Civil liberties

The Alt-Right: Because Simple Things Please Simple Minds #2

jimdroberts4 Comments
“The need to retell the story of totalitarianism has become a frozen lesson in history rather than a narrative necessary to understanding the present.” http://www.cjournal.info/2015/08/21/the-plague-of-american-authoritarianism/

It’s just been recommended to me that it’s a good time to read Margaret Atwood’s, The Handmaid’s Tale. I agree, but unfortunately I’ve already read it, probably at a time that wasn’t as good as now, but I haven’t got the time to reread it as I’m currently reading another book that I’ve also been told ‘it’s a good time to read,’ Sinclair Lewis’ It Could Never Happen Here. I’m reading It Could Never  Happen Here after having just finished Camus’ The Plague, it also having been recommended to me on the basis of ‘it’s a good time to read.’ Other literary titles that seem to be being recommended as apropos are the unimaginative dystopian trio of 1984, Brave New World, and Fahrenheit 451. Frankly if you’re over the age of 21 and haven’t already read these then I guess you’ve probably been too busy watching America’s Got Talent while masturbating into a sock. Recently I’ve also been recommended, and purchased, Assholes: A Theory, by Aaron James, A People’s History of the United States, by Howard Zinn, and a rather more upbeat title, Utopia for Realists: Why Making the World a Better Place Isn’t a Fantasy and How We Can Do It, by Rutger Bregman. I suspect that by the time I get round to finish reading these it will no longer be ‘a good time’ to read them, as Chelsea Clinton will  have just become the president having edged out Kim Kardashian in an election that was so close it had to be resolved in the most democratic means available to a celebrity worshiping society, a naked mud wrestling splashdown, broadcast on pay per view, in high definition, surround sound. It’s either this or that sun dried fart of a president, Donald Trump, will have reduced our species to a pile of radioactive dust. I’ve also heard that Amazon has seen a surge in people wanting to read Mein Kampf, maybe because ‘it’s a good time.’

I just finished reading Camus’ The Plague, not as famous as The Stranger, but certainly no less skillfully written. Camus’ The Plague is a stifling, suffocating tale of a small Algerian town placed under quarantine after an outbreak of bubonic plague. It has been suggested that the story is an allegory of how Nazi ideology spread throughout Germany in the years leading up to World War 2, and the seemingly futile efforts of the French Resistance as they tried to find ways of overcoming the Nazi occupation.

After the apparent failure of the electoral college system, future presidents will be decided by naked mud wrestling. I also predict that most presidential elections will be contested between women, on pay per view television, broadcast to huge global audiences, of men.

While reading The Plague, it didn’t require any great leap of imagination to liken the spread of a highly contagious disease to the rapid spread of the alt right ideology. (An absolutely shameless and poor attempt to segue into what it is that I’m trying to say. I could have actually put in my opening paragraph; if I hadn’t become side tracked by dystopian literature, and the equally dystopian level of nudity that I predict will be required to decide our governments of the future.)

Despite having a name that sounds like a keyboard short cut it should be no surprise that the alt right has gained the majority of its following through the internet. The internet has proven to be an ideal breeding ground to facilitate the pervasive spreading of an ideology that only a couple of years ago would never have been discussed in public. The anonymity afforded by the internet has enabled people to voice radical opinions and meet up with others holding similar views. Over a relatively short period of time the numbers of people that have banded together sharing concerns over immigration, Islamic terrorism, feminism, and the preservation of the right to the freedom of expression, have increased at an alarming rate. To help put this into context I refer to the arbiter of public consciousness, Google. Type the terms ‘alt right’ into Google and you’ll get a choice of just over a quarter of a billion results to look at. Search ‘Democratic Party’ and you get a measly 64 million hits, search ‘US Constitution’ and you have what appears like an anemic choice of just over 10 million sources to look at.  If the internet is the new battleground then it’s obvious that the alt right are winning the war. Mind if you do a search for ‘evil cat’, that’ll get you 43 million responses. So whether or not we should be fearing an alt right, evil cat coalition, or that the internet is really nothing more than a digital rubbish tip of mankind’s deranged sensibilities, I’ll leave you to decide.

Apparently this is what the internet looks like.
However, I’m inclined to think that it looks more like this,.

 

The alt right has used the right to the freedom of expression as a foothold to gain itself a tenuous amount of legitimacy. They promote themselves as being the only political ideology that truly upholds this right, the self proclaimed guardians of the first amendment. It’s most likely that they’ve been able to achieve this as they’ve held opinions that were unutterable in civilized gatherings for the past twenty years. This logic is however flawed as any morally bankrupt ideology would be able to lay claim having had their freedom of expression limited by societal norms and values. For instance, and much to my own chagrin, people are very reluctant to engage in conversation that are open to considering the benefits of necrophilia. The truth is that the freedom of speech for those with repugnant ideas is no less than anybody else’s, what has to also be considered is the right that a large number of people have to react to those that espouse hate filled ideologies.

When Milo Yiannopoulos discussed his opinion that relationships between middle aged men and teen boys can be ‘life affirming.’ Mr. Yiannopoulos had the freedom, and made the choice, to express this opinion. His publishers Simon & Schuster, who were due to publish Yiannopoulos’ book, then exercised their right to react to Yiannopoulos’ statement by withdrawing their support and cancelling the book deal.

When a person promotes racist values that another person finds to be offensive, that person has just exercised their right to express their opinion. Anyone who listens to an opinion that they might disagree with, or find offensive, then has the right to disassociate themselves from such persons, who express such opinions. Simply put, we all have the right to say whatever it is we want, but we should also realize that there might be consequences to what we choose to say, in the form of how others might choose to respond to it.

And this is where I believe that we find ourselves today. A sizable group of people have, through the internet, suddenly found themselves empowered to express an extremely polemic point of view, leaving us with a society that is essentially in shock. The alt right is shocked that they have been able to voice opinions after they’ve had to bite their tongues for so long. The liberals meanwhile, are shocked there are so many people with such horrible ideas, and not enough people are thinking about the children.

Researching the ideology of the alternative right feels like driving to the dentists during the rush hour, because it’s an ideology that’s driven by fear, promotes intolerance and ultimately arrives at its final destination of self-loathing. Essentially what underpins the political philosophy of the alt right – I say political philosophy even though it has a set of opinions that are about as diverse as a satnav system stuck going round a roundabout – is nihilism. The alt right essentially rejects any reality that is in conflict with its own. It simply ignores the fact that culturally, racially, and economically our societies have become complex. Diversity has been the result of technology being able to transport people and goods, more quickly and cheaper than ever before. This doesn’t appeal to the mindset of the alternative right.

