It is difficult not to look at what’s gone on in America this week and not feel sad. Sadness that it has gone on for this long and even while they had a black president and with many of their police chiefs black. Sadness that in a few weeks’ time it will happen again and protests or no protests, a few months after that it will happen again

The value of human life is determined by what the consequences are if you take that life. It really is that simple. That is why countries hold on to nuclear deterrents. If there are no consequences to the repeated taking of black lives in America, by the very people who are paid and employed by the citizens they continue to kill, then it will never end. The reason why white people do not have police kneeling on their necks in public or punched in the face is because of the consequences, not because some in the police would not want to.

So, how can you up the value of black lives in America and create consequences?

The answer lies in finances. Affluence.

Set up a $trillion Black fund and hire the smartest investors, start new industries, businesses, educate, train and employ black people in America. Drag them out of poverty. There must be at least 1000 black millionaires in America (plus a few black billionaires like Oprah Winfrey, Dr Dre and Jay-Z), and if the government want to end the matter of reparations for ever, throw in an additional $trillion: provide fixed pensions for all 40 million or so blacks in America from that fund. Then invest heavily in several key sectors in America: automobile, energy, health etc., so that there is heavy dependence across the country, on the Black Fund. Get lobbyists in, lawyers (recruit indiscriminately: whites, blacks etc.); the next time a black life is taken by police or a white woman calls the cops needlessly on a black person like the dog-walker in NY, come down on them like a ton of bricks with legal and heavy financial consequences. The next black person to be arrested will be treated with dignity and humanity. Nobody is saying people should not be arrested if and when they break the law, but to dehumanise them by laying them on the tarmac, kneeling on their neck or tying them while riding a horse (last year in America) with the black man walking behind the horse, should meet with severe consequences: instant dismissal and long term inability to secure another job (financial ruin) and other significant measures are good deterrents

Few would disagree that there’s a good number of white people out there in America who are appalled by what they have seen (George Floyd videos) and there are many police men and women in America who are not out to get black people but simply wish to do a decent job and go home after their shifts. So, this is a matter of making sure the deterrent is in place so that ALL American lives are valued and all citizens are afforded the “employer” status by their public services e.g. police. None of us would march into our employer’s office and place our knee on his/her neck would we?

Blacks in America continue to dream: new government, perhaps a messiah. Slavery is not something that only happened to blacks (even if the most recent mass enslavement did involve blacks). Every race has been enslaved at one point or the other in history. Others chose to move on and stop dwelling on it (I can’t recall a movie depicting barbary slaves for instance). Barbary slaves were whites enslaved by blacks. The Moors enslaved many whites. Romans were slaves, Greeks were slaves. There were galley slaves of all colour. And the seemingly acceptable term: “people of colour” never ceases to baffle me: when did white cease to be a colour? We are all people of colour: white, black, brown etc. All colours. And the whole classification of who is black: if it is visual, then surely half of Spain and Italy is black? (most of those folks are darker than Megan Markle!)

Create the $multi-trillion Black Fund in America, get blacks out of poverty with it through enterprise. Invest and create the dependency across sectors in America on that fund and you have your deterrent. Use that financial muscle to ensure swift consequences and you will end the brutality and inequality. People won’t necessarily have to love black people, but they will think twice before kneeling on their necks in public

The world can focus on America all we want (perhaps because they say (rather bizarrely) they are the land of the free and their leader is the head of the supposed free world) but where on planet earth are black people having a good time? Not even in Africa, thanks to centuries of being grabbed and bundled off as slaves, followed by decades under colonial rule, followed by the current and ongoing decades of manipulation and abuse. If corrupt leaders in Africa are denied the ability to stash $billions away in bank accounts in supposedly developed countries, perhaps they can be forced to invest those funds locally and Africa can industrialise (mechanise agriculture etc) and eliminate poverty and end the need for so many Africans suffering abuse and hardship in their sometimes fatal attempts to get to what they deem as developed countries. In all instances of black suffering (be it a George Floyd with a white knee on his neck or kids drowning in boats trying to cross the sea) you will find poverty, desperation and hopelessness (even if some try to depict it as greed or economic migration; not sure how many would be so keen to go and get their necks knelt on…). End the equality, drag black people out of poverty and you drive the value of their lives up (empty words won’t do it) and there will be hesitation before anyone feels willing to snuff their life out!

