You speak for me, more eloquently than I ever could.
From the bottom of my heart I thank you for putting into words the dystopian horror we are living through. Excellent article. Superb.
It's as though civilised British society, which values truth, common sense, tolerance, compassion and fairness has been sucked into a rabbit hole and life as we know it has become a surreal hallucination, one we cannot escape.
The majority living in the UK, I feel sure, are bewildered, confused and downright angry that our norms of decency are being swept away, aided, abetted and supported by institutions with the power to make the horror story we are living through, the new normal.
How do we stop the rot? I fear for the future, I genuinely do.
Thanks Delia. Very kind of you. How do we stop the rot? I don’t know. But maybe we could begin by stopping dividing people into cultural/racial groups and then building a social structure which is literally designed to set them against each other. I dunno. Maybe a mad idea.
I think the very first step is the one you’ve taken at the end of the article - to not be cowed by our authorities from standing up for your beliefs. I hope I can find that courage to do the same. Thank you. As more do so, it will become clear we are not alone, but are many.
Very well said. LSO’s articles have attained ‘must-read’ status, for me. I also liked the way Douglas Murray described (in one of his books) the effect of the events and ideas to which we’re being subjected: it’s deranging. My own reaction to each new absurdity or atrocity is, “Really? So, we’re DOING this, are we? This is ACTUALLY HAPPENING?” Perhaps I should be grateful that I can still be surprised, but, like you, I don’t know how we stop the rot.
I must admit to long having been puzzled by the association of Nazis with the 'right' when they were in fact a socialist party - the National Socialist German Workers' Party. It seems that modern progressive ideology ignores this particular inconvenient truth.
Perhaps we can see support by progressives for the Hamas atrocities as just the latest development in the cult of victimhood. As in pre-war Germany, the cult becomes more extreme with time as it demands compliance with evermore crazy and evil memes.
The Left have framed the historical context of the Nazi Party so, of course, they *have* to be "far right". That is why, when I was at school, 50 years ago, nothing was mentioned about the atrocities committed by the Soviet regime or by Mao. They were, like Hamas, on the Right Side of History so their actions were completely justified.
Hello Curmudgeon here on the line: 3 Main Causes of Britain's Decline?:
1) allowing our education system to be entirely colonised by Lefties for 50 years+
2) (related to 1) allowing the patently absurd and ignorant notion of 'multi-culturalism' to infect our entire political class from Left to Right. A 'melting pot' - what once made America so dynamic - is an entirely different matter.
3) Britain's 100-year-long failure to properly value the Engineer (in comparison to the Lawyer or Financier)
Israel/Hamas: I totally agree with everything you've said but here's my two penn'orth on that subject:
"The truth is that if Israel were to put down its arms there would be no more Israel. If the Arabs were to put down their arms there would be no more war." For all the billions of words that have poured from the mouths and pens of pundits down the years, I have yet to hear a single one that in any way diminishes the baleful truth of these words of Benjamin Netanyahu in 2006.
Hi Curmudgeon. Yes. Probably more responsible than fish fingers. And I especially agree with your melting pot point. I’m all for that. When and if it is sustainable. I noticed you used that quote on Gurwinder’s stack. It rings true to me. Though I don’t think the broader conflict is any way one sided.
I agree. My comment just meant that, for Israelis, there is a big stark bottom line.....their Existence. And for all the criticism (constructive or otherwise), proposals and counter-proposals down the years I've never heard of any realistic solution offered to them.
I'm not really a curmudgeon by the way, just a well-meaning old guy with a laptop!
Superb and spot-on, as usual. To me, the non-policing of the Palestinian sympathy marches seems driven by fear of escalation to riots. Would start in London, then spread all over England, especially 'oop north. The very worst of the jihad merchants would come out of their grubby caves and really go to town, helped in parliament by their useful idiots in the L.P. Poor, benighted UK.
I think you have identified the reason behind the kids gloves approach Giulia. And on balance the police must prioritise public order and if we can avoid riots and violence then of course we should. However that doesn’t stop our authorities making clear the limits of acceptability in a free society. ‘Do what we say or we will riot’ is not a tactic we want to encourage or reward!
'But Just Stop Oil isn’t calling for the death of an entire people. That would just likely be the unintended consequence of their war against common sense.'
I'm not sure they're bright enough to come to that conclusion or to be able to work through the consequences of their proposals. Narcissists struggle with consequences.
The rich irony here is that so-called progressives fail to recognize that the identity politics they promote is actually the racism they claim to detest. Modern progressivism is as incoherent and delusional as communism. It should be called regressivism, because its practitioners seem to have learned nothing from history and want to repeat it.
Thank you.Thank you. Thank you. Your writing here is immense. You have written everything I have been thinking and more. Decent people the world over are horrified at the continued out pouring of hate, violence and fear.
