europe

i can’t stand this referendum, and i wish it wasn’t happening because i don’t think we the general public are qualified to make an informed choice over something so complex and crucial. if all of us were given a short test of 30 key questions to measure our knowledge of britain within the context of modern europe, i’m not sure enough of us would pass that test to justify a public referendum. it’s like letting passengers fly a plane, and when they crowd into the cockpit, they end up flapping and flipping switches on a hunch….crashhh

another thing i’m beginning to seriously loath is my own sense of nostalgia…it’s like a disease of the mind…nostalgia lies to us… people aren’t yearning for an old england.. their yearning for their YOUTH. there’s no end of old mods in their late fifties still attempting to large it up..you can see them from a mile off, locked into a daft worldview and hairstyle that doesn’t quite work for them anymore and it gets them angry.  if these souls can’t even make the right choice with a haircut in their later years, how can they be trusted to determine the outcome of a country?

then there’s them english nationalist skinheads with their german nazi swastikas. such a weird irony.. however, germany isn’t that country anymore,and it only was for a phase.. and that’s because hitler launched at a time of poverty and was therefor able to manipulate a vulnerable population into a dark dark place…that crap can happen again anywhere..all it needs is poverty and a manipulative charismatic mouthpiece…that’s why europe is so great with human rights..it has seen the dark side, and works hard to stay away from it.

an unfunny thing about many brexit voters is their hatred for political correctness. i personally feel we can never have enough of it. it’s pushes us forward and raises the bar…imagine a time when woman were fighting for the vote, you just know there would have been a pile of men calling it political correctness gone wrong…or how about the times when forward thinking black and whites had to fight for the right to even dance with each other in the same ballroom, or share the same schools..or the same toilets..again there would have been some whitey complaining about political correctness…there’s a book about motown artists on the road, where diana ross wasn’t allowed to buy vanilla ice-cream..she was only allowed the chocolate…she wasn’t allowed to use the same roadside toilets as white folk. imagine the grim conditions for workers before unions..unions are born out of political correctness.

as a kid performing pop music in the 1970’s, i loved our frequent trips to germany. our standard of living instantly went up on arrival..dignified dressing rooms…basic yet good clean hotels…..we’d return to england, drive straight to a gig and the dressing room would often be a filthy toilet, and our accommodation would be gritty…brush nylon sheets and less healthier breakfasts. i’ve only ever known europe to raise the bar..in my experience it never lowered it.

when i watch certain types of politicians, i can’t help asking myself…is it all performance? there’s all sorts of ways of becoming a rock star now..you don’t have to play music, but like hitler, you MUST perform…so i guess you could do politics instead…the money’s not bad. sometimes when i think of ones like george galloway or donald trump..or boris johnson..or nigel farage, they’re like show boating performance artists or rock stars, only the glamour is even more toxic.

i love angela merkel for putting her money where her mouth is… she never behaves like a rock star. history will be kind to her.. she let in all those refugees running from a nightmare.. she simply did the right thing…it was beautiful…a compassionate gesture on a massive scale…so kind and generous…may we here in britain never have to run from bombs or guns like those poor folk. human rights are why i’m voting to stay in.

i remember living in northern ireland and watching southern ireland blossom when large grants came through around 1992…when the EU opened up its handbag to ireland it was a game changer.. northern ireland in the sixties was the more modern side of the island, but then the south raced ahead when it joined up. it was fairly bleak beforehand.

politics sure are dreary..but i’m starting to understand how even a tomato is political.. where did it come from..how much does it cost…is it a fair deal?.