it provides to its very diverse intake of students. I feel in the current climate that I have to stay anonymous.</span></div>
<div id="yiv6350525308yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1494669268160_7562" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; font-family: verdana, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">
<span id="yiv6350525308yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1494669268160_7563" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;"></span><br id="yiv6350525308yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1494669268160_7564" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" /></div>
<div id="yiv6350525308yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1494669268160_7565" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; font-family: verdana, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">
<span id="yiv6350525308yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1494669268160_7566" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;">I am deeply concerned at the harmful effects that funding constraints - both now and going forward under the proposed new funding formula - will have on the education and life-chances of our students.</span></div>
<div id="yiv6350525308yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1494669268160_7567" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; font-family: verdana, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">
<span id="yiv6350525308yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1494669268160_7568" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;"></span></div>
<div id="yiv6350525308yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1494669268160_7570" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; font-family: verdana, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">
<span id="yiv6350525308yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1494669268160_7571" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;">The cuts will, without doubt, really affect our school’s ability to do its core work in the classroom. More and more is being done by less and less as the cuts impact on both staff and learning resources.</span></div>
<div id="yiv6350525308yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1494669268160_7572" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; font-family: verdana, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">
<span id="yiv6350525308yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1494669268160_7573" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;"></span><br id="yiv6350525308yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1494669268160_7574" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" /></div>
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<span id="yiv6350525308yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1494669268160_7576" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;">However, I want to highlight another aspect. It is crucial that we do not forget the importance of extra-curricular activities to educate the whole child. I am profoundly worried about their future. There is almost no money left in the pot for anything which is not a core activity. </span></div>
<div id="yiv6350525308yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1494669268160_7577" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; font-family: verdana, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">
<span id="yiv6350525308yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1494669268160_7578" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;"></span><br id="yiv6350525308yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1494669268160_7579" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" /></div>
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<span id="yiv6350525308yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1494669268160_7581" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;">Furthermore, the cuts will take away the vital capacity of teachers to offer more. Due to teachers teaching more hours and larger classes, we are exhausting their goodwill and energy to support those vital extra-curricular projects that are essential for so many of our students. </span></div>
<div id="yiv6350525308yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1494669268160_7582" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; font-family: verdana, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">
<span id="yiv6350525308yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1494669268160_7583" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;"></span><br id="yiv6350525308yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1494669268160_7584" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" /></div>
<div id="yiv6350525308yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1494669268160_7585" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; font-family: verdana, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">
<span id="yiv6350525308yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1494669268160_7586" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;">As a truly comprehensive school where many students do not automatically get exposed to art, sport, the City and a multitude of experiences that other children are lucky enough to have, my school passionately believes in the whole child and it is projects like Duke of Edinburgh; global links with our partner school in Africa; Community Volunteering; Artsmark, drama projects; enterprise and more that build up resilience, confidence and a sense of wonder.</span></div>
<div id="yiv6350525308yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1494669268160_7587" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; font-family: verdana, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">
<span id="yiv6350525308yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1494669268160_7588" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;"></span><br id="yiv6350525308yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1494669268160_7589" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" /></div>
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<span id="yiv6350525308yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1494669268160_7591" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;">These funding cuts tear at the very heart of the wonderful community school where I work. We have an ethos and values that put education of the whole child and of every child at its centre. Our vital work will be jeopardised.</span></div>
<div id="yiv6350525308yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1494669268160_7592" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; font-family: verdana, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">
<span id="yiv6350525308yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1494669268160_7593" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;"></span><br id="yiv6350525308yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1494669268160_7594" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;" /></div>
