Farming In The USA?

Trying to get back onto the regular blogging rota!  But I have been lucky enough to be away in the US for a couple of weeks so the new resolution starts now.  I say lucky enough because I know we are fortunate to have taken a lovely holiday when so many will not go anywhere, let alone abroad.  And we did have an amazing time.  

But it was also quite instructive to be in the States.  We were last there  three years ago.  It was the summer before Trump won the election in the November and I eagerly questioned people then about whether he might actually get into the White House.  I came home unsure as to whether Hilary Clinton could beat him.  I picked up many negative comments about her during my conversations, with people who didn't want to vote for Trump feeling that they could not face her as an alternative.

This time, I have returned to the UK with the strong feeling that Trump will win again in two years time unless there is some kind of majorly disruptive event which cannot be predicted.  I have written previously about the start of fascism and about the conditions which lead to it taking hold. And I believe the current situation in the US is ticking nearly all of those boxes right now.

Some things which I noticed or which happened during our admittedly brief visit:

1)  The news channels are even more polarised than before.  The Trump-supporting channels such as Fox are on in bars as much as any other channel and people do parrot what they have heard from these 'journalists'.  I overheard numerous bar, pool, restaurant etc exchanges of views where I just wanted to interrupt and say 'prove it!' to whatever mad point they were coming out with.

2)  Racism is definitely more prevalent. For example, we noticed a real decrease in the number of hijab-wearing women visible in all of the four cities we visited - two which we also visited three years ago.  Which cannot be a good sign.  And casual racism is almost a 'conversation starter'.  No checking to see if we would be offended by an assumption.  Whether it be about Hispanics or Muslims or 'foreigners'.  We even encountered a Brit in LA who said he'd lived in the US/Malta (yes, weird) for twenty odd years and he could not go back to Luton (his UK hometown) because of the horrendous 'Muslim problem' - he was sure Luton is a 'no go area'.  He firmly believed this despite not having set foot there and worse, was repeating these false claims to people he had just met in a bakery.  Yes we were apparently fellow Brits but who the hell else is he saying this to?  Didn't he get this rubbish from certain US news outlets? It was not from experience.  And he expected us to join in with his pronouncements.  To commiserate with him and reinforce what he was sure he knew.

3)  The above two points are also tied together by another story.  My husband was queuing for a pizza takeaway and the customer next to him asked how we in the UK were 'doing with our new prime minister?  Tommy Robinson isn't it?  Great Guy!' (Johnson had just got into Number 10 - lovely news on your holidays).  There was almost an altercation as husband, having been about to say Boris is a t**t, tried to explain that Robinson is not PM and is in fact a racist t**t.  The other customer just would not believe that Robinson is a nobody.  Presumably because Trump and others tweet about him.  Did he therefore think Katie Hopkins is Chancellor and Farage is Foreign Secretary?  We didn't wait to find out.  Boris Johnson is mad but clearly not mad enough to merit far Right coverage.

4)  Anti-Trump acquaintances were quick to say that Trump and his ilk are racist.  There was no doubt in their minds.  But there was shaking of heads at what to do about it.  It was almost like they'd given up already.  The first Democratic candidates debate was during our visit.  It did not offer much hope, I must say.  Trump opposition is badly divided.  Much as the anti-Brexit side is in the UK.

Now these are small examples but I believe many such small stories are being played out across the USA.  And in watching the coverage of Trump's tweets, it seems clear to me that he has no interest whatsoever in keeping anything other than his core support happy.  He does not respond to satire, to a Twitter 'backlash', to reasoned argument even.  

As long as he keeps the right proportion of the electorate happy, he just does not care.  The constant cry of 'fake news' is not him being thin-skinned and reactive to news.  He is simply reinforcing his message to that core - 'you can't trust anyone but me to tell you the truth.'  The symbiotic relationship with Fox News helps to push the simplistic messages.  Because his line on everything is nothing if not simplistic.  Things are 'very good' or 'very bad' in Trump world.  'American' or 'Un-American'.  This language is not because he is inarticulate himself.  He is simply aiming squarely at the lowest common denominator - his core support.  He does not need to win anyone over to his cause.

