Left Wing blogger in rage at Daily Mail shock: Updated

Its hardly news is it? The Daily Mail’s readers are reactionary bigots.

However, just how shockingly hateful they are is hard to comprehend until you’ve seen their reaction to the death of an immigrant. You worry as soon as you see the title: Migrant found dead in the back of a lorry as it prepares to enter Channel Tunnel (H/T Five Chinese Crackers and Tabloid Watch). But what follows is one of those articles that reveals the Mail does have writers who can write; its not vitriolic, its not angry, its even vaguely concerned. Its the comments that really shock. By now I know they shouldn’t, but they do.

Saved us a house car and free money then.
- martyn robinson, northampton uk, 31/10/2009 09:12

one down, millions to go
- crackers, yorkshire, 31/10/2009 2:42

Good news. One less to worry about!
- keith jones, porthcawl, south wales, 30/10/2009 22:13

Shame but I would be a hypocrit if I said I was sorry!
- Nanny B, West Sussex, 30/10/2009 17:42

At least 115 people have clicked on the green “up” arrow for that top one. 115 people think that this immigrant is better off dead because he was after a “house car [sic] and free money then.”

Mark Twain said that a “lie can travel halfway around the world while the truth is putting on its shoes” and it seems Carol Malone‘s lie that immigrants are given cars is one of them.

The Mail creates an atmosphere where displaying joy at someone’s death seems appropriate. Often its said that The Mail merely reflects it readers views, and to an extent its true, however The Mail will always run up against a problem. Immigrants aren’t that bad.

Sure some are illiberal nut jobs, but I don’t see anyone arguing for Melanie Philips to be deported (well I do… but that’s besides the point) and some do “scrounge” but the vast majority do not.

In fact, economically they bring benefits, that’s pretty hard to argue with, I’d say impossible. The culture, music and food – especially food – that they bring enriches this country, you’re entitled to disagree but remember this. You’re wrong.

So to get round these simple truths the Mail regularly lies, distorts and misleads, ask Nick Davies if you want to know more. This is the end result. This is the real “Broken Britain,” but I don’t imagine I’ll see much about it in anyones manifesto. Apparently hate sells and more hate gets you elected.

Updates from Five Chinese Crackers.

**UPDATE** It’s lunchtime on Monday, and I’ve been checking in now and again, watching as the comments get red-arrowed by the more sane.  One seems to have been deleted, but it’s not possible to tell which one since the option to view all comments has been disabled.

**UPDATE UPDATE** A few minutes later, and the comments are down to 5.  I can’t imagine they’ll all be there by the end of the day, since ‘One down and quite a few to go’ is still there.

**UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE** Quarter to four and they’re all gone.  Phew!

**UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE** Now two are back.  Including my favourite one about trucks not being searched at border controls.  Genius.

It appears the Mail may have realised not all those visiting the site are frothing racist mouth breathers and have removed some of the content. Wouldn’t want the advertisers taking fright.

Just in case any advertisers were interested in what the Mail chooses juxtapose with their material, there is a picture here of the comments in question (H/T Y Dysgwr Araf and Nic Dafis. Cymru am byth!). Delightful I’m sure you’ll agree, really puts me in the mood to buy stuff.

Courtesy of Y Dysgwr Araf

Filed under: Blogging, Migration, Democracy, immigration, Scum Watch, The Media

A Memorandum to Libertarians and Socialists: Part Three

In response to my Open Letter, Thomas Byrne asked if Libertarians and Socialists could not unite behind the slogan “People of the world, unite against the corporations”?

In truth there are huge overlaps between Libertarians and Socialists. For example this from Socialist Unity, could very easily appear on Devils Kitchen.

No-one reading Socialist Unity will be surprised by the view that the Government, and the EU, are hypocrites. Another good example of that is revealed in a new report out today on the EU Emissions Trading Scheme.

Despite all the rhetoric from politicians and eurocrats alike about helping the poor and the elderly, alleviating fuel poverty and reducing extortionate energy bills, the reality is that through the ETS they are increasing costs for UK consumers alone by £3 billion a year. Across the whole EU, between the scheme starting on 1 January 2005 up to the end of 2008, this monster cost over £67 billion.

