The last person we know of to leave political power no richer than when he came into his office was, as far as I know, Thomas More. The man who gave back gifts when he realised they were not gifts but bribes. Famously written about by Robert Bolt in a Man for All Seasons Henry…
Author: Daniel
Spinoza
I was browsing Blackwell’s bookshop when I was student (one of many times) and found a small paperback volume An Introduction to Spinoza by Stuart Hampshire. I had been wondering why Spinoza was not on the history of philosophy syllabus so I bought it and read it in one sitting. I certainly had my answer…
Cultures Lost
Culture – as language – as modes and mores and ways of thinking and even as laws – changes. Pronunciation and word meanings change. Clothes change. and as these things change so the people change. There is no Elizabethan who would recognise the English of today and no Edwardian who would not be constantly second-guessing…
I Have My Suspicions
After the first attempt on his life Trump received a huge well of support to such an extent Democrat friends of mine said ‘oh well, he’s going to win now.’ I won’t comment directly on anyone who votes out of sympathy for a man who was shot at when considering the political ramifications of their…
The slow Boil To War
In 1922 the people who watched the fizzled revolt of the Nazi party in Munich shrugged and went about their business. In the early 1930s when the British fascists marched in London the dockers left their work and there were street fights with them. In the late 20s when Mein Kampf came out a baroness…
Reading and Believing
When have you ever read anything? Do you just believe what people tell you? I was with someone recently and was talking about political matters in our society and they said, ‘how do you know all this? Do you read a lot?’ I am not someone to criticise strata of society about which I know…
How Difficult Is It?
When I was younger if I ever found myself kissing someone it was by accident or by some sub-conscious desire that never actually hit my conscious brain before it happened. As I grew older the ability to ask someone out has never been a skill I possess. Not because I am shy (i was when…
Moon Day
So I am told NASA is running a project tomorrow to celebrate the moon by asking the world to look up and see it. Here is a children’s poem by Shänne Sands: Lets do all kinds of things tonight; We’ll ride to the Moon on a silver bike, Which we’ll sell to the…
The TUC
I read they have declared the Gaza war a genocide and everyone should take them seriously. Let’s see the UK has been at relative peace for 80 years after the most violent war ever known and after 1200 years of Europe producing the most disciplined and well armed soldiery the world has ever known which…
Paris Exposition 1937
The technology exposition in Paris in 1937 was much vaulted by Nazi Germany and Communist Russian and looking at their work the similarities in the ‘strong looking working man’ with chiselled chins and powerful arms carrying hammers and shovels. The rectangular sharp edged buildings were even worse with their anodyne flatness broken by vertical crenellations…