Gay Marriage And The End Of Civilisation

A few weeks ago, Barack Obama came out in favour of gay marriage (pardon the pun), and Mitt Romney, likely to be his challenger in the 2012 Presidential election, opposed him.

The way this whole debate has been defined is unsettling. Obama defines it to be about gay people and their rights, and in this speech he gives a touching personal account of why he believes what he believes. Romney, on the other hand, comprehends this debate in an entirely different way, and states his position on the subject without once mentioning the word gay or homosexual.

In the UK, the issue has also been presented to the public as a debate about ‘equality’ and the ‘rights’ of gay people. However, when one strips the subject down to the facts, and peels away all the political doublespeak, it becomes clearer that the whole debate has little to do with gay people, and everything to do with religion, particularly in this case - Christianity.

The Recession 1: Too Far Too Fast

Since the UK governing coalition was formed in 2010, the economical debate has centred around less spending VS more spending.

One side of the commons wants controlled austerity, whereas the other wants to keep borrowing to boost growth while risking the loss of our credit rating, which could lead to emergency austerity (and/or inflation), as currently being experienced by Spain, Italy, Ireland and Portugal.

Nobody likes cuts. Taxpayers in the private sector who have paid into the social system all their working lives, now find out that the services they have paid for will be cut, and public sector workers are hit with a combination of job losses, pay freezes and reduced pensions.

So far the debate has been presented to the public as a straight choice between the Coalition cuts agenda and the Labour anti-cuts agenda. But is there a secret third option? Is there really no way of balancing the budget without austerity measures.

This blog argues that it is possible to balance the budget without austerity and it is possible to boost growth without excessive spending.

The New Fascism And The Big Taboo

The inspiration for this post comes from a quote allegedly spoken by Winton Churchill – the fascism of the future will come under the banner of anti-fascism. 

The phrase was used by Tommy Robinson, the lead spokesman for the English Defence League (EDL) - an anti-Islam protest group, on a recent BBC debate show. He used the phrase in response to a comment about the violent behaviour of ‘anti-fascism’ protestors. Whether or not Churchill actually said this quote is unclear, but it is known that he made a public statement criticising Islam. 

The debate on The Big Questions was: Are we too complacent about the far right? (video below)

This post discusses the meaning of the word 'complacent' in this question, and if we, as a country, are taking the right approach to this problem.