Steve Bannon, doyen of the alt right and Donald Trump’s chief strategist, promotes what he calls economic nationalism. According to Bannon, economic nationalism is the antithesis of globalization. Economic nationalism puts the American worker first, particularly when that worker is a white male.  Bannon’s idea of economic nationalism provides us with an almost tangible glimpse into what an alt right Utopia would look like. It hearkens back to the days of 1950’s America. An America that rewarded hard working men, provided they came in the right shade of white. America before the civil rights movement. As a baby boomer this was the America that Steve Bannon grew up in, which makes me wonder if economic nationalism is nothing more than Bannon’s fantasy to relive his youth; so he can murder his father and have sex with his mother in order to fulfill an Oedipal complex that has laid dormant in him for the best part of half a century. I tried to make that last bit sound funny, but I can’t. It’s difficult to make a joke about a man who has admitted in public that he  respects the power of Satan and who might also, in my opinion probably does, harbor sexual fantasies for his own mother.

Steve Bannon would have been a highly impressionable 7 year old child when Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho was released in 1960. Compelling evidence thus proving his sexual desires for his own mother.

Bannon’s economic nationalism has been criticized as populist in its appeal. As being an ideology that over simplifies economic issues, reducing them to the sort of sound bites that appeal to a stigmatized group, which in this case happens to be the working class white male of the American Rust Belt. Perhaps the most fundamental premise at the foundation of the alt right ideology is a belief that western culture has been destroyed by years of liberal economic
policy. The sorts of policies that have made it easier for the free movement of goods and people have been blamed for causing the economic downturn that has caused the rust belt. Being opposed to economic policies that promote globalization is a perfectly valid opinion for a person to have, but this opinion starts to become a concern when it’s hijacked by a group of people that espouse populist rhetoric in order to appeal to a group of people and get them believing that they have been the targets of economic policies that have seen other ethnic groups taking their jobs. Such rhetoric is extremely effective at spreading fear and hatred of the groups that appeared to have not fared as poorly. This type of rhetoric can cause alarm as it echoes that of Hitler identifying the Jews as the cause of Weimar Germany’s economic disaster.

But if I’m honest then I have to admit that I’m utterly bored, even contemptuous towards the economy. Whilst all of us have grown up to unquestioningly believe that economics and politics are ingredients fundamental to the running of a developed society, politics and economics have been the exclusive domain of  intellectuals and economists. On the one hand we are made to feel that the health of the economy we live in is so vital that it closely mirrors our own well being. If the economy was a game that truly affects us all then I’d refuse to play as I have very little understanding of the rules. In fact the only people who do know the rules seem to be the sort of people I read about after they’ve drained all the money out of a pension fund.

Banking, as far as I can tell, seems to be almost as precise a science as using a slot machine. You either blindly hope for the best, delude yourself into thinking you’ve worked out a system, or open it up when no one’s looking and rig the settings so it’ll pay out illegally.

I Can Make You Hate Hardcover –  Charlie Brooker

 

Pete’s idea to “maximize synergistic e-commerce,” was not met with universal approval.

Just spend 5 minutes watching Bloomberg, inevitably you’ll hear two people trading economic jargon in a sort of duel to the death to prove who owns the most absurd lexicon. A man wearing a blue suit with a hair style so impossible that it defies all hitherto understanding of the laws of physics will open with an idea to “cultivate robust e-services,” the other participant in this discussion of virtual economic pugilism, parries this opening salvo and counters with “benchmark web-enabled e-commerce,” this backs the impossible hair into a corner, forcing them to respond with “scale out-of-the-box partnerships,” this for a moment catches his opponent off guard, he seems to stagger, his eyes roll back in his head, before he gathers his senses and unleashes a devastating combination of “brand vertical networks,” quickly followed by “productize clicks-and-mortar e-markets”. There’s an awkward pause as the hair realizes that he’s beaten, defeated in a contest that I failed to understand a single word of, and find hard to imagine that anyone else who’s just watched it has been able to comprehend.

The fact that the economic system is so unintelligible means that it relies on a public suspension of disbelief. A tacit understanding from the working classes that just because it sounds complicated, and that money is important, this imbues it with all the credibility that is necessary. I however am more cynical than that, and suspect that the financial sector has invented a lexicon so impenetrable so as to place itself outside of the realm of common sense, thus enabling those with an understanding of its strange, esoteric language, carte blanche to steal as much money as and when they like. The economy has done its best to marginalize the working class, who have then been told to hate immigrants, or globalization as being the reasons why they have lost their jobs, when in actual fact their frustrations should be focused on the bankers who will remain in their jobs irrespective of whatever government we might have.

If there’s one thing that the election of Donald Trump and Brexit should have taught all of us it’s that the working class, and in particular the white working class, are tired of being framed pejoratively by a media that has for too long looked down its nose at them. And this is an incredibly dangerous thing to have done which again has been seized upon by, the psycho with an unrealized fantasy of sleeping with his mother, Steve Bannon. Discrediting the media strikes a chord with working class people that have good reason to feel that it has failed to represent either them, or their concerns for a very long time. When a government is able to discredit a weak media it removes society’s most effective means of enforcing checks and balances upon that government. Being supported by a group of people that have long since seen it given up on listening to reason, who are now convinced that their government are the only voice of truth, inevitably empowers that government to do essentially whatever it pleases.

Trump had spoken, and his audience had heard him. Then I did what I’ve been doing for two and a half months now. I Googled “mainstream media is…” And there it was. Google’s autocomplete suggestions: “mainstream media is… dead, dying, fake news, fake, finished”. Is it dead, I wonder? Has FAKE news won? Are we now the FAKE news? Is the mainstream media – we, us, I – dying?

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2017/feb/26/robert-mercer-breitbart-war-on-media-steve-bannon-donald-trump-nigel-farage

Despite trying to consider the Trump government, and the alternative right with an open mind, what I struggle to get beyond it its sense of nihilism. It seems to believe that everything that has been done over the course of the past 20 years has been wrong to such an extreme that everything must be discarded and replaced. It makes me feel that the last 20 years were all just a waste of time, and that we would have all been better off if we’d just stayed at home, watched The X Factor and masturbated into a sock, which is largely what I think most of us were doing. It rejects any idea that mankind is just one race, the human race. Instead it concentrates all of its malevolent energy into focusing on what makes people different. It then takes these differences and tries to convince mostly the white working class males, that these differences mean that diverse societies are incapable of peace or prosperity. The Utopia of the alternative right would seem to be a homogeneous society of people whose shade of white only varies according to how long ago it was they were last on holiday. However, whether these holidays could be taken abroad remains unclear. With the alternative right being so fearful of economic globalization and cultural diversity, holidaying in a country that dares to speak a different language or eat rice will probably not be possible if the fantasy of the alternative right comes to fruition.

I can see how the alternative right is being made to appeal to white, working class males. But I end where I started, with a quote from Camus’ The Plague, which is how I would feel if I found myself supporting the alternative right:

I was with them and yet I was alone. When I spoke of these matters they told me not to be so squeamish; I should remember what great issues were at stake. And they advanced arguments, often quite impressive ones, to make me swallow what none the less I couldn’t bring myself to stomach. The Plague – Albert Camus

Below are some pages that might interest you if you’re looking for more in depth, and frankly better written articles. Not something that sounds like it just leaked out of the mind of a person that was having their soul devoured by a xenophobic, hate filled wraith at four in the morning.

