So Many Powellites Now

One Race-The Human Race                                                                When I was a teacher we did ethnic monitoring in school-indeed, I usually compiled it. But no teacher or classroom assistant I worked with saw the categories as anything more than tools. They were useful in trying to ensure equal opportunity for all pupils. Everyone, regardless of political orientation, believed that that there is one ‘race:’ the Human Race. Now we see ‘Black’ and other descriptors turned into ‘real’ ethnicities based on the superficial difference of skin colour. The BLM narrative oddly mirrors Enoch Powell-who did not believe in biological race or a hierarchy of races, but that most people see skin colour as a badge of identity. 

We have a large Mixed population and fast disappearing negative racial views shown in the British Social Attitudes Survey. Non-White pupils and students are actually pulling ahead over White ones. This has proved Powell mainly wrong on integration. But the hyper-racialisation being promoted in ‘Multi-Communalism’ is re-entrenching ethnic differences. Irony of ironies, a kind of ‘Powellism’ is making a comeback in a completely unexpected way.

Wokeopoly A Satire For Our Times

Posted on a number of Twitter accounts this is very close to the mark. Someone should produce a set of rules and suitable counters to go with it!

It Started With The Statues

A warning from a Venezuelan refugee that when the politically correct brigade are trying to gain power throughout society they come for the statues first-then the street names, and then the school curriculum. We have been warned.
https://twitter.com/TruthHammer888/status/1275094217329537025

Whatever Happens, the Professors Always Win

Being a university professor is statistically one of the safest jobs in the Covid-19 emergency. Professors are paid an attractive salary to do a job they love and retire on a good pension. They also tend to be in favour of free university tuition fees, more and more university attendees, a Universal Basic Income, free social care (in which their family keeps ownership of their house) and the Triple Lock.

Of course they will benefit from all of these. At present, a degree for some people-who leave university with serious debt, does not benefit them financially. It is no longer true that a degree predicts an advantage of £100,000 over a working life. 40% of graduates are in non-graduate jobs and it is debateable whether many where a degree is required one is actually necessary.

Free tuition means that, even more so, non-graduates-still a majority of workers, will subsidise people who are mainly middle-class and relatively comfortably off. The professors will have no debt, more students, more finance and more prestige if free tuition is ever introduced-although in the end the whole thing would be unsustainable. On top of this they are most likely to be untouched by the virus. Whatever happens, the professors always win.

Historically ignorant bishops take the knee for the Crusades

It is depressing to observe the bishops’ taking the knee to apologise for the Crusades. These took place centuries ago and constitute events for which they have no conceivable responsibility. They also appear ignorant of history.

Victory by the (Sunni Muslim) Seljuk Turks over the Byzantines at the battle of Manzikert in 1071 by the Seljuk emir Alp Arslan seriously weakened the empire, which was a bulwark for stability. This event destabilised the balance of power in the Near East. The Turks’ raiding also caused considerable damage, including to Muslim states. Moreover, they captured Jerusalem from the Fatamids, Shia Muslim rulers based in Egypt.

Contrary to usual practice, the Turks prevented Christian pilgrims from visiting the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. This was usually accessible on payment of the taxes current in normal relations between East and West. In 1009 the mad Fatamid Caliph al Hakim demolished the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. Pope Sergius called for military action in response to this desecration.

However, following the Caliph’s disappearance-probably assassinated because of his instability, the subsequent Fatamid government rebuilt the church. This restored the status quo. No military action took place and peaceful relations continued. These included pilgrimage and trade.

Politically correct commentators often say that there was no pretext for the First Crusade. On the contrary, the Turks were a considerable military threat and broke the usual arrangements which maintained peace. Therefore, the Western powers had a reasonable causa bello for the time. Unfortunately, the bishops’ political correctness leads to a suspect grasp of history, an unwillingness to learn, and a situation where they don’t need to be grovelling on their knees.

Covid 19 and the Myth of British Exceptionalism

Myths are part of our culture. Perhaps they contain a kernel of truth. Then they become legends, which are great stories and entertain, and they don’t harm us. But modern myths can-if somebody really wants to believe in advance that they are true.