Thank you to those reading this blog. Majority of readers to date are from China, France, UK and Canada.

I started this blog just to have a means of capturing some of my thoughts and that remains the purpose. If along the way, we get to share knowledge and readers get to share knowledge, great!

Thanks for reading..

Money and what it represents (be it affluence, position in society, wealth, ability to do as one pleases, financial stability, privilege etc.) remains the root of all evil and has been for a very long time

Socialism may not be the answer or the answer people want, but the closer we get to an equal society, the closer we will get to creating a world that we can all enjoy and be proud of.

The insatiable human quest for domination is nothing new. There’s been conquerors and the vanquished for generations and the subtleties from one generation to the next is perhaps the only difference.

Some say you could trace most conflicts in history back to religion in a similar manner to tracing most human to human dispute back to financial gain.

A friend who is a prolific writer on social media recently wrote a very poignant article on the need for equality and extermination of poverty, particularly in developed countries. His article was read by 6 people. The next day he uploaded a picture of his home office, under the caption “working from home”, with no other text and within 12 hours it had attracted 42,000 views, 157 comments and 725 likes. That is a representation of the fickleness of the world we live in today.

Years back, aspiring politicians had to come up with robust ideas, policies etc. Today, if you want to win an election, all you need to do is hire a clever adviser who will find you a “one liner” and a divisive topic that they can use to whip up a frenzy and out comes your grassroot base and regardless of anything else, your victory is guaranteed. I remember the last aspiring leader who offered to level up society, tax the rich more to get the poor off the poverty block and assist the less fortunate; he lost by a landslide with those he was trying to help (i.e. the poor) voting against him and majority of the less fortunate in his society chose to vote for his opponent. That in essence, is the psychology of the human mind!

Today, people say whatever they have to say in order to pull the crowds in. Conviction means nothing. What do you believe in? anything to get millions of followers on social media as that now translate to hard cash; be it through marketing or other means.

It is always difficult to imagine how or why we have people living in destitution in countries like the UK, Canada, France, Australia, US and other developed parts of the world but we always find excuses: laziness, substance abuse, benefits culture, deterrent (to stop mass migration of people coming in if we demonstrate we have a gravvy train) etc. Is there any tenable reason for every adult in employment to struggle to make ends meet? Will there be an outcry if everyone is afforded a decent means to live and then those who want more or want to be billionaires can go the extra mile to achieve that, but the poorest family in any of these countries should have a decent home, be able to afford upkeep, education etc.

if you then look at the wider society, I am not sure many will choose migration (to face hate, abuse and intolerance) if they can have a decent life where they are: no wars, good food, portable water, education etc. Is it possible for the world to come together to make this a reality? NO.

Such a shame!

As a Brit it is hard not to reflect this weekend as we celebrate VE Day and reflect on those principles that led many to give their lives.

Theirs was not a perfect world and the brutality of what one generation’s done to the past is not lost on any of us, but today’s society must take an urgent step back to reflect on the sacrifices of those who gave so much to oppose some of the menace to society (e.g. intolerance) that have now slowly and comfortably made their way back into our social and political discourse. We appear to be heading swiftly and steadily back to 1939

There are no easy solutions to dealing with illegal migration, poverty, inequality, illiteracy, religious intolerance etc. all were problematic hundreds of years ago and still are today. Is it not now time for the world to try a different approach?

Einstein’s definition of insanity: doing the same thing over and over but expecting a different outcome!

Yes, it is totally counterintuitive but until we all let go of our feeling of entitlement and accept that the world belongs to none of us (we’re all only here for a period of time and do not choose where we are born and neither do we choose where we go when we die), we will continue in this endless, vicious cycle.

As we show our gratitude to those who gave so much to preserve our way of life, a quick look around the world today and the picture is scary. It feels like 1939 instead of 75 years after 1945. The language, the hate, the intolerance, the selfishness, the lack of empathy and the desperation for power. Hope those who gave their lives (1939 – 1945) haven’t done so in vain. We must chart a different course to ensure their sacrifices wasn’t for nothing. Happy VE Day.