Is the Alternative Right Still Equally Wrong?

jimdroberts

ap370x41016x121f8f8f8t-pad420x460f8f8f8-u13Conservative, ultra-conservative, right wing, far right, extreme right, fascist, and neo-Nazi. The inevitable path down which anyone that, dares to to have a thought to the right of centre. It’s like the argument of the gateway drug, the slippery slope that leads every thirteen year old who starts smoking pot to be destined to become a rent boy in order to facilitate a crack addiction that spiraled rapidly out of control. From the moment you start to ask yourself “Do I understand the complexities of immigration?’ elements in society will make you feel as if you’ve only got somewhere between 12-18 months left before you’ll be goose stepping up and down the street, knocking on doors to ask if they are hiding any  Muslims, Mexicans. or the ultimate spawn of Satan himself, Mexican Muslims.

The current sociopolitical atmosphere in the United States of America is unprecedented. Even going back to the dynamic and divisive times that surrounded the civil rights movement during the 1960’s, there has been no other political movement that has so rapidly established a footing in mainstream political discourse as the alt right has managed to do. The burden of history makes it understandable that whenever a branch of new right wing politics emerges, re-branding itself and appealing to the mainstream, people become alarmed. While there are elements of the alt right agenda that I do find it difficult to identify myself with, I find the visceral, mindless, and the hysterical response of the so called progressive liberals to be equally difficult to relate to. This new political paradigm seems to be one that suggests all of our problems can be solved through making the most simple binary choices, Trump or Hilary, pro-immigration or racist, pro LGBTQ rights or homophobia, feminist or sexist. A person who risks to voice an opinion that suggests an alternative view, no matter how mild, to a liberal agenda will often leave that person, pejoratively branded, like Hilary said as “deplorable”. But, these issues are far too complex to entertain the notion that they can be solved with simple, ‘either or’ reasoning. The all or nothing, black and white, binary approach to reason and debate has only has resulted in a political landscape in which the two  sets of opinions have been polarized to the outer fringes of reason. To resolve such complex social challenges the level of debate needs to be more informed than ever

160907_milo_yiannopolis_d_0248prt
After resigning from his job of senior editor at Breitbart following his comments on the age of consent. Milo’s decision to become a children’s entertainer seems somewhat ill advised.

Last week I wrote about the alt-right poster boy, agent provocateur, polemicist and troll Milo Yiannopoulos following comments he’d made, over a year ago, on the age of consent. This involved watching a large number of videos and reading a number of articles that I had hitherto never been interested in being exposed to. It did however, become obvious to me rather quickly that the alt-right movement cites facts, and asks questions that deserve considered discussion as opposed to being shut down by large groups of emotional people throwing childlike tantrums. It also became obvious to me that the response following that blog strongly suggests this is an issue engaging an incredibly large number of people.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Image result for monkeys throwing shit
Disgruntled Hilary Clinton supporters engage in the democratic process.

By now, it should also have become obvious to all of us that many of the issues that the alt-right are attempting to bring to people’s attention, some might even claim baiting the public with, are often multi faceted constructs which extend far beyond political ideology. To attempt to deal with this issue in a single blog would have all the superficial symbolism, of burning a bra or hurling a trashcan through a shop window. It is for this reason that during the month of March I intend to produce a series of four posts that will endeavor to objectively consider the arguments put forward by the alt-right, what they mean and whether they are worthy of the hysterical reactions so many of us have seen on the news. I hope to remain impartial at all times, which should mean that anyone twho reads this series of blogs will feel at one time or another, uncomfortable or offended. If your method of debate only extends as far as pulling out clumps of your own hair whilst shouting incomprehensible obscenities at the television, then what I’m going to write about over the coming month will not be to your taste. If however, you have a genuine interest in trying to understand this argument, no matter how perverse it might become, then I encourage that you come along for the ride, to make comments, and to start dealing with this issue like 21st century adults, not like two troops of opposing monkeys hurling their faeces at one another.

Before even really getting into this properly, following on the back of only the couple of weeks of research that I’ve already done, I’m pretty sure that I’m going to conclude that there are concerns and opinions on both sides of the argument that are valid. It is equally likely that there will be examples of opinions and reactions, of both sides, that to me will appear to demonstrate a deficiency of any informed reasoning. In essence, what I hope to be able to do is approach both sides of the argument with an equal degree of despair.

Over the course of the next four weeks I intend to address the following:

  1. define exactly what the alt-right is, the personalities that support the movement, and who they claim to be representing.
  2. Try to understand how the alt-right have made so much progress in such a short amount of time and just how powerful the alt-right has the potential to become, before looking at the values and topics that are at the core of their ideology.
  3. The alt rights views on Islam, immigration, sovereignty, feminism, freedom of speech and political correctness. While considering the opinions of the alt right on such issues it will be equally as important to consider the arguments that have been expressed challenging these opinions.
  4. A conclusion and n answer to the initial question: Is the Alternative Right Still Equally Wrong?

While writing these four posts I intend to challenge my own values by considering opinions that for my whole life I have always cast aside without giving them any thought. Failure to reason through the fallacies contained within a simple idea or a complex ideology, failure to engage in conversation with people that hold a different opinion is what has got us into the mess that we currently find ourselves in. If you are unable to challenge your own beliefs, if you are uncomfortable to defend them by answering questions, then what you have can’t be called a belief, nor would it be right to call it a value. All you might actually be clinging onto is nothing more a half understood idea.

 

 

 

Mass Shootings at Schools – As American as Apple Pie?

jimdroberts2 Comments
tony-blair-big
The only way we can solve this problem is by putting more dangerous weapons in the hands of the least responsible people.

And this time it’s, Oregon! Oregon is the latest state to proudly host a mass shooting in anra cartoon school. Well done Oregon. To compensate for your loss you will be rewarded with the public’s sympathy for from anywhere between 4 to 6 weeks, by which time the next host for a mass school shooting will proudly be announced by the mainstream media.

It’s become a habit, a national pastime, as American as apple pie and baseball. It only seems to happen in America, then happen again, and again, and again, and again.

As Einstein once said:

einstein

It does therefore not require a great a leap of the imagination to assume that if Einstein were a live today he would consider this nation to be insane, or at the very least our nation’s policy on handling gun violence. I however, believe we’ve surpassed stupidity and wallow deeply in the morass of stupidity.

As a personal accident insurance underwriter, with the help of actuaries, I used to have to calculate the chances of accidents happening to people depending on their lifestyles, occupations etc. I know there must be a way of calculating the probability of how long a student must remain in the American school system before they are statistically more likely to be shot dead than graduate.

