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Banter

The problem with the right, and the problem with the left

It strikes me that people who subscribe to the right-wing of politics and the ones who subscribe to the left-wing of politics both have a problem. And if you are a centrist, then you may have both.

The issue is one of compassion and empathy, or lack there of.

Being interested politics somewhat and the impact it has on society at large, at a local, national and international levels – I hear a lot of the rhetoric used by different sides of the political spectrum and listen to debates and see social media streams.

It seems that the right has a clear lacking of empathy. There is very little empathy shown for anyone but themselves. And by that I don’t even mean the people in their corner – just for they themselves and probably their loved ones. There is not much empathy for anyone else outside this circle.

They seem to find comfort in finding other people who feel like them, about their own, and largely don’t spend time worrying or thinking about everyone else. This manifests ultimately in a despising of the left, who outwardly display their outpouring of empathy. I’m not sure respect exists for the ‘other side’.

The left, on the other hand, consistently demonstrate that they have a lot of both compassion and empathy for others. Even if they themselves do not experience the trials and tribulations of others, they are quite proud of the fact that they can empathise and fight their corner.

Lefties view of the right is one of despair, but they are quite careful that this does not descend into disrespect. Mutual respect is something they hold dear, even if its for the side they are opposing.

Simply having respect for the opposing side is not sufficient, in my opinion. The empathy the left espouses at every turn needs extending to the opposing side too. You see, respect is not the same as empathy. It is not sufficient simply to be courteous to someone if you want a better world. An ability to empathise with those you disagree with provides you with an opportunity to learn how they view the world and its issues from their side, how it makes them feel, and what is important to them. Simply having respect for them doesn’t do this.

For the right, I feel they mistrust the world around them. And it is out of this instinct to protect (and work for the betterment of) ones self from the world that limits the size of their empathy circle. How can you empathise with others, if you see them with mistrust?

Those that consider themselves centrist probably suffer from the same issues but perhaps less intensely in some matters and more in others.

Trying to empathise with people you disagree with, is the start towards having a better society from which we all benefit. Compassion comes naturally thereafter and as compassion develops and envelops society, we all learn to become better versions of ourselves and become more than the sum of our parts.

Lofty statements I know, but we’ve got to start somewhere.

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Banter

Want some human contact, try to sell a second-hand sofa

Yes you read correctly. If you are lacking human contact, even through your social media connections, then I’ve discovered a pretty easy way to entice people to get in touch.

Simple go online, search for second hand sofa and download that image.

Log in to Facebook and join your local ‘for sale’ group, which allows the local community to sell second-hand items no longer of use to you, but that could be of use to others.

List that sofa for around £50 or under, depending on the condition of the sofa shown on that image you just downloaded.

Sit back and wait for the message to come through.

To be clear, I didn’t just discover this on an uneventful Tuesday afternoon. In a property I own, the previous occupiers left behind a red corner sofa. It was in pretty good condition so I listed it on a Facebook group for £20 – collection only.

And now, almost daily…..wait scratch that…..not ‘almost….every single day I receive dozens of messages from apparently interested people. I say apparently because most messages simply ask “Hi, is this still available and is it really only £20?” or something of that ilk. I respond within the hour saying “yes”. And then….

Pin drop silence. No further responses from 90+% of people.

So by all means entice messages by posting a random second-hand sofa for sale, but don’t expect to continue much of a conversation beyond that.

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Current Affairs

The main reason why Coronavirus cases are going up in the UK

We, as the general public, are inherently selfish. If we don’t have symptoms, we don’t see the point in applying restrictions in our daily lives, be it wearing face coverings, distancing or otherwise.

This is why from May – August 2020, the percentage of people who have developed symptoms and actually self-isolated is a paltry 18%. It was 50% in April which was low, and has fallen, yes fallen, since.

This inherent selfishness of society at large means that the only way to force adherence to any large enough degree, you have to affect people’s pockets. If it doesn’t affect your pocket, nothing is going to change.

Once we get out of this pandemic, and we will get out (we have to!) as a society look at how we have promoted this selfishness culture over decades and dig deep to consider whether we want to continue this ‘me, me, me’, or a little wider, ‘my family only, screw the rest of you’ society we currently live in. Or whether we should instead pivot, re-engage the compassion in all of our hearts and work to build a society that we can all be proud of.