Much as we try, the concept of “us” and “ours” pervades that thin layer and it comes so easy to accept that concept of “others”

When news of the coronavirus in China began to make headlines, many felt a degree of comfort in that this was something happening over there, to others and the West was not duly concerned, when the steps should have been:

1. An immediate coming together of all nations to begin looking at how we can come up with a cure (even if the virus was only in China)
2. How to best avoid it spreading
3. Lockdown in the countries the virus initially spread to (Italy, US, Spain and the UK)
4. Collective mass production of PPE, ventilators and urgent creation of additional hospital beds and immediate ramp-up of testing
5. Establish the most vulnerable and begin phased return of the least and less vulnerable to work in order to avoid economic catastrophe that will claim more lives in the aftermath of Covid-19

Instead, the concept of “Others” set in:

a. Some thought the virus was a hoax (if only the loss of tens of thousands of lives could be fake news! Not to talk of the millions of friends and families such losses impact! How can we be so callous??)

b. We all saw photos of hundreds in the UK sunbathing in parks and at beaches last weekend and Scotland’s Chief Medical Officer (a lady who spent most of last month telling everyone to stay at home but failed to apply the same rules herself) forced to resign last weekend and New Zealand’s should have been sacked for the same reprehensible act. People appear unable to comprehend the simple fact that spreading the virus to those less fortunate (e.g. those with underlying illnesses) leads to their death and the fact that they are not our direct relatives shouldn’t matter (they are someone else’s grand parents or brother, sister, wife, husband etc.)

There’s a number of press releases of companies saying they are donating litres of hand sanitizers etc. Why are those gestures turning into marketing opportunities???

This is a pandemic that has claimed thousands of lives and is set to claim thousands more! It is not a photo op and should not be used as a marketing or business development opportunity!

The level/display of indifference is absolutely staggering!

When I started this blog a few months ago, I was convinced knowledge can improve the world and still am, but it has become very apparent to me that such a day will never come. Why?

The answer comes from a quick peek at history: it is easier to control and manipulate people if a few are educated and knowledgeable, while the majority are left illiterate or semi-illiterate so they can be told what to do. If you look at the British Empire and the history of monarchy across the world, a handful gain knowledge, close ranks and they have the less knowledgeable at their beck and call, to direct and utilise in the Navy, Army etc., with few questions asked. Try forming an army with a group of equally educated, knowledgeable people and you will see how impossible that is (as each will have a bright idea and none will want to subject to the other and there will be widespread insouciance to each other’s instructions), but bring together a group comprising of 2 or 3 educated with 50 illiterates or semi-illiterates and you will quickly see a pattern of the 2 or 3 educated ones take control and an obedient following who will be able and willing to follow instructions and be led.

The same applies today. Social media and other forms of manipulation is making it easy to galvanise what is described as “base”, unite them in a doctrine (e.g. that anything against is “fake news”) and they will never be swayed. It doesn’t matter what happens next, that “base” will remain faithful. The need for sound politics and political ideology is no longer relevant. Politicians worldwide have cracked the magician’s code; in today’s era of increasing illiteracy there is zero need for policy or nuanced responses and ideas; manipulation is the winner! Find what resonates well with a group of people, play it up, give them what they think they want and you have their vote all day long, regardless. Politics as we used to know it is gone and will never return. Those days when politicians have to provide well-considered answers, policies (even if they later fail to fulfil those promises) are gone and gone forever. What we have now and likely to have indefinitely is the use of “hot buttons” (i.e. find a topic that a large group of people are emotional about e.g. immigration, abortion etc., then whip them into a frenzy, through whatever means; including outright lies) and all that is required is for you to press those hot buttons and watch the “base” galvanise into a voting block that will find any excuse to remain loyal and you will win election after election. That is our reality now and this strategy has won virtually every election held in the last 5 years, including a number of key referendums.

So, I ask: why would anyone wish for a fully educated and knowledgeable society? Well, they don’t. That is why we still have schools for the rich (fee paying schools that offer better education, which guarantee progress to universities etc.) and schools for the poor (where the intention is purely to provide a basic education that ticks the box and only a few unique ones make it on to university from there and on to better lives); kids that end up in the poor schools are slowly led to believe what they have is all they need and their betters will rule and make decisions for them. Those on the rich lane are told their duty is to rise to the top and rule. It’s been the same from time immemorial and will remain unchanged, largely because each have accepted their roles and as Jeremy Corbyn found out in the most recent UK election, going around preaching equality and offering to help level the playing field and eliminate social injustice simply irk those you are trying to help as they have accepted their lot and do not wish to be told things can be better for them. So, they drifted towards those who are offering them solutions to their “hot buttons”. One can name several countries where the exact same has been the case and so will it continue

There is no point in trying to address this situation. Knowledge is great and can indeed change the world, but it just ain’t gonna happen!