<div dir="ltr" id="yiv6350525308yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1494669268160_6478" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; font-family: verdana, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">
</div>
<div dir="ltr" id="yiv6350525308yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1494669268160_7595" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; font-family: verdana, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">
<span id="yiv6350525308yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1494669268160_7596" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px;">I am upset above all for the children but also for the teachers. And I am also upset for the country - surely we can afford to properly fund education of the next generation in the sixth richest country in the world?</span></div>
<div class="blogger-post-footer">http://feeds.feedburner.com/TomLondon</div>Tom Londonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17758489868048216894noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1532254976341123883.post-54266543276654974372017-05-07T16:56:00.000+01:002017-05-07T17:04:31.101+01:00Could Fascism come to the UK? Yes, of course it could<div class="p1">
<i style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;">“ It hardly needs pointing out that at this moment we are in a very serious mess, so serious that even the dullest-witted people find it difficult to remain unaware of it </i><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;">” - George Orwell, The Road to Wigan Pier</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s2"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s2">Orwell writing in 1937 was concerned about the prospect of Fascism coming to the UK. At the time, the continent of Europe was dominated by Fascists in Germany, Italy, Spain and a number of smaller countries.</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s2"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s2">As I write in 2017, there is a Fascist in the White House and across the Channel another Fascist is in the run-off to become president of France.</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s2"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s2">It is not necessary to carry out mass murder as Hitler did to qualify as a Fascist.</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s2"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s2">There is no single accepted definition of Fascism. This five part test can be helpful.</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s2">A Fascist leader:-</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s2">1. is contemptuous of the democratic process.</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s2">2. is contemptuous of the rule of law.</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s2">3. stigmatises and persecutes minorities. </span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s2">4. lies and fabricates; undermines and threatens those who tell the truth; uses hyper-nationalistic language.</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s2">5. regards himself or herself as the source of all “legitimate power”.</span></div>
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<span class="s2"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s2">Orwell warned that if Fascism came to the UK it might not at first <i>look </i>or <i>feel </i>like Fascism at all - although he expected it to become more recognisable as time went on.</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s2"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s2">“<i>English Fascism, when it arrives, is likely to be of a sedate and subtle kind (presumably, at any rate at first, it won’t be called Fascism)…”</i></span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s2"><i></i></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s2"><i>“…Fascism is coming; probably a slimy Anglicised form of Fascism, with cultured policemen instead of Nazi gorillas and the lion and the unicorn instead of the swastika.”</i></span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s2"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s2">In 1937 the British Establishment with a few exceptions - like Orwell and Winston Churchill - far from opposing Fascism, favoured appeasement of Nazi Germany. The press and the BBC duly reflected that Establishment opinion. (Churchill complained in 1938 that he had been “muzzled by the BBC”.)</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s2"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s2">In 2017, the UK faces another threat of Fascism. The Establishment - which largely retains control over the media and the narrative heard by the British people - does not even recognise such a threat. It is preoccupied with the danger (to itself) of Socialism.</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s2"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s2">The Establishment have been attacking the Socialist Jeremy Corbyn with an extraordinary intensity for the last two years. He has been vilified, traduced and misrepresented daily in almost the entire media. All this has been done by the finest minds in journalism, PR and advertising and, unsurprisingly, he will probably be crushed. </span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s2"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s2">Meanwhile, the Tory party has adopted the policies and the rhetoric of the once-fringe racist UKIP.</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s2"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s2">Theresa May is clearly comfortable with Fascists. She can be expected to embrace Marine Le Pen warmly, in the event that she is elected president of France today. She famously held hands with Trump and she then flew straight from the USA to meet Erdogan who has locked up record numbers of Turkish journalists and lawyers who have had the temerity to oppose him.</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s2"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s2">It is likely that the British people will be subject to huge turmoil in the years after the current election. Scotland - and even Northern Ireland - may leave the Union. Brexit - and the likely failure of the negotiations - will probably mean that the rump of the UK will face a severe economic crisis for the many (while the few at the top continue to prosper).</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s2"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s2">The people who will have caused the crisis - the Tories, the press-barons and the rest - will naturally cast around for scapegoats to blame. The likely targets will be Muslims, foreigners, and the poor.