Party Politics 2.

Ladies and Gentlemen the world's not running like it used to. We used to have a booming v8  and a trillion horses under the hood and we'd be storming down the main straight, hitting a few snags along the way, but ultimately rising up. Now the brakes have been cut and we're rolling down hill fast. Why? There hasn't been any really change in politics since the inception of government. To take the car metaphor a little further, we haven't released a new model in decades and the current ones getting rusted and worn no matter how much it is botch fixed.

I'll use America, once the most powerful political and economic power in the world, as an example. There they have two main parties; Republicans and Democrats. Currently Obama, a Democrat, is in office and Mitt Romney, a Republican, is running to oppose him. This situation has been the norm for centuries with the exception of a few independent parties and of course the candidates running. Unfortunately despite their best efforts, the structure of the modern American political system and the way in which candidates campaign for presidency means that they cannot be focused wholly on the interests of the people. 

Lincoln stated at the Gettysburg Address in 1863 that they would create a "government of the people, by the people, for the people". 

This is sadly not the case in modern American politics. Candidates are endorsed by so many companies and have so many politicians and business men lobbying for them that their allegiances no longer lie with the people and with the constitution but with those they owe for getting them elected. I call for Party Politics 2.0 in which the government holds the interests of the people at heart as much as they do the interests of their lobbyists and their own Swiss bank accounts. 

Lets not even get started on Religious influence. The constitution calls for a separation between church and state. A fact, that if ignored, leads to the violation of a human right. Freedom of religion. We have the right to practise whatever religion we choose. By governing a country based upon one religions ideology you alienate the feelings and beliefs of all other religions. We need to run the country in a way that is fair and just. By making America a Christian country you ban abortion, you dis-allow gay marriage, you impose all sorts of laws that infringe upon human rights. Laws people may argue need to be passed, but laws that stop others having the same equal rights as another. 

Lets ignore the interests of religion and of lobbyists and of investors looking to piggy back off a presidential candidates win. We need a government that runs itself for the people and in order to make economic growth, environmental sustainability, defence, technology, education and health care, to name a few, work for the people and not for the wallets of those who threw money at them in order to slip the new president in to their back pockets for future leverage. I call for change. I call for a new way of governing America. Lets make the "free world" free again. 

A World Without Rules

I find it crazy how history repeats itself in such a horrific way. Kristallnacht happened on the 9th and 10th of November 1938 and today we are seeing similar scenes of racially focused violence in China. Japanese businesses, cars, products and people are all being attacked following the dispute of ownership of the Senkaku Islands. Currently controlled by Japan, the islands ownership came under dispute after an oil reserve was found. Now we see the streets of China erupting in a flurry of anti Japan protests following the story being reported on their national news. These are the facts. This is another war in the making. This is greed governing the decisions of government once more. Welcome to a world without rules, because thats where we're heading. 

This Modern World

We live in a brave new world. Our cities have grown from the earth and soared higher than mountains. Our technical and scientific achievements have sped up our evolution by decades. However, we are still victims of a crumbling economy. Why? The primary cause of this is corruption, greed and moral degradation within the political systems of the world.

We all held our ideologies in such high regard. We were smug and proud of what we had achieved, but in this modern world behind this film of sheepish hypocrisy, lives’ a murky, deep and mudded sea of self-interest and lies.

We had ideas that would advance us economically and as a people. Now we wish to only better ourselves individually. Case and point, the increase in the university fees in the UK. The cap of £3,000 was placed in order to provide equality in some small way. So that those who went into higher learning were not discriminated by their economic background. Now we are forced to forgo a University education due to a lack of money.

This is a short-term solution for our current economic problem. Of course this will stimulate the economy and cause a growth in that particular sector. Or so they thought? Surely with higher fees less people will go. Statistics showed a 8.7% drop in applications in the year of 2012, as it was the first year to implement the new fee scheme. This drop means that even the governments reasoning is flawed.

In truth this is only going to stifle the growth of a series of key generations that will lead us into the brave future beyond this economic downturn. This will mean less highly educated people and thus less people to fill the jobs we have been proven to be the best at. As a country, our greatest export is educated workers in the tertiary sector. With less of these people we are going to be flooding one sector of the job market. More people will be vying for the jobs in trades cluttering this area and stiffing our growth technologically and, as a knock on effect, our growth as an economy.

