jcm's blog

Image: The Star Spangled Banner.

So I started reading “1776 – America and Britain at War” by David McCullough after a random browse at my local (crappy, but almost adequate) Waterstones bookstore. This book, unsurprisingly documents some of the highlights of the American Revolutionary War that ultimately lead to the founding of the United States and the (first, second, and third) Continental Congress that preceeded the form of government that exists to this day. Why do I know this stuff? Because I don’t get out enough and (more importantly) because I have some kind of passionate interest in this particular aspect of history.

I’ve never been much of a historian, but I do have a lot of time for the histories of former British colonies such as those in Canada and (especially) the United States. This isn’t out of some quaint British pining for the golden days of the British Empire – quite the inverse. I view the British Empire as a terribly evil side effect of the British exploitation of the world that occured throughout history and I’m especially fond of battles that lead to the British being told (in no uncertain terms) to fuck off. Of course 20/20 hindsight will often mean things are looked upon in a different light – for all I know, I’d have been one of the people on those British ships had I lived in that time. So, I’m aware of the need for perspective when thinking about history. Anyway, meanwhile in rant land…

Long before there was war in Iraq, long before US foreign policy was frowned upon by much of the wider world, there was an empire that controlled 1/3 of the known world. The British Empire fucked over the New World, royally screwed what later became India, Pakistan and Bangladesh, and generally did nasty things for King (Queen) and Country. Loyalist patriotic songs like “Rule Britannia” concealed the great evil of the Monarchy and the entirity of the British Empire and when the Americans said they’d had enough and wanted representation, the British commited a series of Intollerable Acts that built up to their declaration of Independence. But that still wasn’t enough for the British to actually fuck off, things would turn very ugly before they got a lot better.

I like US history, precisely because they were telling the British tyrants where to go and I have a great willing to study it in further detail as a result. The reason for my Washington trip last year was to see the Baltimore flag first hand – to witness one of the only US flags with 15 stripes (modern flags only have the original 13 founding states, not the 15 at the time of the battle at Fort McHenry, which predated that directive). When I first visited Boston, I thought a lot about the early revolutionaries having their meetings in the meeting house, and my interest has only grown over time. Once I move, I can see a lot of exploration of the original 13 states in the name of personal historical interest.

Perhaps it’s obvious that I like telling British rulers where to go. There’s just something very fun about telling the Monarchy to fuck off and deciding to elect a set of representatives instead. Oh, I dunno, maybe it’s just this concept of a constitution and fully elected government that I like in US history or maybe I’m drawn in to former colonial history because of the fact that former British dominions now have their own constitutionally elected representation, while the UK itself still does not. Nor will it ever be fixed – too many people around these parts fail to see the problem with the antiquated UK system. There’s something inanely pointless about the way the British are willing to accept rule from their masters without any collective consideration “I could do that” or “why should the Queen be calling the shots and not me” and so on. But it’ll continue forever more.

While I’m extolling certain aspects of US history, let me just add that it does really bother me, however, seeing such an apparent lack of knowledge in some Americans that I meet in my travels. Over the past year alone, I’ve had to educate some natural born American Citizens about the fact that there are 50 US States, I’ve had to explain the flag stripe thing, how the stars are laid out, what the US national anthem is all about (ok, I don’t know all four verses – most people I meet don’t even know there are 4 verses – but I at least do know the one anyone cares about) – really basic stuff. It doesn’t speak well for the US education system as a whole, but I guess the US isn’t the only place that has such problems.

Many British people are unlikely to know that Ode To Joy is the official anthem of the Council of Europe (I don’t give a fuck about the National Anthem here – too many references to God and the Queen) but they are probably able to tell you about the latest remix of some anti-German war song respun in the name of football – something that has already caused me to lodge one complaint with the BBC thus far during this world cup (no, it’s not humourous on any level to equate some pointless football game with “Dad’s Army” and release songs that are solely designed to stir up hatred amongst football fans). See, I managed to get football into this blog entry somehow. Hey, England still haven’t lost yet – if I have to endure it on my TV, you can endure a few words in this blog until they lose.

Anyway, I’ll continue reading that book, though I’m not far into it yet. What I would like is more advice on books to read and (especially) places to go visit for their historic interest.

Jon.

So I just finished mailing a couple of people about their views on my various blog posts. Obviously, not everyone agrees with my take on life, but isn’t it cool that we can agree to disagree? Or that we can have reasoned discussion on the issues? I like that. I think it’s what sets us apart from the bad guys out there that want to destroy the democratic process. That said, I figured it might be useful to summarize a couple of my views on life (so I can get more email on the topic!):

