A master stroke by Question Time

Having Nick Griffin appear on a public television debate against the Home Secretary, Jack Straw is a master stroke of genius by the media moguls. Of course, those who position themselves on the far left will accuse me of being a sympathiser and an enabler for the BNP. Neither of which sum up my position. I do not sympathise or feel any sense of solidarity on any of the issues which the BNP claim to stand for or against. I am resolutely opposed to racism and discrimination.

That being said, I do not feel any threat or any sense of danger from this decision by Question Time. I believe this, because the BNP has been able to summon its strength from the underground, and from the Internet. The BNP has been outlawed, which means that its members congregate together and discuss their views without fears of reprisals. The reason that the BNP has been able to generate so much support is because their views are not aired in public, and thus cannot be debated and challenged. It is too much to ask of impressionable people to question Nick Griffin at one of his Nuremberg-style rallies. Because the BNP is essentially in hiding, they can manipulate their views to be seen as "acceptable." But by putting him on TV, Nick Griffin will essentially be put on trial, and will have to explain his views to the British public. Drawing Nick Griffin out from the crevice in which he cowers and into the light of public debate will allow people to see the views of the BNP for what they really are - utterly baseless and full of hot air.

Putting Nick Griffin on TV shows the public that the authorities have nothing to fear from him. Once everyone can see the BNP for what they really are, the government and the country will have no reason to worry about them. They will become as worthless as other neo-Nazi groups operating in this country.

The Art of Laziness

If there's one thing that separates human beings from the animal kingdom, it's that we are always looking for ways to make our lives and work easier. This is a nice way to put it, in essence. The reality is that we are all absolutely fucking lazy. If there's a way for us to as little work as possible, we will do our utmost to find that way. That's laziness, I'm afraid. I'm not trying to absolve myself of any blame. I am also extremely lazy, when it comes to coursework and finding a job. And to prove it, I started writing this post a few days ago, but then got distracted by Facebook. But the fact is that the progression of man walks hand in hand with his degeneration into procrastination and laziness. This is why nearly everything these days is done on computers. Bank statements can now be viewed online, many companies are discovering the wonder of automated messages - you know, "if you are an existing Sky customer and you wish to upgrade your subscription, press 1..." Bureaucracy should be renamed lazocracy. To me, the idea of having desk jobs, protocols, rules, regulations, FAQs and "What to do if..." and all that nonsense is just a way for people to have less work to do.

That's why most of our work today is done by robots and machines. The Americans are using robot planes in Afghanistan and Iraq. While I do respect the scientific advancements in such a field, it won't be long before robot androids do all the fighting, and mankind just sits back and enjoys the show. At least then, war mongering politicians like George Bush and Tony Blair won't ever feel bad about going to war because it's not young men that they're sending to their deaths. I dread the day that a scenario seen in such films as The Terminator, The Matrix or I, Robot becomes reality. It's quite frightening. And all because we're so damned lazy to do things ourselves. And thanks to Facebook, we've lost the art of conversation. Young, frustrated, sexless, virgin boys and men are quite comfortable talking to imaginary girls on the net but they can't seem to drum up a conversation with a perfectly nice girl in the street. And nobody worries about losing touch with a friend. As long they have each other on Facebook, they won't have to text, email, phone or God forbid, write them a letter ever again.
Whatever happened to the value of hard work? Even though I'm ridiculously lazy (and to bang home the point, this is the third time I have come back to this post) I do feel proud of an essay or chore that I put 100% into. It gives me great pleasure to take a look back and admire my work. It gives me a great sense of pride to know that I did something all by myself. And I although I do tend to use Facebook way too much, I do try and text or phone a lot of my friends. Well, not as much as I'd like to think, but it's definitely something I'm going to work on.

Please don't take me for some aging, Tory redneck. I just think we should place more emphasis on conversation and hardwork. It's what makes us human after all - being able to have a coherent discussion and being able to admire the fruit of our labours.

P.S. This post could possibly be longer and open up more threads for discussion, but I'm far too lazy for that ;)