Good Reads

[Ian_Wrexham]

I read this on the Rwanda genocide and the role of Western governments, particularly in France, in creating the circumstances that allowed the genocide to happen. Thought about it, given how everyone is shouting "we can't stand idly by" while insisting that the only alternative to standing idly by is dropping bombs on people.

https://libcom.org/history/articles/rwanda-war-genocide-1994

 

[smat]

Britain's Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy About Gibraltar

 

[Alty]

Britain's Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy About Gibraltar

"Exactly why these energetic and expanding nations would want to give special treatment to a declining and austerity-ridden archipelago on the damp fringes of Europe isn’t clear".

Hahaha. AKA the world's 5th biggest economy. Gotta love these opinion pieces from people who clearly hate their own country.

 

[smat]

"Exactly why these energetic and expanding nations would want to give special treatment to a declining and austerity-ridden archipelago on the damp fringes of Europe isn’t clear".

Hahaha. AKA the world's 5th biggest economy. Gotta love these opinion pieces from people who clearly hate their own country.

He's Talking Britain Down really, isn't he.

 

[Alty]

He's Talking Britain Down really, isn't he.

You can classify him however you like. What's amusing is the fact he clearly thinks Brexiters were so patriotic (or perhaps jingoistic) as to lose objectivity about the country's prospects outside the EU...yet he appears to think the fact the U.K. is a bit rainy is a reason other countries would shy away from trade and investment.

Maybe the article is a very clever and subtle dig at Remainer idiots. In which case fair play. But sadly I suspect this is a case of an ill-informed nobhead trying to win the approval of other ill-informed nobheads by slagging off this country.

 

[Etty Abrics]

Alty, you have a PhD and should not be using the term 'nobhead'.

 

[Martino Quackavelli]

A politico piece on Iraq's Golden Brigade.

This is not a discussion thread. Do not discuss things in my thread.

He's Talking Britain Down really, isn't he.

 

[smat]

A politico piece on Iraq's Golden Brigade.

I have decided to relax the rules of this thread and permit (some) discussion.

 

[Martino Quackavelli]

Cuck.

 

[Martino Knockavelli]

yet he appears to think the fact the U.K. is a bit rainy is a reason other countries would shy away from trade and investment.

May our skies be as blue as our passports.

 

[Ian_Wrexham]

http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2017/04/beyond-alt-understanding-the-new-far-right.html

 

[shane]

In my quest to shield my ignorance from the better informed in my friendship circle, I think I might dip into Adults in the Room by Yanis Varoufakis.

I'll lie in wait for Greece to come up in a conversation about the EU and then drop some knowledge bombs all over them.

 

[Ian_Wrexham]

Long piece in the LRB about the EU, Cadbury's and global capitalism.

https://www.lrb.co.uk/v39/n08/james-meek/somerdale-to-skarbimierz

 

[The Paranoid Pineapple]

Also from the LRB, I thought this was a good piece. Ostensibly about the Vauxhall constituency but there's a whole lot more here, touching on issues from democracy to housing.

https://www.lrb.co.uk/v39/n11/john-lanchester/between-victoria-and-vauxhall

 

[smat]

http://www.nybooks.com/daily/2017/06/10/britain-the-end-of-a-fantasy/

Not for the Altys of this world.

 

[Alty]

http://www.nybooks.com/daily/2017/06/10/britain-the-end-of-a-fantasy/

Not for the Altys of this world.

An article basically confirming what we already know. May lacks charisma and the campaign was fought poorly. Nothing egregious there. But it wasn't very interesting.

Of course the stuff about the UK being of no international significance and everyone having to accept that the EU is a bit shit but better than self-government made an appearance too. Again, tired and boring stuff.

If anyone wants a more thoughtful piece about European civilisation (to go all grandiose for a moment), I've now read Douglas Murray's The Strange Death of Europe. Well worth a read. Of course it's already been attacked by sections of the liberal left, but the book does express genuine sympathy for those around the world seeking a better life. What I liked was Murray's ability to move on from the sentiment and talk about actual consequences/policy options.

Separately - my best reading time is now actually listening time. Either when exercising or on the tube to work. The Muslims Are Coming as recommended by Ian isn't available as an audio book but if anyone has a recommendation for a decent read from a similar perspective I'd like to give it a go.

 

[smat]

I did say, mate.

 

[Renegade]

Separately - my best reading time is now actually listening time. Either when exercising or on the tube to work. The Muslims Are Coming as recommended by Ian isn't available as an audio book but if anyone has a recommendation for a decent read from a similar perspective I'd like to give it a go.

