June 4th, 2009

Haven’t blogged in a while, and my old posts seem really lame so I thought I’d discuss the the EU elections coming up soon.
On June the 4th, everyone over the age of 18 in the UK will be entitled to vote in the EU elections, but will they?

Sadly, probably not. The last election in 2004 had a 39% turnout, which is pathetic. The one in 1999 had fewer votes than big brother in that year. So why don’t people vote? The media can be largely to blame for this, so far there has been very little coverage. Some people I’ve spoken don’t even realise its happening soon. Many people in the UK are largely apathetic to politics, especially anything to do with Europe. British eurosceptism has always been prominent, so much so that there are parties dedicated to it (i.e UKIP).

So Why should people vote? The European Parliament has a massive impact on the lives of EU citizens and is democratically elected with 78 British MEPs, only Germany has more. Many people complain about the supposed ‘democratic deficit’ of the EU(an argument I can’t be bothered to go into after doing a presentation on it) but don’t vote in the EU elections. Any laws passed in the EU parliament apply in all member states despite the laws of the nation state. MEPs are there to represent you and your views so your vote can count. An example of an EU law which affects most people is the Roaming directive. This law limits how much mobile operators can charge you for roaming calls in other countries (I probably could of found a better example). One advantage the EU elections has over national ones is the use of the proportional representation electal system rather than first past the post which we have in the UK. This means the percentage of votes roughly works out as the percentage of seats given to political parties, an arguably fairer system. This gives smaller parties a much better chance of gaining representation and having their voices heard.

Which brings me on to my next point, VOTE GREEN. This party are slowly gaining more support and rightly so. They are honest, hard working and want to achieve actual change as their lead candidate in the Eastern Region Rupert Read shows by constantly campaigning and raising awareness. I read his blog occasionally (http://rupertsread.blogspot.com) which is a very insightful read. They are campaigning for many issues which most people would agree with but the larger parties tend to ignore in their ‘Green New Deal’. Basic things such as a living wage, green energy for all and affordable homes. The Green Party by gaining more votes and therefore getting more MEPs in the European Parliament will be able to create awareness about important issues and in turn affect real change.

I’ve skimmed over a lot the issues I’ve written about but please comment, I’d love to Know what other people have to say about what I’ve written.

Uncertainty.

The thoughts I’ve had over the past week or so have generally been focused around wanting to be more involved in politics. The problem is, I find doing anything productive quite difficult (evident in this blog as it hasn’t been updated regularly). Since coming to university last September, I have become more educated and aware of issues and now have a growing urge to do something constructive. We are living in a turning point in history and the decisions leaders of world make now(e.g the current economic crisis), will have implications for the next decade or so. The G20 conference next week is crucial as the leaders of the world get together and decide what to do about the future. (There are some very good articles in the New Statesman http://www.newstatesman.com about it) Yesterday there was a massive demonstration in London called put people first which was attended by around 35,000 people marching for jobs, justice, and climate. I really wanted to go especially as since my uni ran a free coach there, but I was completely daunted by the prospect of going on my own since I wasn’t sure if any of my friends would have gone. Next year I plan to join more societies at uni to meet some more like-minded people and to generally be more pro-active. I am possibly the biggest procrastinator you will ever meet. There is another big demonstration happening on Wednesday next week but I am faced by the same fear of going alone and I am quite overdrawn, not really being able to justify travelling to London.

On a semi-related politics note I came across this song the other day, and despite hip-hop not really being my ‘thing’ I really enjoyed it. It relays a very powerful message and insight to the conflict in Gaza.

Student debt

Universities are increasingly coming more bureaucratic and business-like rather than places of learning. This article http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/7946912.stm suggests that many vice-chancellors believe we as students should pay more for our education. Seriously is this necessary? University is all ready going to leave me with appox.  £18,000 worth or debt. That is already excessive and take me years to pay back. Who knows what my job chances are when I leave with the current economic crisis as it is. University should not be an elitist institution where only the rich can afford to go. In the modern world education should be available to everyone no matter what your background or your economic situation is like.  When my mum went to uni in the 1980’s she didn’t have to pay a single penny in tuition fees. I would like to see a return to that, education is not about making money but helping people to achieve their full potential.

Every student who reads this, or anyone who believes in anything I have said should sign this petition. http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/NohigherFees/
Hopefully this will help prevent our tuition fees being raised.

Conservatism.