‘British Exceptionalism’ is one such myth. This myth suggests that narrow-minded ‘populists’ voted for Brexit, led the Leave campaign, and now govern the country. Blinded by ‘British Exceptionalism’ these ‘populists’ allegedly ignored scientific advice regarding Covid-19 to pursue an overconfident approach totally different to other countries. Belief in this myth comes straight out of the Guardian, the New Staesman and those-especially in universities, who share those publications' world-view. So, its coverage of Brexit, Black Lives Matters and Covid-19 involves reading a fantasy which tells us much more about the writer than about the issues.

Believers in this myth don’t interrogate the evidence critically. They project their existing viewpoint on to it. There has been narrative of earlier lock-down seen in this letters page and from Professor Ferguson. But we can check this from the SAGE meeting minutes and the prof’s own words. Both show his claim to be false and that he and other scientists did not support early lockdown and that the politicians closely followed the scientific advice.

We can understand a leading and somewhat controversial figure wanting to defend his reputation, especially given the questions around the Imperial College model. But we shouldn’t swallow it wholesale. In a year’s time we will have a lot more information and will probably have changed our minds about many things. To do that we need an open mind and critical thinking, not reliance on myth.

Why Facts and All LIves Matter

Why facts and all lives matter

The late Democratic Senator D. P. Moynihan said, “You are entitled to your own opinions, but not to your own facts.” Facts have unfortunately not been at a premium after the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis by a White police officer. It is stated as a fact that racist cops shoot Black people disproportionately because 25% of those killed are African-Americans-who make up 13% of the US population. But this ignores the rate at which police encounter Black Americans and the crime rates in American cities with large Black populations.

What the evidence actually shows Detailed research from the University of Michigan and Harvard-ironically including information from a database compiled by the Guardian newspaper, shows that officers shoot in proportion to the ethnicities they encounter, that Black officers are more likely to use their weapons, and that in reality US police do not kill Black people disproportionately. Moreover, there is no evidence that George Floyd's killing was from a racial motive. Some evidence may be found. But we should not automatically assume it simply beause the police officer was white and the victim Black. Otherwise we prejudge the issue; in other words, we show prejudice.

Some brave reporters have confronted demonstrators with this evidence but are invariably met with a blank refusal to listen. So decisively do racial myths take hold, and so powerful have identity politics and the race-mongers become in America. Unfortunately, they are gaining ground here.

Chicago’s population is roughly a third White, Hispanic and Black. But 75% of the murders are committed by Blacks. Black males aged 15-35 comprise 4% of the US population but from this group come the perpetrators of 50% of gun murders. A large majority of murder victims are Black and are murdered by other Blacks. The grim total increases year on year, but these are thousands of Black lives which do not seem to matter.

Who is actually responsible? The USA is a federal nation in which all the cities where the recent riots occurred are run by the Democratic Party, usually for many decades. The Democratic Party is the system there. Minneapolis in Minnesota-with a Democrat Governor, has had a Democrat mayor for 46 years and the city council consists of 12 Democrats and 1 Green. It also has a Black police chief. For the previous 8 years it had a restraint policy which allowed police to render a suspect unconscious.

Lisa Bender has been the council chairman for 6 years while the city has had the restraint policy. Responding to the question about what she would do if someone broke into her home, she replied that phoning for the police comes from a position of privilege. She is one of the main supporters of defunding the police. She always intended this and now can propose it, taking advantage of a situation she helped to create.

All lives don’t matter equally In Dallas Texas another man: Tony Timpa, died from being suffocated by police. In handcuffs, he pleaded for his life, saying repeatedly “You’re gonna kill me.” Face down, the officers thought he was sleeping. They can be heard joking about it being time to wake up and go to school and making him waffles for breakfast. The mixed White/Black group of officers was never charged. Tony Timpa was White. Film of his killing did not go viral and there were no riots.

In Minneapolis, a Somali-American (i.e. Black) police officer shot and killed an unarmed White woman, Justine Diamond. He was neither sacked nor arrested immediately and there were no demonstrations-although he was eventually jailed. The officer had been welcomed into the Minneapolis police department as heralding its diversity, although it is clear from his record that there were doubts about his suitability.

