Among the stories that emerged from what was in many ways a historic European Parliament Elections, one I felt particularly attached to was Laura Parker’s campaign. There were many reasons for this, her campaign was socialist, environmentally conscious which lead to her signing up to the European Green New Deal, she’s a high-ranking member of Momentum and she was running in Islington traditionally a Labour heartland however these things appeared to be superseded by Brexit which lead to the election of the Liberal Democrat candidate. This I felt was symptomatic of the current effect that Brexit has on the British...
The recent success of the England team and the corresponding rise of national pride has, I suspect like many who have a slightly more tangled relationship with England and Englishness, created a mixture of complex feelings. For me Englishness unlike to some extent Britishness, has historically lacked much of the cosmopolitan and in many ways outward looking symbolism of latter. This appeared all the more clear when observing the 2016 referendum where vote to leave the EU was largely concentrated within in England, even in Wales, a devolved region which also voted for Brexit analysis suggested that it was retired...
An intriguing post on the collapse subreddit1 recently lead me to thinking about the nature of the crisis we’re currently presented with and how it is best understood. In the post a regular user of the subreddit which largely concerns itself with speculations surrounding the collapse of global civilization, criticized the increasing prevalence of what they referred to as ‘crypto libertarians’ and ‘inflation alarmists’. The user then went on to point to the usual villains of these groups opprobrium, quantitive easing and the general monetary policies of the Federal Reserve. With the dollar well placed as the world’s premier global...
At the end of the last post I wrote on the US election, I ended with a quote from Dave Chappelle taken from his recent appearance on Saturday Night Live, which on reflection poses a particular question, specifically with the depths of the dejection, flat out disbelief and hurt that’s been felt by many following the results of the US election and perhaps more importantly the ongoing pandemic and economic crisis, how is it possible to find a way to continue to find joy in existence? This perhaps sounds incredibly dramatic. However as I write this a march consisting of...
At the time of writing despite various legal challenges and a lack of a concession by the the incumbent President it appears that Joe Biden has defeated Donald Trump to become President-Elect in what has been an, at times, fitful battle for the presidency which saw certain jurisdictions won by just a handful of votes. I, like perhaps many on the left, remain unconvinced of the potential of Joe Biden who on many issues appears to be positioned well on the right of the candidates who campaigned for the democratic candidacy, offering instead of a single payer healthcare a public...
The recent announcement of the UK Government to reimpose a nationwide lockdown has prompted a slew of recrimination with many posing the question of why these additional measures were not enacted sooner. Among the many responses that were given one that seemed particularly egregious1 was that the leader of the opposition had suggested a national ‘circuit-breaker’ lock in line with the SAGE, the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies recommendation, prior to the governments most recent suggestions and as such the government could not be seen to be following the leader of the oppositions lead. I would argue however the partisanship...
In contrast to many other areas of arts and culture that have become trapped in a momentary stasis by the COVID-19 outbreak this year has seen a prolific of new musical releases, perhaps due to the fact that much of the music composed in the present can be pieced together with relatively few individuals being involved at a particular time. Despite this I’ve been somewhat reticent in finding new records to listen to, the often dislocating and disorientating nature of the present moment where consensus seems to form with rapid speed and then dissolve almost as quickly has lead me...
As previously noted part of the inspiration for my exploration into the political economy of viruses came from the Chinese collective Chuang’s exemplary piece, Social Contagion which, predominantly from a Chinese perspective, looked at many of the material circumstances surrounding the emergence of COVID-19. One particular fact that seemed particularly salient on first reading was how changes within the Chinese healthcare system formed a key part of the reaction to the pandemic. Prior to China becoming more fully enmeshed within the global capitalist system, healthcare in China was largely covered under the danwei system of enterprises, which offered, many different services including...
Earlier this week the all-parliamentary on COVID-19 called for the government to adopt a zero-covid strategy. This included a package of recommendations intended to reduce the number of infections seen in England over a seven-day rolling average to no more than one new case per million population per day, rolling out a locally-led and coordinated track and trace system and screening for the virus at public transport hubs. Whilst these seemed like eminently reasonable suggestions there appeared to be a substantial amount of pushback. Suggesting among other things that “Surely the point of life, was to live and not just to...
It’s often the case that some of the most thought-provoking observations around a particular work of literature occur after it’s been published. In the recent online fracas that has emerged over Sophie Lewis’s ‘Full Surrogacy Now: Feminists Against The Family’, Lewis took the time to reflect on the contradiction that occurred when considering that those who are so often at ease with diminution of life seem to be incredibly appalled by any conversation around any justification for actually ending life which in this case is specifically represented by the unborn. Actually living, Lewis speculated appears to her detractors to be...