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Technology

Getting a Google Nexus 7 8GB in the UK

Got an iPad earlier this year from the US and boy have I missed out on owning a tablet device. I don’t know know what I did before I had one.

While its not an essential device I do find its a bloody amazing piece of kit. Though it is great and works well, it certainly hasn’t made me an Apple fanboy in any way. It’s good but not frenzy worthy.

At the moment taking on my daily commute across London is a bit unnerving. Partly it’s because. It’s a tad on the heavy side, but mainly it’s because its not exactly discreet. I keep feeling like I’m showing off by even taking it out on the tube, and also worried at the same time that some chav might be eyeing it up for a grab and run as I get off the train!

With Google’s entry into the small tablet market with their Nexus 7 tablet, I thought “Great, a tablet worthy of the commute that I can use Amazon’s Kindle app on for books and also do other stuff”. 8GB and 16GB models but I don’t need space as its not my main device so 8GB is fine. Problem is there’s so many problem cases with ordering from Google’s Play Store that I don’t want to risk the hassle.

Firstly its taken me 2 weeks to properly decide to buy it, with the Microsoft Surface and rumoured Apple iPad mini on the way in a matt of weeks so I’m led to believe. To be honest, it depends on which hour of which day you speak to me at the moment. Sometimes I’m going to wait and see what the marketplace is like in 2-4 weeks, sometimes I’m getting the Nexus immediately. But whenever those “immediately” times arrive, I can’t source the 8GB model in any UK high street store, not even on any of those stores websites!

Come on Google, help us out. And by us I mean those customers that are willing and waiting to buy. We won’t be hanging around forever!

Categories
Banter Technology

Affiliate Marketing Presentation – A Not-So-Nice Experience

Only a couple of months ago, I was at an Internet Marketing networking event in London which was quite interesting. The speaker has done quite a bit of affiliate marketing and was openly sharing his experiences and how he did it.

A great, honest, presentation and talk which went into more depth than I was expecting. During the presentation, someone in the audience asked if these slides would be sent out afterwards, because if they were going to be sent, then he’d just listen and not try and take notes at the same time.

The speaker said “Yes, sure” and on the back of this, even I stopped taking notes but listened intently.

You can guess what’s coming right? Yep, no slides afterwards.
Someone asked him on one of his new forums, but got quite a distasteful response back saying this was on a request-by-request basis for premium members of that forum!

Now that was a surprise! From someone who talks about networking and building lasting relationships, he completely flipped on his word and was effectively demanding a subscription to his forum in return for the slide pack he had already promised. Sure, he’s entitled to change his mind, but the way it was done hasn’t exactly left me (and probably many others) with any trust or confidence in his other service offerings.

I know I’ve not named this individual here, and I don’t intend to. Call it a personal preference, call it anything you want, but even with all that said, the issue is quite minor and in my opinion, doesn’t warrant a public naming and shaming!

Categories
Banter

Women and logic

I’m man enough to say that I’m quite in tune with my emotions and with the emotional state of others, but I understand the difference between emotional nonsense and a logical argument.

Why is it then that most women just don’t get this?

Categories
Banter

The Death of Common Sense

Below is the obituary for Common Sense: ‘Today we mourn the passing of a beloved old friend, Common Sense, who has been with us for many years. No one knows for sure how old he was, since his birth records were long ago lost in bureaucratic red tape. He will be remembered as having cultivated such valuable lessons as: Knowing when to come in out of the rain; why the early bird gets the worm; Life isn’t always fair; and maybe it was my fault.

Common Sense lived by simple, sound financial policies (don’t spend more than you can earn) and reliable strategies (adults, not children, are in charge).

His health began to deteriorate rapidly when well intentioned but overbearing regulations were set in place. Reports of a 6-year-old boy charged with sexual harassment for kissing a classmate; teens suspended from school for using mouthwash after lunch; and a teacher fired for reprimanding an unruly student, only worsened his condition. Common Sense lost ground when parents attacked teachers for doing the job that they themselves had failed to do in disciplining their unruly children. It declined even further when schools were required to get parental consent to administer sun lotion or an Aspirin to a student; but could not inform parents when a student became pregnant and wanted to have an abortion.

