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Since it's nearly Anti-Catholic Bigot Day again (otherwise known as Guy Fawkes) in the UK, and Brexit is about to happen, as special celebratory firework seems appropriate.
When the EU is finally driven away from Britain, there will be cheers of rejoicing from all right-thinking (right-voting, right-wing
Union-flag-waving) Englishmen (Now just the bogtrotters, whingeing money-grubbing jocks, and the dismal taffs to see off) and of course fireworks (tho sadly not 2 MT airbursts over brussels and strasbourg) (yet).
But there should be something for the remoaners, who after all face a dismal future (hopefully) crammed with disappointment and heartache at the demise of the post-WW2 centre-left social democratic consesus and the rise of divisive, intolerant nationalism leading to a colder, bleaker, more dangerous world (which has always been there, but their rose-coloured spectacles filtered it out up to now).
To assist, BorgCo pyrotechnic engineers (one of our largest R&D groups) have produced the Remoan Candle. Externally, it resembles a normal Roman Candle, although it's poorly constructed of flimsy materials, is deeply unattractive to look at, and is so unstable that it falls over unless constantly propped up by a pile of surreptitious EU subsidies.
When lit, it sputters pathetically for two and a half years, occasional spitting fur and feathers, then finally emits a long drawn out sigh ending in an very final death-rattle.
Stephen Fry on why Brexit
https://youtu.be/_HDFegpX5gI
[Frankx, Oct 19 2019]
Other people on why Brexit
https://www.youtube...EoNxfA8lVNs&index=1
[Skewed, Oct 19 2019]
It's the same the whole world over ...
https://monologues....Poor-But-Honest.htm
Globalization ... ? [8th of 7, Oct 20 2019]
Autonomous Collective
https://www.youtube...watch?v=-8bqQ-C1PSE
Anarcho-syndicalist commune. [Frankx, Oct 21 2019]
[link]
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The poster-boy for hardline protestants since 1605; a bit-part player in a rather inept attempt to kill James I, probably fomented by government agents provocateur to coax various potential threats out of hiding so they could be efficiently dealt with by Fire and the Sword (or rather musket fire, extra-judicial torture, hanging, drawing and quartering, and public humiliation). |
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A jolly tale of repression, prejudice, state-sponsored violence and pointless bigotry that's just crying out to be made into a musical comedy ... La-La land, but with more heads on pikes. |
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//Since it's nearly Anti-Catholic Bigot Day again (otherwise known as Guy
Fawkes) in the UK// |
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Huh.
I thought it was nearly-blew-up-the-politicians day. |
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Anyway, wrong celebration. You're supposed to be aiming for Halloween. |
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Probably; but like Katyushias, Nebelwerfer, Calliope and the MLRS, pyrotechnics (those that lack a decent terminal guidance system, anyway) are notoriously inaccurate and rely on mass salvoes and an area effect. |
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//musket fire, extra-judicial torture, hanging, drawing and
quartering, and public humiliation// |
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IIRC, after the initial failure, some of the conspirators galloped
out of London in pouring rain to a safe house in ... Notts maybe?
... anyway, on arrival, they found their large supply of gunpowder
had got wet. So, to dry it, they laid it out in front of an open
fireplace ... |
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Holbeche House in Staffordshire. |
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It just goes to show that enthusiasm is no substitute for competence. If you need conspirators, it's worth paying for good quality ones from a reputable supplier; the ones you get for free aren't worth the money. |
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The same is true of spies. Intelligence agencies far prefer agents that do it for money rather than ideology. |
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I just sit here in silence, wondering what the hell shift
happened to this world we live in, and where is our salvation
from those who would destroy it with their greed and lack of
soul? |
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Not really their fault [bliss], James Brown wouldn't get here
for more'n another 300 years. |
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//wondering what the hell shift happened// |
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I think I've worked out the answer to that, [bliss], but I hesitate to
share it, because feelings will be hurt. |
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[bliss], there is no hope, no salvation. Only a long, dark, lonely downhill road, and half a day out with the undertaker at the end of it. |
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We can do no more than to quote the profound words of the late Pterry Pratchett: "I believe you find life such a problem because you think there are good people and bad people. You're wrong, of course. There are, always and only, the bad people, but some of them are on opposite sides." |
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Did you add an extra bad or am I simply remembering a
slightly less grim version to protect my delicate psyche? |
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It's your rose-coloured spectacles switching in, [Skew]. |
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Guy forks, guy forks, it was his in tent, to blow up ther houses of parly er ment. |
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"The only man who ever entered the Houses of Parliament with honorable intentions was Guy Fawkes ..." |
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One + for pocmlocs doggerels |
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Meanwhile, back on topic ... |
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//the post-WW2 centre-left social democratic consesus [sic]//
was indeed fatally flawed, and //a colder, bleaker, more
dangerous world // is indeed out there (except in so far as it may
turn out to be warmer, bleaker and more dangerous). |
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However, it does not follow from this that Europe (including its
offshore islands) would not be better off sticking together,
precisely because of the ambient bleakness and danger.
