And before I forget…

A new piece by me, over at Reaction, about cultural sectarianism and why we’re in such a bad place. Read it by clicking here… (Though there might be a paywall. Sorry!)

2 thoughts on “And before I forget…”

  1. I thought that was a great piece David, I think most of what you have been writing lately has been very good. Concentrate on the writing.

    What I noticed about the protests was the lack of black faces over 25. Wiser heads in the black community probably know that no good will ultimately come from these marches. Sure a few statues go, a few comedies are taken off air, maybe, just maybe, there will be some token appointments of black people to senior positions. Against that, the marches have just pissed off a decent chunk of the of the country and racist attacks will skyrocket in the next six months.

    I think given the small numbers of people protesting, the media coverage has been excessive and reaction in rushing to take down statues embarrassing. It has resembled mob rule by a tiny minority. Where is my say, or David Waywell’s say, or anyone else say on whether Francis Drake’s statue gets taken down?.

    Where I would diverge is that both sides need to compromise. The right are winning and will continue to win unless the left change tack. The fixation of the left on identity politics is something that directly benefits the right in the UK. We are a country that is 87% white, 90% heterosexual, 99.5% “binary”, two thirds of the country identify themselves as “patriotic”. Fixating on white privilege, sexism, imperialism and whether trans-women can use the ladies loo’s speaks to very few people, in fact it does opposite, it alienates them. Since Blair’s demise the conservative party has gained over five million voters, Labour less than a million. How he kept such a lid on the lunatic fringe in the Labour party I’m not entirely sure but it was some feat. In the latest bout of idiocy we find from Labour MP’s that you can only talk about racism if you happen to be a Labour MP, Conservative MP’s don’t have that right. Starmer’s taking the knee to appease his detractors on the left, still sore at his record on police brutality as DPP tells you he is not going to be another Blair.

    1. Thanks Rob. Concentrating on the writing it partly why I’m blogging again — a little more freedom to write what I want, more more often (more than I could ever get published, though not having contacts in magazines remains a problem), whilst also a good place to stick the cartoons which are one of the ways I relax.

      I agree about %ages. It remains an oddity about the rush to provide “balance” that actually, balance usually means a disproportionate number of identity groups in any one sample. But that doesn’t bother me too much. I don’t mind gestures. Sometimes the gesture is important. I think the Tory problem isn’t that they’re unwilling to be fair but they’re lacking the willingness to even look fair. Just like it’s in the nature of Labour to go over the top, Tories seem to revel a little in their not budging. It’s like both sides enjoy conforming to the worse stereotypes of their kind. I find it very discouraging on both sides, though I think erring in favour of listening is better than erring towards doing nothing.

      Churchill/Fawlty: the far right couldn’t have asked for better stories to swing people behind their flag. If this were the US, I’d be wondering about astroturfing. Because it’s the UK, the simpest solution is that there are idiots thinking they’re making a clever point. Doesn’t negate the argument that we could do better. I’m generally against pulling any statue down… The worst do shame us. At the same time, slave traders aren’t a hill worth dying on.

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Why Dunciad.com?

It’s a cool domain name and it was available. Yes, I know. Available. Crazy, isn’t it?

Really?

Yes. It also helps that it’s also my favourite satire written by Alexander Pope, one of the most metrically pure English poets who also knew his way around a crude insult or two. If you’ve not read it, you should give it a try.

So this is satire, right?

Can’t deny it. There will be some. But it’s also an experiment in writing and drawing, giving work away for free in order to see how many people are willing to support a writer doing his thing. It’s the weird stuff that I wouldn’t get published elsewhere in this word of diminishing demands and cookie-cutter tastes.