</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s2"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s2">The Tories under May have crushed opposition. Not only political opposition but also other types which are essential for a properly functioning democracy. </span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s2"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s2">The British media’s performance during this election campaign is evidence of just how far it has become subservient to the Establishment. Incredibly, it seems likely May will win this election without facing any real scrutiny. She has refused to take part in TV debates or to take questions from the public or from anyone except for a few favoured interviewers. The media is hardly challenging this insult to democracy and is failing shamefully in its democratic duty of holding the powerful to account. </span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s2"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s2">Meanwhile, in the legal system, the Tories have made it more difficult to challenge them in the courts and have targeted law firms which have been at the forefront of bringing such challenges. And when judges, doing their job and interpreting the law, were vilified as<i> “enemies of the people”</i> in the press, the government said nothing.</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s2"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s2">And - chillingly - a year or two ago, the Tories passed the most invasive legislation on mass surveillance in the Western world.</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s2"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s2">The temptation for the Tories to slide into Orwell’s <i>“sedate and subtle”</i> Fascism, when faced with unrest, will be great. Power corrupts, let alone absolute power.</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s2"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s2">Of course, there is also another different danger of Fascism in the UK. A demagogue may arise and say that the “hope” that the likes of Corbyn offered failed and instead they will offer the far more intoxicating brew of “hate”.</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s2"></span><br /></div>
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<span class="s2">I am scared where this will all end.</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s2">.</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s2"><br /></span></div>
<div class="blogger-post-footer">http://feeds.feedburner.com/TomLondon</div>Tom Londonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17758489868048216894noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1532254976341123883.post-39470432493617986852017-04-24T07:23:00.000+01:002017-04-24T07:23:42.832+01:00GUEST BLOG - GE 2017: Where to focus for the independent Leftie? by William Bolton <div class="p1">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;">Didn’t expect this election now;</span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;"> </span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;">don’t think Labour should have voted for it without extracting some serious concessions from the Tories;</span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;"> </span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;">resent having my own plans for the next 6 weeks torn up by Theresa May for her own advantage;</span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;"> </span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;">think single member constituency first past the post elections for an unreformed Westminster are a sad apology for democracy.</span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;"> </span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;">So, primarily feel sick and manipulated.</span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s2"><span style="font-size: large;">But – you can’t just concede the battlefield to a Tory party <a href="https://www.craigmurray.org.uk/archives/2017/04/can-anybody-find-significant-difference-mays-policies-british-national-party-manifesto-2005/"><span class="s3">running on a close approximation of the BNP’s 2005 election manifesto</span></a>. </span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: large;">If you are Tom London and a rock solid Labour loyalist, the path is easy. If you are a more free-floating independent Leftie, then more options are available – not necessarily a good thing. I am grateful to Tom for making space on his blog for a point of view that is not his own. </span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: large;">What to do? Where to focus limited time and energy? Some personal thoughts on the options follow – views on the answers sought!</span></span></div>
<div class="p3">
<span class="s1"><b><span style="font-size: large;">1)<span class="Apple-tab-span"> </span>Believe that Labour can hold the line at local level better than the national polls would imply</span></b></span></div>
<div class="p4">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: large;">(a) Fight the conventional fight in pro-Remain marginals in London or the big cities: defend sitting Labour MPs whose politics appeal and try to make sure the Tories don't make any gains there.</span></span></div>
<div class="p4">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: large;">(b) Fight the conventional fight in pro-Brexit marginals: try to defend sitting Labour MPs in the Midlands & North whose politics appeal and who are Tory targets. </span></span></div>
<div class="p4">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="p3">
<span class="s1"><b><span style="font-size: large;">2)<span class="Apple-tab-span"> </span>Believe that Labour is going to do very badly and therefore:</span></b></span></div>
<div class="p5">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: large;">(a) the composition of the PLP rump after the election is the important thing: </span></span></div>
<ol class="ol1">
<li class="li6"><span style="font-size: large;"><span class="s4"></span><span class="s1">Be positive: defend (or try to get elected) the most appealing broadly pro-Corbyn and pro-change Labour candidates;</span></span></li>
<li class="li6"><span style="font-size: large;"><span class="s4"></span><span class="s1">Go negative: encourage tactical voting to take the scalps of the worst, most disloyal Labour MPs.</span></span></li>
</ol>
<div class="p7">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span class="s1"></span><br /></span></div>
<div class="p5">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: large;">(b) what comes after Labour is the important thing:</span></span></div>
<ol class="ol1">
<li class="li6"><span style="font-size: large;"><span class="s4"></span><span class="s1">get some Greens into clear second place challenger position, such as Natalie Bennett in Sheffield Central;</span></span></li>
<li class="li6"><span style="font-size: large;"><span class="s4"></span><span class="s1">try to strengthen the position of left-leaning national & regional parties, such as Plaid, SNP, the Yorkshire Party.</span></span></li>
</ol>
<div class="p8">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span class="s1"><b></b></span><br /></span></div>
<div class="p3">
<span class="s1"><b><span style="font-size: large;">3)<span class="Apple-tab-span"> </span>Believe that the most important thing is to campaign against the worst aspects of our existing system</span></b></span></div>
