Immigrants built this nation …. What if they didn’t?

With elections round the corner there is a lot of talk of  immigrants and their benefit to the nation. I had a conversation earlier this year with my priest and very rarely am I told off (I was glad I was in this case). I pointed out how good immigrants were for the economy as I contribute by paying taxes and paying for things…. I was stopped there and then and asked what if I didn’t do any of that should I be asked to leave the country?

While the anti side protests that we rob precious resources the side that supports us thinks of us in terms of how we benefit society and them. both these arguments are selfish… its just that one is less selfish than the other. I have heard people tell me how grateful they are to immigrants who built roads as there were none in Britain till we came in. Sounds like a compliment or is it? What if we didn’t build roads? I find this assumption problematic as it positions the immigrants as the new working class and can only think of them in terms of productivity. This argument calls to mind a sketch by Rowan Atkinson about immigrants and curry.

I will let you watch it.

The line now that we have got the recipe is hilarious and it points to a deeper problem – we have stopped being useful and therefore should be asked to leave. Working class immigrants are elevated and white ones demonised as scroungers which ferments animosity and has lead to the rise of groups such as the EDL.

What if we didn’t make curry, roads, or take up any job that came our way would we still be welcome? Working in jobs no one wants to is not our choice it is a necessity (we aren’t given allowed access to public funds). I agree we contribute to the economy however human society isn’t about working alone.

Is our worth to be measured only in how we can make the lives of the middle classes comfortable and exotic? 

  

PS: Comments about the previous post ruffled some feathers. Yes some white people are very nice and have wonderful personalities and good intentions which I have every right to question. Good manners are not being questioned here just the thought process around certain ideas. 

Rachel Dwyer on Bollywood and the world.

From the video description - Rachel Dwyer is a Professor of Indian Cultures and Cinema, School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, and author of One Hundred Bollywood Films, Filming the Gods: Religion and Indian Cinema, and Bollywood's India: Hindi Cinema as a Guide to Modern India.

This video analyses Bollywood and its creation of national history. What I find interesting in this talk is how revolutionary material is sublimated and is a product of the zeitgiest. Unlike Rachel I am not fond of Bollywood films my critiques of the art form comes from the lack of representation and also the content which I find offensive. 

However Rachel sums up the nationalistic preoccupation's Indians have which is reflected in cinema. 

Euphemism for murder

First they came for the communists, and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a communist.

Then they came for the trade unionists, and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a trade unionist.

Then they came for the Jews, and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a Jew.

Then they came for me 
and there was no one left to speak out for me.

Martin Neimoller.

Yesterday I was at the Zion Arts Centre Manchester to attend an all day event. I must admit I was a bit apprehensive about sitting all day at a symposium, but then Manchester never fails to surprise. The day was brilliant to say the least.

Before I tell you about the event I have to share this video. It’s disturbing and will make you think, and it should. 

The idea that life can be taken away if it isn’t deemed right is a normalized idea. Mercy killing is thought of as a humane way of ‘ending suffering’ but it’s an idea that is imposed onto a disabled person by non disabled person who believes a normal body is required to live a ‘fulfilling life’. 

We looked at various ideas yesterday but this idea struck me the most. We decide for other people all too easily and believe it is the right thing to do.

The movie/ documentary by Liz Crow (Resistance Which way the future?) looks at an a little known aspect of the Nazi killing apparatus- killing the disabled individual. The Nazi regime was influenced by the ‘Science of Eugenics’, which isn’t very different from genetics of our time or social policy. It wasn’t just the far right that supported this idea but the left and non-fascist countries as well.

Some of the arguments made by the Nazis for the extermination of the disabled people was the resources taken up by the disabled individual and how the money for keeping a disabled individual alive was borne by tax payers. The other argument was benign but just as dangerous- putting an end to suffering. These are arguments that are still used by governments all over the world to discriminate against the disabled.

The documentary is worth watching and I recommend it strongly. 

Link to a BBC interview with Liz Crow. interview 

Link to Roaring Girl Production. Liz Crow's production company.

About the Resistance film/documentary. link to the website

Cristina Rodrigues on sustainability.

I met this architect the other day, and she was talking about sustainability. What was interesting about her work was that she wasn't just making pretty things but was looking at the how we relate to architecture. This is a link to one of her documentaries   


In her words by forgetting the countryside we abadon what feeds us ..... we abandon people.Documentary on Desertification in Portugal


Her work is interdisciplinary and touches on some very interesting aspects of how we relate to the environment and about social care. 


This is one of those things that can only happen in Manchester. Everybody here is a part of a cause and is an activist of some sort. The best part of all this is that conversation isnt dull. 


I wish Cristina all the best with her work :)

Obscure 80's song for the day - "More Than The Sun", Black (Colin Vearncombe)

 "More Than The Sun" , Black (Colin Vearncombe)

obscure 80's song for the day - Planet P Project - Why Me

Planet P Project - Why Me

Obscure 80's song for the day - Corey Hart -Eurasian Eyes

I found this song on youtube two days ago and I cant get it out of my head.  The song is very typically 80's synth pop with some powerful vocals. Very Corey Hart in style. The Track featured on the movie 9 1/2 weeks. It has a nice intensity and an unpretentious video to accompany it. 

KINGS OF CONVENIENCE - 24-25

KINGS OF CONVENIENCE - 24-25

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5mgtHRM8t64

This song has been playing in my head since yesterday. I think the rain has brought it on. There is sense of silence and quietness in this song, so much like rain falling dripping of the edge of leaves.

Somehow all Kings of Convenience songs have a dignified quietness and gentleness to them. The music and vocals are magical. Do watch them on youtube or  live of you are lucky.

cloudbusting - Kate Bush

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pllRW9wETzw

This is a song from the 80's. the song is quite political ...........  the 80's when music still had something to say