Same, I've been devouring audiobooks as there is a lot of dead time during walking to and from work, lunch time, the gym and general commuting. The problem being, that Audible (and I assume other audiobook distributors) mostly have material for a general audience. Audiobooks might be my favourite thing in the world at the moment (probably quadrupled my reading time per day), but I'm finding they lack the nuance of printed books when it comes to specific topics. I might get an hour to sit down and read a book every day and that's usually before bed when my willpower has been completely sapped. I have been meaning to purchase The Muslims Are Coming for a few months now.

 

[Jockney]

The Candidate by Alex Nunns.

If Richard Seymour's Rebirth of Radical Politics focuses on the ontology of the Labour Party since its inception, and the greater tradition of parliamentary politics that it has to overcome, then this book is more concerned with the New Labour power struggle and how the established structure of the party failed to identify the popular surge that put (and kept) Corbyn in power. Got an excellent chapter on Ed Milliband that honestly made me feel a little bit sorry for him, and probably endeared me to the prospect of him taking a cabinet position.

On a slightly reflexive note: I am becoming everything I despised less than two years ago and I deserve everything I get if this all goes wrong.

 

[ThisTinpotLeague]

Digital Fortress by Dan Brown.

 

[Captain Scumbag]

The Gospel of Matthew, maybe? If memory serves, it includes an entertaining yarn about a chap called Judas, who performs an ill-conceived act of betrayal, is tormented by guilt and eventually does the decent thing and hangs himself. Some of it should resonate, I think.

P.S. I doubt it’s available as an audiobook, but Seymour’s The Strange Rebirth of Radical Politics, mentioned above by Jockers, is very good. Very relevant given what's just happened, i.e. you and 13 million other nincompoops voting for that Steptoe-looking menace.

P.P.S. This is another paper and ink recommendation, but FWIW I thought The Econocracy by Earle, Moran and Ward-Perkins was rather spiffing. Unusually lucid for a book about economics, and it gave concrete shape to a lot of vague, amorphous ideas that have been swimming around in my head for several years. Which is nice.

 

[Ian_Wrexham]

If anyone wants to read the odious Jason Cowley being hilariously wrong for 2,500 words, this is quite funny.

http://www.newstatesman.com/politics/uk/2017/06/labour-reckoning

 

[Renegade]

If anyone wants to read the odious Jason Cowley being hilariously wrong for 2,500 words, this is quite funny.

http://www.newstatesman.com/politics/uk/2017/06/labour-reckoning

Saw this yesterday. I was more reminded of Aber gas to be fair.

 

[smat]

https://jacobinmag.com/2017/06/jeremy-corbyn-attacks-media-labour-election-prime-minister

Reminder of the onslaught Corbyn has faced since (even before) winning that leadership election in 2015. So much that I'd forgotten. The man is hard as fuck.

 

[Ian_Wrexham]

This is worth a read too - on the Labour Right's efforts to sabotage the general election campaign.

https://newsocialist.org.uk/a-vow-of-silence-a-chronicle-of/

 

[Jockney]

If anyone wants to read the odious Jason Cowley being hilariously wrong for 2,500 words, this is quite funny.

http://www.newstatesman.com/politics/uk/2017/06/labour-reckoning

Have you seen Atal Utwul's mid-May prediction for the election results, endorsed by the NS on the eve of the election? By far the worst take I read even taking the right-wing press into account. This is the bloke who mocked Corbyn supporters for thinking he would finish above 4th in the leadership election, though — so not entirely unsurprising.

Stephen Bush is the only NS journo who came out of the election cycle with any credit. Incredibly good, even-handed on the ground reporting for someone who is a self-confessed Blairite.

 

[smat]

http://speri.dept.shef.ac.uk/2017/0...ss-contradictions-and-a-difficult-path-ahead/

About some of the contradictions of Corbynism. In the background of knowing he's the Absolute Boy, I do feel a slight uneasiness I can't quite put my finger on. I don't agree with the article exactly, and generally read it thinking "this guy is a bitter centrist", but I think he's right about us excusing/ignoring some of Corbyn's stances because he's Corbyn. Idk.

 

[Captain Scumbag]

^ The point about it being a "post-deficit" election is really interesting – something I hadn't really considered before, despite it being really obvious now someone has pointed it out.

FWIW, I'm not sure how effective the "Labour will bankrupt the country again" narrative would have been this time, but it is weird that they didn't try. The conservative mindset in pretty much all circumstances is to stick with things that work until it's been proven beyond doubt that they no longer do.

The stuff about Corbyn triangulating in a way that would make Tony Blair blush is also spot on.