In the course of my browsing this morning I came across this:
There is fascism, leading only into the blackness which it has chosen as its symbol, into smartness and yapping out of orders, and self-righteous brutality, into social as well as international war. It means change without hope. Our immediate duty — in that tinkering which is the only useful form of action in our leaky old tub — our immediate duty is to stop it.
The quote is from "Notes on the Way" by E M Forster in Time and Tide Magazine on 10 June 1934, reprinted in The Prince's Tale and Other Uncollected Writings (1998).
He was right: when it comes to fascism our immediate duty is to stop it.
It would seem that political commentators are lining up to disagree right now. They are all wrong, to a person, whatever they think their motives might be. Evil needs to be called out and stopped.
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Trump has already tried to demonise those fighting against fascism in the US – dubbed “antifa”, and to have anti-fascism movements designated as terrorist organisations. False flag operations have been undertaken to discredit “antifa”, and Trump and his supporters have used the confected allegations to stoke the culture wars.
It will not be easy to call out and stop fascism, when the fascists are already writing the rules of engagement. They are playing dirty politics, and they know how to win.
I think the BBC should get Ros Atkins to investigate and report on the Gary Linekar tweet and look into the facts of his actual comments and whether it tarnishes impartiality
Ros has already tweeted that:
This is excellent from @katierazz
https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-64889868
It seems to me that the BBC are unable to distinguish between breaking impartiality rules and speaking the truth. It would take very little time to do the research to provide the evidence that what Gary Lineker said is absolutely true. Also there’s been much language in the right wing press and the mouths of politicians and public figures over the last few years that is equally dehumanising of groups they wish to scapegoat . Speaking the truth is not being partial – having an opinion about it might be.
“Evil needs to be called out and stopped.” – it is all around us be it Trump, Putler, the UK gov front bench in the HoC, Modi in India the list is very long.
The Ukrainian lady staying with us broke down in tears this week thinking about all the young people dying in Ukraine – in the same week as LNG tankers from Russia off-loaded LNG for China in … Zeebrugge a port in Belgium. Fluxys (owned by Belgian communes) acting as middle man. The EU still pissing around with respect to a Russian gas ban.
The conclusion? that morality of even the most basic sort (don’t aid mass murderers) has evaporated in the face of making money. Reprising their role as Hitlers little helpers, the Swiss, doing nothing with respect to Putler and his gang (no we can’t break our neutrality so no weapons to Ukraine etc etc ad nauseum) – but we are open to Nazi, ooops Russian gold and diamonds. China supporting the psychopaths “running” Burma it goes on & on. Evil people spouting evil doctrines via a passive/supine media – that knowingly gives them a platform – e.g. Trump & Fox “News” (or the equally vile “journalists” churning out garbage in the Torygraph and the Daily Heil in the UK). Blackness indeed.
Many years ago, in fact, when I first started reading and commenting on your blog back in 2010, you may remember we discussed on several occasions a book by Tony Judt: ‘Ill Fares the Land.’ It was published in 2010, which, sadly, was also the year Judt died (At the time he was Professor of European Studies at New York University as well as a Fellow of the British Academy).
At the time the philosopher, John Gray, described the book as: ‘One of the most remarkable books on politics to have appeared for a very long time…a latter-day Orwell.’ While Chris Patten said: ‘This marvelously written book…makes a passionate case for the return of real values to politics.’
By way of a summary of why the land was ‘ill faring’, Judt wrote on the back cover of the book: ‘Something is profoundly wrong with the way we live today. For thirty years we have made a virtue out of the pursuit of material self-interest. We know what things cost but have no idea what they are worth. We no longer ask: is it good? Is it right? Will it help bring about a better society?’
In many way Judt’s book was a lament to the demise of post-war social democracy. But it was also, by definition, a warning about the increasingly right-wing and autocratic drift in politics and political discourse we were seeing at that time, in the US and UK in particular, but globally too (nowadays think Hungary, Russia, India, Turkey, etc).