Admittedly, it's somewhat academic for me since, as you know, I
buggered off to the far side of the world some time ago in
anticipation of things getting ugly. |
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Moving off-planet would be safer. |
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// better off sticking together, // |
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It's called NATO, it's Baked and WKTE. |
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True, but I didn't qualify for a visa. |
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... and it will provide limited protection from trade wars, to say
nothing of the fact that it may develop an America-shaped hole
and fall to bits in the not-too-distant future. |
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If centre-left social democrats prefer to spend money on welfare rather than their own defence, they deserve everything they get. Next time the krauts overrun the frogs, the sensible thing is to do the same as 1870 (stand on the sidelines, cheering). |
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Didn't someone say something quite profound about "Guns and Butter" ? |
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Well, that's not an insuperable problem ... step into our office, we have an interesting offer for you to consider ... |
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The only whining I see going on is from certain negative
nancy types on certain websites who don't know how to
write about anything that makes them content or uplifts
other people. |
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I suspect this is why Ian left. |
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Maybe he should have negotiated an ITexit deal, athough a "No deal" ITexit makes more sense ... |
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// Thatcher shutting down the coal mines. // |
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A very "Green" stance, would you not say ... ? |
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Besides, it wasn't about shutting mines - it was about breaking the power of the unions. And it worked. |
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// And so I became a socialist. // |
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Doctors are working on a cure. The Russians and the Chinese have had spectacular success in that field ... |
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// regulation surrounding capitalism // |
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// what form of capitalism they are backing. // |
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The sort exemplified by <link>. |
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// a rounded domestic economy based on all trades e.g. including nursing, // |
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If you have a rounded economy for producing fully trained and equipped armed forces, you can get everything else you want by just asking nicely.. As a noted U.S. president said, "Speak softly, and carry a big stick". |
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// cause a brain drain in other economies. // |
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If your economy is prosperous and successful that is inevitable. Somalia probably doesn't have a huge problem with economic migrants from Europe or North America ... |
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Did you really have to wake this lying arsehole up & poke him
into another WOT [8th]. |
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I wasn't talking to you, Google it. |
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Oh & kindly go fuck yourself you condescending insulting piece
of
shit, have a nice day. |
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[Skewed], thanks for the link, it was certainly
enlightening and informative. [zen_tom], I agree
about nationalism, and am still anti-brexit. I do
feel that “we” as a nation have been duped and
manipulated by very wealthy and influential
people/companies who are acting in their own
interests, and populist media and self-serving
politicians. |
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I don’t know if “we” will be more exposed to
manipulation inside or outside the EU, perhaps it’s
bad either way. |
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//Meanwhile, for people who continue to harbor an
irrational hatred of the EU, then our leaving is doubly
fantastic - it gives the Russians a much needed geopolitical
leg-up at a crucial time.// |
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With all due respect, I don't think it is helpful to
mischaracterize Brexiteers in this way. I can certainly
understand why many people wanted to remain in the EU,
and I don't generally ascribe extreme motives to them -
they made a reasonable decision. Other people made a
different decision. Insulting either side is not productive,
and nor does it reflect well on you, [zen], who are capable
of
greater wisdom. |
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//“we” as a nation have been duped and manipulated by
very wealthy and influential people/companies// If
memory serves (and it was a long time ago, now) most of
the politicians, the banks, the financial gurus and big
businesses were arguing for remain, not leave. The most
vocal Brexiteer (again, in my notoriously unreliable
memory) was a London bloke by the name of Nigel, best
known for enjoying cigarettes* and beer. |
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(*Admittedly, smoking actual cigarettes these days is a sign
of wealth, but not necessarily of influence.) |
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//were arguing for remain//... I suppose my point
is that the anti-EU backers of the Brexit
referendum were not doing so out of an altruistic
belief in the benefit it would bring to an average
“British” citizen. They were motivated by
corporate economic gain, or personal political
gain. I do agree that there are anti-Brexit
arguments that are also motivated by corporate
gain and personal political gain. |
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I don’t believe that Brexit (in whatever form) will
bring the benefits promised. But also, I agree that
the deep-rooted capitalist interference in
sovereignty (as demonstrated with Greece and
with TTIP) is
shameful and toxic. |
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<Switches on Negativity meter/> |
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<Switches to next highest range/> |
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<Switches to next highest range/> |
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<Switches to next highest range/> |
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<Switches to next highest range/> |
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<Switches off, installs -12dB attenuator, re-selects base range switches on/> |
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<Switches to next highest range/> |
