Standing up for British Values!!

Posted on by Opher

Yes!! There are many British values worth fighting for!

Social justice! – Our ancestors fought for social justice – for workers’ right. The greedy elite did not give out annual holidays, good work conditions, 40 hour weeks, health and safety, pensions, maternity leave etc. without a fight! Then there’s the right for everyone to vote! That’s a British value worth fighting for!

Equality – That too was hard fought for. A short while ago only the rich could vote and had rights. We created a judicial system that was fair for all. First men and then women got the vote. We brought in race fairness so that people could not be abused or discriminated against because of their skin colour, hair colour, race, religion or creed.

Tolerance – A great British value. We have a society that tolerates differences! That is truly multicultural, where women are equals. I like that. Our culture and language is rich because we have incorporated so many other great aspects from other cultures.

Empathy and Compassion – we are a generous country, giving to foreign aid to help others. I think of Live Aid and the appeals for help. I think of how, throughout history, we took in persecuted people Huguenots, Jews and recently Afghans and Ukrainians. I’m proud of that.

Freedom – freedom to speak, write, read and practice whatever religion, sexual orientation or creed (as long as it does not hurt others). I’m opposed to hate and division but I want to live in a country that allows me to do and be what I want to be. I greatly value that.

Justice – The right to have the laws of the land upheld, to be protected from the violent, cruel and nasty.

Love of Nature – I hate cruelty to animals, destruction of the environment and am grateful that I live i n a country that values nature and protects animals

These are the British values I fight for.

I do NOT support patriotism or nationalism. I am human, part of the world, and I know there are good and bad people everywhere. We are no better or worse. We just had ancestors who struggled to create the right values here and created a civilised country with values and laws based on the above.

I do NOT support the greed of the elites who set out to fill their own coffers by conquering the world and setting up colonies and Empire. I think they are greedy bastards who did a lot of evil things – murder, slavery and suppression. I despise their arrogance, elitism and sense of entitlement. In my eyes they are scum.

I do NOT support the bloodthirsty generals who waged wars on behalf of that elite. They supported a hierarchical regime that I despise. I spit on them.

I do NOT support the class system and privilege that controls the system and has used its wealth to maintain its power. That system gives privilege to the wealthy, privilege that is not earnt or based on any meritocracy but is bought! The monarchy have inherited their wealth and power from evil robber barons who slew and threatened, robbed and murdered.

So forget your stupid flags of St George and Union Jacks. They represent a myth and support a system of repression. Forget your religious doctrines and class system. They are not British. They are impositions of foreign elites and foreign religions! Our monarchs didn’t even speak English! They aren’t English! Forget your Turkish/Palestinian knight who for reasons unknown was adopted as our patron saint. There were no dragons and he is no more English than Montezuma.

I Stand For REAL British values!!

Is MAGA cruelty actually a psychological disorder?

Posted on by Opher

Fortunately I’m not American so I am a little removed from the mayhem and hatred. That maybe provides me with a little objectivity.

I am astounded by a number of things that the MAGA republicans are doing that seem remarkably cruel and callous to me:

Cutting off aid to the extremely needy people in the Third World. A decision that will not save a lot of money but which will cause immense suffering, starvation and death.

The cutting off of medicare for the poor. Throwing the poorest under the bus unable to get vaccinations or even basic medical care.

The reducing of welfare for the poorest people (while giving huge tax relief to the wealthy).

The deportation of people who have lived their entire life in America to countries they have never known, to violence, torture and death.

MAGA mentality is extreme and seems entirely lacking in compassion and empathy. They heartlessly blame the poor for being poor and treat immigrants with disgust. They don’t care what happens to these people. It’s as if they are vermin and should be eradicated. They are no longer real people. Their suffering is of no consequence!

Put America first! Nobody else matters!

There does seem to be a strong racist element to it. The ‘We Shall Not Be Replaced’ white supremacy movement is big in the thinking.

There are obvious fascist parallels with Nazi Germany – scapegoating immigrants, Muslims and Jews.

We are all familiar with the psychological profile of Trump who seems to be very much a stereotype of a narcissistic sociopath with psychopathic tendencies.

(Sociopathy – Some people may use the term sociopath to describe what a mental health professional would diagnose as antisocial personality disorder. Symptoms may include disregard for others, a lack of empathy, and dishonest behaviour.)

(Psychopathy, or psychopathic personality,[1] is a personality construct[2][3] characterized by impaired empathy and remorse, along with bold, disinhibited, and egocentric traits. These traits are often masked by superficial charm and immunity to stress,[4] which create an outward appearance of apparent normalcy)

(Narcissism – selfishness, involving a sense of entitlement, a lack of empathy, and a need for admiration, as characterizing a personality type.)

