February 2017
Equality? Sometimes...
I am all for inclusivity and equality. The big problem with it is that it often isn’t paired with a sense of proportionality and common sense. By all means fight for equality when it genuinely doesn’t exist but once you achieve your aim know when you have done it and avoid going too far any undermining the key principle you have established - that we are all equal. It’s perfectly understandable that after working so hard for victory you might be prone to some unnecessary ‘over celebrating’ as you have put so much effort into your victory. When you score a goal the best advice is always to play everything safe, don’t get over excited and give away a goal as it’s then that you are also at your most vulnerable. The point is the tail mustn’t start to think it can wag the dog.
There’s no doubt there have been huge strides in sex, race and social equality in recent years, much of which was necessary. It needed to happen and the job isn’t done. The point is that whilst we are all equal, we are not the same. Perversely this is actually the whole argument that is being made. Where it goes wrong is when you forget you are not fighting for a side but for all of us. I am not a supporter of gay marriage, not because of any issue other than my belief that that is not what marriage is actually about. By all means have the same ‘service’ available and allow the same legal rights and so forth but not in any way to seek to alter a traditional church marriage. That should remain exactly how it is but variations and options providing the same result should be provided as to exclude no one. No one at all. The previous status quo shouldn’t be removed for the sake of progress. The same with sex definition. Of course there should be acceptance of every scenario but the idea that this has to go hand in hand with an exclusion of any common sense and a demand for multiple public toilets to be provided to every possible variation is crazy. It makes a spectacle of a person rather than normalizing them in my opinion.
That woman who spent years pretending to be black and campaigning for black rights is now coming out with the idea that race is actually something that can be equally as fluid as sex apparently. I don’t know. Where do you draw the line? The argument, which I buy into, is you are born ‘the way you are’ and you do not choose. You feel like you should be the other sex or gay, but not the right race too? You can be whatever you feel? Sex and sexual preference I can understand but surely being black or white or whatever? Isn’t the whole point supposed to be when it comes to that that we are all the same. You are what you are, it’s the same, equal, defines nothing about you any more than your height or hair color. Maybe next we will have short people demanding to be tall as they were ‘born tall’ really. The other thing is where people expect and demand every walk of life to be equal. The same numbers of every category of person in every profession. Firstly it’ll never happen, secondly there are biological and cultural reasons why people might be more suited to different jobs. Just make sure there are no barriers, but vive la difference after that surely, again the whole point. It drives me nuts that people constantly complain about there being too few black football mangers. If there was any manager who is qualified to win more games then they will get the job. Prejudices go out of the window completely in this area more than any other when it comes to success in sport. Show me examples of successful black mangers getting sacked or overlooked when winning games and I will adjust my opinion. The greatest ever manager might be around the corner and might just as likely be black but there just haven’t been too many successful so far. Who knows the reason it might be, be are all equal, but not the same and maybe this is just one of those weird quirks.
Whenever these subjects need to be addressed I’d like to see more emphasis on the basic idea we are all equal and different rather than just the same, which we are not and should be celebrated. Education is the basis for all progress in these matters and it’s important that that remains at the core rather than the dogma of zealous campaigning that might well have been necessary in the past.
There’s no doubt there have been huge strides in sex, race and social equality in recent years, much of which was necessary. It needed to happen and the job isn’t done. The point is that whilst we are all equal, we are not the same. Perversely this is actually the whole argument that is being made. Where it goes wrong is when you forget you are not fighting for a side but for all of us. I am not a supporter of gay marriage, not because of any issue other than my belief that that is not what marriage is actually about. By all means have the same ‘service’ available and allow the same legal rights and so forth but not in any way to seek to alter a traditional church marriage. That should remain exactly how it is but variations and options providing the same result should be provided as to exclude no one. No one at all. The previous status quo shouldn’t be removed for the sake of progress. The same with sex definition. Of course there should be acceptance of every scenario but the idea that this has to go hand in hand with an exclusion of any common sense and a demand for multiple public toilets to be provided to every possible variation is crazy. It makes a spectacle of a person rather than normalizing them in my opinion.
