Politics and the media

If someone drinks excessively more than the recommended intake amount, they are labelled with an alcohol addiction. If someone is a smoker, they are labelled as having an addiction. If someone gambles thousands of pounds a month, they are considered to have a gambling addiction. We freely recognises these forms of addiction created by society, but fail to realise the biggest addiction in our interconnected world to date. Why are we addicted to busyness? Our sociopolitical and economic system revolves around the idea of doing as much as you can, in as short a period of time as possible. Economic strength is measured through GDP, the value of economic activity in a specific time-frame. Having a "good" social life is an indicator that you partake in many activities, with many different people. To be "well-travelled" is to have visited awide plethora of different places and cultures.The more, it seems, the better. That constant endeavour for various personal pursuit...

In an age where we consume vast amounts of data, through the ever-diversifying social media and the conciseness of print media, misinformation is dangerous. Dangerous to the point that it lies act as basis for the hostile political opinions of many and is creating a society filled with division and animosity. I am reluctant to use the term "fake news", because the man synonymous with its popularity is only fuelling the problem, but it is the easiest way to label this phenomenon. I have long spoken of the troubles we have in terms of media coverage throughout the Western world , how our rush for speed of information often gets in the way of telling a truthful story. Journalists are controlled by editors with specific briefs, obstructing rigorous, investigative work with the facts buried under a pile of abhorrent political rhetoric. This has been endemic, bubbling underneath the surface. But now it is bearing its teeth, with regards to a problem that really ought not to be...

With the emergence of COVID-19, we are living in completely unprecedented times. Times that inevitably will cause much anguish, instability and discontent throughout the world on a larger scale than any pandemic since the Spanish Flu following the First World War. I am, in some ways, lost for words as I sit on the train home trying to write this, trying to expel some of the anxiety that has engulfed me for the last few weeks. The station and train itself tell the whole story. It is completely empty. For a world where we have become accustomed to constant overcrowding and a need to get more things done in a shorter period of time, this is nothing short of incredible. I think we pride ourselves on how productive we are, the gradual increase in economic productivity shows that. When the whole modern world comes to a standstill, you know that it is serious. I am all too aware that my increased anxiety is not individual, I would expect nearly every person to struggle mentally when st...

It is not often you can mark down the single worst point in your life. Yet February and March 2018 were the lowest of my lows. Those months have shaped the person I am today more so than any others have and no matter how much I would or would not want to forget them, I'll never be able to. Perhaps ironically, despite how significant they are, daily life back then is a complete an utter blur because of the nature of my broken mental health. All I remember is that most days I was at some point either bed-ridden, crying, or being unintentionally forced to be in an uncomfortable situation that I didn't want to be in. Rather than extensively describing it myself now, it is easier to point myself towards the blog I wrote  at the time. The blog that has made me so much more open about my mental health. That has helped me immeasurably. That was typed through a plethora of my erratic emotions at the time. Anger at small things, sadness at my own life, disillusionment with the w...

 There are certain days that feel significant. That you know in years to come will remain in your mind. What you were doing, where you were, how you felt. When it's a day that sees the first phase of separation of an albeit fractured 47-year relationship between the UK and EU, it feels especially important. Perhaps that's because it is.  It was never meant to be like this. When Edward Heath finally took the UK into the European Economic Community in late 1972, it came with a promise of economic stability, characterised by closer relations with our European neighbours. It was unquestionably Heath's most noteworthy achievement. When ratified by a public vote in 1975, it appeared to mark the start of a strong and effective relationship that would further unite European politics after the implosions of the early 20th century. Underneath this legal and economic agreement promising so much, for many politicians and people, British Eurosceptism still lingered. There was no ...

Predictably, election fever has gripped the UK in the last few weeks, which will no doubt continue until we know the outcome of the December 12th election. It is a time where you get political propaganda emerging everywhere. Through the door in leaflets, on signs outside houses, on social media platforms, the list is endless.  I was apathetic before campaigning for this general election began. In fact, I had been for a long time. Party politics is corrupting our nation, our leaders are lying through their teeth and, no matter what they will claim on each side, care very little about the people. To an extent, the chasm between politicians and people appeared irreversible.  Yet now that an election has come to town, suddenly party identification is at the centre of discussion. Suddenly, everyone leans towards a party one way or another. Whether that is driven by the belief that they genuinely can change things, or attempting to choose the least worst option, the pub...

Five years ago, if you'd told me I'd dye my hair blonde for charity, I'd have thought you were crazy. Surely I'll be judged for looking stupid? Ridiculed as I walk round the street? Lose all my self-confidence as a result of the two?  Yet here we are, those three perfectly natural doubts dispelled as myths, and conversely, all three have had the opposite effect. In a sort of crazy nihilist yet positive way, I don't really care anymore. Time is an odd thing. As I have probably painstakingly reiterated in almost all of my blogs over the last year and a half or so, I am a deep-thinking person. I'm apathetic about the superficial things in life - what brand of clothing to wear, in what state it is acceptable for me to leave the house, if people are making implicit judgements about me. That is not to put myself on a pedestal; nor suggest a moral superiority complex, I'll continually do my best to make that clear. In contrast, what concerns me most i...