The seeds are being sown very cleverly for the next presidential election.

'Fours legs bad, two legs good' ringing any bells?....

*in looking for an image to use for this piece, I came across an article which is kind of saying what I am saying.  I promise I wrote my piece before I read it!  But click here - it's worth a read.

The Influencers

And hopefully I'm back in the blogging game. It's not that I haven't been thinking.  I have all sorts of post ideas buzzing around.  It's just the habit/confidence to get them down.

Anyhow.  One thing I have been considering a lot is the concept of influence.  I have still been posting regularly on Instagram and on that, to be an 'influencer' is this whole career idea.  There are many people paid (or wanting to be paid) for posting pictures of clothes, travel, beauty and homewares on their social media and blogs.  They want the #freeshit (as one particularly grasping Instagrammer puts it).  They say they're 'real'.  And of course they all start 'real' because they start small.  But as they get more followers (influence), more opportunities present themselves.  So it all becomes less and less real.  Their chats about family, work and life in general are in themselves influenced by their new positions.  They are regularly photographed in cheaper brands they would now never wear in their own time or they post 'paid for' (not #freeshit) outfits which are way beyond the budget of most.  (£1500 Loewe handbag, anyone?) They moan about being busy but in actual interviews it transpires that they can now afford PAs and nannies.  It's the way of the world.  It's a new social media world but it's old world social climbing.  Personally, I have come to the conclusion that it isn't healthy for the rest of us to be constantly looking at what we 'ought' to have/dress like/look like.  Therein lies dissatisfaction (to say nothing of the credit card bill).

But the term 'influencer' is very interesting in these weird and worrying times.  'Influence' is claimed to be responsible for election results, Brexit, teen angst, male suicide rates, you name it.  Of course, influencing people is nothing new.  It runs the spectrum from basic advertising, through PR and social media to propaganda.  Electioneering.  Canvassing.  Manipulating.  Prompting.  Guiding.  Pressuring.  

Except it's not the same as before.  Because the influence is 24/7.  In our pockets or handbags, on our watches.  As we work, 'appropriate' ads pop up on our laptops.  And the lines are increasingly blurred.  Is that Instagram post an ad or isn't it?  Is that tweet real news or not?  And there are often global implications turning on one tweet or one post.

I recently read Travellers in the Third Reich.  An account of visiting foreigners' experiences in Germany prior to the Second World War.  It is fascinating and disturbing in equal measure.  The Nazis excelled at sowing doubt in people's minds.  In influencing.  'Fake news' at the top of its game.

And recent tweets by Donald Trump really got me thinking about the fascism parallels again.  He was ranting about 'bias' by Google.  He and other ultra right wingers claim that Google's search engines prioritise 'left-wing' material.  (Click here to see an article about this.)

What Trump did with this series of tweets was to water the massive seeds of doubt already carried by his main support.  But also to chip away at the minds of others unfortunately.  Not many people seem to know how these big tech companies really work but millions of us get our information from them.  Alongside Trump's attacks on the traditional media, he is now telling people that they cannot trust their main online sources of information.  Massive influence.  Immediate impact.  Fascism has previously been established with 40% support. His true believers will not check the sources he claims to use for his 'facts'.  But more importantly, the middle ground of undecideds will start to question their use of Google. 

So it's time we started to make better use of OUR influence.  Unfollow social media people who don't make you feel good or whose motives you questions is a small way to do this.  Without us, they are nothing after all.  But more importantly, start questioning the news.  Use fact checkers.  Read a broad base of media.  And check out The Perils of Perception: Why We're Wrong about Nearly Everything by Bobby Duffy.  You will be shocked.  And that's a true fact.

