Jazzy D's Soul Notes

Tim Shipman "Fall Out: A Year of Political Mayhem" (William Collins)




Tim Shipman’s previous book, All Out War, gave an engaging and detailed account of the lead-up to the UK’s referendum on membership of the European Union, and the immediate aftermath, covering the resignation of David Cameron and the subsequent internecine strife within the Conservative Party that led to Theresa May becoming Prime Minister. Fall Out picks up the story, and covers the year that followed her ascension to Downing Street, culminating shortly after the unexpectedly inconclusive general election of June 2017.

I seem to have read a lot of volumes of political history over the last few years. I had always been interested in politics, anyway, and that preoccupation has been piqued through working in several different ministers’ private offices across a couple of government departments. This was, however, the first time that I had read such an impartial account published quite so soon after the events that it relates. Much of Shipman’s mastery lies in the immediacy of his account.

I don’t know where his political preferences lie. I remember most of the events that he recounts very clearly and feel that he has maintained an impartial perspective throughout. While never reluctant to convey disdain for certain politicians’ obtuseness, he scatters his scorn even-handedly. I was particularly impressed by the range of politicians and senior officials with whom he seems to have spoken, also right across the political divide.

One of the most illuminating aspects of the book is his account of the reign of terror conducted by Theresa May’s senior political advisers, Fiona Hill and Nick Timothy. Their scorn was distributed fairly even-handedly, too, and they were just as happy bullying and ridiculing ministers of state as they were to terrorise mere officials. Disappointingly, Theresa May seems, at best, to have turned a blind eye to their disgraceful behaviour, although the insinuation that she approved of, even if never specifically commissioning, their activities is difficult to challenge.

Regardless of the political complexion of the government, I have always believed that it is in everyone’s interest that we have a strong opposition. Shipman makes clear that, following the as-yet unhealed internal divisions within the Conservatives following their post-Referendum leadership contest, the Government seemed holed below the waterline, and offered an easy target for Her Majesty’s Opposition. Only there was no Opposition. While the Conservatives tore themselves apart following David Cameron’s resignation, they did at least manage to appoint a new leader within a matter of a few weeks. Meanwhile, the Labour Party, having gone through one painful leadership contest that resulted in apparent rank outsider Jeremy Corbyn emerging as runaway winner, chose to plunge itself into a second contest, rendering the same result but with an even bigger margin, although it took several months to do so. All of which makes the Labour resurgence in the 2017 general election such a surprise.

The clear lesson from Shipman’s book is the enduring peril of political hubris. Labour centrists refused to believe that the party could appoint a genuinely socialist leader, while Theresa May failed to acknowledge the possibility that she would not be returned to Downing Street with a Thatcheresque landslide majority. As in a Greek tragedy, in which the oracle has offered its occluded prophesy, both those conceits would be punctured most brutally. Unfortunately, amusing though such outcomes and fractured vanities might appear in the abstract, the consequent uncertainly currently remains unresolved. I am intrigued to know what Mr Shipman’s next book might be, but suspect that I might find the ending rather frightening.

Naomi Klein "The Battle For Paradise" (Haymarket Books)






Hurricane Maria devastated Puerto Rico in September of 2017.

And despite Puerto Rico’s status as a territory of the United States, the US government has done embarrassingly little to assist the American citizens of this beautiful island.

While the absence of US assistance has been bad enough, there is a more malicious contingent at work. Naomi Klein takes aim at them – disaster capitalists – in her new book, The Battle for Paradise: Puerto Rico Takes on the Disaster Capitalists. In it, Klein makes a strong argument for fighting against selfish outside influences trying to make a buck on the backs of traumatized local Puerto Rican communities.

Does this situation sound familiar? It should be because it is essentially another colonization of Puerto Rico by the US.

In this 96-page book, Naomi Klein gives her reader a short history lesson as well as reasons why Puerto Ricans would (and should!) be skeptical of outside actors (pp. 25-32). While lifelong Puerto Rican residents dig out from under the wreck of Maria, the governor and other self-interested players court the rich from the mainland US by offering major tax breaks to move there – tax breaks that residents do not get to take advantage of (pp. 18-19).

Often referred to as “Puertopians,” these wealthy libertarians seek to live tax- (and care-) free in Puerto Rico, all the while seeing themselves as saviors of the embattled island and its residents (pp. 15-25). As Klein explains, “In February 2018, [the governor of Puerto Rico] told a business audience in New York that Maria had created a ‘blank canvas’ on which investors could paint their very own dream world” (p. 25); never mind the over three million people who already call it home.