To me, American gun culture reminds me of stressed chimpanzees, kept in captivity, and hurling their fecal matter at one another. Oddly most Americans would probably find the idea of throwing their shit at each other, to be more repulsive than your average mass shooting. If you’re reading this, in the interest of science, gather a bag of your own poo, walk into a school or shopping center and start throwing it around. I’ll bet that you’ll get more news exposure than the Oregon shooting. Mass shootings are old hat, they’re passé, no shit throwing’s the way to go, the mass shootings of the future.

Scientists have accurately simulated American society with the use of just two chimpanzees (only 34 seconds):

Lobbyists, Corruption and a Mistaken Society

nratoday
Because real men use wadding and a ram rod.

American society (in truth all societies, and human beings in general) is/are just a collection of disturbingly twisted, and willfully determined contradictions. One that I find hardest to understand is the power and influence of two of America’s most active lobby groups, the National Rifle Association and pharmaceutical companies. America is the largest consumer of psychiatric medicine per capita, a result of pharmaceutical companies convincing the government that they must prescribe more drugs as they wage their never-ending crusade against mental illness. Meanwhile the politician’s other ear belongs to that of the NRA, and their belief that the only way we can keep everyone safe is through the preservation of the second amendment and give everyone a gun.pharmabusa

As I stated earlier the United States are the world’s biggest producers and consumers of psychiatric pharmaceuticals making it an incredibly lucrative industry, the sector of society that has seen greatest growth in the use of anti-depressants are people aged between 16 and 24.  According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC)11% of all Americans over the age of 12 are on anti depressants, how many of these do you want armed? Mentally ill students, easy access to guns, school shootings, I still don’t get it, what’s the connection?

Eli Lilly the pharmaceutical company most well known for producing Prozac has spent more than $35,000,000 dollars in lobbying during the period 2010 -2014. To put that in perspective that compares to the NRA’s slightly less than $12,000,000 for the same period. But surely that is the question how can these two industries co-exist in lobbying a government. I would imagine Eli Lilly try to convince senators that everyone’s mad and needs medication, meanwhile the NRA state the importance that everyone has at least one firearm. These two opinions cannot co exist, they simply contradict one another, one has to be right and the other wrong, you cannot allow the two such diametrically opposed issues to exist at the same time. A responsible government cannot accept its population having a greater dependency on psychiatric drugs and the listen to a group of people pursuing greater liberty to own firearms. The fact that these two arguments get given consideration has lead to the two agendas coalescing into the situation allowing mentally ill people to be armed.

Information concerning the Oregon gunman, Chris Harper-Mercer, presents him as a deeply troubled, anti-religion, anti-government recluse obsessed with guns. A man who was discharged after just five weeks into the Army’s basic training. Records show that he graduated from a high school that catered for special needs students (and he was still selected for basic training by the U.S Army?) This is the sort of person the second amendment grants the right to bare arms.

It’s hard to comprehend, that at the time of writing this, 48 hours ago:

  • Rebecka Ann Carnes of Myrtle Creek — 18 years old.
  • Treven Taylor Anspach of Sutherlin — 20 years old
  • Sarena Dawn Moore of Myrtle Creek — 44 years old
  • Lawrence Levine of Glide — 67 years old. Mr. Levine was the teacher
  • Jason Dale Johnson of Winston — 33 years old.
  • Lucas Eibel of Roseburg — 18 years old.
  • Kim Saltmarsh Dietz of Roseburg — 59 years old.
  • Quinn Glen Cooper of Roseburg — 18 years old.
  • Lucero Alcaraz of Roseburg — 19 years old.

were living, sentient beings, capable of experiencing all of life’s emotions, capable of making others happy, capable of having a positive influence upon to the society within which they lived in. They were the members of families, families that will suffer forever due to the actions of a mentally ill man, that the second amendment grants the right to arm. It seems simple, two groups with the agendas of the pharmaceutical companies and the NRA, can’t both be allowed to influence a government. Their argument are so conflicting that they can only lead to the death and chaos we continue to see.

The Sympathy Will Run Dry

It’s almost unreasonable to expect people remain sympathetic to a repeating situation that the nation refuses to act on? These tragedies have become so frequent that we are becomming desensitized to them. Sometime in the not too distant future school shootings will be reported after the latest celebrity gossip of the Kardashians.

When someone who is known for self harming do you give sympathy or take away their means of inflicting damage upon themselves? If America were a person it would be demonstrating all the characteristics of someone in denial of self harm. America is like any addict, we are in denial that we have a problem, and by the time that we come round to the fact, our addiction may have slipped passed its tipping point.

One thing is for sure, as long as the NRA continues to lobby government, corrupt the political system, and be partly accountable for the slaughter of innocent men, women and children, they will continue to be giving us all the atomic finger.

Atomic Finger
The National Rifle Association continue to bamboozle government, presenting facile and banal arguments that help facilitate mass murder. The NRA, proud defenders of the Second Amendment, and then, perhaps most disturbingly, at the bottom of their website’s first page the state: “The NRA is closer than you think”. https://home.nra.org/

One thing is for sure, as long as the NRA continues to lobby government, corrupt the political system, and be partly accountable for the slaughter of innocent men, women and children, they will continue to be giving us all the atomic finger.

 

Gonzo symbol

 

In the Grip of Madness or an Opportunity to do the Right Thing? The Migrant Crisis

jimdroberts
Null
Maybe it’s time we thought about sharing the wealth, the privilege, and opportunities with all.

Not since the second world war have we witnessed the displacement of people on the level that we are seeing this year, and it’s a trend that looks likely to only worsen. The west has done so much to destabilize the middle east and north Africa, is now being invaded, all be it by a more harmless group of people than we often directly used, or funded to invade their countries with. We are now being asked to pay the price for our shameful foreign policies in these areas, and the question is quite simply whether we will be responsible for the mess that we have caused?

What we are witnessing is the collapse of the paradigms that have controlled people for the last three thousand years. People are more skeptical towards religion, peoples trust in economies and financial institutions has been lost, people have no faith in aspiring to the ideals of democracy, and finally we are seeing a complete disregard for national borders.

We have come to what might ultimately be a defining moment in ourselves as a species. We have arrived at a junction, a point in time when we must decide whether to go to the right (the far right) or to the left (the far left). There is no middle ground, there is no fence to sit on, burying our heads in the sand and waiting for the problem to go away is unlikely to work.

Ironically, Hungary a country whom prior to their acceptance into the E.U provided the E.U with large amounts of illegal immigrants, now has a nationalist leader advocating that a tougher stance be adopted to deal with the crisis. Even more ironically he does this in the name of protecting Christianity.

Hungary’s nationalist prime minister, Viktor Orbán, has claimed Europe is in the grip of madness over immigration and refugees, and argued that he was defending European Christianity against a Muslim influx.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/sep/03/migration-crisis-hungary-pm-victor-orban-europe-response-madness

 

Three years old, Syrian boy Aylan lies dead on a Turkish beach. His five year old brother’s body was found a short time later further down the coast.

Three year old Aylan’s aspirations to bring down European Christianity were quickly thwarted.

To the Far Right is so Wrong

How the world really looks.

