Soup, Burns and Woke.

Epitaph for James Smith

 

LAMENT him, Mauchline husbands a',
He aften did assist ye;
For had ye staid hale weeks awa,
Your wives they ne'er had miss'd ye.

Ye Mauchline bairns, as on ye press

To school in bands thegither,
O tread ye lightly on his grass,—
Perhaps he was your father! 

 

Rabbie Burns

Poem Hunter 

On 'Burns Night' it is the thing to celebrate the Bards birth by eating haggis, reciting 'Address to a Haggis,' and gulping down whisky all night.  Whichever one is the most important aspect varies from house to house.  I suspect however the majority of Scots have not purchased a Haggis for tonight, though some have the whisky, and many a Scots child is refusing haggis and choosing instead a home made 'MacDonald's' for tea instead.  Personally I had a haggis over the weekend and did not find it very enjoyable.  Too dry, I did not find it gave me energy, and I was somewhat disappointed with it.  Maybe my Forres butcher makes a better one?  Anyway tonight, having spent time breaking apart the chicken bought from Tesco, I should have killed it first, and then making soup, better than last weeks but not great, I cared little for haggis, or indeed anything else.  So chicken and chips flung together with scraping of veg had to suffice.  It was not great.  I would like to hear Rabbies poem based on that!

 

There is something to be said for that cartoon.

I took time out from my busy day to upset the 'woke.'  

The Urban Dictionary describes 'Woke' as being:

 

'The act of being very pretentious about how much you care about a social issue.'

Now I am not saying these people do not care but I am saying their care was not 'Love.' 

This came re an item about those searching Edinburgh for people involved in the slave trade in the distant past.  Now we all agree, today at least, that this was a repugnant occurrence.  We also agree that many in Scotland, especially in Glasgow, were involved.  However, I am not one who is convinced those pointing out, indeed writing books and leading tours, round houses built or lived in by those benefiting from such trade is done for the correct reasons.  Some wish to remove statues, some wish to knock down houses, others want the present day descendents to 'cough up the cash.'  Fat chance! 

You cannot change History, you cannot forget it.  However, this History was not taught when I was young, though the slave trade was abhorred.

Naturally lots of white, middle class 'woke' are jumping on the bandwagon.  These I encountered today.  I indicated that Scots miners, my family among them, were enslaved by the Lairds of their day.  This of course was rejected as irelevant or off a 'different hue.'  I am not sure my folks in Fife digging coal deep down with no prospects to speak off would agree however.  

The point that annoys is the eagerness to join the mob, not from love of black slaves, white slaves exist also, but belonging to the right crowd is what matters.

These folks share the same causes, join the same protests, believe the same things, none of them stopping to really consider what they are doing, indeed their limited world does not allow this.

Of course we have all done similar in past times, that is why we see it for what it is.  I have joined the cause, then realised it was the wrong way to do things or indeed a wrong cause.  Have we not all been there?  I am left wondering how many of these anti-slavers will pay money to those fighting slavery today?  It never fails to amaze me how such enthusiasm disappears when cash is required.  

Another example comes to mind.  For long years a protest stood outside the South African embassy in London.  Fight for freedom they said, free the black man in South Africa.  After Mandella was released they all went home.  However, when Zimbabwe leaders were killing black and white men no protest appeared.  Black led nations could go to war, no protest was found.  Why was this?  Because these people did not 'love their neighbour' they just took up a popular cause.  

When they gather together to stop todays holocaust, the murders of the unborn child, then I will believe they really care about slavery or any other cause today.

 

The Bandwagon Rolls On.