This is the reality of the current tranche of flawed emissions policy: in the name of green policymaking, ordinary people who already struggle to heat the homes and make ends meet are being stung for billions of pounds a year. Where does the money end up? Well, a decent chunk is effectively handed straight to wealthy energy companies in windfall profits, kindly provided by Mr and Mrs Joe Public.

Don’t think that the powers that be in Westminster and Brussels aren’t aware of this, either. Indeed, a paper revealed this week in leaked EU Commission documents that there are plans afoot in Brussels to use the Emissions Trading Scheme as the basis of a pan-European, harmonised tax in order to fund the EU directly.

In short, they know perfectly well how profitable this enterprise can be for them – and they care not a jot that it is those scraping a living in the real world who suffer as a result.

Likewise, in Zombie Capitalism Chris Harman pulls no punches and makes it clear that the state – and beauracrats operating as “political capitalists” – rarely acts in the interests of the working class.

He describes a state that is more than just a passive creature of the capitalist class. Those in the state’s employment seek to promote the development of nationally based capitals to improve their own position.

This can be beneficial when trying to “catch up” – as I would argue it was in Korea, Germany or Taiwan – but more often the interests of “political capitalists” are  in direct opposition to those of the working classes.

As capitalism has developed it has encouraged a division of labour, but it has also generated a division of the capitalist class. Owners of capital rarely directly manage it, and although managers do not own capital, through their action, they become part of the capitalist class.

So the “political capitalist” acts at times as a steward for existing capitalists. They can aid domestic capitals by helping repress workers as during the 1980s or they can help by setting up inefficient emission trading schemes which act as a transfer of wealth from the poor to the rich.

That is not to say that the state cannot be a tremendous source of good in the world, and as Giles Wilkes argues in Slash and Grow (pdf) the state is currently propping up an economy which could grow even more anaemic without it.

However, it is clear to me that the state is not inherently something Socialists should embrace, as Chris Dillow has argued “shrinking the state [is] a leftist aim.” Dave Semple is right that the left cannot let the right take posession of things like letting workers keep more of their own money.

So in response to Thomas I would like to say that yes, this is an alliance I’d be more than willing to enter into. Corporations and the state cannot exist without one another and both are suitable targets for Libertarians and Socialists. “Organisation, organisation, organisation!”

To be clear, and under the terms of the Creative Commons Liscence DK employs, I would like to make it clear that the above extract is from his blog. As requested anyone seeking to reproduce this post in part or whole, must follow the terms of this liscence.

Filed under: Politics

Stat Porn October 2009

I received 6,070 page views in October. Below is the weekly break down going back to May.

The most successful posts are below.

1. Jan Moir first draft: The truth about my 1,397
2. No Bernie, Hitler didn’t get things done 618
3. An Open Letter to Libertarians and Socia 529
4. Lawsuits from the ’20s/Jackboots from th 237
5. Still a cunt: Peter Hitchens caught abus 156
6. The Logic and Lunacy of Kim Jong-il 142
7. About Left Outside 129
8. Ben’s Blog: Prisoner Reform and the Inte 84
9. Tueday’s Topical Dictator 72
10. Give ‘em enough rope 70

Writing the first (that I know of) parody on Jan Moirs “mea culpa” helped boost visitors and I’d like to think some people hung around long enough to read something sensible too. It made it to 79th in that days top WordPress posts, which is an accolade I never expected but which I welcome as I’m quite vain.

I was getting an annoying amount of people looking for pictures of Mussolini so I have no removed his picture from my piece criticising Bernie Ecclestone, hopefully this will lead to my mediocre No Bernie, Hitler didn’t get things doneno longer appearing in future Stat Porn round ups.

The top referers here were The Guardian’s Comment is Free homepage (who do I have to thank for that by the way?), Twitter, The Daily Quail, Stumbling and Mumbling, Tim Worstall and Liberal Conspiracy. Thank you all.

Filed under: Politics, Stat Porn