Common Sense lost the will to live, as the churches became businesses; and criminals received better treatment than their victims. Common Sense took a beating when you couldn’t defend yourself from a burglar in your own home and the burglar could sue you for assault. Common Sense finally gave up the will to live, after a woman failed to realize that a steaming cup of coffee was hot. She spilled a little in her lap, and was promptly awarded a huge settlement. Common Sense was preceded in death by his parents, Truth and Trust; his wife, Discretion; his daughter, Responsibility; and his son, Reason. His 4 stepbrothers survive him; I Know My Rights, I Want It Now, Someone Else Is To Blame, and I’m A Victim. Not many attended his funeral because so few realised he was gone.

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Banter

Shoes in the house is a big no-no

As a rule, at my home, you are asked to remove your outdoor shoes as you come in.  Many others have this rule too, and many do not.

Regardless of whether you agree with this rule or not, the rule or not is the homeowner’s decision and of the people that live in that home.

So when you know this, but blatantly disregard this when entering, how should this be dealt with?

My manner in the past has been to ask politely once, ask harder the second time and then force the issue or kick the person out.  Some people have a genuine reason, i.e. those that have a disability in some way that means it is very difficult for them to bend over to remove shoes, etc.  But for the rest, the choice is simple:  follow suit or don’t turn up until you are prepared to.

Categories
Banter

Women are strange creatures

Just when I think I understand my wife, something happens which makes me think, “What the !8$#”.  Can someone please hold talks with some women to tell them:

  • Don’t take everything we say to heart
  • Sometimes, criticism is necessary (just because we did it last week, doesn’t mean its all the time)
  • Stop being so temperamental!

Whoever volunteers better consider purchasing a crash helmet and some earplugs!  Oh and some painkillers might be a good idea too!

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Banter

Why should the rich pay more tax?

Only the poor, envious and people that don’t know what they’re talking about argue that the rich should pay more tax.

Firstly there are two issues here:

  1. The legality and
  2. The morality

From a legal standpoint, this the same as the UK’s MP Expenses Scandal.  Apart from a few dishonest MP’s, the rest did nothing legally wrong.  They played the rules as they stood.  Fair enough, some MP’s actually claimed for stuff that was clearly against the rules, or even for stuff that sometimes didn’t exist.

But the vast majority of the outcry was over the excess and loose morals displayed by the MP’s.  Though I agree with this, I believe the public anger was misdirected towards the actual claims as opposed to the ridiculous expense policies that were in place.

Its the same with the rich paying more tax debate.  The actual issue is the tax system and the loopholes, not the rich themselves.  Lets be honest, not many of us really want to pay tax at all or National Insurance in the UK.  As most of us are employed by a company, the tax system doesn’t really give us many choices as its all automatic, i.e. taken from our payslips, added to the prices we pay, etc.

As directors of companies, the rich have different choices open to them.  They own the companies, and run them.  So they have multiple tax options available to them: tax as an employed person, tax as a self-employed person, tax as a shareholder of the company.  Each method has its tax rules.  Clever accountants are employed to ensure the most tax-efficient route is chosen so only £10k is taken as an employed person as that is tax-free.  Expenses are used to reduce taxes payable on the self-employed and business routes.

All of the above is within the rules set by the tax regime of the country.  By introducing bigger tax percentages doesn’t change the loopholes being used so only affects those lazy high-earners that can’t be bothered to take up the services of a skilled accountant.

Making this issue about the moral obligation of the rich and using examples like poor people being unable to go on holidays or having to economise on electricity consumption as a reason why the rich should pay more is as ridiculous as when someone tells you to finish all the food on your plate because it is unfair to those in the third-world who are starving; one does not affect the other.  Extra tax doesn’t go to that poor person to pay for their utility bill or towards a family’s holiday tickets.  It will simply disappear into a Government coffer where some will decide how to better spend it.  Once that happens, there is no control anymore.  It could go towards plugging the nation’s budget deficit, towards keeping more nurses in jobs OR it could just as easily go towards the luxury lifestyles led by MEP’s, towards building more unused fire stations, or towards IT companies working on the next flawed NHS IT system.

I’d much prefer the rich to continue creating jobs in the UK, and to then use that wealth for philanthropic activities outside Government control and bureaucracy, wouldn’t you?

 

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