The motivating factor behind this move for our current government was purely short term. They saw a way of making money back now and hadn’t outwardly considered the ramifications of their actions. Now, I’m not going to claim to have all the answers and this is merely my opinion. I feel that this is a bad move designed to ensure that Cameron’s back is covered, a idea that is evident in Cleggs recent apology for going back on a promise he made before the election.

I hope I’m wrong about everything in this article. I hope that in a decade, when my generation and the generation following me are running the country, we are able to do so to the best of our ability and without any hindrance in education. I hope that Cameron proves me wrong in the remainder of his term. As the sun sets on today we head into uncertain times. I hope we can rekindle our love of forward thinking as a country for the sun will soon rise on tomorrow and we need to be ready for a brave new world.

Chapter 8

And so I hit Chapter 8. The book is coming along nicely and, since I last posted, has found a title. I decided to give you a little more from my hyper-violent, sexy road movie of a book! It is shaping up to be insane and hopefully quite chilling. Who knows it might actually be good!

So here it is, a teaser directly out of the book.

"She stood there, not more than a foot shorter than me. Her hair was a dark purple and her eyes a deep hazel. She had a silver ring through her bottom lip and a cheeky grin. She was cute. A soft voice that I can hear now, as I tell you this story. Words were kind to her. It reminded me of my mother and when she’s read me books. She read everything in a hushed whisper."


Violent huh?


Thanks for reading and please take time to check out the Indygogo campaign and help me get some of my short stories published!

http://www.indiegogo.com/darkmatters?a=357403

Dark Matters!

Today I launched an Indiegogo campaign to raise money to publish a collection of short stories in a book called 'Dark Matters'. The money raised will go towards printing the books in both hard back and paperback variations as well as marketing the books online. I hope you support and share this campaign and will help me get my book published! Thanks, Matt.

http://www.indiegogo.com/darkmatters?a=357403

Thoughts of a Dying Atheist Part II

Soon world, I shall unleash the second part of the Thoughts of a Dying Atheist story which follows a disturbed psychiatrist on his day to day life. It will be published in a collection called 'Dark Matters' along with two other shorts, "The Collective" and "Mockingbird", so take note and keep checking back here for news! Thanks, Matt.

Prometheus...

So, Prometheus. One of the year's hottest releases and easily the film I have been most looking forward too. Other than The Dark Knight Rises and The Avengers, this had the most to live up to in terms of fan expectation. People wanted a lot of this film and were hoping that it would deliver the goods. So what were my thoughts you ask? After seeing the film in an Imax screening a mere three days ago I can successfully say that I have digested the events of the films 124 minuet run. I have concluded that it is one of the most spectacular things I have ever seen. In the opening shot we see planet earth in all its majesty, shot in a way that is reminiscent of 2001: A Space Odyssey. In a similar way to that film, Prometheus then goes on to explore the origins of man. A weighty theme that I feel it carried well through its course. The story is at times cliche and predictable but never in a way that detracts from the overall spectacle of the movie. Far be it for me, a humble nerd, to critique the directorial efforts of Sir Ridley Scott but I feel he handled this film better than any other. His last effort,  the disappointing Robin Hood, left me wanting more  and I can safely say that I got what I wanted and then some. From the opening shot to the closing shot Prometheus is a ride that delivers visually and in the story department. While the script is sometimes shaky with some strange story directions and poor character development, on the whole it delivers. I can't talk about the film without giving mention to the trio of actors that lead the cast. Fassbender, Theron and Rapace are all on top form here with Theron providing a different take on the 'company woman' and with Rapace offering a faith driven lead that is as good as Ripley from the original films. It is Fassbender however that steals the show with the most impressive performance that mixes child like wonder with Sheldon-esque genius qualities. He is perfect as the curious android David and quickly becomes the driving force behind the film. So to sum up, Prometheus delivers. Its not as good as Alien or Aliens and won't be stealing any praise from Blade Runner but it is easily one of the best science fiction films of the past decade. A must watch.

**** - 4 Stars