If you read one last thing in 2008…

…make it Willem Buiter’s Boxing Day post on the FT’s maverecon blog. Probably the most damning piece ever written about this – or any other – government. Spectacular.

It’s foolish to “pick” a single section for your inspection, when indeed you should really read the text in its entirety, however I’m nothing if not foolish ::

The fact that we grant the state (and the government in charge of the instruments of the state) a normative raison d’être and acknowledge the universality of its presence in every historical organised human society, does not mean we should respect, let alone trust the state. The state is a necessary evil. It is necessary for the reasons outlined by Hobbes, Locke and many other worldly philosophers. It is evil because I know of no example of a state that has not abused its power over its citizens. Nor do I know of a society where the state does not try to extend its control over the lives of the citizens to domains that are none of its business and that are not material to the performance of the key tasks of the state. Every action, legislative initiative, executive order, legal ruling or administrative decision must therefore be scrutinised with the eyes of a hawk and with a deep and abiding mistrust of both the motivations and the likely consequences of any state action or initiative. The simple rule of thumb as regards both new and existing laws, rules and regulations should be: when in doubt, throw it out.

[…]

I have become convinced that the price of freedom is eternal vigilance against the encroachment by the powers of the state on the private domain. The better-intentioned a government professes to be, and the better-intentioned it truly is when it first gains office, the more it is to be distrusted.

[…]

I have watched this process at work in the UK since I returned here in 1994. It was breath-taking and depressing to observe the transformation of New Labour after 1997, from the party of open government, human rights and civil liberties into an increasingly paranoid group of power-hogging and repressive political control freaks, who have done more damage to fundamental human rights in the past 11 years than any other (sequence of) government(s) in any comparable-length stretch of time since the Glorious Revolution. Fortunately, despite their worst intentions, they have not been very competent – a more competent government could have done much more damage to our freedom and civil liberties.

Continue reading…

via Tim Worstall, c/o Mike Power

Lists: Ten things on TV that aren’t wank

I was challenged, so…

Ten things on TV that aren’t wank

1. South Park

2. The Wire

3. The X Factor (Mock me. I don’t care)*

4. Stephen Fry

5. Top Gear (yeah, I know it’s fake)

6. EuroNews/al Jazeera

7. Charlie Brooker’s Screenwipe

8. Graham Linehan

9. The Simpsons (still relevant)

10. The Daily Show

btw. I would have found Ten things on Radio 4 that aren’t wank much easier. Also, note the volume of US content. So much for the superiority of British TV. I could have added The Shield, Arrested Development, Entourage, The Office (US) and 30 Rock.

*Yeah, it’s often wank

Lists: Ten things on TV that are wank

Ten things on TV that are wank…

1. The One Show

2. Soaps, especially depressing ones (which is all of them)

3. Anything starting with the word “Celebrity…”

4. Mark [fucking] Lawrenson

5. Bargain Hunt

6. Antony Worrall Thompson

7. The [fucking] Tweenies

8. News 24

9. Anything with Graham Norton in it, that isn’t Father Ted

10. My Family (ever since Nick left)

Lists: Ten iconic videogames

Ten iconic videogames…

1. Pacman

2. Missile Command/Space Invaders

3. Paperboy

4. Pole Position

5. Super Mario

6. Final Fantasy

7. Doom

8. Resident Evil

9. Gran Turismo

10. Grand Theft Auto 3

Lists: Ten things a gentleman must have

Ten things a gentleman must have

1. A sensible leather belt

2. A driver’s licence (whether he uses it or not)

3. A good watch (from a watchmaker, not a clothing company)

4. A penknife

5. A music collection, and a reasonable knowledge of the subject

6. A copy of The Godfather film – 1 & 2 (the third film is optional)

7. A quality leather wallet

8. A tape-measure that doesn’t flop on the floor when extended more than 6′

9. A talent for making a good breakfast

10. A firm handshake

Merry Christmas

…and here’s hoping that 2009 is kinder to us all than 2008 has been.

Love and peace.

David Cameron is soft

Slippery Dave likes to play the tough-guy at PMQs, but as Stephen Tall points out, when it comes to the crunch the guy’s got no balls.

Is this Janus-faced empty vessel really going to become the next Prime Minister?

Do the sheep have teeth?

I’ve just read Justin’s piece on the bailiffs story. I feel I need to revisit the issue as I don’t think I was pissed-off anything like enough the first time.

Also, check out the reader comments. Get a measure of just how fucked up these proposals are, and how people who’ve done bugger-all wrong, can find themselves caught up in the system and on the wrong end of an ass kicking a dose of reasonable force.

Justin writes ::

You could call this another front in New Labour’s war on the poor but the thing is, they way things are going right now, the number of people who could end up on the receiving end of this is growing by the day. It’ll probably take a nice, respectable white middle-class stockbroker, who’s down on his luck and has photogenic children, to be killed or seriously injured before people realise that this isn’t just about keeping the underclass nervous.

It’s teaching all of us to never, ever, be poor. To never, ever, have a run of bad luck. Keep your head down and keep kissing the boss’ arse. Bite your tongue over your pay and conditions. Come in a bit earlier and stay a bit later. Don’t forget you’re the smallest of cog in this economy – a little fear should keep you lubricated and in good working order a little while yet.

Indeed. Are we going to continue to take this shit? I know, we’ve swallowed this god-awful system of governance for centuries. What other choice is there?