• I am a liberal minded person. I’m not always a “Liberal Democrat” (although I’m a paying member in the UK) and I’m not always aligned with the US Democrats, but I am fundamentally liberally minded – most of the time. I believe in Freedom in society and dislike the current trends for increased government interference with our lives. There are exceptions to this – for example, I supported a ban on smoking in public places where it may interfere with my own health – but in general, I’m not one to jump and down in favor of government monitoring, centralization, or many other things happening in the world today.
• I am Religiously agnostic tending towards being an atheist. I have no time for religion in my own personal life – it’s a waste of my time – but I have a lot of interest in religions of the world nonetheless. I don’t need to feel uniquely special in the Universe, I don’t need to think there’s a devine entity looking out for my own welfare amongst trillions of other lifeforms, and I don’t need to thank God for the good will and hard work of people. The bottom line is that I feel my time would be better spent doing other things and that people could get a lot of satisfaction from meeting to pick up trash/litter once a week instead. Just because I don’t need God in my life, doesn’t mean I’m a lower form of life or that I’m not deeply passionate about many things that some religious groups would claim I could never really care about.
• I believe in being nice. I dislike war in general (but I understand it in some cases – for example, I understand the dangers posed by rogue nuclear states and I don’t necessarily think instant nuclear disarming is the best solution to that problem) and I don’t think it’s appropriate always to look after yourself before other people. But I’m aware the world is unfair – life is unfair – it’s everyone for themselves on some level, just so long as that’s done in a “fair enough” way that I can one up my neighbour but still care about the wider world without choosing to be a “fiscal republican” or somesuch. Just because I believe in being nice to other people as a substitute for some religiously mandated niceness in life, doesn’t mean I’m a sissy or that I don’t get very pissed off with some people/things that happen in life.
• I don’t eat meat in general. I’m not a hard liner here, but I’m trying to reduce the number of animals that needlessly die at my expense on a daily basis. I’m aware there’s a long way to go before I can have the moral victory that my sister has in this area – though I admit there are limits to how far I think I can personally go. See, I’d like to eat a greesy burger and have a rack of ribs, or a slice of turkey – I used to spend a lot of time in KFC – but all I can see when there’s a plate of that kind of food in front of me is a dead animal that had its brains blown out for my personal eating enjoyment. The bottom line is that I feel anyone who eats pre-packaged “doesn’t look vaguely like an animal” meat should be willing to kill an animal and eat it. If they’re willing to do the killing bit for themselves, then by all means eat the carcas.
• I don’t believe guns are the answer, but outright banning them probably isn’t either (national sporting teams in the UK can no longer compete and have to go overseas to train/get special dispensation for actual events – yet it’s possible to buy knifes, bows and arrows, or millions of other potential weapons in regular stores every day). That said, I think the US constitution never intended for everyone to go out and stock up on personal arsenals either. It’s a moot point these days anyway – the federal government has weapons many times more powerful than those the average guy can go buy so it’s hardly practical to consider owning a gun as a way of preventing the government from becoming too powerful. The bottom line is that I don’t have a reason to own a gun and doubt I ever will – I’d like it very much if other people could think long and hard before arming themselves too.

Jon.

I’d like to give money to help bolster the Democrats in removing Republicans from office, but I’m very confused about the legal position of donating as a foreign national. From what I’ve read, you need to be a US citizen or a permanent resident for this – is that actually true? If it is, are there any groups I can legally financially support who actively work to support the work of Democrat representivies? I’m not looking for volunteers to funnel money through – I’m interested in lawful ways for non-citizens to help effect useful change.

Advice welcome.

Jon.

I’ve added Bill O’Reilly and his “O’Reilly Factor” to my list of dangerously negative media coming out of the United States. For those who don’t follow US happenings, Bill runs a nightly show on Fox called the “O’Reilly Factor”, which he claims is spin free. It’s also hosted on Fox, which claims to be “fair and balanced”.

Listening to this guy, it’s very clear where he stands. While he reads out mails from readers around the world, some of which go against his politics, he’ll always come back with a Republican answer to the points raised. Mention the number of troops who’ve died in Iraq? He’ll talk about the reasons retrospectively given by the administration for the invasion. Talk about media coverage? He accused the BBC recently of being anti-American. And he’s fallen into the trap of believing everything that’s made in the US is of high quality. Actually that’s a worrying xenophobic viewpoint that keeps the US from innovating in the wider world.

After watching the “O’Reilly Factor” and various other content on Fox, I’ve decided that the greatest thing a US billionaire could do would be to invest in a national NPR-style television network with high quality content, mixed in with general shit about pointless crap (so the average person is interested in watching it too). Thank goodness for BBC America, ABC, NPR and a few other bastions of high quality news over there. Nevertheless, millions of people in the US have no idea what they’re missing and that is truly very shocking to me indeed.

Jon.

So, I went to see the first in a series of movies coming out this summer that they made about the 9/11 attacks. Initially, I was opposed to the idea of making movies about the attacks, but it was inevitable that they would and curiousity got the better of me. I was glad that I did because this was very well put together and helped to put the events into perspective. If you’re got over 4000 planes over the US on a September morning, it takes a lot of work to figure out when you’re under a co-ordinated attack and track down the bad guys. They didn’t have enough time or resources to do this properly – and I doubt they do now (since it’s not glamerous enough in the “war on terror”).

“United 93″ is more of a documentary than an action movie and wasn’t over dramaticized either, which is a good thing. In fact, it was a very good movie, though it did seem to be based purely on the official 9/11 report – I guess that’s better than sticking in a few conspiracy theories or something. The movie shows how these Islamic extremists took over various planes and the FAA response to each of the hijackings, obviously with a focus on United 93 (the only plane to miss its target). The heart wrenching bits are how well the movie portrays the people caught up in the hijackings as just ordinary people trying to get home/to work/wherever. The people on those planes weren’t making US foreign policy or trying to alter the lives of those who blew them up, they were purely innocent bystanders that served as an easy target. That’s what makes it all the more shocking.

As I watched the movie, I reminded myself how damaging religion can be in the world today. I’m aware that religion helps many people get through their lives, but the fact remains that you’re very unlikely to see atheists going around blowing up planes and crashing them into buildings. Only someone who believes in an eternal reward for their actions is going to consider doing something like that. Too much fighting takes place around the world every day for extremely stupid reasons.

Jon.