The Monday Mix (26/06/2023)
Hi friends,
Well, this has been a bonkers week. A submersible imploding while descending to visit the wreck of the Titanic, and becoming a wreck itself. And a coup that lasted 24 hours, and ultimately wasn’t a coup. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a more bizarre set of news headlines. What happened in Russia was amazing and downright strange. Following an attempted coup live on social media was surreal.
I do envy screenwriters and novelists because sometimes fact really is stranger than fiction and the past week proves it. I think it goes to show that as much as we might think those in charge know what’s going on, a lot of the time that just isn’t the case. The world is chaotic and that isn’t going to change anytime soon.
Drought Is The Next Pandemic
An alarming post about the rise of droughts with a particular focus on England. It’s bizarre to think of droughts happening in England due to the common conception that it rains a lot here. But it doesn’t rain as much as people think. Even in the north, where I live, it doesn’t rain an awful lot. As evidenced by this May, when it didn’t rain for a month! The climate crisis is going to make drought worse in the years to come. Wars are likely going to be fought over access to fresh water, which could lead to flashpoints around the globe unless solutions are found.
The Treacherous Titanic
The first of the major news stories to be tackled this week. The Titanic wreck is a special one due to the mystique around the ‘unsinkable ship’ that sunk on its maiden voyage. Still, would you want to go into the depths of the ocean to see it, and would you go down on an experimental submersible? Hell no, would be my answer. This story is the perfect example of why there needs to be higher top rates of tax. These guys weren’t explorers, they were rich tourists with money to burn. The submersible flouted numerous safety regulations, which is insane considering we know less about the deep ocean than outer space.
They weren’t pushing boundaries. James Cameron, the Titanic director has been down to the wreck over 30 times in a submersible fit for the job. This problem already had a solution. We do need people to push boundaries, but this was just reckless. This wouldn’t have happened had the top rate of tax been above 50 per cent, and towards 60 per cent. These billionaires just have too much money and no idea what to do with it.
The Putin System Is Crumbling
The events of Friday evening and Saturday were some of the most bizarre I can remember. At one point I thought there was going to be a coup in Russia. It was a surreal 24 hours that a few days later still doesn’t make sense. While there are still more questions than answers, I think it’s clear that Putin is nearing the end of the road. That began when he started the ill-fate war in Ukraine on 24 February 2022. It’s amazing how circular Russian history is. Military failures often lead to reprisals. It’s what happened in 1905 and 1917, and the collapse of the USSR in 1991 was in part due to the disastrous war in Afghanistan. You can even go back to Catherine The Great and see the same thing happening.
Russians have now seen a challenge to Putin and just how weak his regime is. The contrast between him, who reportedly fled Moscow and Zelensky who was filmed walking the streets of Kyiv at night in the first days of the invasion is stark. This mutiny has revealed the house of cards his regime was built on. The question now is how long will it remain standing?
Book I’m reading - Berlin by Sinclair McKay
I’m just finishing this book up. It took a bit longer than I would have liked but it’s been no less interesting. The book does focus a bit too much on the Second World War for my taste. Over 200 pages of the 370-page book deal with this, and considering what happened afterwards, I think more time could have been spent discussing more of this.
Quote I’m pondering: – “It isn't what we say or think that defines us, but what we do.” – Jane Austen
That’s all for this week.
Until next time,
Tom