Klein explains how Puerto Rico was in such a vulnerable position, even before Hurricane Maria hit, with importing a staggering amount of fossil fuels (pp. 5-7) and food (pp. 32-37) while also incurring an enormous debt after the global economic downturn of 2008 (47-51). These deficiencies are in large part due to the legacy of colonialism and the plantation economy.

In addition, situations and events in Puerto Rico over the last twelve years have made it particularly vulnerable to “shock doctrine” tactics. According to Klein, the phenomenon of the shock doctrine is the “deliberate exploitation of states of emergency to push through a radical pro-corporate agenda” (p. 45). Klein lays out how Puerto Rico is the most distinct example of this since Katrina hit New Orleans in 2005 (pp. 43-53).

But Klein is also intentional in giving inspirational examples of how some local residents are harnessing collaborative partnerships, renewable energies (pp. 8-11), and innovative agricultural practices (pp. 37-43) to challenge existing inequities, untenable structures, and malignant outside influences.

It is this entrepreneurial spirit that Klein encourages in Puerto Rico as this is an opportunity for them to transform their home into the sustainable paradise that they themselves envision (p. 12). Through organization and strength, they will be able to overcome the “Puertopians” who seek to resettle the island (pp. 30-32).

While Klein’s book explores only one facet of the effects of Maria on Puerto Rico – disaster capitalists setting their sights on Puerto Rico in its vulnerable post-Maria state – it is an imperative issue to address. Only a brief (although necessary) introduction, the book offers a firm foundation to understanding disaster capitalism, the shock doctrine phenomenon, and how Puerto Rico was susceptible to more than just hurricane damage when Maria struck.

This is a quick and worthwhile read for anyone interested in Puerto Rico, the effects of colonialism and/or natural disasters, or the empowerment of local Puerto Ricans to lead the efforts of rebuilding how they see fit. It’s accessible information to most anyone, even those with no knowledge on any of these topics or the history of Puerto Rico.

If anybody in the USA can get the BBC Sounds app, a radio app, THEN they should listen to this explosive analysis of QAnon.
It shows how a viperous thought from 4Chan can evolve into a lie that in the States was be believed to be true.

4. Q Drop

In Oct 2017 Donald Trump says something weird in a room full of military figures: “Maybe this is the calm before the storm.”

A few weeks later a poster on 4chan who calls himself Q starts to tell a crazy story about a coming storm, in which Trump is engaged in an epic battle against a cabal of satanic paedophiles who have hijacked the American Republic.

A group of bloggers mainstream the theory and it starts having a life of its own with real world consequences. Qanon is born. But who is directing it?


5. Blowback

A British spy is hired to dig dirt on Donald Trump’s Russia connections. His sources tell him Trump is a Russian agent, a puppet of the Kremlin.

America is gripped by this story. Half are convinced the Trump campaign colluded with the Russians in order to defeat Hillary Clinton. But the other half believes the investigations into Russian collusion are a hoax, a conspiracy by the establishment to unseat a democratically elected president.

The QAnon community takes up this second narrative, in which a renegade General becomes a martyr and a figurehead.


6. The Usual Suspects

Donald Trump’s fantasy about a vast conspiracy to steal the 2020 election merges with the fantasy of QAnon, about a looming showdown against the deep state cabal of satanic paedophiles.

After the storming of the Capitol in Washington DC, major figures from the QAnon movement gather in Dallas, Texas. Gabriel Gatehouse gets inside their conference to try to figure out who is now controlling this parallel reality. And he confronts General Flynn who is calling for his ‘digital soldiers’ to take over the country from the bottom up.

7. Welcome to The Future

The Q Shaman, the man with the furs and horns who stormed the Capitol on January 6, 2021, is in jail. The movement he came to symbolise appears defeated. But in a small South Carolina seaside town, ‘establishment’ Republicans are fighting a losing battle for the soul of their party, after one of the bloggers who mainstreamed the QAnon conspiracy theory has been elected to a powerful local position.

Across America, people who believe Donald Trump’s parallel narrative about a stolen election are trying to take over the levers of democracy. Was this the plan all along?

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds

My fellow friends in the USA you must try to see this radio analysis for yourself.

