The Tom and Gerry Show

Subject: The Tom and Gerry Show.

What I don't understand is the virtual silence from the 27 governments in Europe surrounding the imprisonment of the leaders of Catalan. There but for the grace of god go I should be on their minds since these parliamentarians of Catalan were elected just like them, by popular vote to represent the people who voted for them. The fact that the Catalans had a referendum in which a majority voted to leave Spain's parliamentary oversee was conducted in a prescribed manner through the ballot box, not the force of arms. 
The men who languish in jail are representatives of the Catalan people, not criminals. They sit in jail amongst the real criminals and no one seems to have the power or the inclination to speak on their behalf.
Of course Spain has a violent history of unrest and a willingness within its ruling class to turn on society with force. The Spanish Civil War was a bloody event carried out by hot headed parliamentarians and leaders of factions of fascism such as Franco, which were prevalent in Europe before the Second World War. The horror of the 'Inquisition' again brought out the worst in the Spanish character, or was that just the authority of the church and today we have the no nonsense sight of the iron fist again being used to flatten opposition.
Imagine if the leaders of the Scottish Nationalist Party were now lounging in jail because of their claim to independence.
A people's temperament, the German willingness to accept authority, the French, completely the opposite, their unwillingness to accept authority. Each society, the Greek, the Italian, the Rumanian, the Bosnian, and of course the Russian, all different, as if each genetic pool were different. 
We, isolated from the mainland, observers in some ways of what goes on "over there" have become prejudiced. Our inclination towards sarcasm leads us to presume we are better more able to win approval of our citizen by parliamentary means. Our class structure ensures a continuity of leadership largely from the same school as if the country was a club with its organising members not only incestuously joined at the hip but with a gift for deceiving even themselves. Of course, hand in hand with this goes a population who's  character is largely benign when it comes to matters of state and so the very acceptance of the status quo allows what ever is dictated by the parliamentary system to be swallowed hook line and sinker.
In some ways, we seek to compartmentalise our lives away from the issues of state. It provides a buffer where we are allowed even encouraged to think little of what goes on behind the walls of The Palace of Westminster. We think it has no relevance and we are lulled into an amorphous, shapeless, hedonistic culture which is as shallow as the result of the next football result.
The Catalans came out on the street in search of their identity. They believe that their history and their lineage is important and sufficiently different from their neighbours to demand independence. 
Of course one has to ask, different in what way. You wouldn't see any difference in the people as you would between a Londoner and someone from Beijing. A thousand years of culture have denoted different physical, dietary and philosophical differences which would be hard to determine between Barcelona, in the province of Catalan and Milan the capitol of Spain. There is no difference other than a type of tribal inference, a part of the historical propaganda perpetrated between the tribes who are then willing to fight like feline Toms. 
Perhaps related to Tom and Gerry, their ongoing squabble, with bully boy Tom unable to come to some sort of agreement with Gerry and Gerry, always having to be on the lookout, is a simple metaphor for our own lives. 

Having an opinion on life

Subject: Having an opinion on life.

There is a philosophical presumption that we exist, not as we seem to others but as a piece of elemental stuff which has its own uniqueness. This life force is what we must drill down and find in an effort to seek some sort of peace. 
The life we live, in the gaze of others, beholden to others, seeking the acknowledgement of others is false since it posits an image that is distorted by the gaze and the contamination of too many presumptions, made my others. Each distillation of who we are is distorted by all kinds of assumptions usually based on incomplete information and therefore itself distorted. 
How can we, as individuals find solace if we feel and seek the confirmation of others who themselves are bedevilled by the same sort of misinformation about themselves.
It's grotesque, the distortion piled on more distortion when all the time there is a grain of us which lies at the base of who we are.
Of course we are not just a point of light, a single element we are also the result of that combative engagement we call living. The living process has implications. The innocent baby becomes embroiled  in the process of survival and it's this process which runs through the animal kingdom, "know thy enemy". The interaction of one species with another determines, through the power of evolution who is fastest, who the most powerful, who has the better disguise. There is no case for the individual, no case for not keeping an eye out, no case for philosophical judgement only a route to the nearest  tree or hole to bolt into when threatened.
Mankind, through the process of civilisation has produced a sort of hide a way, a security blanket to feel a sense of comfort, where time can be set aside to contemplate. Of course amidst all this self preservation one has the Achilles heel of death, normally through longevity, and unheard of in the rest of the animal kingdom, except perhaps for the Wale. The issue of life and death, where life is taken as a gimme and death, an unknown,  from which we invariably run scared.
Our mental capacity, not having to spend it's time providing survival, can luxuriate on the issues of where do we come from and where are we going after death. The added issue of what we do with our time on earth and how we define that time in terms of what we arbitrate as 'good time' or 'bad time' leads us into all kinds of side streets and back ally's and is a conundrum.
Perhaps it would be better to accept who we appear to be and congratulate ourselves that we have got so far as to even have an opinion.

