[hyslop] let off the leash

Courtesy of Theo, one of the best in a long time:

[artificial conflict] beloved of the politicos

Beauty is beauty and home is home, wherever it is.

"The new generation, the new Russians who indulge in the consumer society remain very hostile to the West. They still see things through an East/West prism. They still believe that Nato is an offensive bloc surrounding Russia, they truly believe that one of these days one of the military exercises they organise will turn out to be real. They think very differently."

I think I'm in a position to say I know the Russian way of thinking and the above is true in some aspects, except that it is not as hostile as the quote makes out. In fact, the following is closer to the mark:

In the epic struggle between capitalism and communism, the ultimate winner is consumerism.

Like every citizen in every country, the Russian and the Brit want a slice of the consumer pie.

That is modern Russia in a nutshell - shop at all costs and buy the best brands on the never-never, with the most accessories possible . When you wake up, you might have to go to work, an irksome thing to many Russians but the spin-off is that you can shop in your breaks and after work. The palaces of glitz have sprung up everywhere and even if you can't afford to buy, you can pretend you are buying, the shopgirl helps you try on those new tops and skirts and you feel you're part of the jet-setting Gucchi and Armani set, the dream of most Russians.

Whereas the west has become gradually weaned off the Christian social mindset, the new god being consumerism, the Russians bypassed that Christian social mindset, having emerged from the godless communism of the USSR and something had to step into the breach once nanny had gone.

It wasn't going to be Christian compassion and sane values, especially as The Church had done zero to help the ordinary Russian during the totalitarianism. So politically, the average Russian has inherited his parents' and grandparents' prejudices, the media has told him what America is up to now, he prefers to leave it to Moscow to take care of and hopes Moscow leaves him in peace to get on with the shopping.

No one has rejected democracy - it's just not interesting.

Here in Britain, there is deep dislike of Russians at the official level but I've noticed the ordinary Eastern Europeans, at ground level, seem to be tolerated in the society. However, this is soured by both what is happening above and in the immigration conundrum. The attitude of both Russians and Brits worries me as it has been whipped up by these factors and plays on the natural fears on both sides.

I am in daily contact with both Russians and Brits, ordinary folk and I can vouch for the fact that neither have horns, neither wish the destruction of the other as they have other things on the mind like jobs, homes and family. In this confusion over what the politicos are telling us, there is a great danger that each of the peoples will be isolated from the other more and more, to the point where, if the politicos say the other side has done something dastardly, the common man will gladly spring to arms and march off to slaughter his hated foe.

It's the old, media fed illusion all over again. Apart from the scramble for rationed resources, there is no deepseated nationalistic reason for conflict whatsoever. It's all been whipped up, artificial. Take this one and this one. They say "Russia" did this, "Britain" did that. Since when did the discredited ones at the top earn the right to be called Russia or Britain?

People are people the world over. They are proud of their ethnicity, they think they're the best people in the world, they're nationalistic, they welcome visitors from abroad to stay with them, they like to travel, they have foibles, they are human.

That's all there is to it.

[windows] not the operating system

By windows, I mean the opportunities we get, which then close down and are lost forever.

Admittedly two films triggered this off.

The first, a mind-numbing piece called The One and the second, the Sith episode of Star Wars. The concept, of course, is that chances arise and if grasped, then we move on to the next part of the adventure. If we don't, we stagnate or fall into something even direr.

Some of you have managed to build up your nest egg and are entitled to a calm, dignified retirement, which you must no be doubt worried about at this difficult time. Some of us have somehow, through a conjunction of circumstances and with a flawed mental set, not managed that in the first place.

My life so far has been a series of windows and there is a hunger inside to just settle down and become a good citizen, somewhere where the authorities accept me ... but it never seems to turn out that way. It seems that many of you are trying to do the opposite just now - trying to get out and forget all your woes.

At this moment there is a fair amount of posting on this blog and while it seems as real and permanent as it did in Russia, it is in fact an illusion.

I must move on from here in the not too distant future, as I have over the past months and the blogging will cease again for some time. This time the freefall must cease and it must be my own place and my own subsistence job. It may be a tall order getting internet connected this side of Christmas, as each autumn day brings us closer to winter but I'll try to get posts up.

There's constant mail from Russia just and it involves getting winter clothing over here and so on and every move is to get set up, to start putting roots down again.

In The One, when a person was teleported, he first broke into fragments and then these fragments were brought together and reunited at the other end. In real life, many fragments are forever lost and replaced by new ones, not unlike cells in the body.

This is double-edged.

For better or worse, this hunger to reunite the fragments and just make a go of life had almost got there in Russia. Stupidly [in hindsight], all remaining property, money and the like had been gathered into the one flat over eight years, networks were in place and the life there was one of dignity, respect, not bad hours and reasonable money in Russian terms.

Fool that I was in thinking it could continue and as some of you know - one stroke of a bureaucratic pen and it was back into freefall. Bureaucrats - the second scourge of society.

