tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10131050.post1294817556269344415..comments2024-03-01T08:19:54.547+00:00Comments on BobFromBrockley: No-one like us, we don't care: The EDL, and some other stuffbobhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15439386754907203808noreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10131050.post-77596351075783399112011-09-18T20:00:29.614+01:002011-09-18T20:00:29.614+01:00At his website http://www.kenanmalik.com/top/essay...At his website http://www.kenanmalik.com/top/essays.html Malik still seems to be singing essentially from the core hymnbook:<br />"As I wrote in Bergens Tidende shortly after the massacre, Breivik, like jihadists, was 'driven not so much by political ideology as by a desperate and perverted search for identity, a search shaped by a sense of cultural paranoia, a cloying self-pity and a claustrophobic victimhood'. He was shaped by the same myths that produced both 9/11 and much of the response to it.<br /><br />In the decade since 9/11 politicians and intellectuals have not only exaggerated the threat facing our societies but have also lacked the moral and political resources to respond to it. That is why the real challenge of 9/11 comes not from without but from within."<br /><br />Not unreasonable as a speculative meditation on the moral dimension of a complex reality but nevertheless the core of what he's saying seems to be "the only true sin is victimhood" (which as we know is implicitly sustained by compassion and commitment to political change).Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10131050.post-51611220031177694062011-09-18T11:17:17.418+01:002011-09-18T11:17:17.418+01:00"That seems like waiting a bit late no?"..."That seems like waiting a bit late no?"<br /><br />I'm interested here in the question of how you judge policing (not about when you act to defend a group under threat from racism or fascism - of course it would be too late if they were forced out. I get the impression they aren't though.)<br /><br />I'm still preoccupied with this question of under what circumstances you're (one is) justified in assessing the police as having failed - when you'd be justified in burning your bridges with them (and non-militants) by turning to violence and criminalising yourself.Fleshnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10131050.post-3708129578424794502011-09-18T11:08:28.344+01:002011-09-18T11:08:28.344+01:00I'd be interested to know how Malik stands in ...I'd be interested to know how Malik stands in relation to the rest of the RCP network. He shares lots of their positions, but they never publish or promote him (as far as I can tell). Is he still in the network? (I think he's great, so I'm hoping he's an apostate!)bobhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15439386754907203808noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10131050.post-1484864418937063482011-09-18T09:51:04.549+01:002011-09-18T09:51:04.549+01:00I agree, Sarah, when I've heard Malik he doesn...I agree, Sarah, when I've heard Malik he doesn't sound as dogmatically contrarian as most of them.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10131050.post-74825163858123581442011-09-18T07:45:01.000+01:002011-09-18T07:45:01.000+01:00Yes, you are right about the Moral Maze - it's...Yes, you are right about the Moral Maze - it's still like that! But whereas Claire Fox is a default Spiked person, Kenan Malik ia muxh more independent - and even sounds left wing. They were both on the recent programme on the 50% tax rate - I did a little post about it for HP. <br /><br />http://hurryupharry.org/2011/09/17/income-tax-on-the-moral-maze/Sarah ABhttp://hurryupharry.orgnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10131050.post-59530356483674623682011-09-17T22:21:20.671+01:002011-09-17T22:21:20.671+01:00You're right, Bob, they do seem comfier at the...You're right, Bob, they do seem comfier at the Times than its stable-mate. I suppose it's some odd sort of confirmation of the notion that Murdoch allowed the Times to steer its own course.<br /><br />I was always surprised at quite how much access they had to Radio 4. There seemed to be a cell at Womans Hour at one time, not to mention the (padded) one at Moral Maze. I've not been able to listen to anything like as much recently so I don't know how dominant they still are there.<br /><br />I'm afraid, though, that however accurate they may be in specific instances I still feel uncomfortable hearing them quoted.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10131050.post-57747243378945592282011-09-17T18:39:28.840+01:002011-09-17T18:39:28.840+01:00Is it fair to say that we know if/where the police...<i>Is it fair to say that we know if/where the police are conclusively failing (as far as this matter is concerned) when Muslims start moving away from areas, or choose not to move to areas, because they are perceived to be controlled by EDL types. Is this happening at the moment? If so, wouldn't human rights legislation oblige a government to take action?</i><br /><br />That seems like waiting a bit late no? And where would they move to?bobhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15439386754907203808noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10131050.post-81266628486220217742011-09-17T16:59:52.394+01:002011-09-17T16:59:52.394+01:00And re Owen at Third Estate, I agree, as expected....And re Owen at Third Estate, I agree, as expected. Recommend watching the recently screened Channel 4 Coppers documentary series - available on the web (nowhere I feel confident linking to tho).<br /><br />Is it fair to say that we know if/where the police are conclusively failing (as far as this matter is concerned) when Muslims start moving away from areas, or choose not to move to areas, because they are perceived to be controlled by EDL types. Is this happening at the moment? If so, wouldn't human rights legislation oblige a government to take action?Fleshnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10131050.post-25433646754703501672011-09-17T16:31:29.734+01:002011-09-17T16:31:29.734+01:00American pit bulls and ear cropping, both criminal...American pit bulls and ear cropping, both criminalised here - I'm guessing not a British vid thank god. Pit-fighting with staffs is less of a white working class thing now (and not because it is on the wane - it's not) - http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8175047.stm . The last man I reported to the police for 'hardening up' his dog outside my local station was not white. Status anxiety is status anxiety and sadism, sadism.Fleshnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10131050.post-88594490836180188182011-09-17T15:13:45.935+01:002011-09-17T15:13:45.935+01:00I agree Owen. I don't think for one minute the...I agree Owen. I don't think for one minute they have good motives for thinking what they think, but I think they are frequently correct in thinking it.<br /><br />Worth adding, too, for all their attacks on the middle class elites and championing of the horny-handed Sun-reading sons of toil, it is not The Sun that gives them a platform but the Telegraph and Radio 4. Most working class people have as little interest in their views as they do in the SWP's.bobhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15439386754907203808noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10131050.post-33967693167952728762011-09-17T15:10:17.323+01:002011-09-17T15:10:17.323+01:00Surely you of all people know that Spiked don'...Surely you of all people know that Spiked don't give a damn about respect, they'll simply use whatever stick's at hand to beat their opponents while they sneer at them as middle-class do-gooders or whatever. Substitute Karadzic and Mladic for Lennon and pals.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com