Some folks were singing John Lennon’s IMAGINE earlier this week and if the Coronavirus pandemic has taught us anything, it should be a reminder that rich or poor, native or immigrant, locals or refugees, male or female, Caucasian or Asian or African, when death comes calling, we all succumb equally and leave with nothing. So, what is all the fuss about? The world, earth, Europe/Americas/Asia/Africa/others belong to no one; we all simply happen to be where we are and are all just passing through….

Unfortunately, nothing is going to change. As Coronavirus has shown; panic-buying, hoarding, people shoving the elderly out of the way to grad the last roll of toilet-roll etc. We (human beings) are made to be the way we are. As such, there will always be a few with knowledge and many without, and the few will continue to manipulate the rest.

Regardless of what you believe in, regarding the creation of evolution of human beings it would appear we do not all start off on an “equal” footing. Some are male, some are female, some are born to wealthy families, some to poor families, some in developed countries, some in impoverished locations. That initial choice of where we each show up, is made for us right?

As such, creating equal opportunities for all, could be a target we may stand a chance in achieving. Putting slogans out there and aiming for equality is a concept that is widely misunderstood. We talk about encouraging more women into science, but where does it all start?

Does it begin with how we treat female and male babies? the toys we buy the, the differing activities we expose them to (and that could be partly due to our perceptions of their physical build – we can’t change that “inequality” right?). Do female babies gravitate towards activities they see their Mums do and male babies towards activities they see their Dads do?

Young boys get taken to football games at the weekend and again, due to physical differences that are not of anyone’s choosing, the teams are separate and that separation leads to different kinds of discussions and the environment is different and what each set gravitate towards could be different.

In my humble opinion, what we must have in place, is a situation where influencers and in particular, early influencers: parents, teachers etc. avoid bias such as assuming males will prefer maths and females prefer history or that males should play with tractor toys while females should only have dolls.

The workplace is all about supply & demand. Global population is almost an equal split of men & women. We should see a similar number of boys and girls in classrooms for starters. Then we should see an equal number of boys and girls showing interest in all subjects, then that following through to similar numbers in higher education across all subjects. Then and only then, will we begin seeing similar numbers of men & women qualified to work across all fields of endeavour: post men & women, milkman and milkwoman, doctors, road sweepers, nurses, engineers, teachers etc. And then, we will begin to see similar numbers on boards etc. Unfortunately, at this point in time, there remains a very disproportionate supply but we think equality can be achieved by forced selection: an office of 100 employees with 90 men and 10 women will argue for a board of Directors that must include 5 men and 5 women. That is not how equality is to be achieved and sustained. Equality should never be an attempt to replace white middle-aged men with white middle-aged women as an example. It is about equal opportunities right from birth, creating an environment without bias, where everyone can secure a similar standard of education (you can imagine how far away we are, from achieving that; when there are still large parts of the world where women are still not allowed to make those choices e.g. go to school, drive a car etc.). And in our supposedly developed world, access to education is still by wealth and affluence, with private schools providing more than state schools offer and in any case, how do you force equality when a child from a poor background makes his first travel abroad at the age of 15, while a child from a wealthy background has already travelled the world (learning all sorts along the way) by the age of 15. Both cannot surely have an equal access to learning and one would have had a much better opportunity to learn more than the other. As such, the notion of ‘equality’ begins to unravel as you examine it and it is unlikely to ever be achieved. Whereas, the concept of equal opportunities can be, to an extent.

It is sometimes frightening to see what some deem to be equality. While trying to ram inequality through, in order to purportedly achieve equality….

Will a nation or individual stand up to be counted?

In history we have always found someone, when it comes to crunch: be it Winston Churchill or others. I wonder whom or which country or people will say enough is enough to today’s societal problems and lead the search for a fix!?

When you see images of dead children floating in the Atlantic Ocean or children being locked in cages in the name of controlling immigration, the question can no longer be whether the press photographer showed an angle of the floating body that will maximise reaction or whether the dead child belongs to an economic migrant or a bona fide refugee fleeing conflict. For goodness sake! How can we continue to say we are human, while we look away as fellow human beings suffer needlessly??