Sent from my iPad

Reunification of Ireland

Subject: Reunification of Ireland.

Listening to the popular program, "Any Questions" which this week comes from Northern Ireland one is immediately struck by the vitriol which comes across between the various Irish speakers. Political antipathy one understands, religious tribalism one understands but the apparent total disdain between one Irishman and another is beyond reason. 

The history of Ireland is splattered with violence, not only the violence between the Irish and outside nations wishing to invade the emerald land. The Vikings were a major thorn in their side, the Scots also rampaged with force across the Irish Sea and of course the old enemy, the English, were all fought with good reason but the major source of conflict was, and still is, between the Irish themselves. 

Their family based tribalism, the O'Connor's, the O'Rourke's, the O Brian's were all families who spent all their energies and the blood of their followers in trying to defeat each other. It went on decade on decade, centuries even, with one family gaining ground only to loose it as an alliance between another group of powerful families formed.
Antiquity tells us that the Irish were ungovernable.  Not, as is normally recognised ungovernable, because an outside force has stepped in and tried to rule the Irish but ungovernable because the people themselves do not get on. Centralised governance seems to have been impossible.
Having recently had a short holiday in Ireland I was struck by the under laying friendliness of the people and yet also the under laying political strain in their conversation if, as an Englishman, you sought to offer opinion. In pubs, famous for their rough justice by the nationalists, one was aware that there were men in the pub who had a deep reservations for no other reason than that I was from England. We were fortunate that we were the guests of a well known local family who's influence was sufficient to ensure we were well received but without their blessing I wonder if I would have been as lucky. Their is a ruthless tension in the Irish which contradicts the humour they are famous for, a threat which makes their presence (outside sporting events) a watchful experience. 

It was for good reason that Sinn Fein were feared both in Ireland and in England. They held an almost masochistic delight in inflicting pain on people who crossed them. The infamous kneecapping, crippling someone from the 'other side', left a trail of terror within the society of Northern Island, a fear which still remains even though the Northern Ireland Assembly is in place and Sinn Fein are the second largest party on its benches. They still carry the threat of violence on the street.
Martin McGuinniss represented the ideological embodiment of Irish Politics. His logic had a short fuse and his history of using any means to get what he wanted,(Home Rule), made him a feared adversary. The Nationalist cause is littered with people like him as is the history of Ireland. From the time of the Easter Rising and before the extremists seem to hold sway over the population on both sides as, tit for tat atrocities were carried out regularly. It wasn't a polite Catalan banner waving parade but guns and explosives and above all, terror waged within the ordinary community.

The Tony Blair "Good Friday Peace Agreement" was a concessional political deal which brought the factions together around a table and eventually into a formal Parliamentary setting where old enemies could cross each other with words not bullets. The leverage to obtain an agreement meant that Sinn Fain, the Unification of  Ireland party had their violent past buried, much to the unhappiness of the victims of that terror. A truce was brokered by Blair which, tenuous as it is, lasts to this day but a new fly in the ointment has been the issue of Brexit and how it effects the boarder between Northern and Southern Ireland. The hope of Sinn Fein is that the difficulty of setting up a proper boarder between North and South will drive the parties to consider the reunification of Ireland as a solution.