Peter Kropotkin "Anarchist Communism " (Penguin Great Ideas)







In Anarchist Communism: Everywhere You Will Find that the Wealth of the Wealthy Springs from the Poverty of the Poor, Peter Kropotkin writes, “We cry shame on the feudal baron who forbade the peasant to turn a clod of earth unless he surrendered to his lord a fourth of his crop. We called those barbarous times. But if the forms have changed, the relations have remained the same, and the worker is forced, under the name of free contract, to accept feudal obligations. For, turn where he will, he can find no better conditions. Everything has become private property, and he must accept, or die of hunger” (pgs. 12-13). Kropotkin continues, “It is high time for the worker to assert his right to the common inheritance, and to enter into possession of it” (pg. 34). In his titular essay, Kropotkin argues the folly of individualism, explaining how various institutions already demonstrate the ability to work for the common good, including inclusive rail lines, museums, libraries, and even the field of science – though he describes science in the sense of late-nineteenth-century scientific discovery prior to that practiced by modern industrial capitalists and their global corporations.

This Penguin “Great Ideas” edition of Kropotkin’s work is a nice, inexpensive way to get a hardcopy of his work for scholarly analysis or use in the classroom. It is worthy of study by those re-examining the current socioeconomic systems in the West that exist to accumulate wealth and power in the hands of a few individuals but should be read alongside other political works to place it in context and realize that no one text will furnish all the answers.

Here is a snapshot of Priti Patel's recent spending of our money on her behalf on herself and her star.Money that is taken out of our taxes and that is yours and mine.
And these are items just over £500.


All confirmed on the official Home Office website.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/home-office-procurement-card-spend-over-500-2020



The conservative are taking the piss in barrels and laughing merrily as they take the nation into ruins. Klepto-fascists in broad daylight.

Disgusting.

Cogent arguments for socialism by the much-missed Tony Benn.

Socialism in Britain - Interview with Tony Benn



December 2006, 'Brief Encounters' - Guardian Unlimited. Interviewer - Nick Stadlen QC.

Tony Benn speaks as lucidly as ever on democracy, socialism, the Labour Party, the trade union movement, and much more.

I am currently listening to the extended BBC podcast - The Dominic Cummings interview with Laura Kuenssberg. Dominic Cummings talks about his role in government during the pandemic, his relationship with the prime minister, and his role in Brexit. She really digs hard into him making the slimy bugger squirm. And as far as I am concerned, the Brexit campaign was a dirty campaign against the remainders.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p09pxlzw

Insightful and makes me angry about how the truth had been manipulated to serve the government lackeys.

Frantz Fanon "Black Skin, White Masks" (Pluto Press)



"Black Skin, White Masks" is a broad Freudian-psychoanalytical study into racism towards and the alienation of black people in white societies through clinical, literary, and personal examples. While Fanon stated at the beginning of his work that his examples were derived from Martinique and ought to be considered limited to just Martinique, it is made clear through a reading of his entire work that "Black Skin, White Masks" aspired to much more than to be restricted to just that Caribbean island.

His rich and concise prose, arguments, have considerable breadth for such a slim volume. His points about the culpability of all in a society for the atrocities those in power inflict are moving, damning, and necessary.


Black Skin, White Masks is the unsurpassed study of the black psyche in a white world. Hailed for its scientific analysis and poetic grace when it was first published in 1952, the book remains a vital force today from one of the most important theorists of revolutionary struggle, colonialism, and racial difference in history.

John Pilger "The New Rulers of the World" (Verso)





This book is four essays on a world dominated by corporations and imperialist governments that cause much death and suffering to further their goals. It's all a bit over the top, but probably more true than most of us would let ourselves believe.

The first essay called "The Model Pupil" is about how western governments supported the brutal reign of Indonesia's General Suharto and the overthrow of the nation's popular government and then allowed corporate interests to divvy up the country. Next, "Paying the Price", tells of the suffering of Iraq's citizenry from post-Gulf War sanctions that limit the food, medicine, and material allowed into the country, as well as constant military action such as bombings in the "No Fly Zone." Saddam Hussein profited during this time and the western military helped keep down uprisings to keep him in power. The story is continued in "The Great Game" where the specter of terrorism is compared to the atrocities of much greater magnitude initiated or covered up by western governments, as well as the oft-told story of the CIA's involvement in creating Osama Bin Laden. In the final essay, "The Chosen Ones" Pilger writes about his home country of Australia welcoming the Olympic games while hiding their dark past and shameful present in oppressing the aboriginal peoples. One interesting idea I got from this book is that although the US government has been behind much atrocity, greed, and dishonesty that it is not just an American trait. Pilger puts it clear that Britain, France, and Germany have done the same when they've had the power and that any country in control could (and probably would) do the same.

Wonderful, if distressing stuff. Highly recommended.