Gah, I’ve got brain flit at the moment. It’s like my mind is a cage of canaries who’ve been on the Bolivian Marching Powder, and someone has just hit play, on some high speed rave. Still, at least they’ve laid off rubbing Vicks over themselves! 😁 What on Earth was that about? Urban myths eh?
Jeez, I had one coffee this morning, I’ve been out on errands, and cleaned…. and that’s not shifted it. As much as the creativity, the humour, and (when useful) hyperfocus seem boons from (as yet undiagnosed) ADHD, I could do without the restlessness. That’s quite wearing….. and I don’t have to live with me 😁
I am also behind on replying to emails, which is annoying me at my own lack of focus. For those waiting, please accept my apologies. Abnormal service will be resumed in due course 😉
In an effort to not give a stream of consciousness report, I’ll try to focus on what’s been happening of late. In T related news, the EHRC have removed their interim guidance from their website [source: The Good Law Project] and there’s been a call to write to your MP by various rights focused groups around the proposals. I am hoping calm thoughts will oversee the process, and just maybe, we can get back to the real problems at hand. The minor issue (sarcasm!) of ensuring folk have food to eat, a warm home, we’re not wrecking the climate, and maybe, just maybe not paying attention to sock puppet populists.
On the above note, I happened to catch two things recently that made me rethink a few things. Firstly, last week’s episode of Radical on Radio 4 featured journalist and author Gaia Vince, who spoke eloquently around the positive case for immigration. Indeed, Gaia pointed out that it wasn’t so long ago, that we – the UK – paid people to come and live & work here. That would be the Windrush part of history, I guess. Gaia explains – far better than I – how we need people to work and pay tax, so we have the money in the system for our aging population.
The other thing was a video by a satirist who – in her view – pointed out that the current wave of UK populists are running another con job. Rather than the dastardly EU, it is of course everyone’s favourite political football: immigrants. Ah, I bet you thought I was going to say ‘trans people’. Maybe we need to wait in line for when some more distraction is needed 🙄 The YouTuber was saying that – in her view – the working class were being played by the toffs. That for folk going without – we’ll come to that later – are being pushed to hate those who have even less. Looking at the list of those calling for removal of people and leaving the European Court of Human Rights; yeah, that’s a row of money. I could have said ‘a bunch of merchant bankers’ but that may have distracted us with a cheap laugh 😉
The aim, according to the alleged grift, is to remove workers’ rights and make those at the top richer. That and keep distracting us all over where the money is coming in from, and who is pulling the strings. Ah, but doesn’t that sound like a conspiracy theory? How ironic that we have a group who will say anything, yet when the spotlight is shone upon their interests, the squealing starts.
I did say I’d come back to the comment of those going without. I happened to listen to an episode of Mark Steel’s In Town, which – as ever – is incredibly funny and beautifully put together. The Nottingham one is particularly good. This time, I caught the one around Stoke-on-Trent. How the great lie of Levelling Up* didn’t happen, and how so much of the towns were ignored by the last administration. Am I basing my knowledge on a stand-up? No, Wee Man’s partner is from Stoke and listening to her talk about growing up there, I think I can understand why folk are so angry at the lack of care from government. While I don’t agree, is it any wonder folk will listen when a snake oil salesperson rocks up, claiming to cure all ills?
[ * In local news, the Levelling Up money seemed to be spent on tidying up the local park. Ah, well that’s nice. Shame about the potholes, issues with the roofs for local schools, and ignoring the social care budget… but hey, that rose bush looks nice 😜 ]
Can this all be fixed? I don’t know. We seem to be up against in terms of the propaganda AI machines of anti-social media and Outrage Sells rent-a-gob media.
Umm. When did I become Dennis the Peasant? 😉 Okay, Denise at weekends 😉
Perhaps, we need to lean into the same tropes of three word slogans and whispered secrets. It’s a grift to they’re playing us; and conspiracy talk of it’s just a tax dodge, though innit? and Big Med are in bed, so they can fleece you.
If anyone wants me, I’ll be cooling off in my lead lined, underground bunker 🙂
TTFN
L x
The manner in which Anglo-American notions of liberty, fairness, pragmatism, tolerance and assistance that have prevailed for centuries are being destroyed from within will be a matter for discerning historians of the future to rationalise. You can trace the origins of the rot back some decades but the acceleration these last ten years has been disturbing. Government, media, religion, etc are tranches of power that have become too potent recently. Their power needs to be taken away by citizens’ refusal to co-operate. In 2016 when Theresa May made her Lancaster House speech and then Trump was elected the first time I knew the jig was up and my dissidence has consisted of breaking ties with all racists, phobics, haters whatsoever, including family, taking myself and my taxes abroad and trying to alert people to the dangers they face. Fellow blogger Carla in Spain gets it, too. Every concerned person can do their bit and so we might achieve the critical mass needed to reverse things. The recent action of the EHRC might be a sign of a small shift in the right direction. Sue xx
To use some classic understatement: “it’s not ideal at the mo.” 🙃
I am hopeful that in time, things will improve. Not through “here’s hoping!” but societies will become wise to the cons beginning played out. If I was feeling mean, perhaps the metaphor of a cultural immunoreaction to weaponised hatred 😉
Through the long lens of history, we humans have done some incredibly stupid things, and yet, we manage to haul things back, steady the proverbial ship, and carry on.
All that said, it’s not nice to live through certain periods of history and change.
PS: With you on Carla’s take on the subject. 🩷
I can absolutely relate to that restless, can’t-pin-a-thought feeling, “brain flit” is such a perfect way to describe it. Your imagery of canaries on a rave made me laugh out loud. It’s frustrating when the focus won’t land, especially when the world around us seems determined to pile on more noise and distraction.
I really appreciated your reflections on the bigger picture too, the way issues like immigration, workers’ rights, and populist distractions are all tangled together. It’s maddening to watch the powerful turn real struggles into scapegoats, while the actual problems such as food, housing, care, remain unaddressed. Your writing balances sharp insight with humour in a way that cuts through the fog.
Hang in there. The emails can wait, the world may keep spinning, but voices like yours help others make sense of the chaos.
Have a good week
Good to hear you had a chuckle, Lotte. Despite the subject matter, I think a good laugh often helps us.
Thanks for the kind words about the writing. I am always slightly worried about the words not landing right, or worse, coming across as a bit of a twit. Still, there’s plenty of media types of don’t let either things worry them, maybe I shouldn’t either! 😁
Happy Monday….. and ‘step on’ 😉