Scottish and Old Time Dancing

Subject: Scottish and Old Time Dancing.

Society is made up of so many parts. I tuned in by accident to a gathering of Scottish people celebrating an evening of Scottish dancing. The Reel and a Barn Dance were two of the dances as the accordion led band, with fiddle, drums and piano struck up to play each tune. The tunes themselves were a part of Scottish mythology, written to perhaps mourn a failure of a crop of barley, or the sad tidings of a ship wreck off the shore. 
The rigour and the formality of the dance and the strict time keeping of the band didn't hide the enjoyment and fun these people were having. The rolling rhythmic cadence of the band, an automatic foot tapping experience was a pleasure made more so by the homogeneity  of the people taking part. Amidst the Internet and the explosion of cultural activity on the 'web' this backwater of traditional interest remains very strong amongst the older generation.
I remember over 50 years ago in Cape Town being introduced to "Old Time Dancing" as it was called then, now renamed "Modern Sequence Dancing". The sequence of steps and the importance of knowing, not only which way you were going but who you were receiving to dance the next sequence with as the old sequence ended and a new one began was a bit of a strain.
Once a month the formal 'black tie' and women in 'ball gowns' would parade the floor in Bergvliet's Community Centre, as my Aunt and Uncle would meet with long standing friends to enjoy each other's company and dance the night away. The formality of manner extended to carrying a card on which a member of the opposite sex agreed to partner you in a dance when that dance's turn came to be played, so that your night was planned from the outset. The Valeta, the Boston Two Step, the Military Two Step, the Waltz, were all danced with grace and gusto as the dancers swirled around the floor, eyes alight with the fun of the occasion. A tipple or three at the table between dances drew the people together in a way that, in today's disco dancing, where people seem disconnected apparently doing their own thing in the dark recesses of their own mind, is not so apparent.
Back then to the jolly sound of the band and the whoops of the dancers as they swirled around the floor. A different generation and a different set of values.

Can I have the next dance

Subject: Can I have the next dance.

Freedom is a starting point not a goal. We are always fooling ourselves we can work towards being free but like most things, it is not an end, only a work in progress shaped by the will to succeed.
With freedom one starts to progress in a direction more to your own liking and although the destination you desired may remain out of reach the journey is yours and no one else's.
And so as we foxtrot our way with an unhelpful partner who seems keen to trip us up at each opportunity, we have to remember we chose the foxtrot over the quickstep in the belief that not only the band knew the tune but that at the end our card would be marked for another dance with another partner.
Brexit seems to be an occasion where married to the chap, we have to dance to his tune. His innuendo and blatant foot-stalling, his claim to want to dance to another tempo without your having had a chance to practice, seems rude and boorish. You were warned of course but the ritual of divorce seems to bring the worst out of people.
It's not the money or the house it's the hurt of past opportunities blasted on the rocks of expediency.
With good will anything is possible but the bad will of divorce only creates hurdles placed as a means to hurt.
Human beings being what they are, are stereotyped and the worst are the political class. It's hard to know a more self opinionated lot other than self serving bankers. We expect them to uphold our best interests but history tells a different story. Opportunists they are out to exploit the situation they find themselves in for ideological reasons rather than find practical solutions. The Party machine has been known to destroy its self through dogma and historical precedent, what chance the man and woman on the street entering their calculations.   

Short back and sides please

 

Subject: "Short back and sides" please

From "short back and sides" to a "number 4". So one of life's little rituals changes but remains the same. Like a scrubbed and polished Prussian I now emerge from the barber, sorry, the hairdressers into the daylight, shorn of the few wild white hairs which still grow, an indication I am still alive and well !!
The Barber of old was a tradesman not an artist. "Short back and sides"  was an economy of effort and imagination, akin to sheering sheep, carried out with little fuss and bother as was all our toiletries. No creams or gels,  just soap and water, no special plea to make us resemble some screen idol, just the bare minimum. 