Recent images of people shoving old men and women aside in supermarket rush to buy up toilet rolls in a panic that coronavirus may end up quarantining vast numbers, shows you just how low today’s society has sunk and you can only imagine what would happen if this develops into a real emergency and we do indeed run out of suppliers: how long will it take for mass looting and chaos to ensue?

We cannot wait any longer to find today’s Winston Churchill, today’s William Wilberforce; we must stand up now for humanity and be counted.

The solution to the world’s problem is not mass-migration as many who have migrated will recount tales of generations of suffering and inability to integrate or fit in and many generations still suffer that effect. But together, we have to be disgusted by what society has become. None of us own this earth! We will all leave with nothing when we die. We have to find solutions that will industrialise majority of the world, end strife so that people can be happy where they are and only migrate if they choose to (and when they do, they are able to settle and integrate without fear of intolerance and generations of suffering thereafter). Majority of the population in Australia, Canada, USA, South America and other places are not indigenous; we all came from somewhere!

The common hysteria of: “if we’re nice to them, more will come”, which is fuelling the rise of populism cannot be ignored. If people have an anxiety of seeing new migrants come in in droves, ignoring their anxiety and just telling them they are stupid simply makes them more angry and more determined and we end up with supposed,y civilised governments creating “hostile environment” for migrants and being proud enough to state that as a strategy, when what we need to do as a society, is find real solutions that work for everyone. In trying to create hostile environments aimed at dissuading migrants, we are creating hostile environments for our own people and that is leading to the problems we have in today’s society with a gross lack of compassion and humanity. We shouldn’t have to create hostile environments here, we should help to create happy environments everywhere so that people will prefer to stay where they are and not have to drift around the world trying to find a better life: this is a much more effective and cheaper approach

The people we say we are trying to help are the ones we hurt the most, if we bring them into societies that do not want them. The outcome is generations of detriment to those folks. Governments are there to lead not dictate: governments must listen to their people (all their people) and not just the ones we agree with. We have to find peaceful locations near countries in conflict, to support those peaceful areas with infrastructure for their local people so they don’t hate on newcomers, and the provide infrastructure for the newcomers to settle them there, without people having to attempt crossing the Atlantic in bathtubs, only to get to their destination to be treated harshly and their children treated to years of not fitting in and abuse. We have to find solutions that work for all sides: those who are against migration, those who support it and for the migrants themselves (be they economic migrants or refugees; they are all human).

We must find answers! The state of today’s world is truly appalling. But first, we need people to stand up and be counted!!

Surely in the year 2020 we shouldn’t be talking about trying to get to a society that treat women equally as men right?

This is not a minority group matter right? There are at least as many women as there are men on earth. So, setting the physical differences aside, it is nothing of disgraceful, that women are still having to fight for equality

”Best woman engineer”, “best woman doctor”? Why????? If a woman is excelling and she is the best, she is the best engineer, doctor etc, PERIOD.

Unfortunately, we live in a world that sometimes baffles! Recently I read about a supposed “superforecaster” in the UK who stated that based on an IQ testing result in the US that showed African Americans with a low IQ, it is conclusive that they are not as smart as whites and that Asians are the smartest. To begin with, an average African American child will spend most of his/her formative years in poverty, trying to get decent food, while the average Caucasian child takes holidays around the world, seeing and learning. If all children grow up under similar circumstances, with a support network and society that see them as the same, the outcome will be very similar. In any case, only an idiot will seek to compare IQ along the lines of ethnicity or race, given the sample available in the US for instance, is weighted in favour of the predominant population

The same applies to women: globally, with fewer women being afforded the opportunity to go to school or live freely, it is reprehensible to denigrate the achievement of women.

We will only know we have made a difference, when women no longer have to fight for equal treatment. It has to start from the grassroots though: girls getting the same education, freedom, opportunities as boys and developing skills, taking up jobs and securing salaries without discrimination. Having an office of 100 staff with 80 men and 20 women but expecting 10 leaders of that office to comprise of 5 men and 5 women is not seeking equality but seeking preferential treatment. That has not helped the cause women have been trying to champion to date. A lot more needs to be done for young girls to ensure they progress unhindered (and not forced into roles society have decided to set aside for women. They must be encouraged to be whatever they want to be: engineers, lawyers etc.)