That woman who spent years pretending to be black and campaigning for black rights is now coming out with the idea that race is actually something that can be equally as fluid as sex apparently. I don’t know. Where do you draw the line? The argument, which I buy into, is you are born ‘the way you are’ and you do not choose. You feel like you should be the other sex or gay, but not the right race too? You can be whatever you feel? Sex and sexual preference I can understand but surely being black or white or whatever? Isn’t the whole point supposed to be when it comes to that that we are all the same. You are what you are, it’s the same, equal, defines nothing about you any more than your height or hair color. Maybe next we will have short people demanding to be tall as they were ‘born tall’ really. The other thing is where people expect and demand every walk of life to be equal. The same numbers of every category of person in every profession. Firstly it’ll never happen, secondly there are biological and cultural reasons why people might be more suited to different jobs. Just make sure there are no barriers, but vive la difference after that surely, again the whole point. It drives me nuts that people constantly complain about there being too few black football mangers. If there was any manager who is qualified to win more games then they will get the job. Prejudices go out of the window completely in this area more than any other when it comes to success in sport. Show me examples of successful black mangers getting sacked or overlooked when winning games and I will adjust my opinion. The greatest ever manager might be around the corner and might just as likely be black but there just haven’t been too many successful so far. Who knows the reason it might be, be are all equal, but not the same and maybe this is just one of those weird quirks.
Whenever these subjects need to be addressed I’d like to see more emphasis on the basic idea we are all equal and different rather than just the same, which we are not and should be celebrated. Education is the basis for all progress in these matters and it’s important that that remains at the core rather than the dogma of zealous campaigning that might well have been necessary in the past.
Canada - Explain that to me again...
The EU was absolutely cock-a-hoop to finally manage to tie up a trade deal with Canada after 6 years or so, or was it more? They did finally do it, they had to, just about at the 11th hour. Well done. Canada is a significant trade partner but not one of the big 5 outside the EU. A group that the UK would soon be entering and no doubt be courted with similar vigor and on similar terms if not far more attractive ones bearing in mind not only its size and history but also proximity and potential as a ‘gateway’ to the rest of the world post-Brexit surely… No?
No. Apparently not. We have to be ‘punished’. We have to pay a huge fee to leave this club event though we’ve been one of very few paying into it for 40 years. How does that work? In what world would you accept this sort of ‘deal’? Having been one of three who have financially propped up the whole of the rest of the EU for decades you can certainly understand the fear about losing this particular contributor to the gravy train. You can even understand that there might need to be some payments to complete some schemes that still make sense to all involved and can be agreed to continue beyond the duration of full EU membership expiring. However to imagine that the recipient of such huge investment over so many decades should be given a huge bill as a parting gift is surely spectacularly misjudged. Far from accepting any ‘bill’ we should be awaiting an offer to repay the capital investment made by the UK that we will no longer be able to enjoy in the long run.
What sense is there in being so keen on a deal with Canada but so dead set against the idea of trying to work with what will be your biggest single market once they leave your club. The lesson will be learned one way or another. It might be bitter or sweet but whichever way they take it the EU will get the worse of it. Hopefully they see sense and both sides are able to make a success of Brexit. Only time will tell.
No. Apparently not. We have to be ‘punished’. We have to pay a huge fee to leave this club event though we’ve been one of very few paying into it for 40 years. How does that work? In what world would you accept this sort of ‘deal’? Having been one of three who have financially propped up the whole of the rest of the EU for decades you can certainly understand the fear about losing this particular contributor to the gravy train. You can even understand that there might need to be some payments to complete some schemes that still make sense to all involved and can be agreed to continue beyond the duration of full EU membership expiring. However to imagine that the recipient of such huge investment over so many decades should be given a huge bill as a parting gift is surely spectacularly misjudged. Far from accepting any ‘bill’ we should be awaiting an offer to repay the capital investment made by the UK that we will no longer be able to enjoy in the long run.
What sense is there in being so keen on a deal with Canada but so dead set against the idea of trying to work with what will be your biggest single market once they leave your club. The lesson will be learned one way or another. It might be bitter or sweet but whichever way they take it the EU will get the worse of it. Hopefully they see sense and both sides are able to make a success of Brexit. Only time will tell.