tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5312853715123370916.post8316932118905215794..comments2024-03-17T00:10:44.022+00:00Comments on From Arse To Elbow: Invisible CitiesDavid Timoneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03568348438980023320noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5312853715123370916.post-16644006574520997342017-01-30T18:02:35.995+00:002017-01-30T18:02:35.995+00:00"I think the most significant thing about ..."I think the most significant thing about 'modern' nationalism is in its rejection of collectivism and the fact that it basically accepts the global economy while bemoaning all its symptoms."<br /><br />The right have a history of bemoaning the symptoms of their own policies, think how Thatcher destroyed families and all the Daily Mail headlines about the breakdown of the family!<br /><br />The right have also always supported a race to the bottom, which springs from their ideological view of the world (lazy v hard working people etc) to their vulgar economics (flog the worker to death and reap the benefits).<br /><br />The modern right look very very much like the old right to me.<br /><br /> Herbie Causes Extinctionnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5312853715123370916.post-42164482059380895412017-01-30T11:56:18.416+00:002017-01-30T11:56:18.416+00:00Protectionism today looms large mostly in the imag...Protectionism today looms large mostly in the imagination of liberals who prefer to frame the rise of Fascism in the 30s as a response to it (i.e. depression > protectionism > Nazis) rather than a miscalculation by a centre and right who considered socialism the prime threat.<br /><br />Calls for protectionism are pretty marginal, and usually emerge from small business owners rather than workers. The US opposition to NAFTA has been about the (perceived) loss of jobs to Mexico, not the flood of imports from the south. It's no accident that support for a tariff on Mexican goods has to be justified in the context of a security policy.David Timoneyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03568348438980023320noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5312853715123370916.post-57210402328974614862017-01-29T21:36:42.757+00:002017-01-29T21:36:42.757+00:00I think the most significant thing about 'mode...I think the most significant thing about 'modern' nationalism is in its rejection of collectivism and the fact that it basically accepts the global economy while bemoaning all its symptoms. <br /><br />There seems to be little political clamour for economic protectionism, and in many cases the thirst for national sovereignty is linked to the quest for freedom to compete more harshly and aggressively with other states. In essence, the driving force is to secure a head start in a race to the bottom!<br /><br />A recent Daily Mash headline summed the situation up quite nicely: 'We need to look after our own first, say people who would never help anyone'.Igor Belanovnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5312853715123370916.post-82539587068161326652017-01-29T12:29:07.550+00:002017-01-29T12:29:07.550+00:00Trump famously reckoned he "could have had a ...Trump famously reckoned he "could have had a chance" with Princess Diana (wonder if he'll bring that up again when he meets the Queen), which reinforces your point that the UK needs to rely on its allure more than its material advantages. <br /><br />We're not in a position to secure "good deals" because we have little to offer over and above current business. To use a retail analogy, we aren't about to launch new lines and there is only so much we can do to cut current prices. We therefore need to persuade others that shopping in the UK is a positional good, worth paying a premium for. To that end, we would be better represented by Victoria Beckham that Liam Fox.<br /><br />The problem is that this will further bias our new "industrial strategy" towards London - i.e. we stand a better chance in areas like corporate services, wealth management, media and culture than in manufacturing. We've also missed the boat in that the optimum launch conditions were in the early 90s: before the single market became embedded and ahead of the Cool Britannia wave of interest. <br /><br />The beef over the Maastricht Treaty represented a pivotal moment. If we had left the EU then, we could still have benefited from globalisation but in a more politically palatable way. The tragedy of Brexit (i.e. thinking about this pragmatically rather than in terms of the principle) is that we are leaving at the worst possible time.David Timoneyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03568348438980023320noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5312853715123370916.post-9206119164583128692017-01-29T10:58:30.407+00:002017-01-29T10:58:30.407+00:00I think the gated community analogy really does ge...I think the gated community analogy really does get to the heart of what underpins the attraction of right wing politics in this day and age. It is a disdain for the poor, immigrants (dark skinned ones), those who for whatever reason can't work. The message is clear we don't want to live near these people or have to pay a penny for them. Which brings us onto their greatest myths, .i.e the idea that they live solely by their own efforts and don't rely on anyone who is poorer than them and the other myth that the best person always gets the job!<br /><br />We should recognise that within the gated community called the USA there are internal gated communities also! gated communities within gated communities! I guess is we drill down far enough we have the alienated teen in his own gated community, i.e. the bedroom!<br /><br />Incidentally, so we are now in post Brexit world and I guess that means the nation has to send someone to prostitute themselves to other nations in order to get the best trade deal (whatever that means). But why the hell are we sending a repulsive old bag like Theresa May, how remiss of us, how careless, these are vitally important trade deals don’t you know!<br /><br />We should be sending over some nubile nymphet, particularly to see Trump. Are we serious about these trade deals or what?<br />Herbie Causes Extinctionnoreply@blogger.com