I was on Byline TV last night, which comes from the amazing Byline network. That network provides great comment and analysis both nationally and regionally within the UK. I am pleased to support it both financially and with my work, and so was delighted to be on this programmer last night:
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Thank you for this Richard.
Thanks. Having watched the whole programme, the moment that really struck me was Shahmir Sanni’s comment (at about 39:30) that the British crisis is not due to corruption, but to the that our politicians, and the media/journalists they interact with, are not actually smart, and don’t understand economics, or anything else.
Agreed
Hmmmm…………..not sure that I agree with that.
The Russian angle and how BREXIT seems to have left us more at the mercy of indigenous exploitation is extremely corrupt and must have in my view been part of the SWOT analysis of those who have essentially broken Britain.
And the link to it all for me is Rees-Mogg – he is Mr Continuity as far as I am concerned.
None of this would have happened had there not been big money involved in the first place that was going to make money out of the chaos as well as the political ambitions of an ex KGB officer.
Goldman Sachs might call this ‘market making’ but to me it is criminal and corrupt by any other measure.
You mentioned a hypothetical energy bond – why sell it to the markets and then buy it back? Why not just use DMF?
Danny (and I) tend to think that right now we still need to play the game
Forgive me if I have posted this here before. I think I said it on Facebook. (Yes, I am on it)
Ideology seems to make clever people (even with top Oxford degrees ) stupid in that they dismiss or disregard any contrary evidence. Common sense is trumped by fervour and empathy for others not favoured by the ideology, seems to disappear.
What the ideology is, is less important than the process. The Soviets -supposedly for the common person-allowed the famines which followed collectivisation. The Nazis drew up meticulous plans for the extermination of human beings.
We need people who are pragmatic and can learn from experience but who are also empathetic and want the common good.
Ideology is like a belief, all humans are blind sided to their own beliefs, anything that goes against a person or a group’s beliefs is rooted out and or ignored.
We may want people who are pragmatic and always apply logic in decision-making, the trouble is, no such human exists.
Have a read of a book called “Mistakes Were Made but Not by Me: Why We Justify Foolish Beliefs, Bad Decisions, and Hurtful Acts”
by Carol Tavris, Elliot Aronson.
It’s a fascinating book which discusses cognitive dissonance and helps to explain why all humans can be blinded to a decision/belief. The outcomes of which may be catastrophic and even cost lives.
Steve
You are right and the dominant ideology at the moment is Neo-liberalism – an ideology that over simplifies life and its problems and competing interests as well as cutting off the all important feedback loops to tell us what is actually going off.
You can have any ideology – but it it is the feedback loops (reality checks) and what they are telling you that you have to listen to – that’s the art of living. and ruling.
All too common is the fact that the feedback loops are not listened or acknowledged.
That is the problem because then there is no moderation or attenuation of one’s ideology. And explains why our politics are so crap at the moment.
Well said, Ian Stevenson: “We need people who are pragmatic and can learn from experience, but who are also empathetic and want the common good.”
This may not go down well in certain quarters, but my first thought when I read Ian’s statement was: ‘People like Nicola Sturgeon.’
Her humanity and concern for others shines through everything she does, and informs everything she is working for. She’s smart and pragmatic, knows how to get the best out of the people working with her. She’s kept things ticking over in Scotland, and moving forward (more slowly than some of her supporters would like, but a heck of a lot faster than her opponents would like) in the face of incredible pressure, scornful, knee-jerk negativity, and a barrage of dirty tricks and outright lies from opponents who own all the media.
She’s a leader whom everybody is going to remember and respect for a long time. Scotland is very lucky to have her. I hope we can turn things her way very soon, and stop this slide into the abyss that so many other leaders seem determined to enact.
What is badly needed—in England anyway—is somebody of her ilk to be made leader of the Labour Party. Somebody people can vote FOR.
I admit that is not how I see Nicola Sturgeon who, as most on the SNP know, trusts almost no one, consults only with a tiny inner circle, and who commands rather than leads whilst making sure all rivals are kept well away. It has worked, but is it ideal?