How can emphasising the differences help us forget the differences?
Apparently next week is Cultural Diversity Week, and it seems that my employer is wholeheartedly supporting this initiative. There will be videos and seminars, and no doubt every senior member of the management team will be issuing emails extolling the virtues of multiculturalism. I have no doubt it will also be one of the topics at the next training meeting
The company is not alone, all big businesses are trying to portray themselves as woke, to ensure there is no backslash from the illiberal left, to ensure they can continue to sell products to those who self define as Communist anti-captilists. The irony of the situation.
The vehemence directed at persons or organisations that do not accept the diversity and multicultural agenda is fierce and one can understand why most feel it is easier simply to accept the dogma rather than question it. But does diversity training really encourage inclusion?
How can emphasising the differences help us forget the differences? How can diversity training reduce the notion of us and them that underpins racist attitudes? Surely the way to bring people of all backgrounds together is to emphasise those aspects that unite us. So in the case of our employment, the fact we work for the same business, we work as a team, we all have broadly similar goals and aspirations, and we all want to succeed.
It seems a simple enough notion to me, but I suspect mine will be a lone voice at next week's meeting.
His call to “crush” those who oppose his views has chilling echoes of Lenin's call to hang the enemies of the Revolution
Owen Jones argues on Twitter with reference to the far right that the “debate will be between those who believe they should be ... listened to and those of us who think they must be crushed”.
Who is the “far right”? As far as I can gather it's anyone OJ believes disagrees with his view of leftist liberalism. Either you accept his dogma, or you are the opposition
His call to “crush” those who oppose his views has chilling echoes of Lenin and his call to hang the enemies of the Revolution. His statement simply highlights the fact that Communists are no different to Fascists. Both will intimidate, both will use violence, both will terrorise those deemed to be the enemy.
Has this situation come about because of the utter incompetence of the government, or is it a prelude to the abandonment of Brexit?
I can't make up my mind. The government are it seems stock piling food and medicines just in case the UK leaves the EU without a deal. It's as if we are on a war footing, and it is to say the least very worrying.
What I can't decide is if this situation has come about because of the utter incompetence of the government, or whether it is a prelude to the abandonment of Brexit.
If it is the former, then would our government be any better than the EU? I voted to leave in part because it was apparent to me that the EU did not care about the wellbeing of the people of Europe. The European project would continue, regardless of the cost to the people. Now, it is becoming apparent that Brexit is likely to have a detrimental effect on the wealth and wellbeing of the people of this country. By pushing on with the project, and knowing the potential damage it could cause, is our government any better than the EU?
The other possibility is that what is happening now is a gradual application of pressure, a continuation of Project Fear, preparing the populace for the moment when the government says it is abandoning Brexit. With warnings of the potential for catastrophic economic damage growing ever louder, who but the most die hard of leavers would object if the government brought Brexit to a halt? Such a scenario has one flaw. It assumes the government know what they are doing.
Neighbouring countries and especially the former states of the USSR, will be left feeling very vulnerable
Trump breezes into Europe. He attacks NATO concerning members contributions. He reprimands the Germans regarding their trading relationship with the Russians. He undermines Theresa May over Brexit. He then dashes off to Moscow, where he has the chance to confront Putin over the downing of a civil airliner, the illegal annexation of the Crimea, Novichok, Russian interference in Western elections, etc, etc.
Of course, he doesn't. He and Putin are clearly best friends. Trump makes a speech whilst stood alongside Putin, in which he basically accepts Putins denial of wrongdoing without question, a speech which one American politician has described as being treasonous.
Trump has since tried to back peddle, claiming he misread his statement. He says he mistook “would” for “wouldn't”, or some such nonsense. It doesn't wash. The man does not know what he is doing. He undermines America's natural allies, whilst providing succour to Russia, a Russia that is acting like a rogue state, a Russia that needs to be told firmly that its actions will be tolerated no longer.
Trump's appeasement will do nothing but embolden the Russians. At a time when Putin is trying to restore the glory days of the old Soviet Empire, neighbouring countries and especially the former states of the USSR, will be left feeling very vulnerable.
