Partition. The word itself is enough to create an argument in Ireland, both North and South. In Northern Ireland (or the North, or the 6-counties, depending on your acceptance of partition), recently celebrating 100 years of existence, the division is still at the root of all Troubles. In Ireland, the Civil War that resulted from... Continue Reading →

Free at last? No duped again. You will hear the word freedom a lot in modern politics. It is interesting, because in most Western Democracies the population believed they were free, until they were told they weren't. And ironically it is those that are shouting loudest about freedom that are putting us in chains. The... Continue Reading →

Wealth. Power. There you go, history in two words. From the earliest stages of human civilisation the driving force for the creation of a society has been power and wealth. Power exercised in the form of control of the tribe and wealth originally in food and lodgings then with precious metals and jewels. These attractions... Continue Reading →

Libertarian. You may have heard the term, or not, but it is impacting on your life, every day. The Koch Brothers The word liberty has been central to political thinking since the philosophers began considering the Rights of Man. Liberty, Equality and Fraternity was the mantra of the French Revolution. Liberty was the clarion call... Continue Reading →

There's a thing about advertising that I think you should know. It works in opposite way that you may believe. It is upside down. The ads that you see are not designed to get you up and out to the shop to buy something. It works because when you are out or online, the products... Continue Reading →

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com In my Twitter meanderings there is a constant. Loyalists and immovable Unionists seem to think that I am a Nationalist/Republican, merely because I criticise the negativity and disastrous nature of their policies. I am not a Nationalist, or a Republican, as you will see on this post. I suppose I... Continue Reading →

As we are seeing around the world, democracy is a fragile. The biggest threat in the US and the rest of the Western World comes from the media. We know about Cambridge Analytica in the US Election, the influence of Russia through manipulating social media in the UK and US. The growth of right wing... Continue Reading →

Political systems are part and parcel of everyday life. Unlike the immediate post war era, when there was capitalism and communism, we now have variations on a theme. Capitalism won, the Wall came down, China adopted it for their economy while keeping the rigid rules of communism for governing. The big winner was shareholder capitalism.... Continue Reading →

History is a bunch of events that lead to interpretation before landing on propaganda. I read a lot about Napoleon and recently came across another tome. This author was intent on dismissing Napoleon's attributes, decrying his military and political success. Was it that the author had been in the British Army and started with the... Continue Reading →

We hear a lot about identity in Northern Irish politics. National identity, cultural identity, religious identity, all thrown into a pot to create people that have a go to position on most things based on the recipe. If you line people up you actually can't tell who they are, or which set of identities they... Continue Reading →