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<Switches to next highest range/> |
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<Switches to next highest range/> |
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Conflict, distrust, emnity and despair ... another successful day ... |
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[zen_tom] I agree with you, and I’m still anti-
Brexit. It is worth viewing Skewed’s link, because I
think you both have, ultimately, the benefit of
“British citizens” and humanity as a whole as your
central concern. |
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I’m not totally “anti-capitalist” (because I
acknowledge the human benefits achieved over
the last hundred-ish years) and although I’ll get
scorched by [8th], I am a socialist. But more than
anything we should be humanist and globalist,
which requires more and bigger cooperation
between nations - for the benefit of the biosphere
and future generations. |
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// I don't ascribe the negative traits to *every* Brexiteer,
only those ones who actually have those traits.// Your tone
and context seemed (to me, I may well be wrong) to be
equating Brexiteers with Europhobics who for some reason
want to leap to the aid of Russia. |
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People who voted to leave are right to be sensitive about
having motives ascribed to them. The consensus and
official line amongst remainers is that it's OK to discount
the referendum because those who voted to leave were
simply stupid enough to have been fooled into doing so; or
are frothing racists. |
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When political parties lose elections, they generally don't
use - as their main argument - the fact that the part of the
electorate that voted against them consists of gullible fools. |
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(Incidentally, given that a //UK-Russian trade deal hasn't
been discussed much publicly//, I don't see how it can be
behind the Leave vote.) |
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// I’ll get scorched by [8th] // |
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No, no, no, Winston ... all we want you to do is learn to love Big Brother. Mr. O'Brien will be along shortly to educate you. |
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And to Give In To Your Hate, of course ... |
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Does it matter? Guilt by association will do the rest, like the English Roman Catholics in Tudor and Stuart times. |
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// why not fight for what you want democratically? // |
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Because nothing is ever gained at a conference table that cannot be taken and held on a battlefield. |
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If you're on the threatened side, talking on and on to gain time is an excellent strategy. But when your opponent brings out the nasty pointy sharp things, you gave to either yield, or fight. This is a law of nature, like natural selection, or diminishing returns, or unintended consequences. |
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At any time, an zero-sum game can be converted to a negative-sum game if one side percieves that they are never going to get what they want by asking nicely, and assess that their opponent lacks the will, skill or resources to resist a determined attack. |
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Clausewitcz would be your friend on this one. |
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Hang on. Where did "Lexiteer" come from? And what is it?
It's probably explained somewhere up there ^ but I can't be
arsed to go find it. |
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Why is Russia a threat ? All they want is power and money and to have their own way ... looked in a mirror recently ? |
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It's fundamental flaw in the Mk1. Human. Get over it. |
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// It is possible to transcend the zero-sum and move to a more profitable, more stable, and freer way of living. // |
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No, it's not. That 's just wishful thinking, a comforting self-delusuion promulgated by those who don't want to face, ha ha, a disagreeable truth. |
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Until you leave your squalid little planet, you have only the one cake to divide between an ever increasing number of mouths. Your only input is solar radiation. Everything else comes from "on board". Yes, you can use resources better. But you can't change what you are. |
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// Where did "Lexiteer" come from? // |
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An acolyte of the Evil Mastermind Lex Luthor, shirley ? |
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//Big Brother//... socialist, not communist. |
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[edit] Although, surely the Borg are Communist? |
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Fear not, once you have mastered Doublethink you will realise he is both and neither, simultaneously. |
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Does it feel like you're walking in sunlight yet ? Or are you walking down a white-tiled corridor forever, waiting for a bullet in the back that never comes ? |
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// Borg are communist ? // |
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If you thought about it, you'd realise we're the complete opposite; a single entirely selfish ego with no thought for others - the ultimate capitalist. |
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There are no bosses or workers, no upper and lower classes, no kings or peasants. Just a single ruthless will, focussed on dominating the galaxy. |
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...//no bosses or workers, no upper and lower
classes, no kings or peasants// |
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Ah. An autonomous collective! |
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Indeed; but not, we hasten to add, an anarcho-syndicalist commune ... |
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Would you like us to show you the violence inherent in the system ? |
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Yup. I’ll be assimilated now. |
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So long as we can change “resistance is futile” to
“resistance is an inherent property of most
materials (at room temperature), somewhat
inconvenient in many applications, but useful in
some” |
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Why not change it to "resistance is useless!"? Which pre-
dates ".. futile" by 12 years. <looks around, doesn't see [8th
of 7]; makes good an escape...> |
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// Why is Russia a threat ? All they want is
power and money and to have their own way ...
