Some on the left are blinded by old, cold War allegiances, beliefs and sectional thinking.
Neoliberalism
The Media Bullshit Mountain
“Each decade we declare that we buried class- each decade the coffin stays empty.” Richard Hoggart, 1989 introduction to George Orwell’s Road to Wigan Pier. Lately, rather than sitting down to BBC Breakfast or Sky, I’ve been watching the previous nights American chat shows; Colbert, Jimmy Kimmel or Seth Myers, or news from CNN or […]
The World Through A Window
There’s a wistfulness in the air. We’re no longer marvelling at clear skies above China and translucent blue canals in Venice. We’re watching from behind the sofa as death rates continue to rise around the globe, and fluctuations occur, leading to second, or even third wave and Lockdown periods, such as in Hong Kong and […]
Covid-19 vs The Walking Dead
The Walking Dead tells the story of a group of survivors in a post-apocalypse world. It’s one of an increasing number of graphic novels that has grown beyond cult fandom into mainstream popularity, having been adapted for a successful TV show about 10 years ago. The apocalypse in question, as it transpires, is a virus […]
Covid-19, Toilet Paper and American Hegemony
These days it feels like every app on my phone has some Covid-19 related content. One of them has a list of all the rich and famous who’ve fallen victim to the virus – movie stars, sports people, politicians. I’ve seen the related conversations on social media, where people debate who the most famous victim […]
Say it Ain’t So Jo
This is a story of denial, delusion and illusion: All themes that ran through the 2019 General election campaign. Jo and The Libs The rise, or rather the inflation of Jo Swinson is not the only story in town, but the themes are strong in this one. I’d have been hard pushed to pick Jo […]
Its Time to Go, Jo.
One of our team, Neil Scott, urges his East Dunbartonshire neighbours to drop Liberal Democrat Leader, Jo Swinson as their MP at the upcoming election. “As a teacher who works in one of Europe’s most deprived areas, helping hungry, poverty damaged children every day, I resent the fact that Jo Swinson, a woman from one […]
Oprah, the KKK, the Left and Total and Utter Confusion…
OK…. I’m up for predictions. Predictions in the short term, and regarding the UK and Scotland first. One, more or all of the upcoming predictions may end up wrong, but regardless of that, there will be no revolution in the UK. Power will still remain with corporations and the land owning class who by way […]
Inertia to the Left of me Zombies to the Right
As Halloween approaches and Johnson’s ditch digging bulldozer is nowhere in sight, nor is his Brexit, it seems that the joke is still on us all the same. It looks like the Brexit debacle will run and run. It has been extensively analysed, but with the permutations and possibilities that could lead to a selection […]
The Chinese Economic Model: Threat or Future
The collapse of the Soviet Union brought with it the end of the Cold War and an apparent end to any challenge to Western capitalism. Fukuyama famously called it “the end of history”, others called it the end of ideology. Western neoliberal hegemony and “free markets” were to be the new unchallenged normal. It wasn’t […]