Protest, protest, protest

If there is anyone still out there checking on my blog, you will know that I have not written for months.  This was not intended but somehow seems to have continued far longer than I would have wanted if it had been planned.  I am not even really sure why!  But I am back and ready to start spouting my stuff all over again.  I haven't stopped reading, Instagramming or thinking since I last blogged.  I have a whole load of subject matter to whitter about, don't worry.

The above is a screenshot from Facebook.  It is utterly horrifying if you just read the list and compare it to the news coming out of the US.  And the news from other places too.  Italy for one.  One article which has spurred my return to blogging was by Fintan O'Toole in the Irish Times.

In this piece he argued that far from being an off-the-cuff tweeter/policy maker/speaker, etc, everything which Donald Trump says or does is carefully calculated to see what he can get away with.  It is not aimed at the more liberal press or at people who would never vote for him.  He is only concerned with maintaining his ratings with the voters who brought him to power.  For example, the use of the abhorrent term 'infest' in a tweet about immigrants.  Widespread disgust was reported.  But Trump's approval ratings with his core supporters went up and the (to him) important far right news outlets (Fox etc) loved it.  O'Toole says that 40% of voters is the typical starting point for Fascism.

I have also re-read The Handmaid's Tale this year.  Margaret Atwood's scarily worrying novel of a fascist future.  If you haven't read it, do so.  (Or watch the excellent TV adaptation.)  And marvel/quake at how many elements of it would appear to be coming true, three decades after it was written as fiction.  No wonder this was one of the books being widely shared after Trump took power.

We live in frightening times.  As the mother of two teenagers, I am chewed up by thoughts of their futures.  Trump is, in my humble opinion, on track for a second term - that's six more years legally.  But with a Supreme Court nomination to come, could we see a move for more?  Brexit is going through regardless (note 'fraudulent elections' on the above list - a nice little trial run there with the Brexit referendum).  Countries like Italy are turning to the far right.  And as for Russia...

I leave you with a couple of quotes I have found during my reading this few months.  Read them and weep.

Make the lie big, keep it simple, keep saying it and eventually they will believe it. - Goebbels

The perfect dictatorship would have the appearance of a democracy but would basically be a prison without walls in which the prisoners would not even dream of escaping.  It would essentially be a system of slavery where, through consumption and entertainment, the slaves would love their servitude. - Aldous Huxley

But when you have wept, remember...

The need for protesting will never end. - China Achebe

More Action Required

For this first post of 2018, there is so much I want to write about, I might burst.  So many subjects  which I have previously covered are still at the top of the news agenda and not for good reasons.  

• There is no resolution in the Middle East -  thanks in no small measure to Trump.  He makes everything worse.  An expected outcome.  But somehow even worse than we feared.
• The NHS is buckling under the weight of the social care crisis, budget cuts and systemic issues like GP changes, staffing, etc.  No change.  In fact - again - worse.
• It is a year since the women's marches and there has been some progress thanks to women speaking up.  But how much has actual change permeated?  Very little.  We are only seeing the visible, brave tip of the iceberg with those women who are going public on harassment, pay inequality, discrimination.
• There are more people in the UK using foodbanks than ever before.  A disgusting statistic for the year 2018.
• A news programme the other day was quite seriously discussing the likelihood of nuclear war with some expert or other.  I was so horrified, I didn't register the details.  As I have written before, how did we reach a point where this is a normal discussion again???
• Our pathetically poor representation of what a female Prime Minister should be has placed serial misogynist Toby Young in charge of the new Office for Students.  Yet another reason for Theresa May to be ashamed of her record.  
• Only a year until we 'Brexit' apparently.  And we are absolutely none the wiser as to the consequences for any areas of our lives.  Other than getting blue passports again obviously.  Don't.  Just don't.

And yet there can be some hope.  