 

And the beautifully coloured, pretty, illusion of a world as created by man. What does it mean to be e member of a country? Is identifying with your country more important than identifying with your own species?

What rights do any of us have to prohibit an individual from seeking out a better life for themselves and their family. We all have but one life, isn’t it reasonable for all of us to live it in as much comfort as possible? Is it unreasonable that those in immediate life threatening situations seek safety? I am not empowered to prevent someone from improving their lot, neither would I ever want to be. In fact isn’t it mankind’s responsibility to improve the collective well being of the species, this sounds too cold, simply isn’t it our duty to help one another?

 

Sharing the Solution

It is pure ignorance to extend preferential treatment to people that were fortunate enough to have been born within an imaginary border. For your quality of life to depend upon which side of a non-existent line you fell out of your mother’s vagina. Western privilege and greed are at the heart of this issue. Of course the migrants wish to reach Germany is it offers the best opportunities, even the Hungarian prime minister conceded that none of the immigrants entering Hungary had any intention of staying there.

Treat the Cause Not the Symptom

By far the most credible and more sensible right wing criticism of the handling of the migrant crisis has been a call to address the cause of the diaspora itself. This would require Europe to meddle further in Middle Eastern conflicts, something that Europe already did and that contributed greatly to this very crisis.  Even so, this suggestion isn’t without its logic, one does not need a PhD in Neo-Malthusian Economics to understand that Europe only has finite resources at its disposal, already has high unemployment, and an ever worsening division of wealth.

The Grand Plan

Europe’s approach to handling the refugee crisis has been one of two things, either inept, or stage managed. Either are as likely as the other, but if this is by design what do those in charge hope to gain from this. The answer is imply control, a greater level control of the people. Only in January of this year Islamic extremists brought Paris to a stand still. The news has constantly carried stories of Europeans leaving their home countries to fight for Islamic State. Doesn’t it now seem a somewhat cavalier, verging on downright irresponsible to open Europe’s borders to people from nations notorious for harbouring Islamic fundamentalism? This policy goes against all the logic that has been reported to us through the news since ISIS came on the scene, and it would be illogical for a place to do such a thing if they wish to keep their people safe. But that’s the catch, the E.U is not trying to keep its people safe, in fact they fully intend to bring as much peril to the streets of Europe as they can. ISIS insurgents forming terror cells across Europe is the only way such an army can bring a war to its enemies. ISIS have no interest in continuing the conflict in Iraq and Syria, locations where air superiority can be used against them. True terror will reign when ISIS engages in urban guerrilla warfare in the major cities of Europe. Tactically for ISIS this make sense as hiding among the civilian takes away western air superiority, it also brings the battle into a terrain they are experienced in, and most importantly it will bring terror to Europe, that whilst it lasts will be on a par with World War 2. Europe’s conventional counter terrorism tactics are not designed to handle an attack on such a large potential scale.

Fighting an enemy within a civilian population would facilitate  the removal of most our civil liberties in the name of safety, but as Benjamin Franklin said:

They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.

Russia Today has run a number of reports on a clandestine NATO operation known as Operation Gladio. An operation to support terrorism to destabilize countries

 

A BBC documentary suppors RT’s claims of Operation Gladio. Governments support a state sponsored terror network in Europe.

So what is the answer? Could this humanitarian crisis provide a way for terrorism as never seen before fought throughout Europe’s major capitals? We all know drowning toddlers, washed up on beaches is wrong, but such a significant movement of people tells us that there is great instability on Europe’s doorstep, should Europe just open the door and let it walk in? Unless this refugee crisis is dealt with compassionately and rigorously it could quite easily escalate into a whole new and more frightening situation

 

 

 

 

 

swarm

The Jokes Over, No More Laughing – Or I Will Light You Up!!!!!

jimdroberts

scarstrangledbanger

At around 9.00 on the Morning of Friday, July 10, 2015 an Sandra Bland, a 28 year old African American woman was driving to work to finish her first week in a new job. In thirty minutes time, a perverse set of circumstances ensured that Sandra wouldn’t make it to work that day. In fact Sandra would never make it to work anywhere, ever again.

Sandra was not killed in a traffic accident, nor gunned down as an innocent bystander in one of America’s increasingly popular mass shootings. What started the chain of events that ultimately led to Sandra losing her life was her failure to signal. I’ll write that again, her failure to signal. No matter how you say it, write it, or read it, it never makes any sense. She failed to signal, and three days later, she died, while still in police custody. The story being, she failed to signal and now she is dead.

statue of liberty
The Statue of Liberty promoting Sandra Bland’s right to smoke in her car.

Now of course the legalistic pedants among us will jump up and down screaming foul play, they’ll say “but Sandra wasn’t in jail for failing to signal, she was in jail for resisting arrest,” and this is of course true, (although wasn’t she protected by the 4th amendment against unreasonable search and seizures?). But, why was she being arrested, for failing to extinguish a cigarette in her own car? Surely in the home of Lady Liberty, and “the land of the free”, citizens can’t be arrested for smoking a cigarette in their own car. Why did officer Brian Encinia demand Sandra to exit her car? Shouldn’t he have issued the ticket, tipped his hat and sent Ms. Bland on her way? As soon as officer Encinia ordered Sandra Bland to step out of her car he acted as a catalyst in the escalation of a fractious situation. Another way of saying it is he poured fuel onto the fire. All Officer Encinia needed to do, all he had the right to do was to have issued the warning or ticket relevant to her traffic infraction. What did the officer see to prolong detaining Sandra Bland?

In an article on attn.com criminal defense attorney John Hamasaki (http://hamasakilaw.com/) provides his interpretation of the events and legal implications, as witnessed from the dashcam of the police car.

there’s a term we hear in the criminal law field– “somebody failed the attitude test.” And when somebody fails the attitude test, things escalate. Again, there is no “attitude test” that’s permissible as a basis for police encounters, meaning police officers don’t get to harass you because you have a bad attitude, or you don’t show them the proper deference.

Hamasaki continues by saying:

Once the investigative detention relating to the traffic stop was complete, he had no basis to detain her, no basis to order her to put out her cigarette, and no lawful basis to order her out of her vehicle.- Hamasaki

For the full article follow the link:  http://www.attn.com/stories/2498/sandra-bland-arrest-lawful

While Hamasaki’s comments are both interesting and enlightening, I’m an old fashioned, simple sort of a person. All this legal interference, interpretation of the law and so on, only serves the needs of sustaining an over developed legal system. The law is there to protect the citizens, by their nature laws should be reasonable and have an element of common sense. Those empowered to enforce the laws should only be asked to uphold reasonable laws, and have received the training necessary to do the job. The point I am laboring towards is that had the officer used what some might call discretion, but what I’ll refer to as common sense, today Sandra Bland is alive.