I can’t stand conservatism. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7943486.stm

This quote particularly annoys me from the MP David Davies “What I’m suggesting is that British soldiers, who I think are our finest young men and women, the cream of society, should also be protected from that sort of gratuitous abuse they experienced last week.”

Finest young men? This is a bit of an assumption, I mean, has he been out at night in a barracks town and seen the squaddies out in full force. Obviously not. I don’t want to generalize and say that all soldiers are bad people, I’m sure that some soldiers are great, but to suggest that they are the “cream of society” just because they’re in the armed forces. I find that disgusting.

More with the anti-war theme there’s a G20 demonstration happening on 1st April organised by the Stop the War coalition which I’m hopefully going to attend. It is a protest demanding that troops in Afghanistan and Iraq are pulled out, ending the Gaza blockade, creating jobs and not bombs amongst other things. You can find out more here http://www.stopwar.org.uk/

Punk Rock.

Me and my friend Matt (Special K) do a radio show every Friday for our uni’s station Livewire. Its between 7.30-9.00 and if anyone is ever interested in listening check it out on www.livewire1350.com 

It’s like a general punk theme, Matt plays like 77 type stuff and I generally spin hardcore punk and its associated subgenres or whatever really. This week I played:

1. Polar Bear Club- Our Ballads.
2. Frank Turner- Reasons not to be an idiot.
3. The Gaslight Anthem- The Backseat.
4. Maths- And we have killed.
5. Sinaloa- Rows of Tops.
6. Funeral Diner- The Wicked.
7. Lifetime- All night long.
8. All or Nothing- Assume the position.
9. Agnostic Front- Gotta go.
10. The Nerve Agents- Level Four Outbreak.
11. Trash Talk- Dig.
12. Deal With It- War against the machines.
13. Comeback Kid- Wake the dead.
14. The Legacy- Exsomnis.
15. Envy- A cradle of arguments and anxiousness.

Sunny Morning Blues.

I’m Broke. Seriously need a part time job but in this climate theres not much going. I looked in Norwich yesterday and the only sign I saw advertising a job was for Claire’s Accessories and there’s no way I’m working there. I got my module choices for next year yesterday as well, and the history ones suck, for some unknown reason I have to do three of them as well when last year they only had to do two. I’m considering changing my degree to straight politics but I don’t know. A very boring 9 o’clock lecture today has not improved my mood.

On a more positive note, I saw Slumdog Millionaire yesterday and it was brilliant. Well worth watching, I fully recommend it. It’s one of those films which stand alone in terms of  ‘uniqueness’ for lack of a better word. Its certainly one of the best portrayals of life in India I have ever seen and watching it gave me serious nostalgia. I would love to go back there one day. I really want to actually go travelling but I can’t see myself having the funds anytime soon.

Oh and check out Owen, just recently discovered him and its one of the best acoustic artists I’ve heard in ages.

I should really go and do my laundry (joy of joys) as its quite overdue.

Belgium.

I went to Belgium about a week and a half ago. It was pretty coooool.

Saw the EU parliament, it was massive. Got shown around, learnt about how it works and had chats with some important people.

Brussels smells of waffles. Everywhere. They are sooo good though, I don’t think I’ve had a better waffle in my life.

The chips are incredible too, if you ever go to Belgium, have them with andalouse i think its called(probably wrong). Its a bit like burger sauce but sooo much better.

Belgium beer is in another league in comparison to what we drink in the UK. Incredible. So much choice and it goes up to 12%! Ha.

I wish I could have had longer than a weekend though. There’s so much to do there, sights to see, very nice bars to drink in, friendly people and good food amongst other things. Too shattered to sample what clubs are like over there as well and didn’t have enough time to do things like go to the comic book museum (the Tin-Tin shop is cool though). Would definitely go back there if I have the chance.

The obligatory first post.

So, I’ve been meaning to do a blog for ages, I’ve just procrastinated doing it, one of my main vices. I’m going to write about whats going on in my life (hopefully interesting things), stuff I find amusing, websites I like, politics and whatever really. Usually, I find it quite difficult to express myself, so hopefully this will explain my ideas and stuff better. This will also serve as a sort of online-diary for myself as I have a terrible memory and wish I could remember more. The name of the blog comes from the novel The Rules of Attraction by Bret Easton Ellis which I’m currently reading (and enjoying a lot). One of the main characters Lauren remarks “life is like a typographical error: we’re constantly writing and rewriting thing over each other”. I thought that was quite profound and I can see the logic behind the statement. Nothing is definate or fixed in life. (I was also struggling to think of a name)

So yeah, thats it, this is me and my ramblings.