Possibly, possibly was - but we all peak in our 30’s, also as a STEM kind of guy I find it difficult to judge the intellectual rigour of history degrees.
It’s certainly true that intellect declines with age - hence the older people get, the more inclined they are to vote Tory…
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In my case, it worked the other way round Geof 
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Haha, touché, Geof. Touché 
Same here, if only I had a vote…
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Never mind, we accept your limitations 
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Oooh when? What were you applying for?
Just looked it up - appears I’m one too😂 (well the first bit anyway)
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Maybe on history but thats about it. Unless arguing the toss on stupid woke issues is being clever. Getting important facts correct is certainly not her strong suit
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Will you be watching Boris the movie?
think I’d rather stick pins in my eyes…
I’d rather stick pins in his.
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… is the exclusive province of the extreme right Corona.
Your use of the concept ‘woke’ here just repeats a right-wing fantasy that has no relation to truth - it is a sad and contemptible attempt to politicise common decency, politeness and consideration for others’ feelings.
On the left, and for Abbott, what matters is the reality of inequality and prejudice. Do you think you are in a better position to judge this than a black woman in the macho cockpit of Parliament? Or do you deny the reality of discrimination against women, black people, homosexuals, etc?
Plenty of woke on the left to. No doubt in the centre and greens also. You can argue the toss on any topic to the point of utter boredom but someone still has to do the work.
Dont tar me with with sexual, racial brush it wont wash, I hire on the basis of ability and couldnt give damn what people get up to behind closed doors.
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This is where you’re wrong Corona.
Here’s the truth:
The origin of the term ‘woke’ was on the left - where it was and is a light-hearted, playful description of people that are sensitive to social injustice and inequality.
But that’s not the way you used it - unless you really think being sensitive to social injustice and inequality is ‘stupid’ - which I don’t believe. Your usage followed the imagined Tory ‘culture war’ distortion, in which ‘woke’ is simply an attempt to divide people like us against each other - to suggest that any mention of prejudice or discrimination is somehow reprehensible.
This is part of a larger right-wing effort - not just trying to suppress calling out discriminatory or insensitive language by pretending it means that ‘you can’t say anything now’ - but also suppressing any acknowledgement of the truth of how the UK’s immense wealth was actually generated, and how it is still protected…
And here are the excellent letters yesterday responding to that article:
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Of course it was all piece and love before the British arrived.
Now where do we think slavery started Maybe with the Sumerians? Maybe before them. But certainly its been around since Apes first picked up weapons be that a white collar ape or a blue collar ape.
People stick a pin in a date thats suits their motives and start a campaign to write the wrongs.
Again, this is not true Corona. Message me if interested and I’ll send you links to some books for the detail, but in broad outline on your points:
- As far as we know, many of the societies disrupted and often destroyed by slavery and colonialism were indeed pretty peaceful and sustainable before European interference. Of course there were local conflicts of various kinds - but generally far less than post-colonialism.
- Defined broadly enough ‘slavery’ has probably always existed to some extent in some places - but that’s not what is meant when we speak of ‘slavery and colonialism’ - this refers to the specific form of racialised, ‘chattel’ slavery of the early capitalist and imperialist period. This was very different from most previous forms of slavery - indeed, the actual conceptions and legal definitions of ‘property’ and indeed ‘race’ were different (this is partly what defines ‘capitalism’).
- Of course some do select periods to suit their arguments - but in the case of the articles I linked - and more I can send you - I’m afraid you’ve come across people that really know the history in considerable detail.
I also think, incidentally, that the damage done by colonialism was even more heinous than slavery - even more millions killed, truly disgusting levels of plunder extracted, whole societies and vast tracts of land left in ruins, millions of people left impoverished to this day.
And this last is the point really: if you know the history, you understand why the world is the way it is, and might stand some chance of putting it right. Which is, of course, why those with power and privilege are desperate to hide the history - behind barriers like their ‘woke’ smokescreen.
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Great work as always:
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Viewing this, Scott-Fitzgerald’s prescient exposé of ‘the American Dream’ in The Great Gatsby came to mind…
“They were careless people, Tom and Daisy- they smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness or whatever it was that kept them together, and let other people clean up the mess they had made.”
Note also, on the PPE scandal, that the company of recently created Tory peer Michelle Mone - awarded £203m-worth of government PPE contracts - has now been issued with a winding up petition for unpaid taxes and is under investigation by the National Crime Agency for potential fraud. (Mone is closely linked with Gove - maybe why he is now shying away?).