The thing that upsets me most (besides the violence, of course) is that the British state did not bend over backwards to ensure British Jews could safely rally and/or attend school. Damn it, if the police or army cannot do it, I'll do it myself.
Exactly. I referenced the Civil Rights Little Rock Crisis in 1957. Eisenhower called in the army to protect nine black kids right to go to school. That sent a strong message. I think if Jewish people feel threatened going to school the govt should make it clear they would do the same or similar.
Phenomenal essay but two comments: 1) It's way too long, many more people would read this if it said the same in half the words and it could. Less is more, more impact, more readers, more forwarding, bigger substack following. 2) I think you're missing the absolute source of all the evil; it's very closely related to Gramsci Marxism and his 1920's plans of how to undermine and destroy the west. Now Communist China operating in the shadows through the UN and dozens of other proxies, politicians, media, schools, NGOs', all being paid off pushing all of these narratives. Read the book Hidden Hand, fairly recent, written by two Australian academics, it will blow your mind what China is up to. Energy policy, gender nonsense, climate change, Islam, they have their fingers in all the pies.
Seriously, everywhere the 'right' is failing because it writes long essays/makes long videos. No one has time to read/watch. The Left succeed because they have mastered effective mass messaging.
Thanks Mrs Bucket. I tend to agree with your broader point, the right’s messaging is often found (Shout out Liz Truss) severely lacking. But in no way do I see myself as a standard bearer of the right, if indeed I am of the right. A pro working class, pro freedom of speech, anti racist, pro same sex rights, perspective used to put you firmly on the left. Though I am quite right leaning re free markets, tax etc. I’m just trying to write pieces I enjoy and maybe even manage to articulate my thoughts in a manner that might resonate with like minded people. That’s enough for me for now. Thanks again for your support.
Desegregation was the only humane course the US could have taken. However, the events created the modern narrative that poor white people are what stand between America and its multi cultural utopia . As if it is only poor white people who can behave deplorably. But things are never as simple as that. Today Little Rock now has one of the highest murder rates in the US which given it is a city of about 200k souls is an astonishing feat. It also remains de facto very segregated along racial lines
You speak for me, more eloquently than I ever could.
From the bottom of my heart I thank you for putting into words the dystopian horror we are living through. Excellent article. Superb.
It's as though civilised British society, which values truth, common sense, tolerance, compassion and fairness has been sucked into a rabbit hole and life as we know it has become a surreal hallucination, one we cannot escape.
The majority living in the UK, I feel sure, are bewildered, confused and downright angry that our norms of decency are being swept away, aided, abetted and supported by institutions with the power to make the horror story we are living through, the new normal.
How do we stop the rot? I fear for the future, I genuinely do.
Thanks Delia. Very kind of you. How do we stop the rot? I don’t know. But maybe we could begin by stopping dividing people into cultural/racial groups and then building a social structure which is literally designed to set them against each other. I dunno. Maybe a mad idea.
I think the very first step is the one you’ve taken at the end of the article - to not be cowed by our authorities from standing up for your beliefs. I hope I can find that courage to do the same. Thank you. As more do so, it will become clear we are not alone, but are many.
Thanks P. I’d love to feel I wasn’t cowed. But I am on, a daily basis. We all are, that’s the crime and tragedy of it.
Very well said. LSO’s articles have attained ‘must-read’ status, for me. I also liked the way Douglas Murray described (in one of his books) the effect of the events and ideas to which we’re being subjected: it’s deranging. My own reaction to each new absurdity or atrocity is, “Really? So, we’re DOING this, are we? This is ACTUALLY HAPPENING?” Perhaps I should be grateful that I can still be surprised, but, like you, I don’t know how we stop the rot.
👏🏻 Long standing ovation for that - superb!
I must admit to long having been puzzled by the association of Nazis with the 'right' when they were in fact a socialist party - the National Socialist German Workers' Party. It seems that modern progressive ideology ignores this particular inconvenient truth.
Perhaps we can see support by progressives for the Hamas atrocities as just the latest development in the cult of victimhood. As in pre-war Germany, the cult becomes more extreme with time as it demands compliance with evermore crazy and evil memes.
The Left have framed the historical context of the Nazi Party so, of course, they *have* to be "far right". That is why, when I was at school, 50 years ago, nothing was mentioned about the atrocities committed by the Soviet regime or by Mao. They were, like Hamas, on the Right Side of History so their actions were completely justified.
Hello Curmudgeon here on the line: 3 Main Causes of Britain's Decline?:
1) allowing our education system to be entirely colonised by Lefties for 50 years+
2) (related to 1) allowing the patently absurd and ignorant notion of 'multi-culturalism' to infect our entire political class from Left to Right. A 'melting pot' - what once made America so dynamic - is an entirely different matter.