Walking away from the shop the cold air found new skin to torment but it was all rather refreshing being brought back to the 'starting gate' as it were, separated from of any pretension to be someone you were not.
In those days we were not in awe of fashion or of trends. We were grounded in our sameness and took comfort that everyone seemed more or less the same. We all seemed to have and want the same things and therefore there was little competition. I can't remember wishing to be a millionaire, there were no lottery route out other than the football pools of which it was acknowledged, at least some sort of prerequisite knowledge was required to give yourself a chance to win.
It was a time when for a boy the simple pleasures of being yourself was enough. The cycling and rock climbing  had their hero's on the Tour de France or the guys who shimmied up sheer rock faces in the Alps. They were masculine god's who linage traced back to our Time Trial on a cold windy morning on the A1 or the rocky outcrop you were climbing in the Dales.
Money never figured in my calculations. If I had enough to do the simple things which we did in those days, it was enough. Some change in my pocket for a pint and a packet of chips was all I asked for and even a holiday was a bargain basement experience. Why travel in a "Hilton bubble" we used to say, people staying in those sort of hotels rarely experienced the delight of mixing with the locals or competing for what was on offer at breakfast with other people drawn from all over the world. Breakfast was in fact often the mainstay throughout the day with a small meal in the evening. Eating was not a ritualistic display with the kudos of knowing which wine to drink, it was a refueling event a sort of touch down before the next flight of fancy.
Cycling through France, nights spent in a tiny canvas tent, sighting the Med and the expectation of Cannes at night  was enough to take us into Monti Carlo (not the casino) and the contrast of the tent  made our experience so much more memorable​.
Today the package holiday, ('eat and drink as much as you can it's all included ) is popular.  Compulsory inoculations to insulate you from the bugs, travel insurance to take care of the rest. This would have been an anathema to us as we set out on an adventure with all its inherent dangers but also with the thrill of knowing the danger was there.

We were not cosseted by regulations and "do gooders". We were not constantly reminded of our responsibility to ourselves, a graze on the nose was rather a reminder to be more careful next time.

Authority was respected, parents, the police, not feared or ridiculed. Authority  had its place in our education, passed down from our parents and supplemented by attitudes within society which acknowledged the order of things, without being enthralled or diminished in any way. People articulated their individuality by understanding the importance they had in ensuring the way society worked and the responsibility for the role we all played in its homogeneity.

Identity

Subject: Identity

Identity politics, the impulse we all have, black, white, Muslim, Christian, atheist, gay, straight, men, women, obese, thin, athletic, chair bound, we all acquire a tribal affinity and defend that affinity regardless.
The so called 'progressives' who see society as a mix, with inter connected needs and inter connected responsibilities have done their best to redesign us, to reeducate us into a new paradigm, a new way of thinking.    Words have been allocated to prevent discussion,  intellectual derivations which strike the fear of God into conversation for fear of being called 'racist', or 'misogynistic', sexist, or lacking a sympathetic bias towards those sections of society who promote their own 'exceptionality'.
The rise of Trump was predicated on his galvanising the unsung, unspoken about rump of our society, the white working-class who had spent years watching this intellectual hand wringing as the 'identity mania' took hold and more and more groups of  people demanded to be recognised as exceptional. The political environment in America and in Europe were 'gung ho' on redefining society down to its particular, down to its nut and bolt, like an assembly instruction on a 'flat pack' piece of furniture, miss one screw we are told and the furniture will fall apart. Of course those of you who have erected a piece of kit and found that at the finish you have a couple of bits still in your hand but which don't seem to affect the finished masterpiece are the recipient of one of lives truisms. Perfection is a false dawn.  Society is the same, as we delve deeper into each part of that constitutional myriad  in an attempt to identify, we loose the cohesion that the other parts hold to keep it all together. The exclusion, or rather the assumptions made that the white working class would go along with our sociological experiments, even if they were feeling increasingly marginalised went spectacularly astray in the last Presidential Election.
It's a lesson which the ideologically minded seem unwilling to learn as they plunge us deeper and deeper into "troubled waters". Generally speaking people are pretty accommodating but press them into some sort of homogeneous idealism and they will react with a bang.