It is really sad that this is still an issue. A clear objective to eliminate ill-treatment of women, globally, needs to be championed by everyone and achieved urgently. We should not be talking about equality for women in the 21st century; we should be talking about how it was achieved and looking back to what the world used to be…

Collectively we are simply not doing enough! I see all the posts celebrating Women’s Day and all that. Fine, let’s celebrate it, BUT we need to act! We have to do more. Much more. Everyone seems keen on telling women what to do, what they can’t do with their body etc. (using all sorts of excuses; religion etc.). We must change. We all need to do more in order to achieve equality for women. Enough is enough!

I am not sure human beings are naturally cruel. However, not being a medical expert, happy to be corrected

Accepting that none of us own the earth. We are just passing through and regardless of how much or little we each acquire, we will all leave with nothing when we die. As such, what do we truly feel, when we see others suffering? Does it matter what they look like or what their background is?

When we look at those around us: street cleaners, homeless people, drug addicts, doctors, nurses, teachers, children, asylum seekers, anyone; what do we see? what are our thoughts? do we see a fellow human being and nothing else? or do we immediately label them and think the worst of those that are different from us?

The world can and should be a better place BUT only if we can each ask ourselves: what is it all about?

There is a great deal of talk about mental health and I do not believe this is reserved solely for one situation or the other. Before labelling individuals, we should seriously consider the state of mental health that could drive an individual to look at another and just automatically wish them ill. Help needs to be made available to assist.

We all need to try this from today: look at all those around us (and I mean anyone around us, regardless of what they look like and where they’re from, what the do etc.) and see them as a co-inhabitant of a planet (earth) owned by none of us. Look at them as passing through and none of us will take anything with us when we depart. Now, if you still find it difficult to let go and see everyone as fellow human beings then pick up the phone and seek mental health assistance today

At some point in future the world will learn to see human beings as citizens of the planet earth. Period.

At the moment, we forget that China Town’s been in existent in parts of the UK for example, for centuries and black people have been in the UK for generations. There is nothing such as a typical Brit. Brits are Caucasian, Black, Brown and other colours (including mixed race). They all belong. If we trace back a thousand years, those folks back then, look nothing like the folks here in the 19th century.

Going to China or Japan and asking a Caucasian: “where are you from?” is still a valid question, but asking a Chinese-looking person the same question in the US or the UK is very naive, as chances are, they as British or American as the Caucasian standing next to them

Society must learn that times have changed. There is no single definition of what a Brit or an Italian or a Spaniard looks like. They can be Caucasian, Black, Brown or other. They are not from anywhere else, same as Caucasians in Australia, Canada or USA are not asked: “where are you from? (given that the original inhabitants of those countries are not Caucasian), neither would one ask a Latin-speaking Caucasian in Argentina where they’re from?

There still appears to be a desire to produce more and period dramas on TV, but conveniently, the periods never date back further than when certain elements of society are in-charge…

The world must come together. Make all parts of our planet happy places for people to inhabit. We can afford to industrialise the whole world, educate, provide healthy conditions etc. And those that still wish to travel can do so. Those who wish to stay where they are can do so. But nobody should be made to feel out of place anywhere: none of us own the earth and we will all depart sooner or later (nobody is on earth and alive forever!)

I suppose it may well depend on the definition of ‘power’ we each subscribe to….

Why do supposedly powerful people require the adulation of those they deem irrelevant?

Why would an emperor lay on events to please his subjects?

If we look at the very simple example of music superstars: they have to run around on stage, give everything they have, to excite their audience. The audience would pay whatever they’re asked to pay in order to watch those superstars and groupies would scream their lungs out. The stars crave and feed on the adulation, the fans expect to be treated to spectacular performances….. do the maths..

Some would argue that in society, power belong to the people. But a few elected (supposed representatives) wield said power? On occasion (when they have to run for office and secure votes) those individuals are held accountable to an extent.

Ultimately, we all have a shelf-life. None of us are here forever. So, presumably we all face the same certain end. Legacy or no legacy…..

From time immemorial human beings have relentlessly sought ways to be divisive. Labels are a potent means that has allowed us to create divisions. Today you hear of “left wing”, “right wing” and with regards Brexit we have “leavers” and “remainers”. The various sides each want to be right. They dig in, get entrenched and FACTS become irrelevant and are cast aside. TRUTH is deemed irrelevant and we create a toxic environment where discussions are replaced by abuse, intolerance and violence.