• At last night's Golden Globe Awards, during her fabulous (in so many ways) speech Oprah Winfrey made some very powerful points about the importance of the press, of investigation.  Despite the distortions of social media, there are truths to be told.  The Watergate journalists had no access to Google or Twitter.  But they managed to prise out the truth and bring down an administration.  It can be done.  We have to chip away and ignore the distractions.
• In 2017 Rose McGowan began the Hollywood backlash by standing up to one of its most feared moguls.  The movement continues to spread.  Time's Up!
• It is not inevitable that the NHS should collapse.  It is staffed by amazing, dedicated people and situated in a 'first world' country with plenty of money.  Protest, protest, protest.  On social media, by email or snail mail.  March if you can.  But protest

Let's make 2018 a year of more action.  We want a decent NHS.  We don't want nuclear war.  We don't want men to believe that harassment is 'a bit of harmless fun'.  Whatever the issue, we have to stand up and be counted.  This year,  it is one hundred years since the end of the 'war to end all wars' definitely didn't end all wars.  But no-one has pushed the nuclear button since 1945.  An achievement which must be defended.  It is also one hundred years since women got the vote.  But there is so much more to do.

Start small.  Here are some ideas:

• Send a postcard every week to your MP asking about the same one issue.  NHS, fracking, food banks, you decide.  Don't be fobbed off with a standard letter back.  You need only write one sentence a week.  The address for all MPs is House of Commons, London, SW1A 0AA and a book of 25 plain postcards is £2 on Amazon.  [You can do the same in other countries of course!]

• Don't follow Trump @realDonaldTrump on Twitter.  If you want to see his madness, unedited, follow @UnfollowTrump.  They retweet his stuff without you adding to his followers and therefore his ego.

• We all have coats in our cupboards that we don't wear and keep 'just in case'.  Imagine not having one at all.  There are lots of places focussing on coat donations this winter - for both UK and refugee people.  Google for a local organisation.  Or simply hand it to a homeless person.

Wishing you an active and fulfilling 2018. XXX

Happy Holidays

Not blogged for a few weeks (apologies to my regular reader!).  Been trying to write a satire based on Brexit but since the situation daily becomes more farcical ‘in real life’, this has proved to be rather difficult (as I write, I think we are up to £57 billion for the ‘privilege’ of leaving).  I also wrote a ‘tall tale’ for my writing group - about Melania Trump being a robot.  Only to find, two days later, that it was not so tall - the press were speculating on her use of a body double.  What the hell is happening to the world?!!

Anyway…  just over twenty years ago, I was working for an American investment bank.  My first Christmas there, I received a package from the partner in charge of our department.  As did everyone else.  The label said ‘Happy Holidays’.  I remember commenting on it to my boss.  She and the partner were both American and she explained that he was Jewish and that in the US, this was the more inclusive way to wish people ‘Merry Christmas’.  

[I also remember being told to take down a small picture of Chandler from Friends from the wall of my cubicle.  She said if I was allowed to have that, it would encourage men to have scantily clad women on their walls.  Still not sure what I think about this.  The feminist me agrees.  The me which had to live with the awful things she said and did to me thinks ‘you always were a mad cow’.  Sorry.]

But in the last week, Trump has begun to make a big deal out of not using ‘Happy Holidays’.  He claims to be be restoring Christmas.  It was apparently a campaign pledge - a defiance of politically correct language.

And I think, in essence, this action sums up what we are dealing with in the White House.  It is petty in the extreme.  It immediately announces a complete lack of inclusivity for anyone who does not celebrate the proscribed Christian festival.  And it is designed to appeal to the section of the electorate who gave him the presidency.  Trump believes that as long as he keeps his core supporters happy, he can disregard the opinions of everyone else.

In the UK, we haven't adopted ‘Happy Holidays’ in the twenty years since it first puzzled me.  But maybe we should.  Maybe we should all be tweeting it to @realDonaldTrump  It is not a new phrase.  It is a well-established part of US inclusivity.  And it may seem like a little thing but as I have discussed before, the Nazis started with the little things and look where that led...