<div class="p4">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: large;">(a) We will never get change under First Past the Post, so use the election to raise awareness of the need for electoral reform. </span></span></div>
<div class="p4">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: large;">(b) Campaign against the media system: for example, increase awareness of the scandal of the BBC taking its agenda so directly from the oligarch press – the Sun, Mail, Times, Telegraph, Express, Standard.</span></span></div>
<div class="p4">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: large;">(c) Campaign positively for an alternative media: support some kind of alternative election news source. </span></span></div>
<div class="p4">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: large;">A focus on fighting the election in the conventional way, and the immediate need to fight against Tory lies, means working for regular Labour CLPs or supporting <a href="http://www.peoplesmomentum.com/"><span class="s5">Momentum</span></a> teams to do that.</span></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: large;">A focus on trying to break the Tory-Labour duopoly system means working for the Greens in a constituency fight eg <a href="http://sheffieldgreenparty.org.uk/"><span class="s5">Natalie Bennett in Sheffield Central</span></a>, or for others, say <a href="http://www2.partyof.wales/"><span class="s5">Leanne Wood in the Rhondda</span></a>.</span></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: large;">Rejecting our malign, farcical electoral system as it is presented to us perhaps means working for Neal Lawson and <a href="http://www.progressivealliance.org.uk/"><span class="s5">Compass’s progressive alliance for electoral reform</span></a>. </span></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: large;">Rejecting our malign, farcical media system perhaps means getting involved with the <a href="http://www.mediareform.org.uk/"><span class="s5">Media Reform Coalition</span></a>, and whatever they decide to do during the election campaign. </span></span></div>
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<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: large;">Can’t do them all! Which to choose?</span></span></div>
<div class="blogger-post-footer">http://feeds.feedburner.com/TomLondon</div>Tom Londonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17758489868048216894noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1532254976341123883.post-71183347693534985442017-04-23T09:46:00.000+01:002017-04-23T09:46:28.295+01:00GE 2017: Socialism - Corbyn, Attlee, Sanders, Orwell, Paine and Loach<div class="p1">
<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;">The very term “Socialist” had been so thoroughly ridiculed and vilified for decades, that I would never have thought of describing myself as a Socialist at the time of the last General Election in May 2015. (Remember that election? It was when Cameron was successfully marketed as a “statesman” and his backers in the mainstream media persuaded people that Miliband was “odd” and was the one who would bring “chaos”).</span></div>
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<span class="s2"></span></div>
<div class="p2">
<br /></div>
<div class="p2">
<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;">I realise now that my beliefs mean I should describe myself as a Socialist. Obviously, I have been influenced by Jeremy Corbyn in the UK and by Bernie Sanders in the US. The greatest peacetime prime minister the UK has ever had, Clement Attlee, was a proud Socialist, as was the greatest British writer on politics and society of the last century, George Orwell.</span><span class="s2"></span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s2"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s2">My political hero, Tom Paine - arguably the father of modern democracy and human rights - predated Socialism but he shared some crucial beliefs with it. Paine hated bullying by the rich of the poor. He challenged the assumptions of the powerful everywhere he went: - <i>“A long habit of not thinking a thing wrong, gives it a superficial appearance of being right”. </i></span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s2"></span><br /></div>
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<span class="s2">Paine’s comments, 200 years ago, were revolutionary and dangerous:-</span></div>
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<span class="s2"><i>“When it shall be said in any country in the world, my poor are happy; neither ignorance nor distress is to be found among them; my jails are empty of prisoners, my streets of beggars; the aged are not in want…When these things can be said, then may the country boast of its constitution and its government.”</i></span></div>
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<span class="s2">Like Corbyn, Paine was viciously mocked and abused - that is the inevitable fate of <i>anyone</i> who dares to challenge the interests of the powerful.</span></div>
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<span class="s2">In <i>The Road to Wigan Pier, </i>published in 1937, Orwell addresses the meaning of Socialism. He defines its essential ideals as <i>“justice and liberty”. </i>These ideals are to be understood in a very practical sense. In 2017, for example, the courts may give you justice, but only if you can access them and millions of people have been denied effective access since 2010. And someone working all hours on poverty wages has little meaningful liberty. </span></div>
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<span class="s2">Orwell sets a test for himself and others so they can know whether or not they are a Socialist. In the first half of <i>The Road to Wigan Pier, </i>Orwell describes the bleak conditions of the working class in the coal mining areas of Lancashire and Yorkshire in the Great Depression of the 1930s. He starts the second half of the book arguing that <i>“before you can be sure whether you are genuinely in favour of Socialism, you have got to decide whether (such) things at present are tolerable or not tolerable.” </i></span></div>
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<span class="s2"><i></i></span><br /></div>
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<span class="s2">(Orwell is scathing about Middle Class left-wingers who like to advocate progressive policies but always manage to rationalise to themselves why this is never the right time or this is never the right method to actually fight to make them a reality. <i>“Here you come upon the important fact that every revolutionary opinion draws part of its strength from a secret conviction that nothing can be changed”. </i>Orwell would undoubtedly view the Guardian, the spiritual home of such have-your-cake-and-eat-it views, with withering contempt in the current circumstances.)</span></div>
