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‘Some of the emotions that affect us were passed down from our parents, grandparents, and great grandparents, etc. Inherited baggage can have a profound effect on the generations who receive the baggage.’
Photo and Quote: releaseyourbaggage.com
“…Our emotional inheritance clings to us because it was bequeathed in conditions of total helplessness. The early years were periods of acute vulnerability. We were utterly at the mercy of the prevailing environment. We could not properly move, speak, control or contain ourselves; we could not calm ourselves down or recover our equilibrium. We had no choice about whom to direct our feelings towards and no way to defend ourselves adequately against what injured us. We could not even string thoughts together, needing the language eventually lent to us by others in order to begin to interpret our requirements. Even in the most benign of circumstances, with only the best intentions at play, the possibilities for warps and distortions were hence enormous. Few of us ever come through entirely unscathed.
“What we experienced in those early years now moulds the expectations with which we approach the people and situations of our adult lives. What we feel we’re owed, how we speak to ourselves, our sense of how our hopes may turn out, all are extrapolations from experiences and relationships of a distant past whose particulars we may find it hard to recall. A lot of our difficulties stem from these unknown psychological legacies, which interfere with our ability to respond with appropriate lucidity, courage, affection, directness or soberness to the present. We interpret reality with a bias which twists the available evidence according to a narrative that feels familiar – but may be untrue to what and who is actually before us.”…
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Photo: ft.com
It seems we were right all along: We need Globalisation for the Common Good and an economy that works for many and not the few
Call me an idealist, a dreamer, whatever. But, believe me, unless we address and tackle the causes of injustice, inhumanity, poverty (spiritual and material), inequality, loneliness, anger, frustration, hopelessness…, resultant from neo-liberal economic policies, then, the world falls deeper and deeper into the abyss.
A lot has already been written on the Brexit, what happened and why. Many have suggested many reasons, whilst offering many different solutions. I, myself, have many thoughts in my own head. But one thing is clear to me:
People rose against injustice, unfairness, inequality, the misery that has been unleashed on them by a group of self-serving elites, who have ignored the masses, inflicting pain and anguish on them, through their feral economic policies and capitalism, austerity, cut backs, lack of investments, corruption and more; so that they can give more and more to their friends, the 1%.
It is so very tragic that so many people, mistakenly and wrongly, decieved and fooled by a sense of pseudo-nationalism and patriotism, took their revenge on the “foreigners” the “immigrants” that the heartless leaders were telling them to be the cause of their misery, turning the otherwise not bad people into racism and xenophobia.
Again, as in the past, whipped into a patriotic fervour, the hateful elites banged the drum of nationalism, ensuring people vote against their own self-interest and against each other.
This is not new: Hitler did it in Germany, Nigel Farage, Boris Johnson and others like them have done it now in Britain, and it seems Donald Trump is on the way to do it in the US. How sad and tragic for the masses to be fooled like this, time and again.
Nigel Farage: one of the leading proponents to leave the EU, standing infront of his immigrant poster which many people believe depicts "echoes" of the 1930s literature
Photo: bbc.co.uk
The EU’s goals and ambitions are the same as Hitler’s: Boris Johnson
Photo: express.co.uk
Today, somehow, I find myself in agreement with Gordon Brown:
“The elephant in the room is globalisation – the speed, scope and scale of the seismic shifts in our global economy. And the most obvious manifestation of the world we have lost is the hollowing out of our industrial towns as a result of the collapse of manufacturing in the face of Asian competition. These towns are home to a disproportionate share of the semi-skilled workers who feel on the wrong side of globalisation and who opted to vote leave. Unable to see how globalisation can be tamed in their interests, they have, not surprisingly, become recruits to an anti-globalisation movement whose lightning rod is migration. To “take back control” seems the only way to shelter, protect or insulate yourself against global change.”
Now the pertinent questions are: What is to be done? How may we move forward? How may we create a better world for the common good, where all peoples can live in peace and harmony with dignity?
I have offered my suggestions, time and again, over the last many years. I offer them, once again. Hopefully, one day, somehow, they will land on some listening ears. Who knows! I remain hopeful.
What we need is Globalisation for the Common Good
We need Economic Justice: Economy for the Common Good
So yes, there is a lot to despair and to be angry and frustrated at what has happened. But, then, we should raise our eyes to where hope lies:
Simple Life, Education for Wisdom, Globalisation for the Common Good and Economic Justice for all.
Postscript: A word of caution from Julius Caesar
Today I was watching Prime Minister’s Questions on television. Mr. Cameron and others, time and again, talked about the patriotism of the British people, exercising their patriotic right, deciding their patriotic future, or words very much to that effect.
Whilst listening I was reminded of a quote from Julius Caesar writing on patriotism, very relevant to what is going on in Britain today:
“…For patriotism is indeed a double-edged sword. It both emboldens the blood, just as it narrows the mind. And when the drums of war have reached a fever pitch and the blood boils with hate and the mind has closed, the leader will have no need in seizing the rights of the citizenry. Rather, the citizenry, infused with fear and patriotism, will offer up all of their rights to the leader and gladly so. How do I know? For this is what I have done. And I am Julius Caesar.”