In sports we now have labels such as GOAT or “Greatest of all time”; funny as I am not aware of anyone who has been around “for all time”. Records that are created today and deemed unassailable are certain to be broken down the road (same as those that are being broken today were deemed unassailable back in the 60s).

Everyone wants a label. In workplaces individuals who have never worked outside of their countries of birth take on delusional titles such as “Global Head” of this or that.

We are obsessed with labelling. Black, White….etc. It seems impossible for humans to just accept equality. There has to be distinction: Rich, poor, middle class, castes, believers, unbelievers, the list is endless. Put 5 people in a room and within minutes they will seek to label and divide instead of coming together as one..

Togetherness is deemed to be naïveté

Sad times…

Human life is a very temporary phase. Only a very few live to see 100 years. Majority of those who get past their 75th birthday depart between 80 – 99 years old. So, what is all the hate, intolerance, excessive wealth accumulation, quest for legacies all about?

Mental Health has a lot to answer for. We tend to ignore the fact that it probably isn’t unusual for human beings to wish ill/harm on each other. History sheds light on the various excuses human over several generations have come up with in order to harm each other: be it in the name of religion (e.g. the Spanish Inquisition), rooting out evil or for profit (e.g. slavery; from the days of the Romans and earlier, to the most recent transatlantic slave trade and there are still parts of the world where it is still ongoing).

The value of human life should transcend whatever differences we have with each other. When I look at people around me, I do not want to look for reasons to dislike them; like myself, they are human beings who were given birth to by someone and they didn’t choose those circumstances: they pop out wherever they pop out and then have to put up with the circumstances that confront them and the world should be a place that provides support to all its inhabitants

We will all depart at some point and when we do, we take nothing with us….

Ok, let’s talk about Brexit and the current state of our politics, our democracy.
Clearly, the real underbelly of our society is finally out in the open. And the exploitability of democracy has again been aptly demonstrated. If a majority have an issue, politicians must try to address the issue, regardless of what they believe. If they believe that majority is wrong (and we know from history that the majority is not always right and when left unchecked, the result can sometimes be catastrophic e.g. WW2), it is their job to try to convince that majority otherwise and that was the opportunity made available ahead of the Brexit referendum held in 2016. That is how democracy should work. To go through that process, get a result (and whether it is a result we all agree or disagree with is beside the point) and then have mainstream political parties like the Liberal Democrats seeking to unilaterally upend that result or others being noncommittal and leading politicians past and present telling that majority that their opinion counts for nothing and can be overruled, is reprehensible 
Some of the lies told in 2016, which may have contributed to the result of the Brexit referendum do not necessarily address the fact that millions of people had reasons to believe we are better out of the EU. The onus was on those who believe we are better off in the EU to convince others. 
The saddest aspect of this entire saga to date, is that all the good work put in over the last 50 years to build a cohesive Britain in which all inhabitants of this great island – be it those who can trace their lineage back centuries or those born in recent years to immigrants, Nobody predetermines where they show up as a baby; it is a random occurrence. None of us chose where we were born or to whom we were born – has gone to waste. We are now firmly back to that era where some think they are more British than others and those who voted to exit the EU now see themselves as the real Brits and supposed custodians of a national identity. 
The referendum was held and won by those seeking to leave the EU (I was of an opposing view and still believe that forcing the EU to change, mordernise, cut the extreme red-tape and staying within the EU is a better situation for the UK – but given that view didn’t win the referendum, one must accept that result) and every Brit should work towards ensuring we can all forget our differences and move forward. If those forecasting doom are correct, then why don’t they (and everyone else) work together to see how we can collectively deal with any negatives that comes from Brexit? We are an extremely resourceful nation and I am certain that if we all come together, we will be able to address any negative impact of exiting the EU, instead of perpetuating this “leavers” and “remainers ” divide, which many on either side appear bizarrely keen to keep on flogging. 
Society has to move on. We cannot go back to whichever good old days some people can recall; be it days when the population was low and as such, the streets were cleaner, roads less busy etc. We are no longer in that era and cannot possibly travel back in time. The dynamics of global politics are now very different and those stuck in the past, hoping to get that past back are going to be repeatedly disappointed

Why has the value placed on human life gone down so low?

