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 Morals Of Capitalism

Capitalism has been the topic of much debate in recent times, and many disparaging remarks have caused politicians to call for all kinds of better capitalism, fairer capitalism, responsible capitalism and other such phrases. In order to put some sense and perspective to our current crisis it seems necessary to define capitalism and compare it to what we see in modern times in order to restore confidence in the word. 

Those who do not busy themselves with such definitions tend probably to have a negative reaction to the word capitalism. The USA is generally regarded as the most capitalist country on Earth and this is contrasted to Communism, previously embodied in Soviet Russia and now most famously in China. We read of how China has delivered the fastest ever period of economic growth and how the economies of the west are stagnating. Recession looms in the west and many begin to doubt capitalism as a system that delivers economic prosperity in a fair and sustainable manner. 

We have proven that capitalism works, economically that is, in that it is the most efficient way of fostering innovation and enriching a population with material wealth. All the great achievements in our history, in industry and technology, have come about not by government directed projects, but by individuals pursuing their own interests in a free society.

Critics of capitalism do not normally dispute this but instead tend to come at it from a moral standpoint, saying that the system does not deliver by some moral, ethical or spiritual measure, and that the inequalities it creates are not ‘fair.’ In order to understand why capitalism should be embraced, it is necessary to talk about what the word ‘fair’ actually means, and to understand that there has never been an alternative system proposed that adequately rewards everyone’s individual contribution to society.

Wee Little Englanders

Once upon a time the phrase Little Englander was used to describe English people with anti-imperialist opinions, those who perhaps thought it best that England keep to its jurisdictions within its borders in the UK, or indeed that it should be independent from its UK partners. In the days when the expansion of the British Empire was the will of the King, to be a Little Englander was to be weak, and unpatriotic. 

Nowadays, the meaning of the phrase has changed dramatically. It is now more commonly used by those on the left of the political spectrum to criticise those on the right who may have doubts about certain aspects of globalisation. With the EU debate at a current prominence, some say that Britain’s size and lack of industrial might makes us too insignificant to survive alone in a 21st century globalised world. These same people use the phrase ‘Little Englanders’ to express their anger and disdain of the current conservative government whose actions tend towards putting the interests of England before the interests of Europe as a whole. 

The Back Door To A Federal Europe: A Short Timeline

Many people in Britain feel frustrated about the decisions taken in their name with regard to European integration. Here we explain briefly the main events in the history of the EU, and the amount of input that the peoples of Europe had in these events, in the pursuit of European Union.