Distraction politics shouldn’t fool us The inner cities in the USA are run by Democrats who mainly preside over school systems which fail Black youngsters. Minnesota is one of the highest performing states overall. But its school achievement by Black students is no better than Mississippi. Washington DC’s mayor had ‘Black Lives Matter’ painted in giant letters on the road to the White House where resides a president who has been in office for three years but does not run the city, as opposed to a Democrat city hall which has been in office almost for ever and does. Last year saw the worst murder rate for a decade and a massive gap in achievement between White and Black school students in the former’s favour.

Who actually suffers most? Most protests after George Floyd’s killing were perfectly peaceful. Nobody was forced to loot and to burn. But Democrat politicians repeatedly encourage looting and arson by saying that crimes against property don’t matter. This ignores the fact that people were killed in the riots and that these were almost all Blacks and other minorities. The Democrat (White) Attorney-General of Massachusetts said, “America is burning, but that’s how forests grow.” Her nice Boston suburb was not burning. It is mainly the inner-city businesses owned by Blacks and other minorities which have been looted and torched. The future for these communities is bleakly predictable. Why should employers whose premises have been destroyed come back? The only businesses which will remain will be low value, a few stores with higher prices to account for risk, and pawn shops.

A game of statues There has been a lot of distraction politics going on in the USA, but we have the same thing here. A petition to remove the statue of Edward Colston in Bristol attracted all of 11,000 signatures in a major city. The Labour mayor had 5 years to decide to remove the statue but did nothing. It is possible to make a reasoned argument to remove it, to leave it as a largely ignored pigeon perch, or to erect an education display around it. But for a senior police officer in effect to condone vandalism simply undermines confidence in the police.

It was foolish for London’s mayor to box up Churchill’s statue. Some graffiti on it would simply result in a headline in the Daily Mail. The police can cope with disorder by the statue and cenotaph because there are few shops, businesses and homes nearby. But elsewhere in the capital there are plenty of juicy shops and businesses to loot and burn. The sight of a senior police officer standing by in Bristol and police retreating before rioters in London simply allows troublemakers to smell weakness. It encourages disorder rather than preventing it.

Taking the knee-It’s all about me ‘Taking the knee’ to accept collective guilt for something for which one is not responsible, and which is not even true, is both morally objectionable and absurd. It is even more foolish for firms which had a connection with slavery more than 200 years ago to pay ‘reparations’ to people at a far remove in the modern world. They will simply end up financially supporting more of the divisive promoters of identity politics. That is why we need to hold fast to facts rather than false opinions, and all lives matter.

A Modest Proposal-Not Only Statues Must Fall

Given that eugenics-the pseudo-science of ‘race improvement,’ contributed greatly to mass murder in the Holocaust I make the following modest proposal. All statues and memorials to historical supporters of eugenics must be removed. Anyone who has a postage stamp issued by Royal Mail dedicated to any of them should take a moral lead and remove it from their collection.

Writer George Bernard Shaw stated that “the only fundamental and possible socialism is the socialisation of the selective breeding of man" and defectives should be dealt with by means of a "lethal chamber." Marie Stopes-honoured with a stamp in 2008, wanted the "hordes of defectives" to be reduced, placing less of a burden on "the fit." She even disinherited her son because he married a short-sighted woman, thereby risking a less than perfect grandchild. She is a great progressive heroine for her support of family planning, and pro-abortion campaigners regularly cite her. But she actually despised poor people.

H. G. Wells was another supporter of eugenics to get rid of “detrimental types and characteristics.” His novel ‘The Time Machine,’ with the well-bred Eloi and the barbaric Molochs, is a eugenicist manifesto and must be purged from libraries and film collections

Beatrice and Sidney Webb viewed eugenics as natural as town planning. The Socialist Fabian Society should therefore disown them. Both the Left-wing New Statesman journal and the Guardian newspaper supported eugenics, as did founder of the Left Book Club and Labour Party Chairman Harold Laski who described the production of weaklings as a crime against society. Obviously, all these must go.