It’s a new year… i’ve quit smoking (there – it’s public), i want to get my thoughts down – what better place than a blog? – and i just want to write. See what happens, see how people react to what i think, see how this then effects what i originally thought.
Firstly, a bit of background. I feel quite strongly about putting everything in context, especially if it’s historical; but this applies equally to people. Fer’instance, say you’ve stumbled across this blog and want to know from what angle the author is getting at? It would be useful to know a bit more about me, so you can draw your own conclusions… makes sense right?
So, what’s the situation here – OK, i’m married, i’ve got a lovely Springer Spaniel puppy called Roxy, work for a large American bank here in Brussels… and am fascinated with life, the universe and everything. I’ll try and be more specific – my degree was in European Studies and French. Yup, that means i speak French… which helps if you live in a country where French is one of the three official languages. More intriguingly as far as the degree is concerned is how it opened my eyes to politics, economics, philosophy and, of course, the European Union. I guess that also makes me a europhile. I did consider for a time working in one of the institutions and have friends who do. I live 15 minutes walk away from the European Commission, Council and Parliament. Yes, i know it’s just a huge bureaucracy, it can be a horrendous waste of tax payer’s money and for those who work within its institutions, it’s a gravy train; however, on balance, i’m still pro-Europe.
However, instead of heading into politics or lobbying, i now find myself as a Corporate slut. My first job out of uni was working in the marketing department at GE’s International HQ… that’s about as big a fucking splash into the corporate world as you’re likely to get. And although my degree was a BSc (European Studies and French) i honestly didn’t envisage whoring myself to the highest bidding yank multi-national upon graduation.
And from a political, philosophical, economical point of view, i’m just fascinated by it all really. Gimme a bit of Marx, chuck in some J S Mill, start babbling about the Social Contract, get all Malthusian on yo ass… it all floats my boat. Admittedly, i don’t understand half of it but i would definitely love to know more about why we humans tend to interact the way we do. And some of the stories about these guys and gals from centuries passed are fucking amazing. Start with someone like Jean-Jacques Rousseau – don’t bother with all the tabula rasa stuff and his contrat social (well, don’t take me literally there, it’s cracking stuff; dig into if you get the time) – and head all points north into the Age of Enlightenment, it’ll blow your mind some of the shit this lot got up to!
I am a young member of this wonderful, new, global village. I vividly remember life pre-SMS and e-mail. I’ve seen the advent of rolling news – the sake of news just to fill the airwaves; and the decline of the MSM as a source of any kind of meaningful information or discussion. I’ve seen New Labour, Blair and his cronies make a mockery of British democracy (OK, older people will say this started with Maggie, or with whoever – i just happened to be five months too young to vote in 1997.) I’ve started to make up my mind about how i should live my life, how i should interact with others and how the world in general should interact. Don’t get me wrong – i’m not a Utopian… or an anarchist for that matter, i just don’t see the old left-wing vs. right-wing political democracies working any longer. It’s time for a change.
I want to get on with my life. As long as what i do doesn’t have a negative impact on others around me, leave me be. I want access to a free market. I do not want to be told how to run my life, especially by a bunch of wankers who think they know better than i do. Call me young, dumb and full of come but the aforementioned bunch of incompetents in the current government seem utterly incapable of doing much more than woefully screwing over the tax payer and lying through their back teeth. Politicians should be seen and not heard.
As a citizen, i’m willing to give a certain amount of legislative power to representatives who can then decide what is best for the greatest number of people residing in the state. I’m also willing to give a certain amount of my productivity to these representatives in the form of taxes, in order for them to redistribute it as they see fit, ensuring everyone is covered by what i consider to be certain fundamental human rights. Oh, and i’ll be a good boy and generally toe the line when it comes to not breaking any laws these representative see fit to legislate in order to protect me and my fellow citizens.
