29th June 2008

I believe it is obvious that most opposition to Gordon Brown in England and elsewhere in the UK is to the left of NewLabourUSDemocratPartyofEngland.
So the belief that Cameron will be the next Prime Minister shows the disconnection of our political culture from the population.
David Cameron is not and never can be to the left of New Labour.
Hence he should not win the next election.
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In The Observer today there is a lot of coverage of the treatment of those who supposedly suffer from so-called "mental illness".
The treatment of these unfortunate people is truly disgusting and far worse in England than in other Western European countries.
These people are imprisoned and poisoned and have committed no crime other than entering a psychiatrist's office with the arbitrary distinction of being called "mentally ill".
These prisons are presented as hospitals, where one might possibly be helped.
How sadly deluded are people who believe this to be so.
There is mention of violence by the imprisoned at these so-called hospitals. No mention of the violence inflicted by the staff/jailors.

The Observer deserves great credit for highlighting life as it really is and not presenting the fantasy that dominates other sectors of the media.

However, there is still no questioning of whether there is such a thing as a "mental illness" and whether or not those designated as "mentally ill" are merely having problems in living.
This questioning would help to create progress.
For example there is discussion of prisoners with "mental health problems", when the distinction between prisoners with "mental health problems" and those without is surely arbitrary and meaningless.
There is still bland and confident use of the terms "schizophrenia" and "schizophrenic" when this term obviously has no (scientific) meaning and is just a dehumanising label.

If 1 in 4 people have at some point "mental health problems" then there's a lot of people telling lies or keeping quiet. And there's a lot of supposed "brain disease" about.
The simple truth is that there's no such thing as mental illness. If distress is mental illness then everyone has mental illness..... etc.
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"Having frightened us half to death, environmentalists then consistently oppose all large-scale solutions: wind farms, nuclear power, the Severn barrage, carbon capture. People aren't stupid. They see the idea of a return to some pre-industrial Elysium as bonkers."

From letter about environmentalism entitled "Stop complaining and start saving the planet" in The Observer today. http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/jun/29/climatechange

Environmentalism isn't about living in caves. There is however obviously a great deal of scope for consuming less. So much consumption and travel is totally unnecessary.

For example, there are solutions that don't involve nuclear power or fossil fuels.
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A good book by Julian Baggini

Read a good book: "A Very Short Introduction to Atheism" by Julian Baggini.

He has also written an article called "Spirituality for Atheists" which I cut out of Psychologies magazine and which I must dig out.

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An extract from it:

"What we think of as spiritual is simply all those things which make us creatures with rich inner lives and not just inert rocks and pebbles.
Many of us have let go of religion but hold on to the vaguer notion of spirituality as a security blanket. It's time we realised that traditional religion is far from the only source of meaning, values and a sense of the transcendent."

Julian Baggini.

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Another interesting thing that he wrote is this essay:
"This is what the clash of civilisations is really about."
"Relativism has made liberal openness appear weak, empty and repugnant compared with the clarity of dogma."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2007/apr/14/comment.comment3

In it he wrote this

"Unless we can make a convincing case that the choice is not between relativism or dogmatism, more and more people will reject the former and embrace the latter.
When they do, those who helped create the impression that modern, secular rationality leaves everything up for grabs in the marketplace of belief will have to take their share of the blame."

Julian Baggini.

I think "post-modernism" and thinkers like Foucault, and the veneration of thinkers like Foucault, along with other opposition to the Enlightenment, have encouraged the impression that "everything is up for grabs".

The popularity of post-modernism and thinkers such as Foucault and Nietzsche in universities has often degraded in the minds of students who are taught to venerate such thinkers, into the basest and simplest moral relativism and amoralism.

In this context I am reminded of Bernard Shaw's quote to serve as a good watchman -
“A fool's brain digests philosophy into folly, science into superstition, and art into pedantry. Hence University education.”

Still no complete news coverage of civilian deaths?

Why is there apparently still no complete coverage of civilian deaths caused by NATO in Afghanistan on the BBC?
There is always exhaustive coverage of UK deaths in Afghanistan but there doesn't seem to be the same for civilian deaths in Afghanistan?

Peasants are the Answer!

"Peasants are detested by both communists and capitalists - but when it comes to productivity a small farm is unbeatable."
"These objects of contempt are now our best chance of feeding the world."
George Monbiot, The Guardian, June 10th 2008.

http://www.monbiot.com/archives/2008/06/10/small-is-bountiful/

This blog

This blog is a justified act of truth.

Arrest these criminals!

The following people are criminals and should be arrested.

Tony "Liar" Blair
George "Dubya" Bush
George "The First" Bush
Bill "Bomber" Clinstone.
Ariel "Slobodan" Shienerman "Sharon".

I am now drunk.
I have had half a pint of Guiness.
Fair enough you might say.
But then something else happened.
I went to an offy and I bought two bottles of what I thought was Hoegarten white beer.
I like the taste so couldn't resist.
Fair enough you might say.
But it wasn't ordinary white Hoegarden. It was feckin non-white Hoegarten 8 fecking per cent proof. Posh special brew basically.
So now I am properly sozzled.
And one thing is for sure.
I am never ever going to take down this blog.