Few years ago, the level of public outrage and angst at the loss of life, a single life, was so high that people took notice and politicians are forced to take meaningful action to preempt recurrence. Nowadays we read about hundreds of lives lost and we turn to the next page. What has happened to the value of human life? Any human life; regardless of the continent, country, race, rich or poor. How have we become so callous?

In the name of getting what we say we want, we see children being separated from parents at borders (recently treated as a means to a justifiable end in America), we see needless wars and the resulting displacement of thousands (and we turn the page with ease), we read about famine and age-old problems faced by children in under-developed countries (problems that today’s technology can easily address; while we focus on driverless cars or low emission cars etc. – when we have the technology to go and mechanise agriculture across Africa as an example, harness the abundant solar power available there, make portable water readily available by sinking hundreds of boreholes within weeks). Humanity has lost itself and its conscience

We should not be reading about multiple stabbing in London, needless loss of tens of young lives in what is supposed to be a developed country. Talks and more talks….. decisive actions must be taken and we must stop at nothing, to up the value (and how we value) of human life!

It has become virtually impossible to ignore politics in the last 4 – 5 years for reasons that are most unfortunate: everything is being politicised. The terms “Civil Service” and “Public Servants” which we’re casually applied to those supposedly paid for by the taxpayer to work for the greater good of the public, may as well be discontinued as it has been a long, long time since we last had politicians who have put themselves forward to serve. You get a knock on you door during an election cycle, open the door and there in front of you, would be a very polite individual asking for your support, your vote. Few weeks later and once elected, the transformation from public service to Demi-god, inaccessible status will be in full flow. We vote MPs in to represent us in parliament but when big decisions arise, party politics lead to requests to put it to the people (via the increasingly popular phenomenon known as referendums!); what follows is a referendum without set parameters, with narrow victories that would not have been deemed conclusive under any other circumstance, becoming a seemingly immovable noose around the necks of our politicians. Divisiveness has become the most potently effective tool to win elections and the individuals who are supposed to serve, become cheerleaders of divisiveness through half truths and blatant lies, whipping populations into a frenzy in incurable loathing. It is difficult to see a way back to the days where politicians had a moral compass and debate facts.

It is becoming increasingly difficult to tell.

When comparing developed and under-developed countries, it is a fairly straightforward question to answer

But when assessing recent occurrences in so-called developed countries, it is becoming increasingly difficult to answer this question. We live in times where we are being constantly manipulated and it is not clear to see if educated folks are faring any better, given some of the positions that are currently being taken by supposedly educated individuals, when it comes to key issues that have recently taken over public discourse; be it issues relating to politics (and ongoing upheavals in the UK and the US as two good examples) or the viciousness of commentaries now rampantly made on social media (relating to a number of topics) and the apparent inability to implement very simple controls that will ensure any commentator on any online platform identifies him/herself and can be held responsible for their comments online. It is becoming more and more difficult to see what difference education is making in today’s society.

Why are we still talking about equal pay in the 21st century? It must be made illegal to pay a woman less than a man just because she’s a woman! But what I cannot understand is how a man is expected to play 4 hours of tennis, entertaining people at the venue for 4 hours and handing advertisers 4 hours to advertise but get paid the same as a woman who has played 2 hours of tennis? To achieve equality, surely both men & women should be paid hourly rates, which should be the same e.g. £500,000 an hour to both Roger Federer and Serena Williams so that if one spends 4 hours on court and the other spends 2, they get paid £2m and £1m respectively but at the same hourly rate.It is interesting that female footballers are happy to use the name of brand established over the past 100+ years e.g. Arsenal Ladies. I am fairly certain that if this group had started from scratch as North London Ladies, progress will be a lot slower than what has been achieved under the Arsenal Ladies banner

Let me know what your current pet-hates are.

Here’s mine for this week 1:

Billionaires pledging to give away all their fortune – is it perhaps more expedient to stop a amassing wealth after you’ve made your first billion? Not sure I get the need to amass 4, 5, 50 …. billion in the first place, never mind later pledging to give it all to charity. How much money can an individual enjoyably spend in a lifetime, bearing in mind most of us wish to be active and working till at least the age of 55. Assuming most people die by the age of 90, that only leaves about 35 years to spend money accumulated through all those years of hard work. So, why amass so much wealth? Perhaps they can just pay their employees a bit more for starter

Be yourself; Everyone else is already taken.

— Oscar Wilde.