I won’t really ask much from the State. I would like to see the youth educated, i’d like to be able to move around at will and i want to be looked after by competent doctors in clean hospitals if i should fall ill. Apart from that, take my money and leave me the fuck alone. I’ve decided to live my life in a way that causes the least amount of stress and pain to others and i think of myself as competent and intelligent enough to look after myself and those around me i consider dear.
I realise that there are others who, for a multitude of reasons, aren’t as lucky as i am; who weren’t born to two solicitors like i was and who therefore didn’t have quite as nice an upbringing and chance at life as i did. Not much i can do about that really, so i see no need to apologise. Part of this upbringing and chance at life has instilled in me the ideal of the meritocracy. Through a modicum of intelligence, a few lucky flips of the coin and a lot of energy and effort, I’m now in a position where i earn a more than average wage. To ensure that if others with the same innate abilities and luck, no matter what their personal circumstances (and as long as they’re willing to put in the time and effort) reach the same level, i’m more than happy to give a proportion of this wage back to the state and let the elected representatives redistribute it to make this ideal so.
To be fair i haven’t got a fucking clue what to do about the chavs and those who are just born with less than average intelligence. Maybe if more people who, through determination, luck and skill make their way to being above average and who are therefore producing more money for the state to help these disadvanatged souls; coupled with people a damn sight more intelligent than me, mean that maybe a solution could be found that is for the greater good of society… finding a way of allowing society to constantly evolve and develop positively. If Darwin was right and animals do evolve, i don’t see any reason why, under the right circumstances, groups of people can’t do the same. That is, of course, assuming the ole bastard was right… but i guess that’s another issue.
What else… i’m also a bit of a grammar snob. I hate sloppy writing. Not poor writing, just silly typos, poor syntax, the inappropriate use of apostrophes etc. I don’t exactly know why (although it may have summat to do with both parents being in law) and i have no real experience in English. In fact, my sum knowledge of the English language has come about through reading a lot and taking French grammar rules, then translating them into English. I am interested in things like philology, linguistics and morphology… hence a lot of words i write are more phonetic than actual.
I like the outdoors. I grew up in the countryside and then decided i wanted to try city life. After nearly a decade of being in cities i reckon i’m still a country-lad but i’m buggered if i’m giving up the amenities and user-friendly aspects of living in the urban sprawl. One thing i will say is that it’s a damn site nicer living closer to the city centre than out in ‘burbia though. Snowboarding is my passion – live to ride, ride to live – and i’ve been doing it long enough to remember the bad old days… it’s getting on for 15 seasons since i first strapped a plank of wood to my feet and decided to huck myself off mountains.
And if i’m being brutally honest with y’all, i smoke weed. Well, i used to, what with quitting smoking and everything. I cannae really justify smoking joints on a daily basis any more, as it would just become an excuse for smoking, or smoking for the sake of smoking. I’m sure it’s not the end of weed for me… even if i have to purchase a pipe. Plus, the wife will definitely not allow it! Sorry if it offends you but i like getting high. It’s a cheap and effective way (as long as you don’t kick the arse out of it) of chilling the fuck out. And in this day and age, i quite like taking a step back from the hustle and bustle of the 24/7 culture the Western world runs on. Having smoked weed for about as long as i’ve been boarding means that it has obviously had a fairly profound effect on the way i see life.
I don’t think it has harmed me in any way; and whichever way i look at it, it’s helped mould me into the person i am. If it wasn’t for weed, i wouldn’t have met some of the most interesting people i’ve met to date, or have some of the mad experiences which have effected my outlook on life. On the whole, i don’t think i’ve abused it and so i really can’t see it having had an overall negative effect on me. Maybe i’m one of the lucky ones: i’ve never suffered from the paranoia associated with regular smoking, i don’t appear to be schizophrenic and i don’t suffer from short-term memory loss any more than the non-smokers i know.
So there you go… me in a nut shell, plus ou moins. I guess this will get edited as time goes on. Or maybe i will just post updates on various bits. I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.
For now, i leave you with this sobering thought – don’t drink and drive; you might hit a bump and spill your beer…