David Hume (1711 - 1776) was famous as what they call a Philosopher, a man who 'thought, spouted his opinions, and appealed to the chattering classes.  One good thing about him was his love of books.  From them he gathered his ideas, annoyed the Kirk of the day, and from his base working in the library poured forth his own books.  He rose in prominence, restricted by his 'atheistic' views from many appointments but remains to this day a favourite among philosophy seeking thinkers.
Naturally all this has been put aside by the mob!
The mob has discovered he thought 'Negroes' to be 'naturally inferior,' an opinion shared by many at the time.  Especially by those who never met any or of they did came across only those native tribes round the coast of Africa.  His morals did not extend to Black men it appears.  This, to the youthful Edinburgh citizen, or student from outside, is anathema!  (If they know what 'anathema' means that is.)
Another who has had his Edinburgh statue graffitied (Is that a word?) is Henry Dundas, the 1st Viscount Melville. (1742 - 1811)  Dundas made use of his Lawyer training by becoming an MP in 1774, like so many of the others.  Climbing high he became Home Secretary, a position he made use of to oppose the end of the slave trade.  He served in several positions, some claimed he was 'King Henry the 9th of Scotland,' and was the last man to be impeached in the UK after money scandals in the Admiralty.  This led to acquittal but the end of his career.
The mob now wish his statue, 150 feet above the square, to be removed!  They can climb up and knock him down if they wish. 
Neither of these men appeal to me.  Their opinions, some forget, were forged in a different age, their attitudes shared by the vast majority.  The majority that bothered that is, like today.
We see now all sorts of men, ignored by most, their stories unknown also, being harangued because of an attitude from the past.  Statues will fall, reputations ruined, today's 'morality' (often unbalanced) imposed on the past.
If we seek out all who have had opinions we dislike, if we remove their statues, their pictures, their offerings and name from the towns, we may find we have nothing left!  Opposing abuse brings home to us how many benefactors were not always nice men.  Their wealth often provided by the work of another, the conditions of work terrible.  But will removing statues change things?
Indeed the danger is twofold.  On the one hand we forget the History of their deeds, that is, those who know their History, it was never taught in my school!  We also become Nazis burning books we do not like.  How far do we go with that?
Debate, certainly, discuss, teach, but let us avoid Mob Rule Bandwagons, there will always be another along in a minute, and we may be under that one.   

Friday Finkin.....

He's deid!

He's deid but he won't lie down.  The one thing that guarantees lasting fame is being shot at the right time.  Lincoln, John Lennon, Julius Caesar, all made their name by being bumped off.  Now I realise they did one or two other things, song writing, political chicanery, invading Gaul and all that, but had they lived would they be as famous, or as popular?  JFK has been cannonised since his death because his writers gave him tremendous scripts at just the right time. He offered a new view of the future to a world leaving behind the old wars of the past.  To 'go to the moon, because it is hard,' was tremendous, even though it was really just to outdo the Soviets.  Pride is a costly thing.  What did he actually do?  The Cuban missile (pronounced 'missile') showed his strength as well as his willingness to listen to others.   However most of his ideas were pushed through later by the much derided Lyndon B. Johnson!  Now there is much to deride about Johnson but he could control Congress and he did change the US for the better.  His mistake was the usual American failure to understand the world, this led to increased involvement in Vietnam, an involvement begun by Kennedy.  Kennedy offered hope, a new beginning, and got shot.  The myth remains, maybe this is better than knowing the real man, for he was just a man.

     

The story concerning three women kept as slaves by a couple possibly of Malaysian origin has opened many strange doors.  Some will find this fascinating, some find it disturbing, I see it as just another facet of the human condition.  Since Adam and Eve left the garden however you conceive it, man has forced others to do his bidding.  Slavery has been around since the beginning and has never left us.  It has been known for years that the many rich Arabs coming to London brought with them Philippino, Indian and other poor women as 'domestic servants, usually no more than slaves!  The UK governments desire not to upset the rich has allowed many to continue suffering, although I understand changes have been made regarding these women today.  Now let's face it we would all like slaves wouldn't we?  A quick browse of the bible shows us ourselves and the awful depth of the corruption within us.  Admitting that deep within, covered up by layers of 'civilised society' lurks the deep desire to make others do our bidding, no matter what.  It is an awful dire realisation.   Naturally we would treat slaves well, the 'Letters of the Younger Pliny,' show how he regarded his slaves well, insisting that at harvest time there would be no 'chained slaves' brought in to operate on his farms.  He still executed Christians mind.  We would be nice to slaves, treating them as friends wouldn't we?  Unless we were in a bad mood, after all they are just property!

How close we are to ancient societies abuse of others in slavery was seen as recently as the nineteen forties when the Nazi's allowed such attitudes freedom to roam Germany.  The Germans, an educated intelligent people, were led into this through patriotism, hunger and a willingness to believe in a false Messiah, how close are we to this also?

There is much to yet discover re this particular story.  It does have some unanswered questions and the obvious one is how did this all begin?  There are more out there, hidden away in London flats, large town houses and country estates.  They also exist in your area.  People trapped by one thing or another, trafficked across the world (more money trafficking people than drugs) and it would appear most 'saunas' offering 'extras' are staffed by such girls.  Thirty million slaves exist across the world they say, yet in the west the concept of 'sin,' is laughed at?  I wonder why?

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