3) Britain's 100-year-long failure to properly value the Engineer (in comparison to the Lawyer or Financier)
Israel/Hamas: I totally agree with everything you've said but here's my two penn'orth on that subject:
"The truth is that if Israel were to put down its arms there would be no more Israel. If the Arabs were to put down their arms there would be no more war." For all the billions of words that have poured from the mouths and pens of pundits down the years, I have yet to hear a single one that in any way diminishes the baleful truth of these words of Benjamin Netanyahu in 2006.
https://grahamcunningham.substack.com/p/invasion-of-the-virtue-signallers
Hi Curmudgeon. Yes. Probably more responsible than fish fingers. And I especially agree with your melting pot point. I’m all for that. When and if it is sustainable. I noticed you used that quote on Gurwinder’s stack. It rings true to me. Though I don’t think the broader conflict is any way one sided.
I agree. My comment just meant that, for Israelis, there is a big stark bottom line.....their Existence. And for all the criticism (constructive or otherwise), proposals and counter-proposals down the years I've never heard of any realistic solution offered to them.
I'm not really a curmudgeon by the way, just a well-meaning old guy with a laptop!
Superb and spot-on, as usual. To me, the non-policing of the Palestinian sympathy marches seems driven by fear of escalation to riots. Would start in London, then spread all over England, especially 'oop north. The very worst of the jihad merchants would come out of their grubby caves and really go to town, helped in parliament by their useful idiots in the L.P. Poor, benighted UK.
I think you have identified the reason behind the kids gloves approach Giulia. And on balance the police must prioritise public order and if we can avoid riots and violence then of course we should. However that doesn’t stop our authorities making clear the limits of acceptability in a free society. ‘Do what we say or we will riot’ is not a tactic we want to encourage or reward!
Absolutely!
Great article.
'But Just Stop Oil isn’t calling for the death of an entire people. That would just likely be the unintended consequence of their war against common sense.'
Maybe not entirely unintended.
I'm not sure they're bright enough to come to that conclusion or to be able to work through the consequences of their proposals. Narcissists struggle with consequences.
The rich irony here is that so-called progressives fail to recognize that the identity politics they promote is actually the racism they claim to detest. Modern progressivism is as incoherent and delusional as communism. It should be called regressivism, because its practitioners seem to have learned nothing from history and want to repeat it.
Perfectly put David. Thank you.
Thank you.Thank you. Thank you. Your writing here is immense. You have written everything I have been thinking and more. Decent people the world over are horrified at the continued out pouring of hate, violence and fear.
This is a wonderful post. Thank you so much.
Thanks for writing, always a treat.
Tremendous piece.
The thing that upsets me most (besides the violence, of course) is that the British state did not bend over backwards to ensure British Jews could safely rally and/or attend school. Damn it, if the police or army cannot do it, I'll do it myself.
Exactly. I referenced the Civil Rights Little Rock Crisis in 1957. Eisenhower called in the army to protect nine black kids right to go to school. That sent a strong message. I think if Jewish people feel threatened going to school the govt should make it clear they would do the same or similar.
The nuance in democracy v. terrorism still escapes me. Probably need to re-read the Police Handbook.
Thank you for writing this piece, LSO. It describes the feelings that I have, but which I don’t have the ability to put into words myself.
Please keep writing, our country needs it.
Phenomenal essay but two comments: 1) It's way too long, many more people would read this if it said the same in half the words and it could. Less is more, more impact, more readers, more forwarding, bigger substack following. 2) I think you're missing the absolute source of all the evil; it's very closely related to Gramsci Marxism and his 1920's plans of how to undermine and destroy the west. Now Communist China operating in the shadows through the UN and dozens of other proxies, politicians, media, schools, NGOs', all being paid off pushing all of these narratives. Read the book Hidden Hand, fairly recent, written by two Australian academics, it will blow your mind what China is up to. Energy policy, gender nonsense, climate change, Islam, they have their fingers in all the pies.
Ha ha. You’re probably right. But you should have seen it before I cut it down!
Seriously, everywhere the 'right' is failing because it writes long essays/makes long videos. No one has time to read/watch. The Left succeed because they have mastered effective mass messaging.
Thanks Mrs Bucket. I tend to agree with your broader point, the right’s messaging is often found (Shout out Liz Truss) severely lacking. But in no way do I see myself as a standard bearer of the right, if indeed I am of the right. A pro working class, pro freedom of speech, anti racist, pro same sex rights, perspective used to put you firmly on the left. Though I am quite right leaning re free markets, tax etc. I’m just trying to write pieces I enjoy and maybe even manage to articulate my thoughts in a manner that might resonate with like minded people. That’s enough for me for now. Thanks again for your support.
Keep up the excellent work! Good to read!
Desegregation was the only humane course the US could have taken. However, the events created the modern narrative that poor white people are what stand between America and its multi cultural utopia . As if it is only poor white people who can behave deplorably. But things are never as simple as that. Today Little Rock now has one of the highest murder rates in the US which given it is a city of about 200k souls is an astonishing feat. It also remains de facto very segregated along racial lines