Plane Stupid

http://www.planestupid.com/

Great organisation.
Direct Action seems to be the only thing that gets any attention which is a shame.

"Schizophrenia" : A load of old cobblers.

From "Schizophrenia - A Very Short Introduction" by Christopher Frith and Eve Johnstone.

O.U.P. 2003.

"Chapter 2. The Concept of Schizophrenia.

Madness (or what we now call mental disorder) has been recognised and studied since medical records began, although the terms psychosis and schizophrenia are of rather recent origin. Psychosis is any severe form of mental disorder in which the patient has lost touch with reality. Schizophrenia is one of the major examples of a psychotic illness. A patient suffering from psychosis has lost touch with reality in the sense that he or she believes things that cannot possibly be true (delusions) or hears voices and sees visions when there are no sensory stimuli to create them (halllucinations)."

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This first paragraph of Chapter 2 alone self-evidently destroys the validity of the concept of schizophrenia.

A person who believes things which "cannot possibly be true (delusions)" is surely simply mistaken, not ill.
Where is the evidence that they are ill in any way?
How can mistaken beliefs constitute in and of themselves an illness?
Are those who continue to think that Earth is flat "mentally ill" since they have a mistaken belief that cannot possibly be true? Should they be locked away?
Who decides what is reality and what is truth?

Someone having hallucinations might just be using their imagination, as in when you say "Picture this if you will...."
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If shizophrenia is a mental illness characterised by psychosis, then this involves anyone with a mistaken belief and a break with reality. So anyone with a mistaken belief has schizophrenia.
That surely includes a lot of people.
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Another thing I heard was that "schizophrenia" includes "inappropriate emotional responses".
So is this to say that thousands of people in Gaza and elsewhere should be sectioned because they greeted 9-11 with joy?
It all depends on who decides what an inappropriate emotional response is, surely.
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How can I be so sure that "schizophrenia" doesn't exist?
What if they discover it to be "a brain disease"?

I can be totally sure that it doesn't exist because it is defined as "xyz symptoms" and is not defined as a "brain disease". Therefore it cannot exist.
If a (related) brain disease was discovered then it could not be schizophrenia because schizophrenia is by definition not a brain disease or a (biological) disease of any kind.

Excellent Letter

I think the letters' pages of newspapers are often their best bits, where you read what ordinary people actually think and you hear some very original thinking.
For example, here is an excellent letter that appeared in The Independent in October 2006.

Hooked by the desire for growth.

Sir:

The gist of Stern's message is that we have to make some sacrifices now to avert future catastrophe. The sacrifice we are being asked to make is to do without some economic growth.
This is an odd use of the word "sacrifice" because it would mean, in practice, that we would have to work less hard. And it would mean we would have to shop at a less frenetic rate, pay less for a home, and travel in cars and planes much less often. And because we would be less pressured and less stressed, we would probably be happier and healthier and have more time for each other.

The politicians believe climate change can be sorted out by applying a combination of green taxes, carbon trading and new technology. These measures will not be nearly enough. The real problem is the modern world's addiction to materialism and to the belief that "more is better".

We have more speed, but less quality time for ourselves; more choice, but less satisfaction; more schools and universities, but less education in the original sense of the word; more doctors and hospitals, but less health in any deeper sense; more telecommunications, but less relating in any meaningful way; more goods and services, but less self-reliance; more police and prisons, but less security.

Until we address the core problem - our addiction to materialism and our constant dissatisfaction with what we have - things will just get worse. Making driving or flying more expensive will not deter people. They will find the money somehow. If we doubt this, we need look no further than the housing market. What should be a basic necessity of life in an advanced society, a home, has now become a high-priced luxury, yet people are willing to go into lifetime debt to buy one, and to spend their whole working lives paying it off.

That is surely a special form of madness, but it is symptomatic of the pervasive madness of materialism, which generates so many of our problems, including the problem of climate
change.

CHRIS THOMSON
EDINBURGH

Brillo Pad

Andrew Neil's presenting on BBC2's "Daily Politics" and BBC1s "This Week" is once again leaning over into unacceptable bias at various moments. Bias to the right of course.
He really should take more care to be totally impartial, given his openly Thatcherite past.

The same applies to Nick Robinson who is slightly biased.

Defending Western Civilisation

"Defending Western Civilisation."

There's a new magazine out that says one of it's aims is "to defend Western Civilisation."
Two things need to be questioned.
Firstly, is there really such a thing? If so, what is it?
Secondly, is it really something that needs defending - is it really something to be entirely proud of?

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I can't help recalling a little remark by Gandhi that speaks volumes:

"I think it would be a good idea."
Mahatma Gandhi, when asked what he thought of Western civilization.
Mahatma Gandhi, Indian political and spiritual leader (1869 - 1948).