Truth Leaks

We live in strange times. There is an almost tangible feeling of something in the air, something afoot, but we know not what and it's an unsettling feeling.

Not that any era ever enjoyed complete stability and security as those who know their history will attest. Like it or not, the world is continually changing, and not always for the better - ie the benefit of humanity. At the moment it sometimes appears to be spinning so fast on its axis as to be in danger of leaving its place in the solar system altogether and even the young are complaining of headaches and mental illness as the sheer pace of life becomes a strain to keep up with.

On a pragmatic level I consider that if my grandparents can survive WWII, most of us will probably survive Brexit, the most off-cited source of present national fear and blame  Yes, it will involve new ways of thinking and seeking new opportunities, but even within living memory we have all been similarly scared within the last generation, ie the 'Year 2000' Problem', when it was believed that computers would not cope with the dates changing to the new Millennium and planes would fall from the skies, there would be food shortages and life as we knew it could well end. Does anyone remember what happened in the event nearly twenty years ago?  No? Well perhaps that says something about the event, not to mention the nature of fear.

And as the millionaire next door has sagely remarked more than once. 'I set up both my businesses in the midst of a recession.'

Of course during WWII we had a government telling us all to 'Keep Calm and Carry On', despite the air raids and the bombs dropping. Rather irresponsibly I see no current government encouraging national calm, but rather stoking national fears and making things worse than they need be. In fact politics have become more Carry On film than 'Keep Calm and Carry On'.

However one chord struck recently when a friend said that the great benefit of living in these unsettling times was that everything which had previously been hidden is now coming out into the open.

Just as the Kennedy Assassination is credited (or blamed for, depending on your point of view) with heralding the dawn of conspiracy theory, the death of a British TV personality Jimmy Savile has unleashed revelation upon revelation and unintended consequence upon unintended consequence beyond anything we could have imagined to reach across the globe. Indeed the unbelievable truth behind his public facade can even been seen in the fall of Jeffery Epstein and all the unintended consequences which continue to emerge from that. Hands up everyone who thinks he committed suicide?  Quite. We have never been less likely to believe the 'official' version of a story than we are now.  Akin to that famous saying; 'Never believe anything in politics until it's officially denied.'

Yes there is plenty of fake news to wade through, but plenty of truth is also leaking out and it has become the age of the leak and the whistleblower.

As for 'fake news' let's say 60% of all news is fake - and that includes sponsored news and advertorials - which indeed makes up a surprising portion of the news in its own right.

Who decides what is real and what is fake anymore?  Those with the money to manipulate the media or a few lone conspiracy theorists? How are people supposed to tell or trust the difference? I think the bottom line is often to ask the question; 'Who is making the most money out of their opinion on this topic?' or 'Where do the vested interests lie?'

Perhaps that's why Prince Andrew's interview at the weekend was such a welcome interlude. For once we were watching something that was so stage-managed and coached, it unraveled before our very eyes. We all knew what we were really watching was a desperate man ignoring all good PR advice (and it turned out that his PR chief had resigned only two weeks prior) and digging a bigger and bigger hole for himself. Yes, it wasn't pleasant viewing and it's not as if most of us previously disliked the guy (or often even gave him a second thought in my case) but there was something refreshingly real in that level of truth leak.

It's interesting to ponder that people only ever search for the truth. No one ever talks about searching for lies.

But to get back to the idea of everything coming out that has previously been hidden, this can only be a good thing for humanity surely, despite the discomfort? And ultimately no one will have any reason left to lie as there will be no human tolerance, appetite or market left for dishonesty. But why do we need lies anyway? Why can't we have a successful, functioning and fair society with jobs and homes for all employing the principle of complete honesty? A much better society no less. It is only the game players who need to lie. Those who seek to subjugate their fellow man for their own advantage.

All counter-arguments and devil's advocates to this theory welcome.

What Has Switzerland Got that UK Hasn't...?

Crack negotiators, clearly!

Can we borrow them?

PLEASE?

The Real Reasons for Brexit

There has been a lot of doom and gloom about Brexit, but I for one don't love our European neighbours any the less as a result and I've yet to meet anyone who does.




