Politics and the media

When anything takes precedence over looking after the basic needs of people, we must ask questions of ourselves and our priorities. Individuals are the whirring cogs of society, living lives increasingly dominated by work. Without choice, we buy into this life on the basis that we all get sufficient returns to feed our families, enjoy our free time and find value in our time. Yet when a 20 year-old footballer is doing more to combat child hunger than those in power , you have to wonder whether everyone gets a fair deal. Forget politics or economics for a second, society has sold its soul to the devil. The "devil", in this case, is a complex web of bankers, politicians, oligarchs, social media giants and failing businessmen-turned-Presidents who have differences in every department but one - their greed. And "sold" is an apt metaphor, given that it is economically in which they have benefitted most. In the UK in 2018, the richest 10% held 45% of the country's wea...

So often, it is the loud and brazen who are revered. In the past century, those with skilled communication, such as Winston Churchill and Martin Luther King ,  have held a dazzling legacy as motivators, transcending the boundaries of spoken rhetoric through emphasis and emotion. A public speaker is regularly seen as the architect of persuasion and seduction. But spare a thought for the listener, whose job is as every bit important as it is undervalued.  To some, it may sound strange to focus on listening as a skill. We will all proclaim to listen well, after all, how hard can it actually be? On the face of it, all it takes is to let another speak, and perhaps acknowledge the content of what they have said.  It is this attitude that leaves us confused at some of the problems engulfing our own personal and interconnected worlds. I feel as if it is quite common for people, myself included, to nod along in conversation, waiting for our turn to speak about the things...

A recurring theme of this blog is the wide-reaching idealist nature of the issues I talk about. Some of them may not be problems for the majority, such is the improbability of change or the incomprehensibility of radical action, but to me they are vital. Here I want to discuss human potential and what's holding it back, combined with more about my own mental illness. Both of these contribute to what many would say is my overriding pessimism, and I feel like elaborating on this. If not for your sake, for my own. The only reason you're reading this right now, through either a direct link to the blog or a social media platform, is because I want to enact change. I believe that creating a better world is the only purpose of social media, and if not for me continually theorising a world in which there is more equality of opportunity, freedom of expression and less violence and hatred, I would not be on social media.  Social media depresses me, plain and simply. I have spent ...

I feel somewhat stuck between a rock and a hard place when addressing the protests around the world that have followed the tragic murder of George Floyd. I'm calling it that because that's what it is, end of story. The volume of protests for the Black Lives Matter movement has been fantastic and every single person who has gone out there with good intentions to show solidarity with a historically oppressed group should be praised. Internally, I'm troubled by everything that has gone on. To me, it has acted as a turning point, a wake-up call, a slap in the face to the need for everyone to not just condemn racism, but to be anti-racist. I have not done enough to combat it on a personal level and I want to use these events to act as a springboard to making myself and those around me challenge our preconceptions and implicit assumptions. I don't think many do enough to not only call it out on a daily basis but recognise that we ourselves are complicit, and that lends to ...

Sometimes you just have to wonder how senseless and shortsighted the British public had to be to elect this government late last year. Because after the turbulence of the last decade, we have put in power a bureaucracy that is fast fashioning this country into the complete antithesis of what we call "democracy". The Dominic Cummings scandal that has emerged this weekend is, in my opinion, one of the revealing and startling scandals in British political history. I cannot admonish Boris Johnson's key political adviser's infringement of lockdown alone, after all I have constantly defended Neil Ferguson for his alleged lockdown breach by having a lover visit him on two occasions , as I believe his work is invaluable in saving people's lives. But it is what has followed in Cummings' case that concerns me, and I am sure many others, immeasurably. On the penultimate Friday night of May, the Guardian and the Mirror published a joint exclusive suggesting that ...

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...