I’ll tell you what, you just sit there and flick-trough your latest copy of Heat. Read that front-page tabloid story about Amy fucking Winehouse’s recent trip into rehab. Send a text to create yet another convey-belt star live on TV. Have you seen Britney recently? She’s really got her shit back together, no?

What the hell is wrong with you? Are you bat-shit crazy or just thick as shit?

You’re being played. They’re taking the piss out of you.

Your Prime Minister has spent a decade telling you how gaaawwwd-damn awesome he is, yet as soon as the credit-fuelled good times ended, your emperor was left with no clothes. Some of us predicted this. Brown said he’d overseen an “end to boom and bust”, but those of us who own a history book and a calculator knew that it would all come crashing down.

And now who pays?

The politicians who encouraged you to borrow and spend beyond your means? Don’t be daft. Labour and the Tories are both just bigger cogs in the same system – the democratic window-dressing, if you like. Brown doesn’t get to go for drinky-poos with the financial elite because they love his books, you know?

So what about the bankers who “managed” the system? Will they be strung up and be flogged? Fuck no! Your taxes are “re-capitalising” the banks and the champagne still flows and private shindigs continue.

You see when those at the top of the hierarchy fuck-up, you have the pleasure of bailing them out. Yet when you and I fuck-up, they send the heavies around to give you a slap and make off with your wife’s favourite necklace. And in this scenario, you’re the criminal.

Justin is right. We have zero stake in this system – we are the smallest cogs.

They feed us a constant stream of mind-numbing celebrity guff to keep us disinterested as they ram us up the collective arse. And they’re wise enough to understand that we like the occasional terror story or bogeyman to keep us all needy and placated.

We’re the batteries that power the establishment. We just need to be kept stupid and distracted. You’ve seen The Matrix, right?

Call me a bitter bedroom nihilist if you like. I’ve had faith in politics in the past. I once believed that, while the realities of office may blunt our politicians effectiveness, they have our best interests at heart really.

Do they fuck. Is giving private debt collectors the power to kick down your door and restrain your screaming family, in your best interested?

I don’t want to resort to a burn-the-palace-down Libertarian politics, but what choice do I have? We thought we had voted in progressive and liberal politics a decade ago, yet all we got were a bunch of authoritarian warmongering halfwits, who couldn’t organise a cutlery draw.

So I’ve come to a conclusion: The house is against you. It wants you to lose. So it’s time to stop playing the game.

New powers for debt collectors to enter your home

The blogosphere has been raging at news that the government is “proposing wide-ranging new powers for bailiffs to break into homes and to use “reasonable force” against householders who try to protect their valuables.”

Basically it would mean that if you attempted to stop bailiffs from entering your private property, they could pin you down while they make off with your telly.

Personally I’m not sure where forceful restraining ends and actual assault begins. And I’d be surprised if the government has given it much thought. Thinking something through isn’t really this government’s style.

Chances are if you try and prevent the bailiffs, you’ll get a bit of a slap and it’ll be your word against theirs.

I’m certainly not comfortable with empowering non-official agencies with the right to physically restrain me on my own property – regardless of my inability to pay the bills.

I’ll leave you with Sim-O’s frightening scenario ::

You come home from work/holiday/the shops and find your door kicked in. You enter the house to find it’s been ransacked. You enter the living room. The telly, the DVD player. Gone. The draws of the side board are shut, but you know that someone has been going through them. You go upstairs just dreading to what you’re going to find. In one room after another, chests of drawers have been rifled. Someone has gone through all your most intimate items. Your business filing. Wage slips. The jewellery gone as well.

How do you think that’s going to feel? Thinking that someone has broken into your house and stolen your belongings, that’s bad enough, but when in reality the ‘thieves’ have had the law on their side and are allowed to ransack your home, when even the police can’t just walk in, is an abomination.
Now you have all the upset, distress and associated hassle of having to get it all back because it turns out it wasn’t you that owed the bank/loan company/district court money. It was the people that lived where you do previously. Or you just happen to have the same name as some one who owes money. Or it could just be a completely random reason why you have appeared on the bailiffs records.
How does that feel? I bet you’d be feeling a bit shit and angry about it all. Good job you’ve got a strong character and are able to deal with the stress by someones’ typo. How fortunate that you happen to have enough savings to get you by while you claim back everything from the bailiffs. Just remind me, how much do lawyers cost? Because I bet it won’t be a quick and easy process.
It’d be hard but you’d survive the experience. What about the old lady next door? Would she? What’s she going to do when the bailiff sticks his boot through the door?
Or how about the ‘highly excitable’? Ending up being pinned to the ground with a broken arm? Or worse.

Scary Mary.

Those wonderful Saudis

Those Saudis are a lovely friendly bunch, aren’t they?

They’re the ones with all that oil and money who are so lovely that they’re apparently above the law. And so friendly that we often have them around for tea and nibbles, just so we can tell them how great they are. Yeah, we know that they finance those Wahabbist madrassahs that indoctrinate so many angry little jihads, but what’s a few civilian casualties between friends?

The Saudis are so great. I love the Saudis.

From The Guardian ::

An eight-year old Saudi Arabian girl who was married off by her father to a 58-year-old man has been told she cannot divorce her husband until she reaches puberty.

Lawyer Abdu Jtili said the divorce petition was filed by the unnamed girl’s divorced mother in August after the marriage contract was signed by her father and the groom. “The judge has dismissed the plea because she [the mother] does not have the right to file, and ordered that the plea should be filed by the girl herself when she reaches puberty,” lawyer Abdullah Jtili told the AFP news agency.

You gotta love’em too, huh?