August 8, 2024

 

After Bangladesh, on a somewhat parallel motif I have been trying to follow the events unfolding in the UK. Several cities have had rioting, essentially the white working class being pitted against the immigrants of colour- and more specifically of a certain religious dispensation. The specific incident that occurred was caused by the killing of three very little girls by a minority. As to how these types of atrocities are conceived, I will never know unless I go deep into the complexity of the human psyche. However, in this case the perpetrator was initially portrayed as a Muslim person by rumors on social media. Later it came to light that this was in fact not so. The chap had been born in Wales to parents of Rwandan origin. Unlikely, therefore, that this was the act of an Islamist. But what became evident is the now deep-seated angst of the white working class, much like the USA during the previous elections. This lot has been neglected completely by the elite in the UK. The elite has brought in loads of immigrants, which has put pressure on the system in the UK – making everyday life difficult for ordinary citizens. Ofcourse none of these problems trouble the elite, but surely even the basic notion of appeasing one’s vote bank should have prevented this. It seems to me that the white working class, even though a significant vote bank in terms of numbers, has somehow failed to represent itself as a community to be cared for. Amazingly both the Conservative Party and the Labor Party do not seem to want to have much to do with them- they have been brushed aside as “marginal”. How lazy is that- and I say this as a person of colour. Wherever you are, you have to care for all the communities, but most certainly the majority. I have seen the same treatment to a majority community in my own country. And while each culture will withstand these inequites to different degrees, at some point they will all unravel. But no one in control in the present cares about the future. Everyone is solving their individual short-term problems. This leads to parties that are elected to power that then no one likes. Everyone is apalled and shocked as to how did such unelectable racists get elected? Really.

Trump, Modi, Meloni, Wilders- the list goes on, have arrived because of the laziness and selfishness of previous leaders. One would have to be supremely clueless to actually blame these individuals. They have fulfilled a need. It is like capitalism. As a company, if  there is a need in the market, that shall be duly met by the market. In the UK, the current leader is a labour party guy who did not really have a strong mandate. The closest equivalent to the other right-wing names I mentioned is Nigel Farage of the Reform party- who while himself is deeply respected in many circles, not to mention is suave and a man of this world,  is a long way away from being a credible alternative “Party”  to the tories or labor. But it only takes a few significant defections from the tory party to transform the Reform party and it may well happen in future.

All of this ofcourse begs the question of whether immigration, diversity and multiculturalism is of “net” good use. Ofcourse there are benefits, but have the costs been accounted for. A lot of our decisions are made because something “feels” like a good idea. The Net Zero aspiration by 2050 is another one. No one anticipated Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the skyrocketing energy costs and supply issues that ensued. That changes the scene completely.  Going the other way entirely is also not possible because there simply is no short-term way of fulfilling an ever-evolving labour requirement from only within the nation. For that to happen, loads of locals have to be trained in things that no local wants to do in the first place. And then they need to be compensated accordingly- which means all other citizens must pay a higher price. And let us not forget a precept of capitalism and free trade. In this world, the best man wins.  For an organisation to be globally competitive it needs to be able to hire the best out there irrespective of passport. You can chose not to do that to the detriment of your competitiveness. The best will always be mobile and accepted somewhere- if not the UK, then the US. If not the US then Australia, Benelux, Germany, Mexico, Chile, Canada and, dare I say, Japan. The language might be somwhat a barrier but not too much. For one, a language can be learnt to a functional level. For the other, there are all kinds of AI tools that will progressively make the need for learning a language redundant. Imagine a world where you are speaking in your language and a real-time translation is being relayed to the other party. And vice versa. This is the least that can happen given the galloping technology that surrounds us.

One should, in the near term, reduce some immigration numbers but it will be more tokenism than have any real impact. In the mean time, the cultural divide needs to be addressed head on- bad behaviour by any party must be taken to task in the sternest possible way and with impunity. Free speech may have to take a back seat, if some speech can incite violence it needs to be curbed. Singapore deports people who speak against the government. That is an extreme step – but the general idea is correct. To keep a country’s social fabric intact, prices must be paid. And all the left-wing woke skullduggery must be relegated to the dustbin. It may seem like an authoritarian regime which is dark and forbidding. This is what the west likes to believe. Well, go and live in Singapore to see how dark it really is. It is a load of poppycock. Life can go on swimmingly well, even with certain freedoms curbed. People survive solitary confinement- a partial absence on free speech wont kill them in the least.