looked in a mirror recently ?// |
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Because they run on crime and poison their
enemies abroad? |
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//no bosses or workers// Well, that certainly explains the Borg's
perpetual inability to get their round in, as well as their need to borrow*
a pony off of the Intercalary to help pay for getting the cube through its
MOT**. I understand the Inland Revenue is also desirous of a
conversation with you - apparently assimilation is in the grey area
between "tax avoidance" and "tax evasion". |
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*I sincerely hope you manage to repay him. He has been saving up to
cover the costs of a name transplant as soon as a donor can be found. |
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**Quite how a brake-light lens and wiper motor can cost so much -
especially as they are interchangeable with parts from a 2004-2007
Nissan Micra - is puzzling. |
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//keep the global economy growing//
There's yer prahblem. The myth that the economy (and the
population...) can just keep growing indefinitely. |
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After applauding zen I find myself agreeing with bigs
in some fashion on the macro level. But easy
answers
there are not, and simply selling the construct off for
scrap without a blueprint for what comes after
sounds like a fool's easy answer to be taken
advantage of by a clever prick or three. |
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Ah. I think [zen_tom] and I mean two rather different things by
//the post-WW2 centre-left social democratic consensus//. |
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[zen] seems to refer to Enlightenment and Rule of Law. I'm in
favour of those things, but they're not what I mean by //the post-
WW2 centre-left social democratic consensus//. |
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What *I'm* referring to is best summarized by three books,
namely, Maslow's Motivation & Personality, Galbraith's Affluent
Society and Riesman's Lonely Crowd, all of which were
published in the post-war period and helped to shape
it. Their principal common flaw was a tendency to mistake
certain positional goods, which can't be shared, for more
objective goods, which could be (though their common
assumption that the Problem of Production was solved is also
looking a bit shaky). |
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All you need to do is look at France (the yellow vests),
Grece
(economic implosion) & Italy (national democratic
mandates
overridden by the EU) to know the EU is not a force for
good,
or democracy.. makes the assertion (all of) our woes are
self
inflicted ring rather hollow. |
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If that's not enough just follow the money, consider the
remain campaigns main
financiers, big banks & billionaires (there's far far more
wealth
behind remain than could ever plausibly be said to be
behind
leave), they're not in it for the common good & never have
been. |
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And then of course there's the proof of the pudding, the
very small taste of it we've had so far, since the vote the
rate of immigration
has dropped off just a little (plausibly due to people's
'concerns' about brexit & their right to remain after it), UK
unemployment has fallen & wages have risen. |
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Clearly anyone who doesn't profit off the back of low
wages (directly or indirectly) will be better off out of the
EU. |
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In real terms, as a % of the cost of living, not just gross. |
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... or rather, carte blance for government snoopers to pry into everyone's private business using the usual "public interest" excuse ... |
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They're not interested in preventing criminality (especially their own), only getting their sticky fingers on more of other people's money so they can squander it. |
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That's what They want you to believe. They are motivated by fear. If they have no revenues, they have no power, and increasingly revenue streams are moving out of their greedy wasteful clutches. |
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Since governments are institutionally deceptive, there are no grounds for attributing any credibility to their published motives. |
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It should be up to the individual to decide how, when and where their income is disbursed - not some over-arching entity who claims to have their best interests at heart - but then consistently fails to deliver. "Government" should provide external and internal security, and nothing more. |
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// Having a transparent legal and financial system is a good starting point // |
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Great ... when you find one, point it out. |
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Transparency is of course a relative scalar. There’s
Deutchebank, and then there’s a credit union.
There’s Wells Fargo and their cheating account
strategies, but then there’s even less transparency
in Panama where a whole bunch of tax cheats hid
their money. There’s the SEC rules, and there’s the
bank of Russia. |
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