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“Leaving the EU would be a betrayal of British values”
I am grateful for the opportunity to live in a country that encourages me to be who I am, what I am:
An Englishman of Persian origin and heritage.
The EU Referendum: The Story that I Must Tell
Dear fellow citizens of the United Kingdom,
On June 23rd, in a referendum we are asked if we wish to remain in the EU or leave. On that day our future will be at the mercy of the ballot box. Ultimately, this is the decision we face: Do we wish to stick with our fellow European friends, allies, our neighbours and remain in Europe, or do we wish to leave and go it alone?
This is the biggest decision of our generation, and it is our children and our grandchildren who will live with the consequences. Though I am very hopeful that the stay vote will win the day, nevertheless, the fact that so many fellow British citizens want to leave Europe, rejecting togetherness for the greater good and going it alone is shocking and disturbing to me, given the fundamental British values that I have discovered in all these past decades.
Moreover, I feel very sad and depressed to see that the Brexit group have so much concentrated on “foreigners”, the immigrants, belittling and ostracizing them, whilst ignoring their valuable contributions to building this country as one of the most exciting, vibrant, coherent and harmonious countries on earth.
This reminds me of Enoch Powell's 'Rivers of Blood' speech in 1968. Read it, and you think how similar Powell’s fear-mongering, xenophobic views and sentiments are to the current three main Brexiteers, namely, Boris Johnson, Michael Gove and Nigel Farage.
This is very heartbreaking for me to watch. This is in total contrast to what I began to discover about the British people, their values, and modus operandi all those decades ago, when I first arrived in “This beautiful and pleasant land” in the early 1970s, in Oxford, as a student to further my education.
I remember so clearly, from that very first moment when I landed at Heathrow: the immigration officer who was so kind, acknowledging my extreme nervousness and anxiety, trying to comfort me by joking about the boxes of pistachio nuts and nougat (Gaz) I was carrying on my person.
Then, off on the train to Oxford, catching the bus to Summertown, north of Oxford, searching for Five Mile Drive, getting totally lost. I asked a man in the street for directions. Looking at me so tired and confused, he dropped everything and drove me all the way to Mrs. Brown’s house, where I was going to have my lodgings.
From those very early days and years I began to see things that were in total contrast to the stereotypical images of British people I had been led to believe:
that the British are reserved, cold, individualistic, selfish, arrogant, boring, inhospitable and unfriendly.
I wonder, if you can put yourself in my shoes, and feel my feelings at that time, discovering more and more everyday, how wrong and how unjust those stereotypical views were.
I discovered the British to be most polite, kind, considerate, helpful, sympathetic, friendly, hospitable and caring. I found them to be tolerant of my “strange” ways in those early years, never making me feel bad to be different.
I love Britain. I love my English wife. I love my British friends and family. I love the time-honoured British values and way of life. I have even grown to like the British weather and against all odds, I love British cuisine too!
The fish and chips, the full English breakfast, the HP sauce, clotted cream, scones and jam, adding milk to my tea, the shepherd’s pie, Lancashire hot pot, the roast beef and the Yorkshire pudding, ham and the parsley sauce, followed by apple pie and the lovely custard, cheese and biscuits, celery sticks and a few grapes, and much more. Not forgetting the pubs and the great beers. I love it all.
I am also delighted to see my British friends enjoying our Persian cuisine, my Persian ways, personality and sense of humour.
Of course, there are always exceptions, but, the British have always been welcoming other people to their shores. Britain has always benefited from its engagement with the outside world. People settling down in this country have always contributed to its well-being and development. Other countries, cultures and civilisations have also greatly benefited from their interaction with Britain.
The British are not revengeful. The British are not selfish. They have shown the beauty and wonders of
forgiveness and reconciliation, dialogue and peace, hope for a better world, again and again. Photo: Anne Mofid
This is why not long ago I wrote: Eurosceptics should visit Coventry Cathedral: The EU's Higher Purpose .
This is the Britain I love, these are the British values I got to know and respect. This has been a gift to the world. Long may it be so.
The EU Referendum must not be seen as a referendum on the injustices of neo-liberal economic policies since the late 1970s. We chose and voted for Thatcherism and New Labour. Moreover, the current destructive and unjust “Austerity” programme was not imposed on us by “Foreigners”, we voted for it in May 2015! Let us not blame the EU for the tragic consequences of our own policies. Fairness is the cornerstone of what it means to be British.
On June 23rd let us hope we will vote for common sense, common good and hope for a better world:
Europe and the Europeans all together for the Common Good in Unity and Hope
Like anything else in life, the EU, as an institution, is not perfect. It needs to be improved; and most importantly, rather than retreating from the EU, the best way to avoid further crises would be to reform the European institutions to make them stronger; something that all of us in Europe must continue to do and achieve together.
On June 23rd 2016 Vote to Remain in the EU
Photo: twitter.com
“By the strength of our common endeavour we achieve more than we achieve alone.”
Kamran Mofid