Upon entering the Waller County Jail, Sandra Bland was asked some standard questions. These revealed that earlier this year she had taken a drug overdose following a miscarriage. To most human beings she had suffered significant emotional trauma in the past year. Also, if someone answers yes to that question, doesn’t that triggersomething happening, otherwise what is the purpose of asking it?  What we’ve seen is a woman admitting to those detaining her that she had tried to kill herself in the previous 6 months, then killing herself with material supplied by the custodians, whilst under their care. While Waller County Jail might not have directly killed Sandra, dereliction of duty bordering on complete incompetence seems highly likely.

Now an appeal to pathos; when looking at the circumstances of this shameful and unnecessary death what I find most saddening is how Sandra’s life might have played out had fate been more benevolent, had luck gone her way, had she been white. Had circumstances been different, it is conceivable that today she would be the mother of a young baby. Where there could have been joy and so much life celebrate,  instead became story of tragedy and death.

I quit
Sadly for Sandra she didn’t even have the view to appreciate.

 

 

 

 

 

Now an appeal to anger; I’m tired of hearing about people dying unnecessarily, and what happened to Ms. Bland was as unacceptable as circumstances get. In the past I have watched the news, felt pissed, shrugged my shoulders and got on with my life, but enough’s enough. Below is the link to the Waller County Sheriff’s complaints and compliments webpage (compliments?) I know most of you are too busy, or too tired, or just don’t care enough, but if some of you could drop them a line expressing your thoughts, keeping the pressure on the murderous swine, it’s a legitimate reason to rant at fascist law enforcement, and maybe you’re doing something that just might help prevent this from happening again.

The employees of the Sheriff’s Office are proud to serve this community.  We strive to always provide professional and courteous service to every citizen who requires our assistance.  Sheriff Smith values all feedback from citizens, be it positive or negative.

Compliments for a job well done may be emailed to wallersheriff@wallercounty.us.  Complaints or concerns regarding an employee should be sent to the same email.  In order to file a formal complaint against a deputy, you may be asked to come to the Sheriff’s Office in person.

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A Letter to America

jimdroberts29 Comments
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There really isn’t a pretty side to the idea of white supremacy.

Following the most recent shootings and police brutality in America, I asked a grade 11 student to write a letter to the American people. What they produced shocked me.

Dear America,

It would appear that your history and circumstance has played a pivotal role in your birth as a nation. Paradoxically, two of these circumstances are now responsible in what might undermine the states from ever becoming united. Guns and racism are two pathological illnesses your nation was  born with, the two scary issues that ‘the land of the brave’ seem too afraid to deal with.

It is somewhat ironic that as your first black president’s administration is in the autumn of its office, America appears more racially divided than at any other time in recent history. Many of us thought that the election of Barrack Obama would mean that you had finally reached Martin Luther King’s ‘promised land’. In recent years it has become obvious that this was a false dawn, today you are as far from that ‘promised land’ as you have perhaps ever been.

Why is it that racism is only talked about following the police shooting an unarmed black youth, or police brutality against black, bikini clad teenage girls, or when a white supremacist executes 9 black people in a church? Surely none of those actions have a place in ‘the land of the free’. And that’s part of the problem, it’s all this ‘land of the free, and home of the brave,’ the huge effort you go to to convince yourselves that you have created a Utopia. What kind of sick minded people pledge their allegiance to a flag? It’s nothing more than a symbolic yoke used to control the nation’s citizens, an arbitrarily colored piece of cloth, I would rather pledge allegiance to my toilet paper, after all it has a far more functional purpose and I know which one I couldn’t live without. The incessant patriotic pageantry has misled you into thinking that somehow you are the moral compass setting a course for the rest of the world. Sadly the rest of the world can see right through it and sees you for the wayward child you are. It’s time that you wake up and acknowledge that this country that you sing about, pledge allegiance to, doesn’t, and indeed has never existed. As George Carlin once said ‘it’s called the American Dream because you’ve got to be asleep to believe it’. You have to ask yourself why any country requires so many institutionalized methods of reinforcing patriotism, if the country is so great people will acknowledge it as being so without the need for all this mindless, systematic pageantry.

Put away the bunting for a while and turn off the ball game, have the courage to face up to your responsibilities. Start tackling the issues that as a nation you have ignored for far too long. Look yourself in the mirror and recognize that America’s most dangerous enemy isn’t Islamic extremism, ebola or even Russians, but yourselves. It’s always easy to put the blame onto someone else’s shoulders, but your society is the problem, it’s your mess and only you can clean it up.

People around the world are at a loss to explain your disparate responses to when foreigners kill Americans compared to when Americans kill each other. America has justified the torture and rendition of foreigners for the reason of protecting Americans whilst being only too happy to provide its citizens with the weapons to openly slaughter one another on a daily basis. One can only wonder, how as a country you would have reacted had the gunman been a follower of ISIS. But, because he is a white supremacist your response is markedly more restrained, more measured, you can’t find anyone to invade on this one. The fact is America far prefers its citizens to kill one another than to allow foreigners to do it and your constitution’s second amendment facilitates this. You have to ask yourselves some tough questions, you have to question some of the historical factors that gave birth to your nation, and to be strong enough to acknowledge some of them just might have been wrong. One thing you must be certain of though, now is not the time for ticker tape parades, apple pie, bunting and songs.

Yours sincerely

A Korean student

Neo-Feminism, Retro-Sexism and Biological Determinism: Who Should Really do the Washing Up?

jimdroberts1 Comment

HeForShe_Logo_Badge_withTagline_Use_On_WhiteNeo-Feminism: A Movement without Gender Boundaries

All round the world women have been getting their ‘knickers in a twist’. It seems impossible to turn on a television or surf the internet these days, without seeing a woman receiving a Nobel prize, or speaking out at the U.N about the difficulties still being faced by the fairer sex just because they have a vagina. It would appear that allowing them to vote and drive cars was not enough to placate their lofty ambition, they’re more motivated than we first thought, they’re after more and they’re not beyond using dirty tricks to get what they want. The neo-feminist is the most highly functioning female we have seen to date, capable of holding rational arguments, sustaining common sense and reason for extended periods of time. Whereas a generation ago they were appeased when we let them vent, burn their bras and then told them to calm down by making a cup of tea, today the neo-feminists  are digging their heels in, high heels and for the long haul.
If we men are to retain our already fragile status as top dog we must evaluate this threat and deal with it seriously, impromptu foot massages, compliments regarding their choice of clothing, even suggesting it would be nice to watch Downton Abbey may be necessary if we’re to withstand this latest onslaught. We will have to dig deep into the bag of tricks that has been passed on from father to son, go through the full repertoire, if social order is to be maintained.
I remember feminism from one or two prickly encounters at university during the 90’s. For the most part feminists were just aggressive lesbians, with short cropped hair, wearing Doc Marten boots and had a chin like Desperate Dan. Opening a door for a woman at university was a hazardous act of chivalry for which the knight may have often been better off throwing himself on his sword instead. The feminists of the 90’’s did for feminism much the same as what the Taliban did for Islam. The 90’s feminist ultimately sought to promote her cause by acting more like a man, than a man. 90’s feminism led to the phenomena we commonly referred to as “chicks with dicks”. Chicks with dicks were women who had shrugged off the shackles of femininity, women with better careers than men, drank more beer than men, swore more than men, could belch more verses of the national anthem than men and who understood the offside rule in football. Sometimes, at a first glance, they could appear quite attractive, but fifteen minutes and 3 pints later they would have the charisma, charm and feminism of Margaret Thatcher. It was for such circumstances I moved to South East Asia.

