Hey, stop talking about me behind my back, people…..

Jai definitely had some suspicions, but he also used to repeatedly use smiley faces when making such comments in order to emphasise that they were meant as friendly banter. “Accuse” is too strong a word and not applicable here, and I sure as hell don’t do “spooky”.

But to this day, thanks to the pagans who kept the spirit of the goddess alive, you can still hear songs sung in her praise every christmas. Which is why we sing: Three French hens, Two turtle doves, Anna Patria Anna Party

Fact

“Why? Does London feel less British than Manchester, or is it just big city syndrome? Why are you especially feeling self-conscious?”

I found your question incredibly disturbing because it made me think long and hard about my life, my temperament, goals and aspirations, my political philosophy, but also about the traditional left vs. right divide. Let me quote a passage from Prospect magazine to summarize how I feel about London.

Michael Lind, political writer

Patria vs Plutopia. This is the conflict that is already replacing the left vs right debate as the deepest ideological divide in modern societies. Patria: suburban, decentralised, nationalist, melting pot, predominantly native-born, working class and middle class, democratic. Plutopia: urban, centralised, cosmopolitan, multicultural, largely foreign-born, inegalitarian, plutocratic.

Globalisation empowers economic and cultural capitals like New York and London to become city-states like Singapore. Unlike in the past, the glittering, vertical cities of the Plutopian archipelago will be able to obtain most of their consumers, most of their labour and, even, perhaps, most of their inhabitants from countries other than their own. Meanwhile, the majority of citizens in the leafy, horizontal homelands of Patria, employed in domestic service sector jobs that have no connection to the global economy, will commute from suburban dwellings to suburban work sites, and will seldom if ever go downtown. “One country, two systems,” will soon describe most societies. One by one, the issues confronting modern democracies—immigration, trade, multiculturalism, taxation, national security, even affordable housing—are breaking off and floating away from the old left-right axes and aligning themselves like magnetised iron filings along the new Patria-Plutopia divide. The war between Patria and Plutopia is already under way. Because each side needs the other, let us hope it ends in a treaty.

Now, which one of these do you think summarizes my views vis-à-vis Sunny’s?

Yep, you guessed it.

Amir = Patria

Sunny = Plutopia.

Could I ask the Picklers a personal question? Which one of these categories best accounts for their views of the “good life”? Serious answers.

“Ever since my arrival in an atomized and anonymous city like London, I’ve developed a much stronger and deeper sense of being Caucasian. My racial identity in Manchester was extraordinarily weak; but in London I feel very self-conscious and also strangely self-assertive about my ethnic origins.”

Why? Does London feel less British than Manchester, or is it just big city syndrome? Why are you especially feeling self-conscious? This is a serious question BTW.

“…i think jagdeep’s rather sensible”

I think the previous post rather dispels that notion.

[But anyway, thanks for the empathy bruv ]

At the risk of sounding mawkish and uncharacteristically self-pitying, Ever since my arrival in an atomized and anonymous city like London, I’ve developed a much stronger and deeper sense of being Caucasian. My racial identity in Manchester was extraordinarily weak; but in London I feel very self-conscious and also strangely self-assertive about my ethnic origins.

Amir, you always cheer me up, that’s hilarious! Let us know how your caucasian pride develops. And yes, who is Jay Singh? Jai used to accuse me in a spooky manner of being this chap too. Maybe Jai and Amir are one and the same person? And Refresh is Sid in disguise. Etc etc etc.

i’m sorry to hear you’re down in the dumps. and i appreciate what an unpleasant place london can be, particularly compared to manchester. only yesterday i was considering upping sticks after yelling at someone on the today programme for suggesting it was fair that everyone got an equally bad deal in the school places lottery. it’s ridiculous really – there’s no property left to buy, the roads, rails and tube are crammed to bursting and there are not enough places in schools. and we’re all going to have to sell our own homes to pay for being old. what is up with the country? don’t we pay enough tax already? it seems to me like all incentive to better myself is gradually being removed as the distance widens between the haves (ie bought their houses already) and the have-nots (everyone else) and nowhere is this more apparent than in london. if anyone has any suggestions on how i can blame this on ken livingstone i am open to hearing them.

i think jagdeep’s rather sensible, actually, so it’s a shame if you two can’t get on. perhaps i can broker a truce here?

b’shalom

bananabrain

Who’s Jay Singh and why the insinuation that Jagdeep is Jay Singh? hmmmm?

Sunny says some pretty ridiculous things about race and about culture, but at least he has the decency not to terrorize his detractors or right-wing opponents. Notwithstanding our political differences, I respect Sunny’s commitment to free speech and an open-ended, unpredictable and occasionally heated blogging discourse. That contrasts, rather starkly, with my lack of respect for an abusive ignoramus like yourself.

Be that as it may, plenty of people go off topic on a PP thread. If it’s giving you grief, then I sincerely apologise for doing so and will try to resist the temptation in future. But I don’t see how an institutionally racist policy against whites can be deemed “off topic” on a thread supposedly about racism.

Bannanbrain

At the risk of sounding mawkish and uncharacteristically self-pitying, I’d just like to say that I’ve experienced some rather nasty, gnawing, recent episodes of racial abuse. And yes; it has changed my views on the unquestioned assumption that diversity is intrinsically valuable. Ever since my arrival in an atomized and anonymous city like London, I’ve developed a much stronger and deeper sense of being Caucasian. My racial identity in Manchester was extraordinarily weak; but in London I feel very self-conscious and also strangely self-assertive about my ethnic origins. Maybe it’s a temporary phenomenon? Who knows? The only thing I can say with any real certainty is that my alienation is having a deleterious affect on my ability to think dispassionately and cogently. I’m not a skin-bigot. Not by any stretch of the imagination. My only beef, at this present moment, is with the lies and hypocrisy of the Race-Relations Industry.

Amir

i ask merely for information – am hallucinating a bit at the moment due to fasting.

b’shalom

bananabrain

What spicy curries

I fear I’ll have to do….have bum sex

Why fear it? Just close your eyes and think of Brick Lane…