Theresa May announces on Friday that her and her Cabinet have agreed a united approach to the Brexit negotiations. I couldn't help but wonder why they hadn't had that meeting when the referendum result was announced in 2016, why they didn't agree their strategy before entering into negotiations with the EU.
Now, the minister responsible for Brexit has resigned from the Cabinet. So much for a unified front. This government is an utter shambles, and any hope of obtaining a good exit agreement must now surely be lost.
Has the quality of political discourse in this country ever been lower?
Slug, melt, centrist dad, and now gammon. Childish insults thrown at anyone who has the temerity to disagree with a Corbynite. Has the quality of political discourse in this country ever been lower?
That was unexpected. President Trump has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize, in recognition of his efforts to bring North Korea to the negotiating table.
The news footage of the leaders of North and South Korea greeting each other like old friends last week was remarkable, and something most never expected to see. Prior American governments have adopted a policy of containment which proved to be quite useless. In that period, North Korea worked on its nuclear programme, much to the concern of its neighbours. Is it any coincidence that since Trump adopted a forceful approach to the problem, that the North Korean leader has decided to offer the hand of friendship?
Trump was ridiculed for talk of his big red button, for his diplomacy by Twitter, but I suspect it had the desired effect. In tandem with the efforts of the Chinese, the Korean Peninsular has stepped back from the brink of war.
I can't imagine the liberal intelligentsia will change its attitude to Trump. He may confound the critics, but he will never have the appeal Obama enjoyed. However, he remains popular with his core voters and I suspect that they will carry him to victory should he stand at the next election. Assuming of course the skeletons in his cupboard don't finally catch up with him.
Now we live in a country where even a harmless joke can be deemed a “hate crime”
How on earth has this happened? The UK is, according to the 2018 World Press Freedom Index,
One of the worst-ranked countries in Western Europe in terms of respect for press freedom.
The UK is placed 40th in the world. The home of Parliament, the country whose very name was a byword for freedom of expression. Now we live in a country where even a harmless joke can be deemed a “hate crime”, where important issues cannot be debated for fear of being branded “phobic”.
In an era when it seems someone will take offence at anything, maybe the best bet is to say nothing.
How can EU non-Brits have confidence that their rights will be properly protected
The way the Windrush immigrants have been treated by the Government has been appalling. Their treatment must be of grave concern for EU citizens living in the UK, worried about how they will be treated post-Brexit.
Sajjad Karim, a Conservative MEP made this point when asking
If the British Home Office and our justice system have so demonstrably failed in protecting Windrush British citizens how can EU non-Brits have confidence that their rights will be properly protected? Frankly today they can't.
It beggars belief that anyone in Government could have thought an attempt to deport the Windrush Generation was the right thing to do. Morally, there can have been no justification for it.
How do you deal with someone who would rather see his own people gassed and bombed rather than relinquish power
With the world sliding closer to another world war, you have to wonder if history is repeating itself.
The US President Trump arrived as a man of the people, an outsider whose supporters thought might make a difference. Certainly during the election campaign, where foreign policy was concerned he struck a very isolationist view. However, now he is in office he is following the usual post-WW2 policy of American interventionism. Was this an about face or the realisation that America cannot turn away from the world? I suspect it was the latter.
What choice did he have? Russia is led by Putin. He has managed to create a veneer of democracy, but beneath the surface, he is no better than the Soviet leaders of old. He is trying to recreate the Empire, flouting international law, invading neighbouring countries, and sowing the seeds of dissent in the former Soviet states. There is also China, flexing her military muscles, much to the concern of her neighbours.
Since WW2, we have lived through a relatively peaceful era, and it is sobering to think that era may be coming to an end. We may consider ourselves civilised, more tolerant, less bellicose, but there will always be those who seek power and wealth and will not care about the human cost of achieving their goals. A prime example is Assad of Syria. How do you deal with someone who would rather see his own people gassed and bombed rather than relinquish power, rather than lose the wealth and influence he thinks is his right?
Words mean little to such people, and perhaps direct conflict is ultimately the only way to deal with despots and dictators.
Perhaps we just have to accept that the acquisition of power, and the resulting conflicts and even war that this spawns is, and will always be, part of the human condition.
Perhaps we will just have to accept that history will continue to repeat itself.