I prefer to see Brexit as the biggest blow to the banking and oil dynasties who really run the world and apparently want first, a European superstate, and then a world government - concepts I personally am far more uncomfortable with than the turmoil and tough times (for a while) of leaving EU - a wasteful and inefficient behemoth if ever there was one.



A friend has just sent me a link to the Kalergi plan. If you take out the word 'genocide' and assorted paranoia, it makes interesting reading. Not that immigration per se is the problem for most people. It is mass immigration, unplanned, unconsulted, and without the infrastructure to support it without turning various communities upside down and making them question their own identity that has caused the anger. Along with tax exiles, corporations and the super rich dodging their taxes, MPs fiddling their expenses, housing shortages, NHS pressures, Gulf Wars, Philip Green asset stripping BHS, bedroom tax. the fall of the steel industry, homelessness and all the other blows the working class in particular feel they have been subjected to without anyone noticing or caring. And even though not all of these are the EU's fault - this was Britain's big opportunity to register a protest vote - for better or worse - and they took it.




Notwithstanding, why shouldn't they be angry about imported workers who are prepared to live in garden sheds or 4 to a front room for the privilege of working in a central London coffee chain outlet and at being undercut in the labour market generally? For many natives (and I count established or second generation immigrants in the term 'natives') wages have been effectively frozen for the last ten years as the cost of living continues to rise inexorably. And that is if they have been lucky enough to keep their jobs. We are constantly being told Britain is a WEALTHY country, but the reality is Britain is only a wealthy country for the top 5% of those who live in it, not for most of the rest. When open borders were first proposed by Tony Blair back in 1997, it was estimated only 13,000 people would move to UK per year. That figure turned out to be nearer 300,000 per year. Meaning 180,000 new houses need to be built per year to keep up with the immigrant population alone, let alone the home market. This places towns and cities under the most enormous pressure from development and many are in the process of being over-developed beyond all recognition. Heritage in particular has never been more at risk. Separately to this overseas buyers - generally from the far east - are snapping up just about everything built in city centres off-plan as an investment (developers prefer selling off-plan in order to get their money back quicker). Many such buyers never live in them and some won't ever visit them either. They are simply gold bars in the sky, there to accumulate ever more wealth. However despite not serving local housing need, such developments are still counted towards each council's 'housing target.'



My Hindu newsagent was over the moon at the Brexit vote and gleefully started telling me how many other countries are planning to exit too. He is not the only established immigrant I know who could be construed as 'racist' by the PC brigade. But ultimately labels like this are just an excuse not to listen to people's concerns (valid or otherwise), an excuse to shut down all constructive debate and this is what leads to the enormous anger building. David Cameron has been proven not only to be a poor gambler with this Referendum (a professional gambler would never risk what they weren't willing to lose) but wildly out of touch with huge swathes of the electorate and their experiences of modern Britain and anger at being ignored and hammered by their government on all fronts. This also explains Corbyn's popularity against all odds - many working class people feel they have a chance of being listened to by him, rightly or wrongly.



But to end on a more positive note, Britain once ruled the world. Why should it be so impossible for it to rule itself? Especially now we have the opportunity to do so minus the slavery, child labour, sexism, racism and other undesirable traits of our forbears. I just hope we can recover both our independent spirit and our ability to roll up our sleeves and get on with things. As for controlling our borders, every country should have this right without being branded 'racist', That does not mean they don't let anyone in, just that they have proper procedures in place for doing so which strikes some kind of a balance between those emigrating and those immigrating in order that resources are not overstretched and wanted criminals and t.e.r.r.o.r.i.s.t.s not allowed in. Mind you, it took my Canadian friend and former colleague TEN years to be allowed into UK, despite having proved himself charming, polite, articulate, well-dressed and hard working, not to mention an Anglophile of the first order who knows more about this country than I do, so the powers that be had no hesitation in being unreasonable to him, a citizen from a Commonwealth country, for goodness' sake!




An alternative future scenario might be that enough European countries pull out of EU to cause its total collapse in order that something better can rise up from the ashes which truly represents our interests and listens to our needs.