Mel And Kim
There seems to have been some talk of philosophy on here, recently. Let's continue with that theme, by bringing up two of the greatest philosophers of the ancient world, Mel and Kim, and, specifically, one of their most famous tenets - "Take or leave us, only please believe us, we ain't ever gonna be respectable". Cocking a snook (and I don't even know what a snook is) at bourgeois society, they positively mocked the whole idea of respectability.
Now, traversing onwards through the ages, to the present, we live in a world where the 7 inch single has vanished, replaced by the downloadable MP3, and where the talented artist is replaced by the vacuous celebrity, famous for merely having sex live on television. Which brings us nicely to Big Brother, and it's current spin-off, Celebrity Big Brother. The fact that many of those celebrities only became celebrities by being in other, non-celebrity surreality television programmes only goes to show the cannibalistic nature of the beast. But that's not our concern now. We stop to pause and stare at possibly one of the most self-obsessed egotists in the whole show. Step forward (ex??) Stalinist and friend of the fundamentalist, George Galloway MP. Let's not consider here what the rights and wrongs are of a democratically elected public servant ignoring his constituents and promoting himself in the hope of a television career once he's removed from parliament at the next general election. Let's not even concern ourselves with the accusations of financial impropriety which have once again surfaced. Let's simply look at the effect he has on the beliefs he supposedly espouses. He becomes the target of attacks himself, making it easy for right-wing pundits to mock criticism of government policy, simply by mocking George. Indeed, read the likes of Nick Cohen, Christopher Hitchens, and so on, and this is precisely what they do. The rest of us are then obliged to disassociate ourselves from him, which is difficult when not merely the man himself, but the whole of the right-wing media, wants to present him as a spokesman of the left.
Meanwhile, whilst we're on George, consider his party. Emphasis on "his". Respect. Respect for whom? George seems to show precious little of it to his constituents, or indeed, to his fellow celebrities. It seems the only person we're meant to respect here is George (and possibly his former friend, Saddam, but that's another matter).
But the respect theme allows us to segue nicely to out glorious Prime Minister. Who wants to foster a culture of respect. Ah, respect. When we all doff our caps to him, I imagine. But it's a riff he's played before. Back to when he was first elected, the lack of respect in society causing criminality. Overtones of the Victorian gentleman. Everyone knowing their God-given place, and being content with it. But, sadly, in this age where anyone can be a celebrity, we don't respect people for simply being born "better". Indeed, healthily, respect has to be earned, and it is very difficult to respect Thatcher's ideological heir, particularly when Thatcher had the excuse that she was driven by sociopathy, and a hatred of life and beauty, whilst all that motivates Blair is a small-minded, money-grubbing mentality, desperately trying to enrich himself as quickly as possibly.
So we return to Mel and Kim. And with them, looking at Mr Tony wants, I too ain't ever going to be respectable. Sadly Mel died a of cancer some years back, and I have no idea what happened to Kim. Looking at Mr Tony's Britain, we seem left merely with a profound sense of Mel and Colly.
Now, traversing onwards through the ages, to the present, we live in a world where the 7 inch single has vanished, replaced by the downloadable MP3, and where the talented artist is replaced by the vacuous celebrity, famous for merely having sex live on television. Which brings us nicely to Big Brother, and it's current spin-off, Celebrity Big Brother. The fact that many of those celebrities only became celebrities by being in other, non-celebrity surreality television programmes only goes to show the cannibalistic nature of the beast. But that's not our concern now. We stop to pause and stare at possibly one of the most self-obsessed egotists in the whole show. Step forward (ex??) Stalinist and friend of the fundamentalist, George Galloway MP. Let's not consider here what the rights and wrongs are of a democratically elected public servant ignoring his constituents and promoting himself in the hope of a television career once he's removed from parliament at the next general election. Let's not even concern ourselves with the accusations of financial impropriety which have once again surfaced. Let's simply look at the effect he has on the beliefs he supposedly espouses. He becomes the target of attacks himself, making it easy for right-wing pundits to mock criticism of government policy, simply by mocking George. Indeed, read the likes of Nick Cohen, Christopher Hitchens, and so on, and this is precisely what they do. The rest of us are then obliged to disassociate ourselves from him, which is difficult when not merely the man himself, but the whole of the right-wing media, wants to present him as a spokesman of the left.
Meanwhile, whilst we're on George, consider his party. Emphasis on "his". Respect. Respect for whom? George seems to show precious little of it to his constituents, or indeed, to his fellow celebrities. It seems the only person we're meant to respect here is George (and possibly his former friend, Saddam, but that's another matter).
But the respect theme allows us to segue nicely to out glorious Prime Minister. Who wants to foster a culture of respect. Ah, respect. When we all doff our caps to him, I imagine. But it's a riff he's played before. Back to when he was first elected, the lack of respect in society causing criminality. Overtones of the Victorian gentleman. Everyone knowing their God-given place, and being content with it. But, sadly, in this age where anyone can be a celebrity, we don't respect people for simply being born "better". Indeed, healthily, respect has to be earned, and it is very difficult to respect Thatcher's ideological heir, particularly when Thatcher had the excuse that she was driven by sociopathy, and a hatred of life and beauty, whilst all that motivates Blair is a small-minded, money-grubbing mentality, desperately trying to enrich himself as quickly as possibly.
So we return to Mel and Kim. And with them, looking at Mr Tony wants, I too ain't ever going to be respectable. Sadly Mel died a of cancer some years back, and I have no idea what happened to Kim. Looking at Mr Tony's Britain, we seem left merely with a profound sense of Mel and Colly.
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