I would love to find a cheap copy of one of Fuchs' early novels ( maybe I'll just go back to West of the Rockies). Or Alfred Hayes's 'All of Me'. Find, not have delivered via Amazon or abe. It would be nice to take step back from what increasingly seems like a mad world and read some poetry ( any suggestions?). And in an ideal world finish Rebecca West's Grey book, Pocock's fascinating Maciavelli one. I'll put up pictures of my visit to a city farm later. But for the moment, a depressing return to politics...
In England over the last 40 years there hasn't been much equality or solidarity ( in truth, maybe there never has been). Neoliberalism has seen off what little remained of those ideals ( interesting to read Hobsbawm's claim that one stage 700 families owned 80% of all the land).
In France there is much bluster over the need to retain these central elements in their way of life. A startling WP article estimates that up to 70% of the prison population is Muslim ( 13% overall population). In the UK the figures are 11 and 3 respectively. Netherlands: 20 and 5.5%. It would be interesting to know the educational attainment levels, unemployment rates and, if there is one, an index of access to decent housing. To an outsider it seems that there is obviously something going wrong in Belgium and France.
And here we come to an interesting question: what is a 'people'? We know this isn't such a straightforward question ( Afro-Americans were not considered to be fully human in the states and the Red Man was, in fact, not even that). In a similar vein, at least when it came to voting rights, women and the poor (landless) were not considered to be human beings either. So, is the idea of a nation based on as specific fraction of the people or is it a universal idea? Given Europe's history of colonialism and racism I don't think that question has really been answered. What is a black man and what colour is he?
Are refugees actually human beings or are their rights conditional on nationality/ citizenship?
So, this idea of Liberty, Equality and Solidarity seems as phoney as 'the American way of life', another fading mythology on which to hang on to in rapidly changing times. Could it be that what actually unites people is fear of the stranger in our midst rather than a positive view of the good? If so, all the energy is on the 'right'.
In England over the last 40 years there hasn't been much equality or solidarity ( in truth, maybe there never has been). Neoliberalism has seen off what little remained of those ideals ( interesting to read Hobsbawm's claim that one stage 700 families owned 80% of all the land).
In France there is much bluster over the need to retain these central elements in their way of life. A startling WP article estimates that up to 70% of the prison population is Muslim ( 13% overall population). In the UK the figures are 11 and 3 respectively. Netherlands: 20 and 5.5%. It would be interesting to know the educational attainment levels, unemployment rates and, if there is one, an index of access to decent housing. To an outsider it seems that there is obviously something going wrong in Belgium and France.
And here we come to an interesting question: what is a 'people'? We know this isn't such a straightforward question ( Afro-Americans were not considered to be fully human in the states and the Red Man was, in fact, not even that). In a similar vein, at least when it came to voting rights, women and the poor (landless) were not considered to be human beings either. So, is the idea of a nation based on as specific fraction of the people or is it a universal idea? Given Europe's history of colonialism and racism I don't think that question has really been answered. What is a black man and what colour is he?
Are refugees actually human beings or are their rights conditional on nationality/ citizenship?
So, this idea of Liberty, Equality and Solidarity seems as phoney as 'the American way of life', another fading mythology on which to hang on to in rapidly changing times. Could it be that what actually unites people is fear of the stranger in our midst rather than a positive view of the good? If so, all the energy is on the 'right'.
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