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<span class="s2">When Orwell described the grinding poverty in the North, he was consciously following in the tradition of Charles Dickens. He wanted the comfortable middle class to know what was happening in their country. He knew that most of them were oblivious to the reality. They did not see it with their eyes. It did not affect anyone they knew. They could pretend - even to themselves - it was not happening under their noses.</span></div>
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<span class="s2">The closest we have to a Dickens or an Orwell today is, probably, Ken Loach.</span></div>
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<span class="s2">His film <i>I, Daniel Blake, </i>shows the grim reality of the lives of millions of people in the UK. According to an authoritative study by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, 13.5 million people are living in poverty in the UK today. This number includes 3.7 million children. And more people living in poverty are in working households than in non-working households - people are working hard for poverty pay. (The facts make a mockery of the facile Tory mantra that if you work hard you can escape poverty.)</span></div>
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<span class="s2"><i></i></span><br /></div>
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<span class="s2"><i>I, Daniel Blake </i>shows what Loach describes as the “conscious cruelty” of the Tory benefit system. At the heart of the film is the draconian and arbitrary system of benefit sanctions. The most vulnerable in society including children, the mentally ill and the physically disabled are “punished”. A number of suicides have been linked to these sanctions. They force people to food-banks which since 2010 have become “normal” in the UK. This is one of the richest countries in the world - yet since 2013, the Red Cross has been delivering food parcels to our hungry and well over a million food parcels are handed out each year and the number is rising inexorably.</span></div>
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<span class="s2">I don’t think that what <i>I, Daniel Blake</i> describes is tolerable in our country. By Orwell’s test, then I am a Socialist. </span></div>
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<span class="s2">The stakes are incredibly high in this election. On the one side is the Trump-loving, NHS-destroying, public-services-trashing, Murdoch-Dacre-crony May. On the other, the Socialist Corbyn. I am with the Socialist.</span></div>
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<div class="blogger-post-footer">http://feeds.feedburner.com/TomLondon</div>Tom Londonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17758489868048216894noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1532254976341123883.post-45655416221294305882017-04-08T10:21:00.000+01:002017-04-08T10:21:25.121+01:00GUEST BLOG A poem for our times - by Anon<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: large;">11th september 2001</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: large;">That defining moment when time begun</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: large;">We dont know what happened and what came before</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: large;">But from that day on continuous war.</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: large;">You're either with us or against us, that foolish attitude</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: large;">That provided no space, no room, no latitude</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: large;">To think deeply about the problems that affect us,</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: large;">Perplex us, reflect us, connect us.</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: large;">Now most of us can't see the wood for the trees</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: large;">Like when kids are crying and down on their knees</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: large;">But that doesnt stop us from feeling unease </span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: large;">Our paradise island and its hypnotic breeze</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: large;">Thrust into chaos by tabloid decrees,</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: large;">A dead child on the sand and 'migrants' </span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: large;">are 'refugees'</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: large;">Still we are willing to let them freeze in the seas -</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: large;">Oh what a tease when we claim to be Liberal</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: large;">It's just so typical</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: large;">In the land of the enlightened</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: large;">But we are still so frightened </span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: large;">Of the alien 'other'</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: large;">Just a brother from another mother,</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: large;">And the ones who were losing</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: large;">Were never the ones choosing</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: large;">Hate over love or war over peace</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: large;">It was just bad luck they were born in the Middle East.</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: large;">It could have been you, it could have been me</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: large;">But we are so blinded that we just can't see</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: large;">A sister in faith or a sister in humanity </span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: large;">We weren't meant to judge based on nationality. </span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: large;">Who knows what tomorrow brings and what lies ahead</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: large;">But a noble Prophet surely once said </span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: large;">'The best richness is the richness of the soul'</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: large;">The soul that only knows how to be whole</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: large;">When we live together, breathe together</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: large;">Feel together, dream for a better</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: large;">Life for ourselves and the next generation</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: large;">Humanity, remember we are one nation</span></span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-size: large;">One family, one planet, one creation. </span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-size: large;">.</span></div>
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</style><div class="blogger-post-footer">http://feeds.feedburner.com/TomLondon</div>Tom Londonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17758489868048216894noreply@blogger.com0