Journal Entries
Otto's Journal: Ten years ago today...
Posted Aug 5, 2011
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Latest reply: Aug 5, 2011
Otto's Journal: The Spirit Level
Posted Sep 15, 2010
Finally got round to reading "The Spirit Level: Why more equal societies almost always do better" by Richard Wilkinson and Kate Pickett.
It's not the most thrilling or exciting read, but the arguments are certainly compelling. Time and again the statistics show that inequality is at the root of much of society's problems, and while the arguments for causation (rather that correlation) between inequality and various social problems is inevitably a little weaker, to quote a phrase often used by the authors "it cannot be coincidence"...
I've had to adjust my thinking based on it... I used to rather dismissive of 'broken Britain' arguments and claims that society is worse now than it used to be. But now I think I might have to concede that in some ways, it is "broken" and has the potential to become more "broken" if inequality is allowed to increase. But the answer isn't Tory 'one nation' style back to basics/Victorian values, it's in decreasing inequality, so that everyone benefits. Everyone. Not just the poor. Everyone.
To misquote a phrase... "It's inequality, stupid". It seems to be at the root of pretty much everything.
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Latest reply: Sep 15, 2010
Otto's Journal: Obama?
Posted Jan 21, 2009
Here's the thing. A lot of people whose views I respect, and a lot of people around the whole world are very enthusiastic about Barak Obama being inaugurated this week. It's rare to see much optimism and enthusiasm for a politician. The election is being talked of in historic, epoch-making terms and I've already heard people saying things like they'll always remember where they were, that their grandchildren might ask about this day and so on and so forth.
But I have to admit, the whole thing leaves me cold. I don't deny the historical significance of what's happened, nor that Obama is likely to be a much better President than Bush. The world will be a significantly better place with America pursuing a less unilateral foreign policy and perhaps even doing something about Climate Change.
However, although I don't wish America ill in any way, I just don't look to America or her President as the leader of the free world or for leadership or example. Some of America's founding principles are noble and admirable, but some are not - or perhaps it is fair to say, the way they are put into practice are not. I'm not a knee-jerk leftist-Spartist anti-American (or at least I don't think I am). I don't think something is bad just because America does it or supports it.
There is much to admire about America and American culture (entertainment, 'can do' attitude, openness etc etc) , and I have to say that I've never met an American in person that I didn't like. But for me, America is so far from a fair society in terms of distribution of wealth and fair equality of opportunity - further even than the UK - that I just don't see America as an example. However progressive Obama is in an American context, it seems to me that the American Democrats are well to the right of the British Tories.
If the new President means a more equal America, then that's great and I'm pleased for them. But I'm not sure it's worth quite this amount of hype and enthusiasm outside of the US. In the UK, we should be looking to the social democracies of Europe for an example, not just to the US. The extent to which America dominates our news media is frankly alarming - how much coverage does the French or German election get in comparison, even considering relative geo-political importance.
The extent to which the media and ordinary people in the UK are discussing American *domestic* policies is rather surprising - is it (a) any of our business (as non-Americans) and (b) should it really be of any interest? Aren't we too obsessed with America?
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Latest reply: Jan 21, 2009
Otto's Journal: College Saga
Posted Jun 1, 2007
A quick plug for one of my favourite things at the moment - College Saga. It's a series of videos that spoof Fantasy Roleplaying Games in general, and the Final Fantasy Series in particular. I'm not a hardcore FF player by any means, but I've played a couple of them, and certainly enough to find this very, very funny. I particularly love the camera work.
This is a must for anyone who's every played one of the FF games...
http://www.retardism.com/collegesaga/main.htm
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Latest reply: Jun 1, 2007
Otto's Journal: FORZA ROSSONERI!
Posted May 23, 2007
I won't be watching the Champions' League Final tonight - Wednesdays is my regular night for playing sport, rather than watching. But if I was watching, I'd be cheering on AC Milan.
Never mind all this "support the English team" nonsense. I'm an Everton fan, and there's no way I'll support Liverpool. Bitter? Possibly? Envious? Certainly.
But it's impossible to be any other way, given the wall-to-wall sycophantic media coverage that Liverpool and their "best fans in the world" get, not to mention the hoardes of glory-hunting part-time fans who seem to seep out of the woodwork on these occasions. Now granted, I'm an armchair footie fan who only goes to see Everton a couple of times a season, but I don't pretend to be anything else. When I was a kid I used to go and watch Everton all across London with my friend and his family, who were all from Liverpool. And last time we won anything (FA Cup, 1995) you would have seen me watching the match on TV as usual, not bedecked in club colours and proclaiming an utter devotion that only comes out when we're winning.
Last time they won it, in Istanbul, the truth of the matter is that AC imploded for a short period of the game, but were, in truth, dominant for the whole first half and looked the most likely to score after it came to 3-3 and throughout extra time. And Liverpool won on penalties. Yet to read the match reports in the English press, you'd think it was some kind of heroic victory. Liverpool didn't win it, AC lost it and then it went to penalties. Think how differently it would have been reported if it had been the other way round.
But as someone said on an Everton forum recently, Liverpool are Satan's own team, and if there's any luck going, they'll get it.
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Latest reply: May 23, 2007
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Otto Fisch ("Stop analysing Strava.... and cut your hedge")
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