What a week in British politics. And it’s only Wednesday. The Chief of Staff left on Sunday, the Chief of Comms on Monday and there are reports the Cabinet Secretary is on his way out. The leader in Scotland launched a missile, only to see it boomerang and explode right in front of him. Even […]
Why We Get Bad Politicians Read More »
I have a strange relationship with the Meditations of Marcus Aurelius. I am no longer a Stoic and whenever I pick it up, I get the impression that, were there to be some odd kink in the space-time continuum, and I met the Emperor, I would not have particularly liked him. There is a sort
The philosopher John Rawls developed the idea of the veil of ignorance – that we should design society so that we would choose to live in it, even if we did not know what position we would hold. What was meant as a political thought experiment can, I think, be turned into a historical parlour
Can You Love a Bare Tree? Read More »
I meditated well this morning. I do sometimes. As I should. I’ve been practicing for nearly 14 years. You would have thought I had got my head round it by now. After all, it only took me 13 years to knock off school. But meditation, it turns out, is harder than readin’, ‘writin’ and ‘rithmetic.
The Illusion of Control Read More »
What our cavemen ancestors thought of the animals among which they lived their lives, we cannot tell. Neither left us any written records to decipher. But since a sabre-tooth tiger could do as much damage to us as we could do to it, it is reasonable to assume that, to the humans of the day,
Authority and Power Read More »
“Because, I’ll tell you what, if I’d been in that position, and I suspect many of your viewers have been in that position, that’s what any of us would have done.” The “I” in question was Wes Streeting, the Health Secretary, and the position was that of the Chief Constable of the West Midlands who
Policemen and Peacocks Read More »
Being born must be the most shocking thing that ever happens to you. All your experience up to that point is in a nice, temperature-controlled environment. It suddenly gets colder, possibly much colder. You are used to it being dark. It suddenly gets much brighter. The noises you have heard to date are those of
The Map and the Territory Read More »
Nigel was up (in Scotland). Nigel was down (in London). Robert was out (of the Conservatives). Robert was in (Reform). If ever a day in British politics deserved to be overlaid with the Benny Hill music, it was Thursday. As always, commentary soon turned from what was happening, to what it meant. High profile defector
The Problem With Benny Hill Politics Read More »
Last week, the Princess of Wales released the latest of her quarterly videos. Lots of slightly soft-focus visuals of HRH walking through the countryside like a House of Bruar model while a slow, serious, pause-filled voiceover gave us her thoughts about winter. Taken with her recent refusal to give details about her clothes, the videos
Images And Self-Image Read More »
You already know many of the Emperor Caligula’s greatest hits. There was making his horse Consul (he didn’t, but it was thought he might). There was the incest with his sisters (no real evidence for this and it was far from unknown in the ancient world – Cleopatra’s parents were almost certainly closely related, possibly
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