The Monday Mix (10/05/2021)
Hi friends,
Nothing new for me this week so I’m going to get straight into it.
Each Day You Get Is A Blessing - I’ve been writing a few new posts and waiting for some to be published, so in the mean time, here’s an older essay of mine. I wrote it two years ago, but I think it’s more poignant than ever after the past year. I hope you enjoy and let me know what you think. Did you enjoy it? And do you want me to share some of my older essays in future?
Pre-empting Boris
This is an intriguing article I came across after it was tweeted by the former spin doctor for the Labour Party in the UK, Alistair Campbell. It was written in 2003 and, somewhat jokingly, suggests Boris Johnson as an antidote for the woes of the Conservative Party, who were marooned out of power at the time. 18 years later, the article looks prescient. Not just about Johnson, but the drift in politics towards recognisable figures and celebrities becoming political figures. An article ahead of its time.
The Violence Paradox
Last week I watched a documentary about the declining rates of violence across the planet. It was hosted by the psychologist Steven Pinker, who is of the belief, we are living the most peaceful time in human history. On the face of it, this feels true. After all, there’s been no major wars since 1945. But, there are solid arguments against this view. Shootings in America, knife crime in London, proxy wars between major powers such as the ten year war in Syria. Pinker’s arguments seems too simplistic when you cast your net wider. The documentary is worth a watch, but I couldn’t help feeling Pinker’s got it wrong on this point.
How useful is Blockchain?
The hype surrounding cyrptocurrencies is huge right now. Elon Musk is drumming up support for them on primetime American TV, prices keep rising and the advocates claim they can solve all manner of problems. But is it true? Blockchain has been puroprted to solve numerous problems, but we’re yet to see it used for anythig except cyrptocurrencies such as Bitcoin in the near 13 years since the coin was released. Could blockchain revolutionise the world, or is it a solution for nothing? So far, it appears to be the latter.
Scottish Independence?
As I mentioned last week, the vote for the Scottish parliament took place on Thursday and the Scottish National Party won the most seats, one short of a majority. They campaigned on holding another independence referendum and intend to hold one in the first half of their new term. I won’t go into too much detail as there’s not much more to add from last week. Other than, this is now the biggest political question in the UK, and perhaps Europe. If you thought the noise over Brexit was bad, should Scotland vote to leave a 314 year union with England, Scexit will be on another level.
Book I’m reading - Fear and Loathing in La Liga
This is a brilliant book on the intense rivalry between Real Madrid and Barcelona. But it’s much more than that. It’s a history of modern Spain through te lens of the march known as El Classico. I lived in Barcelona for two years and can attest to the passion of the people for their Catalan identity and football. If you want to understand Spain, this is as good a book as any to delve into!
Quote I’m pondering
“You can't depend on your eyes when your imagination is out of focus.” - Mark Twain
That’s all for this week, until next time,
Tom