Chapter 6 In the late 1830's Mill once again became heavily involved with public political events. It was a time of hope for the Radicals; hopes which were centred on achieving a split in the Whigs between the progressive element and the rest, and the introduction of the secret ballot. Mill fretted that he could …
Category: politics
Zimbabwe’s Children
After a few disappointing and shoddy documentaries which shook my faith in the ability of modern British television to produce a decent one, along came a brilliant example. Zimbabwe's Forgotten Children directed by Jezza Neumann and produced and presented by Xoliswa Sithole was intensely, at times unbearably, moving, while at the same time being extremely instructive. The …
The Romantic Exiles
I happened to espy E.H. Carr's book The Romantic Exiles (1933), which tells the story of the lives of certain 19thC Russian exiles, in my favourite second-hand bookshop in Gateway-of-Fleet, and was delighted to be able to buy it. My primary interest was in the private life of Alexander Herzen but the book turned out to be of much …
August Miscellany (2010)
So I return to produce the first monthly miscellany since February. It is my intention under my new regime that these miscellanies will actually be shorter and I will have more individual entries. Since my recovery on August 5th (as usual it was fairly sudden and I can therefore be specific) the rest of the …
February 2010 Miscellany
Two more short Turgenev novels, included in one volume, both very good indeed. Rudin is the tale of an idealist young talker who inspires love in the young Natasha, but when it comes to a question of action (eloping with her in the face of her mother's disapproval) fails both Natasha and herself. The intensely moving, …
Blawn’s Britain
9th July 2007 For anyone foolish enough to believe that the substitution of Brown for Blair would make any difference to the ideological tenor of the Government today's (8.07.07) Times front-page supplies an instant corrective. The latest subject to be introduced into classrooms is 'lessons in money'. Ed Balls, the Schools Minister' said 'Money plays …
Election Lack-of-Fever 2005 (OP)
This one is especially interesting given I will be facing the same choices in a few months time. April 14th 2005 It is very hard to avoid falling into the pit of world-weary cynicism and apathy when confronted with the 2005 election. The mood for many on the left is perhaps best caught by the …
Lock ’em Up (OP)
19th November 2007 Way back in August - yes I know its a long time ago - an extraordinary column appeared in The Times by one Theodore Dalrymple. Britain - which already imprisons more of its population than anywhere else in Europe (except Portugal for some reason) needs to 'double the number of prisons at …
Class Divisions (OP)
18th December 2007 Sometimes articles which are just so damned good they demand reproducing on any blog going, get posted on one of the lists. This, like most of the best, was posted to WWTTA. >>CEOs vs. Slaves By Barbara Ehrenreich, AlterNet. Posted May 31, 2007. Recent findings shed new light on the increasingly unequal …
Of Place and Memory (OP)
16th November 2007 On 4th October we attended the concert for the re-opening of Birmingham Town Hall. We were actually very lucky to get tickets for this heavily oversubscribed event - the wonders of Internet booking! The Town Hall is one of oldest purpose built Concert Halls in Europe, completed in 1834 (long before The Albert …
Moving Toyshop 