The key word in this is empathy – a human trait leading to compassion, a basic human trait that is the basis of most positive relationships and civilisation.

It appears to be a key factor missing from most MAGA individuals. Musk is another who fits the profile. Vance is another.

They simply do not seem to care at all about anybody – particularly people who oppose them. Indeed, they actively seem to enjoy inflicting pain on these people. That’s Psychopathy!

The weird thing is that the evangelical movement have got right behind this heartlessness. They selectively use scripture to support their own support for policies that seem completely at odds with the teachings of Jesus. But they justify it. It’s a weird double-think.

The other weird thing is that the MAGA policies of giving to the rich and taking from the poor hit the very people who avidly support them. By stoking up the fear of immigrants they have successfully distracted from what is actually going on. Far from draining swamps they are supporting a confederacy of billionaires!

The psychology of this phenomena is interesting. Is there a mass psychology at work? Does Sociopathy breed sociopathy? Can psychopathy breed psychopathy?

Desperate Woman seeks help!

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Woody Guthrie quote

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Woody stood for equality and freedom, an end to racism and fairness for the working man. He would have been appalled by the rise of the greed and selfishness, the ignorance and racism, of the modern-day MAGA movement. Trump and MAGA, with their hate and arrogance, represent everything that Woody stood against.

Long live Woody Guthrie and Phil Ochs and early Dylan!

They wrote songs about injustice. They wrote songs to make the world better! They wrote songs of compassion, empathy and hope!

“I hate a song that makes you think you’re not any good. I hate a song makes you think you are just born to lose. Bound to lose. No good to nobody. No good for nothing.

Songs that run you down or songs that poke fun at you on account of your bad luck or your hard traveling.

“I am out to fight those kind of songs to my very last breath of air and my very last drop of blood. I am out to sing songs that’ll prove to you that this is your world and that if it’s hit you pretty hard and knocked you for a dozen loops, no matter how hard it’s run you down or rolled over you, no matter what colour, what size you are, how you are built, I am out to sing the songs that make you take pride in yourself and in your work.”

Wonder, Beauty, Awe and Love

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Wonder, Beauty, Awe and Love

I saw wonder

                                                                In a spiral arm

Wonder                                               In a cell

Wonder                                               In a leaf

The gentle ocean’s swell.

I saw beauty

                                                                In a blossom

Beauty                                                  In a snake

Beauty                                                  In a spider’s web

The crystals of a flake.

I found awe

                                                                In infinity

Awe                                                       In nature’s scope

Awe                                                       In an atom’s spin

In the eternal ring of hope.

I found love

                                                                In my pet’s eyes

Love                                                      In my children’s smiles

Love                                                      In my sweetheart’s touch

Love’s never out of style.

Wonder, beauty, awe and love

Provide purpose – just enough!

Opher – 27.12.2024

I felt I needed a positive note. While a lo of my writing is dark my life is not. It is full of beauty, awe, love and wonder. I felt I needed to express that in order to provide some balance.

If I rail against the system I find myself stranded in it’s because I want it to change; I want to make it better.

Yes, I know, that is futile – but I believe in gestures. I believe in cycles. We are currently in a cycle of fear, hate and division. I hope that love, awe, hope, beauty and wonder will reassert itself.

We really don’t need greed.

Love always wins! Beauty is all around us! Wonder is what the universe runs on! Awe is how we should always feel!

Trump and the Political Scene

Posted on by Opher

I was told by a friend to get over it. I lost again. I backed the wrong horse!

What idiocy.

As if your morals and ethics are a game!

As if it’s a case of winning or losing! Put it to one side!

It’s not a game. It’s not about winning or losing. It’s about fighting for what you believe in and the kind of world you want to live in.

I want a world that is free, fair and has compassion and equality as the basis of its core. Everything stems from that.

Trump, the GOP, MAGA and the Evangelical nutcases of the right represent a set of values that I find utterly repugnant.

Having Trump in the Whitehouse setting up what I see as an authoritarian Fascist State, implementing Project 2025 and taking over all the Federal Agencies – loading them with MAGA fanatics – runs against all my values.

Do I simply shrug and walk away saying ‘I lost’ or do I still continue to fight for those same values I’ve held dear all my life?

Who cares about women’s’ rights, the plight of refugees, worker’s rights, racial equality, health care for the poor or a society based on fairness?

Do I watch quietly while Trump sucks up to Putin and dumps Ukraine?

Do I remain silent while he allows Netanyahu to practice revengeful genocide against the Palestinians?

Do I shut up while he gives Taiwan to Xi and placates Jong-Un?

Do I shut up as he ‘Drills Drills Drills’ and denies climate change? As he destroys nature in the race for profit? He proved how ignorant he was with Covid. He’s illiterate. His understanding of science is nil. Do I shut up as he defunds and destroys?