Getting off that, as it's a fruitless thing to dwell on, my friend noted ,at one point in The One and the Sith, just how many films these days pursue the same theme of the move to threat, the destabilizing of society, the bureaucratic tightening, the sea of troubles and then the flawed earthly Messiah who becomes increasingly convinced he's a god, a deliverer [did you see Brown's recent speech], sweeping in to the rapturous applause of people hailing the chief [anyone remember 1997 or the Nuremburg rallies], only for the screws to be slowly tightened, bit by bit, according to the Grand Plan.

Last minute false messiahs are as illusory as the rest of the business. Solace can be found but not in them, nor in a circle of stones.

[unreconstructed] and richer

Disgraceful example of out and out sexism

Damn - this means I'll never earn enough :)

Men who grow up thinking women should stay at home may be labelled "old-fashioned" - but could end up well ahead in the salary stakes.

A US study, published in the Journal of Applied Psychology, suggests that they will consistently out-earn more "modern-thinking" men. On average, this meant an extra $8,500 (£4,722) a year.

One UK psychologist said men inclined to wield power in their relationships might also do this at work.

Outrageous thought.

[tourism] dangerous these days

Check out these paragraphs about the same topic and see how much meaning you derive from them. Then click on the video and see if that enlightens you further.

Dix-neuf personnes, dont onze touristes européens, ont été enlevés dans le sud-ouest de l'Egypte, près du Soudan, par des hommes armés qui réclament une rançon, a annoncé lundi le ministère égyptien du Tourisme. «Il s'agit de banditisme et non de terrorisme», a tenu à indiquer le ministère dans un communiqué, sans préciser la date de l'enlèvement des otages, le lieu de leur détention, ni le montant de la somme réclamée par les ravisseurs.

Ihre Geiselnehmer sollen Gebirgsnomaden sein: Die in Ägypten entführte Reisegruppe mit fünf Deutschen ist außer Landes gebracht worden - laut Regierung in Kairo befinden sich die elf Touristen nun im Sudan. Die Suche nach dem Versteck läuft, doch das Terrain ist schwierig. Kairo - Dramatisches Ende eines Urlaubstrips: Fünf Deutsche, fünf Italiener, ein Rumäne und mehrere ägyptische Begleiter sind in Ägypten Opfer einer Entführung geworden. Die Urlauber waren in der Wüste in der Nähe der Grenze zum Sudan unterwegs.

Now try the video.

[minimum wage] beneficial or detrimental

The minimum wage in the UK at the moment appears to be £5.52 an hour and in the U.S.A., the federal minimum wage is $5.85 per hour, effective July 24, 2007.

Proponents say that the net effect of a minimum wage policy guarantees a base living standard for all workers, does not significantly effect unemployment, increases work ethic, stimulates the economy through consumer buying, decreases social welfare payouts and helps business.

Opponents say that the net effect is to hurt small business by excluding low cost competitors, reduces hours worked by workers,raises prices of goods and creates inflationary pressure, causes outsourcing and hurts the really disadvantaged in the lowest positions, making some employable people now unemployable. This then adds them to the welfare system.

They say that the policy should be one of maximizing work opportunities by encouraging small businesses, topping up wge packets with earned income tax credits and indirect money saving across the board, e.g. reduction in hidden taxes.

Anyone in my current position needs to have enough to cover, flat rental, gas and electricity, transport to and from work and a minimum for food. The flat rental cost needs to be below that and in this part of the world can be around £90 a week if you're lucky, with up front costs to get started.

Against that is unemployment benefit of £56.20 on current information [which I'm not eligible for] and housing benefit of around £50 [which is possible]. For someone who has lived here for years, that then leaves, in round terms, about £15 for all utilities, clothing, transport and food. For me it doesn't. For many graduates, tricky little clauses in the eligibility for the dole effectively exclude them.

In realistic terms, once employed, these benefits disappear anyway and one is reliant on the weekly wage which, if you work a 35 hour statutory week, comes out to £193.20 per week. The advantage, if one works a rotational shift, is that one can find other work as well. Such work is available and living, though very tight, precluding any frills and subject to landlords bumping up the rental in line with inflation, is a possibility. Just.

From an employer's point of view, using my friend's analogy, if you have, say, a flower delivery service, you need to have people to deliver flowers. Assuming you run a good business, then you'll be paying above minimum wage, plus rebate on usage of the employees' cars. Otherwise you won't be attracting employees who have a certain amount they're paying out to survive.

The higher the minimum wage goes, the less people you can employ and the harder they must work to compensate. Thus the higher the turnover of staff and the more you need to retrain, before even looking at taxation and the like. With no minimum wage, you can employ far more people at a lower rate, this stimulates the economy in a small way but you are just one of many and the economy overall benefits.

It seems a sort of catch 22 to me. Maybe you could look over this post and tell me where the fallacies are and what it missed. I don't claim to have any authority in this matter.