Chilcotmania!
- June 15, 2015
- by
- Matt
Many years ago I remember going to my local record shop almost every week to find out if they had received Television’s first album yet. I started going months before it actually came out after reading Nick Kent’s great review in the NME. I was hooked on that album even before I heard it, to the point when the sales assistant was undoubtedly tired of hearing the same question ‘ Has Marquee Moon arrived yet?’
I wasn’t the only one asking it. In the culture industry, the fact that such and...
Look out Europe: the Russian bear is coming
- June 05, 2015
- by
- Matt
There is a psychological theory called projection which I have often thought can be applied to international relations. Essentially, projection describes a tendency in interpersonal relationships by which individuals project onto others certain characteristics that they fear or hate in themselves. An obvious example might be a sexually-frustrated fundamentalist preacher say,...
Come on let’s kick the poor (like we did last summer)
- June 02, 2015
- by
- Matt
The Bible tells us that the poor will always be with us, and as long as they are around there will always be politicians willing to punish them for their poverty. It might be the Wisconsin State Assembly, which has just approved legislation banning food stamp recipients from eating junk food and also...
Spain goes Left: Britain turns Right
- May 31, 2015
- by
- Matt
I’ve just come back from a week’s walking in the Axarquia mountains in Andalucia. My trip didn’t allow much time for blogging, or for any commentary on the remarkable results of last weekend’s Spanish municipal and regional elections, but it was thrilling and inspiring to witness Ada Colau on television acknowledging her victory over...
Labour’s Zombie Politicians
- May 20, 2015
- by
- Matt
It’s less than a fortnight since Ed Miliband’s unexpected political demise, and already his would-be successors and closet critics are stripping the flesh from his political corpse like extras from The Walking Dead. Personally, I can’t really blame anyone in the Labour Party holding Miliband up to serious scrutiny, given the catastrophic failure...
Election: Reasons to be cheerful
- May 13, 2015
- by
- Matt
Optimism of the will and pessimism of the intellect isn’t always the best response to political defeats or reversals. The refusal to accept adverse circumstances and setbacks might be admirable in some contexts, but it can also indicate a confusion between what is desirable and what is possible, and a kind of blind faith...
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