Like the most untrustworthy shape shifter, feminism today has morphed and re-branded itself, in the shape of Hermione Granger, Malala Yousufzai, and Jean Luc Picard. Feminists today include men, this disturbing image was taken outside a supermarket and clearly shows a disoriented and confused old man, his mind addled, under the influence of some heinous psychotropic drug, holding a placard he probably can’t even read.

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Whilst picking up supplies for the Enterprise, Captain Picard finds the time to fight for women’s rights.
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The Ministry of Magic send Hermione Granger to the U.N.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

These feminists pose an entirely new challenge, not only have the brainwashed vulnerable old men  but they are educated, lucid, and armed with questions forged out of common sense and tempered by logic, but I’ll be damned if I’m going to do the wash the dishes without putting up a fight.

Fighting the Misogyny Within

It’s so predictable to blame sexism and misogyny on men, based on the simplistic reasoning that they are not women. Such reasoning follows that if a group is being oppressed then it must be a group different to the oppressed that are the oppressors, this line of inquiry  quickly concludes that men are the oppressors. But, in my experience most of the men I know like women, in fact they like women more than women usually do. If you really want to hear a group of people tearing a woman’s soul to shreds then you only have to go into a female dominated work place, for there is nowhere more visceral nor savage. A florid pit of estrogen in which a dominant queen dictates the menstrual cycles of all others and passes judgements on subjects ranging from outfits to hairstyles, with one savage lash of the tongue. Nature requires men to like women, after all it is upon such a truism that our species keeps populating itself. You might say that men often only like women in order to get into their pants, and this would be a reasonable assertion, but I would reply that this is still a more positive feeling than most women show towards each other. And when is there ever absolute gender equality, in lesbian relationships is it not normal for one woman to adopt the more male dominant role? Women are often just as bigger discriminators against women as men. Look at women that have run countries, how many women did they promote to be their advisers? Look at female CEO’s what percentage of their board members are female? There are numerous examples of females discriminating against females, stop laying the blame all at the feet of men just because you don’t have a penis. If we were to live in a Utopian society where women were accepted as equals by men (a world I aspire to), the question remains, would they also be accepted as equals by other women?

We are but Apes, What do you Expect?

The Men for Women campaign reminds me of a clinic on the edge of Bangkok specializing in gender realignment surgery, which is ironic, as are we looking at gender equality, or a metaphorical realignment of the genders? The notion of gender equality in itself appears to me as being discriminatory, as it suggests it is the only cause deserving equality. We should just be striving for equality for everyone, irrespective of race, gender, creed, colour, sexual orientation,age,  physical or mental disability. A just and decent society will provide the same rights for an octogenarian, Asian, lesbian, bipolar, Roman Catholic midget, as it does for the most immoral, whoring, Republican, NRA supporting bum. Ms. Watson talks of political and economic equality, but this is to ignore the blue print upon which men and women are built, that biologically we are different, and to some extent throughout the evolution of our species we have been designed for different tasks. To disregard this biological framework, and believe that we have always lived in a world with iPhones, air conditioning, microwave meals and WiFi is folly. We must accept some basic truths if we are to make any progress in this forum:

1) Men have a penis, and women have, what medical experts call, a ‘vagina’;
2) For nine months after a man has put his penis into a woman’s ‘vagina’ it could result in that woman gestating. To date there has only been one notable exception to this rule, when a woman began gestating sans penis, for further details please refer to a bible;
3) There will never be biological equality, men will always have a penis, and women a vagina. Women will always be expected to shoulder the burden of gestation. But whilst there is this fundamental biological difference, should this translate into an economic or political one?
4) Women will generally always be better st some tasks than men, skills that have been passed down over hundreds of thousand of years, mothering, making a comfortable living space, and conducting 5 conversation simultaneously whilst reading a book.
5) Men will always me better at laying around, drinking beer, farting and hitting things.

To deny these truths is to not accept one another for who we are. Biologically we are not equal, for procreation’s sake that is a good thing, every plug must have its socket, but we must respect our differences not exploit them as being weaknesses.

A society that penalizes women economically on the premise that they may go onto have a child is insane, it goes against the laws of nature. What if women were to all sterilize themselves in, an all be it cutting their nose off to spite their face kind of way, order to demand equal pay? No longer burdened with the indignity of being able to bare children, should they now be paid the same as men? Penalizing women for having children is the brainchild of a society that puts profit before values. Society should be providing stability and encouragement for women to have children, an environment that supports children and families financially, socially and culturally. Unless of course society is targeting those women who are educated, strong minded and go to work, if society can restrict these women from breeding that will polarize the population into hordes of poorly educated families and the rich who they could mindlessly serve. The middle class would soon die out or at the very least reduce itself to such low numbers that they would no longer threaten to expose and fuel the fire of the class divide. Meanwhile the poorly educated peel grapes for the rich and content themselves with daytime television. But, as we all know this scenario could never happen, for it would necessitate a power crazed, and paranoid rich elite obsessed with maintaining the status quo.

 

Equality at What Price?

I’m all for equality but does equality mean that women can behave like men? A society stripped bare of feminism, a society of women behaving like men is surely nobody’s utopia. Following Ms. Watson’s natter with the UN and the launch of the ”He for She” campaign, nearly every other news item on the internet has concerned itself with gender equality. I was in disbelief when I saw the following news article:

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/oct/24/real-equality-is-when-women-have-the-right-to-be-as-drunk-and-stupid-as-men

 

Real equality is when women have the right to be as drunk and stupid as men

The freedom to have fun, make mistakes and participate in some youthful irresponsibility shouldn’t be limited to boys

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Gender equality realized

This article by the Guardian’s Jessica Valenti proposes the whole equality debate hinges on women being granted the same rights to get as drunk and behave as  stupid as men. Only once this has been realized will our species truly  have progressed beyond gender stereotypes. If there is one thing the world is crying out for right now it’s more drunk, stupid people. Can’t women appreciate that stupidity is the last bastion of the male, it’s a place where men can retreat to for peace and quiet. A world of drunk, stupid people would result in nothing more than a perpetual Friday night.

Women, if you ever get the gender equality that you do deserve, then I plead with you to use it for something a little more noble than to behave like men. Half the population already behave like men, they’re called men. Tonight I am left in fear that if Ms. Watson and Valenti have thier way, they will create a society with an androgynous population of stupid alcoholics.