The man is, in my opinion, a misogynistic, racist, hate-filled psychopath. He promises to be vengeful and punitive. I believe him. He’s the incarnation of a fascist authoritarian. He will take away women’s rights, defund education and drive out all tolerance as being ‘woke’. He will dumb-down America even more. He really doesn’t want a populace who can think.

I find it hard to come to terms with the fact that a majority of people will support a convicted rapist, felon, tax-evading crook just because they think he is a ‘Strong Leader’ and will get a few pence off their gas prices!

In my opinion those people are not only gullible and ignorant but have no morality. Many of them purport to be Christian and that says all you need to know about religion. Religion, like politics, has no morality; it’s all about power.

It feels the same as Brexit. One is shaken into waking up to the fact that the majority of people are ignorant, stupid, racist, misogynistic, greedy, immoral idiots who like to be ordered about by fascists who they see as ‘strong leaders’ (If Farage, Tice and Johnson can in any way be described as ‘Strong Leaders’). One only has to look at history. We follow blood-thirsty psychopaths and ignore intelligent sensitive people.

It says all you need to know about the human race.

I despair!!

But it’s not about losing and getting over it; it’s about how we go forward and strive for that better world.

Morals are not abandoned because of an election. The fight is a continuum. The end point is a better, fairer world!

Opher’s Solutions to the Immigration Problem.

Posted on by Opher

Opher’s Solutions to the Immigration Problem.

  1. Obviously the first thing to do is rejoin the EU, to get our cheap labour, transient workforce back instead of importing more permanent  workers (and their families) from the other side of the world.
  2. Only allow workers who have a job into the country (this can be done under EU regs but the Tories did not implement it because they wanted to promote our exodus from the EU and thought this would soften it – they wanted the public inflamed).
  3. Process illegals quickly (not putting them up in hotels forever) so they can be shunted off back to where they came from or integrated into useful work thus taking the burden off the tax payers.
  4. Have routes where immigrants can legally apply and be processed without resorting to people smugglers.
  5. Provide schemes to properly assimilate and integrate immigrants so that they are not causing resentment among the native population (language and customs classes, schooling, support).
  6. Deport immigrants guilty of crimes or antisocial behaviour.
  7. Demand that all immigrants obey all the laws of the land and live by British values of compassion, fairness and empathy.
  8. Ban unBritish practices – genital mutilation, Burqas, Niqabs, child marriage, honour crimes, religious intolerance, spreading militant extremism (fascism and religious intolerance – and make it clear that any such activity (even when practiced abroad to avoid the law of the land) will be dealt with harshly with deportation and criminal proceedings.
  9. Ensure that immigrants are not seen to be given priority over the needs of the native population.
  10. Regulate the numbers and type of immigration so that it meets our needs without putting undue strain on services and infrastructure or upsetting the natives.

I think a sensible programme of compassion, empathy, and support, coupled with a clear, strong set of demands, strong reinforcement and action and a transparent set of values and expectations, would meet the needs of the country and take the venom out of the immigration problem.

What do you think?

The Downside of Immigration

Posted on by Opher

The Downside of Immigration

It is obvious to me that with a shrinking population and skill shortage, coupled with a great reluctance of the endemic population to do the poorly paid menial tasks, we need to import workers.

The question is what skills and from where and how can this be achieved without causing problems for the indigenous population.

Last year just short of one and a half million people entered the country. Most of them were legally ‘imported’. They are either coming to study (bringing the brains and high-level skills to the country) or to carry out jobs for which we do not have the labour force or skills (carers, field work, NHS, catering, hospitality, building, electricians, plumbing, dentistry etc.). We need them for the economy and to make sure that services operate smoothly. We have big shortages!

The trouble is that an influx of such large numbers creates a host of knock-on problems. They all need to use the facilities and support:

  1. Housing
  2. Schooling
  3. Infrastructure
  4. Doctors
  5. Roads
  6. Services
  7. Policing
  8. Food

It puts a strain on areas that are already suffering due to 14 years of Tory cuts.

On top of that the indigenous population feel increasingly displaced as they find themselves in a minority, surrounded by unfamiliar customs, religions and languages. They find this threatening and feel ousted from their own homes. This builds an antagonism that grows into anger and resentment.

So, how do we find the balance to control immigration at a level that does not cause resentment and anger, does not overstretch our facilities, but does supply the needs of the economy?

It’s Immigration Day!! Opher tackles this thorny subject and makes himself very unpopular!!

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Come and give your opinion (in a reasoned argument!). Get involved! What do you think?

Immigrants Take over the USA!!

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Seems that exploitative, parasitic immigrants are more welcome than hard-working field workers!!