Nèdeem Elmahjoub's blog

Downing Street has banned me from asking questions

Boris Johnson's message to the working class Related It's not an accident Britain and America are the world's biggest coronavirus losers

We're knee-deep in shit and drinking cups of tea

The Philosophers' Epidemic

In a  speech on Brexit  in Greenwich on 3 February, he made clear his views on Wuhan-style lockdowns. “We are starting to hear some bizarre autarkic rhetoric,” he said, “when barriers are going up, and when there is a risk that new diseases such as coronavirus will trigger a panic and a desire for market segregation that go beyond what is medically rational to the point of doing real and unnecessary economic damage. “Then, at that moment, humanity needs some government somewhere that is willing at least to make the case powerfully for freedom of exchange, some country ready to take off its Clark Kent spectacles and leap into the phone booth and emerge with its cloak flowing as the supercharged champion of the right of the populations of the Earth to buy and sell freely among each other.” Britain's [and others'] response to coronavirus

Talking about Johnson Related "Structural racism in our society"?

Boris Johnson to the UK people: "many more families are going to lose loved ones before their time.” Boris Johsnon to Yemenis killed by Saudi airstrikes: "When I was foreign secretary I signed off on sales of more arms to the Saudi Kingdom. Many more civilians, including women and children, are going to lose loved ones before their time." BAE Systems sold £15 worth of arms to Saudis during Yemen assault

Boris Johnson speaking to the nation from hospital:  "This virus represents a radicalised small minority that is against our way of life, and what we stand for: liberal values and tolerance. It wants to undermine our health system and our economy as a wealthy country. It's has so far killed many thousands of innocent people. We will all stand together in the fight against hate and evil and make Britain great again." We don't think that such a malign entity represents China or the Chinese people and we will continue to work with our Chinese friends to eradicate this terror that has brought the world economy to a standstill." Satire by me, N.M.

"It seem clear that, for whatever reason, Western political systems have proven incapable of responding rationally, in time, to the Coronavirus threat. As Richard Horton writes of the government, overwhelming scientific evidence of an advancing threat did  not  generate the required action: 'For unknown reasons they waited. And watched.’

"Socialism" to save neoliberalism? Related: (from the Financial Times) By a defender of capitalism and "the gains of the free market" in the last decades. "More complex will be the response on welfare and inequality. While the pandemic is not a crisis of capitalism, it highlights the system’s weak spots, most notably around unprotected workers and those on precarious incomes. Many lost jobs will not come back as companies see means and need for leaner operations. For some this will strengthen the case for a universal basic income or a more generous safety net. At the very least we are likely to see demands for more protections for gig workers. The crisis strengthens those who want policy to think of the less fortunate." And this one: " Bailouts will again be needed now , given a  market downturn that mirrors 1929  and an economic contraction likely to be sharper than during the previous financial crisis. But if we want capitalism and libera...

The Anti-War Economy

“A German student has to  learn about the Holocaust , so, too, should every British student understand and face  Britain’s role in colonialism  and slavery." "It's time we're taught the downsides of our past in order to stop mistakes being repeated." (!) This is naïve. The Empire's plunder, subjugation and atrocities were not "mistakes." They were integral of the political economy of an empire. Read all about it Suggested reading: The Blood Never Dried by John Newsinger Inglorious Empire by Shashi Thahroor British Gulag (the British empire in Kenya)   by Caroline Elkins

"Get Brexit done" has won! Related: The UK is more regionally divided than any comparable advanced economy. Our analysis finds stark regional differences in productivity, income, unemployment, health and politics. We are not the only country to have regional divides, but our regional inequalities in productivity, income and health are far worse than in any comparable country.  

Britain as Conservative and imperialist country, and a pioneer of an aggressive form of capitalism. Even Le Monde Diplomatique doesn't include Britain's foreign policy of the contending parties! UK's austerity elections

UK and Egypt J. is only following a British tradition 

Britain "It was conflict inside the Tory party that led to the current political paralysis, a fact that Johnson wants the public to forget. In an insightful TV documentary made by the former Tory Minister Michael Portillo, party grandees explain that the Tory party is the oldest and most successful ruling party in the world. It ruled before the majority of British people had the right to vote, and it crystalized its power and philosophy in the period of an expanding British Empire.  However, as the Empire ended in the wake of two world wars, the British ruling class, its elite school networks, its aristocracy, its landowners, its bankers, and its large capitalist barons, could no longer rule in the old way. And during the same period popular reverence and respect for the elite faded away.  After WWII, British capitalism was forced to submit to the sway of American global power. Britain became the staunchest U.S. ally and pursued economic policies that came to be kno...

"In September 2017 a YouGov poll commissioned by the Arab News and the Council for the Advancement of Arab British Understanding illustrated worrying attitudes and misunderstandings of Arabs and Muslims in Britain. Of the 2142 British voters polled in the survey, 63% stated that they believe Arabs have failed to integrate themselves into British Society, and 41% believed that their presence has not been beneficial. Despite these strong opinions, 81% admitted that they knew little or nothing about the region." (The British Arab Centre) 
Is it surprising? 
To my life experience in Britain, it is not. The sheer level of prejudice and lack of knowledge is horrifying. One begins with "oh, you don't look Arab!" Arabs are only brown-skinned people she thought. Another was when an educated person who told me in 2010, when I mentioned Edward Said and Orientalist views, "that was long time ago." Presumably because she felt we were living in a triumphing lib...

A bombastic champion of the British empire, UK's 20th Etonian Prime Minister, a hop-ium supplier, now a hero in the tabloid, a representative of arrogance amd chauvinism ... Another outcome of years of mediocrity, celebrity-entertainment, and complicity. Boris Johnson: Gaffeur, entertainer, Brexiteer, Premier

Breaking news The BBC: "On Tuesday,  the UK raised the threat to British shipping in Iranian waters in the Gulf to the highest level." Iranian boats in Iranian waters were threatening a British ship. The Iranian navy claims that the British ship was carrying weapons of mass destruction that could hit Tehran in 45 minutes. The Iranian supreme leader, in a speech broadcast on state TV, said: " I strongly believe that the British ship was carrying WMD. I do believe that the British developed them with the knowledge of the 'international community', and they pose a threat to the whole region. We will defend our people and our land with whatever means possible..." No one was able to very the claim that the British ship was carrying any WMD. Jeremy Hunt, a would-leader of the free world, was open about it: "We are desparate for a war and we will stand shoulder to shoulder with our American, Saudi and Emirati allies against the Mullahs and their way...

The history of the empire shows us not only that there is nothing especially “British” about values such as tolerance, freedom, human rights or democracy but that often what we call “British values” were influenced by both empire and resistance to empire. The oft-told story of a benevolent Britain “bestowing” freedom on her colonies when they were deemed ready for it is largely myth. In reality, resistance, often violent resistance alongside famous non-violent movements, was a central part of the story. From Insurgent Empire to Brexit