One of the devices Judt used when writing the book was to head up chapters and some sections with a quotation which captures or illustrates the essence of many of the topics he covers and points he makes. A common enough practice, of course, but it struck me after reading your recent blogs on the fascist/authoritarian ‘turn’ afflicting UK politics – and the many other topics you’ve covered in recent blogs/tweets – how relevant many of them are to your recent arguments.
Thus, the book opens with this:
‘Ill fares the land, to hastening ills a prey, Where wealth accumulates, and men decay.’ (Oliver Goldsmith, “The Deserted Village”, 1770).
And here are a few more from any number I could have chosen:
‘To see what is in front of one’s nose needs a constant struggle.’ (George Orwell)
‘No society can surely be flourishing and happy, of which the far greater part of the members are poor and miserable.’ (Adam Smith).
‘There are no conditions of life to which a man cannot get accustomed, especially if he sees them accepted by everyone around him (Lev Tolstoy in “Anna Karenina”).
‘The idea is essentially repulsive, of a society held together only by relations and feelings arising out of pecuniary interest.’ (John Stuart Mill).
‘To feel much for others and little for ourselves; to restrain our selfishness and exercise our benevolent affections, constitute the perfection of human nature.’ (Adam Smith).
And finally, one from Keynes:
‘To suggest social action for public good to the City of London is like discussing The Origin of the Species with a Bishop sixty years ago.’ (John Maynard Keynes).
I suspect many people might be surprised at the sentiments of Adam Smith and John Stuart Mill, given they have been appropriated (and misrepresented) by the right wing of politics for decades now. And what Keynes had to say about the City of London (which would in our parlance be the City) can be applied to banking and finance in all its forms and locations across the globe, of course.
In short, the land in which we live ‘fares ill’ far more now than it did back in 2010. And in the UK there’s only one political party, and only one ‘wing’, or stream, of politics that has dominated over that period and we should never forget that.
Thank you
A timely reminder, and as you say, a very good book which will take a long time to age
Part of David Attenborough’s series will not be broadcast
https://www.theguardian.com/media/2023/mar/10/david-attenborough-bbc-wild-isles-episode-rightwing-backlash-fears?fbclid=IwAR3jlSFLLg67cYnERIxdPPmfajleksT4187iH_9io9i-CWl_ZM_hFSA7QeQ
first paragraph
The BBC has decided not to broadcast an episode of David Attenborough’s flagship new series on British wildlife because of fears its themes of the destruction of nature would risk a backlash from Tory politicians and the rightwing press, the Guardian has been told.
Then my wife told me Gary Lineker has had to step back from Match of the Day.
Time for a petition to change the leadership of the BBC. ?
I’ve just come across a short talk by John Danzig called “8 Steps to Genocide”
https://www.facebook.com/Reasons2Rejoin/videos/2320085224941904
I’m sorry I don’t know how to make this a link ….relevant and scary but he concluded that we are at number 3,
Genocide Watch have now increased the eight stages to ten (John Danziger has us at ‘Dehumanisation’ which is now at No. 4) – see https://www.genocidewatch.com/tenstages , with a map showing us on ‘Genocide Watch’ (with stages Discrimination (3), Dehumanization (4) & Polarization (6)), or on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLSQgZy-pvvUKDyjj-nQOl1m2mavrv_2JK
You’re right, we must be forever vigilent and prepared to fight those advocating fascist ideas, state control of people’s thoughts and actions, control of their private, public and business lives, state dictat of the appropriate use of private property and revenue, and appropriation of whatever the state deems unsuitable for private ownership, and the imposition of state-knows-best.
Let’s get something clear here: State control of people’s behaviour is alright by me if that State runs the country for all – creates equal opportunity whatever you economic background and creates a fair society.
That is worth fighting for and aspiring to.
What we have instead is the power of the state being utilised to divide and conquer so that we are obedient consumers.
You have to realise that when you bang on about the State being ‘this and that’ – well, you just open the door to what we have now.
The State can be a force for good. And the voter can make it good by insisting that it is.