How Much Fun Can You Legally Have With a Dwarf?

jimdroberts

midgets

Gay marriage, recreational drug use and euthanasia are just three sensitive topics where the perceived liberty of an individual often conflicts with the morality of a society. But when all parties involved in a way of life are adults and consenting, does society have a right to intervene? And if so who are the people that determine what is right or wrong in society? These are questions I have been wrestling with after reading the following news headline:

Dwarf stripper gets bride pregnant on her hen night

Spanish woman admits she slept with a dwarf stripper on her hen night after giving birth to a baby with dwarfism.

 

Initially my thoughts were with the unfortunate groom. Imagine his excitement over the previous nine months, getting married and then becoming a father, halcyon days en route to complete social conformity, I should imagine a 40 year mortgage was also included.

Then when the proud moment arrived and his eyes fell upon his son for the first time, there appeared to be something, a little different, somehow he expected him to look, bigger, with bigger features, in fact nearly  everything should have been a little larger. With confusion marauding through his brain, like a Frenchman making his way down the wine aisle of a supermarket, his tearful wife tells him the truth of how she slept with the dwarf stripper at her hen party. From there, in which direction does a marriage go? Anger, loathing, resentment, separation, bitterness and divorce, or maybe if the husband is so inclined exotic dwarf love on a regular basis. One thing is for sure social conformity, even acceptance now looks to be a distant prospect.

Slowly the true depth of the perversity of this story broke over me like a wave of sewage. I realized the only reason for this story being reported was that it involved a dwarf. If in the headline, you were to replace the word dwarf with black man, Mexican, Asian, all hell would have broken loose and rightly so because that would be unacceptably racist. But dwarfs are not a race, a fact that can easily be forgotten following the Lord of the Rings movies. Many dwarfs do not even consider themselves disabled and choose to live their own lives and make their own decisions. After all isn’t it the duty of liberty to protect the rights of minorities? If a dwarf wants tossing and someones willing to pay to do it, what sort of sick society would stand in the way of this fun?

Western society promotes itself as having values of equality and respect, but dwarfs have nimbly side stepped this and have made themselves fair game for the entertainment of the public. Skillfully they have maneuvered their way under the radar of political correctness and because of this dwarfs always have a profession they can fall back on (not very far back).

The life of a dwarf entertainer, sounds like it requires talent and it does, but to a dwarf that that talent comes naturally, by virtue of their diminutive stature. People like to laugh at and abuse dwarfs, and they can. Dwarfs do not ask for people’s pity, and just like anyone else dwarfs are free to seek out methods of abuse and public humiliation, but how humiliating is it when your getting $400 an hour for being thrown across a room?

In short (as it so often is with dwarfs) they are provocative, a thorn in the side of the moralistic, conservative do-gooders, that believe themselves to be endowed with the power to tell everyone else what is right or wrong. Dwarfs stand at the front line in the battle of free speech against these oppressive forces of political correctness.

In the United States dwarfs enjoy the same liberties afforded to anybody else, and therefore Americans  are free to enjoy dwarf tossing, dwarf bowling, dwarf wrestling, racing them against exotic animals, dwarf stripping, you can even have one impregnate your future wife. Nothing protects the dwarf from public indignity, because nothing needs to, a dwarf can embrace it, face up to it with his head held high (metaphorically speaking). For millenniums dwarfs have entranced and captivated the simple minded, with an air of mysticism, and while society’s curiosity in the bearded lady or Lobster Boy has long faded, a healthy interest in the dwarf endures.

 

Can I Toss a Dwarf?

Dwarf-Tossing

Of course, dwarf tossing is a well established pastime that requires a tosser and a dwarf consenting to being tossed. Dwarf tossing actually dates back to the times of ancient Babylonia and is even made reference to in the Dead Sea Scrolls. In 1026 BC, King Nabu-shum-libur, whilst facing attack and ultimate destruction from the marauding nomadic tribesman of north west Babylonia sought solace and relaxation. With his city lying in ruins around him,and with nothing else at hand but his loyal troupe of dwarf entertainers, the King started to throw them around his burned out throne room to alleviate the stress of his impending doom.

The more conservative members of society might be questioning the morality and legality of such practices. In Florida during the 1980’s dwarf tossing became very popular in bars. Until Jeb Bush had a law passed enabling the revoking of liquor licenses of bars that continued to allow dwarfs to be tossed on their premises. Thankfully in October 2011, common sense prevailed when Ritch Workman introduced legislation that would overturn the ban on dwarf-tossing, claiming such a ban to be an “unnecessary burden on the freedom and liberties of people” and “an example of Big Brother government”. Although not a personal advocate of the activity, Workman stated “if a little person wants to make a fool out of themselves for money, they should have the same right to do so as any average sized person”.

While the United States are progressive in their approach to dwarf tossing, the EU is more draconian. In 2002 a French dwarf  appealed to the UN against a ban on dwarf tossing, his appeal was thrown out as the UN said it was satisfied that the ban on dwarf-tossing should be upheld “in order to protect public order and considerations of human dignity”. Therefore this proves there is greater human dignity in France than Florida, and that if you’re French you will have to go to Miami to toss a dwarf. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/2285348.stm

 

In The kingdom of the Little People

20111124-asia obscura dwarf them 2
In China they embrace the fact that dwarfs are entertaining.

Kunming, China – A successful entrepreneur with a social conscience decided he wanted to give something back to society, and what better thing could he give back than a dwarf themed park? Costing $115 million dollars and situated in 13,000 acres of rural countryside, this is no small attraction. Amongst the props is a black BMW modified to resemble a UFO out of which dwarfs pour to commence their shows. Mr. Chen the entrepreneur with the vision for this spectacle proudly boasts that it was all his idea including the  ClickHandler.ashxDr. Seuss style homes with crooked chimneys.

But this LSD fueled, Roald Dahl nightmare is not without its detractors who claim it is little more than a freak show pandering to people’s morbid curiosity. Gary Arnold who is the spokesperson for  Little People of America Inc, a dwarfism group based in California, said ” I think it’s horrible, how low can a society get? People always look down on us and this does nothing to raise our status.” Mr. Chen is quick to argue that the dwarfs are paid well and he always has a surplus of applicants. “My theme park is a step up for them, they are well looked after end their environment is built for their needs. The public might be motivated out of a morbid sense of curiosity, but why can’t the dwarfs make money from it? At the end of the day both parties go home happy.”

 

 

Dwarfs Taking Sport Seriously

Don’t let this tomfoolery deceive you, not all dwarf activities are organised for public amusement. This video shows a very proficient football team from Brazil.

 

Unique Dwarf Sporting Challenges

And who has the right to stop four dwarfs racing a camel?

 

Dwarfs push the boundaries, boundaries often placed there by others, by non-dwarfs. They challenge conservative values established by a society obsessed with political correctness. Dwarfs teach us determination, give us hope and inspire, because whilst being small has it’s difficulties, they’re not going to let it get them down further than it already has.

Dwarfs wherever you are, whether your racing camels, getting tossed or shagging a bride at her hen night, I salute you.

salute