coComments related to First Drafts - The Prospect magazine blog

If you ask me about my family,

2009-07-30T04:14:09.566+02:00

If you ask me about my family, I'll give you different answers than I would give other family members. If you ask me about my country, I'll give you different answers than I would give a fellow countryman. I criticize frequently - but not when talking to a foreigner. I would expect the same from anyone - no matter their country of origin. The Swedish government and Swedish system has always been pro big business. Big business empowers the State on the expense of the individual. Small business has always been extremely penalized tax vise and regulation vise. Small business empowers individuals and makes them less reliant on the State. This is something that Social Democratic governments have wanted to avoid at all cost. Sweden has a very low number of small businesses in relation to the population. Lower than just about any other western country. At least any western country outside of the Nordic region. I believe someone said that immigrants have a hard time finding jobs in Sweden etc? It is estimated that approximately 70% of the people working in Sweden have gotten their jobs either through family, longtime (childhood) friends and suchlike. Naturally, this puts immigrants at a disadvantage compared to someone with a well developed network in Sweden. The Swedish labourmarket doesn't function very well - this is acknowledged and unfortunate. Youth unemployment has been higher than the European average for quite some time. Around 30% has been rather normal. If 30% of Swedish youth is unemployed - is it any wonder that those with jobs to offer try to help friends and family first? Is it any wonder that immigrants have a harder time than Swedes finding a job in Sweden?

We are not far off from being

2009-07-29T23:30:07.827+02:00

We are not far off from being totally bust. It's explained in more detail the NEFS - Net Export Financial Simulation web site, but in short it’s like this : If I pay you 1p to make a car, then I will sell you that car for 2p – more than your wages, so you need to get the extra 1p from somewhere else and if you don’t use NEFS, then you get this from debt : Mortgage debt, foreign (Chinese) debt, credit card debt, student debt, private company debt, and now all these are at breaking point, finally massive government debt. Thanks to uni-trade (we buy from them, they don’t buy from us) with China this situation is even worse than it would otherwise be as the 1p in wages frequently does not happen - It’s just a straight borrow from the Chinese (they buy our mortgages) of 2p. There are now calls to scrap out nuclear deterrent because after paying the Chinese (called ‘foreign banks’ in the article) so much in Interest (actually the Chinese military as they control the export industries in China) we can’t afford to pay to defend ourselves from their nuclear threat. Unless we start using NEFS and take the Chinese to the cleaners at the WTO for violation of Free Trade – which has wrecked more Western Industries than the Chinese Air Force could have ever done, then we are totally sunk as our economic ‘rescue attempts’ – sell our future tax revenues to the Chinese for a few months respite – will only make matters worse in the long run -actually medium run as we don't have that long left at this rate.

I think this: What does an es

2009-07-29T21:12:50.901+02:00

I think this: What does an established playwright do when he hasn’t written a new play in a decade? “Plunder” and “violate” the work of a widely acclaimed novellist, apparently, according to John Nathan’s exclusive interview with Zoë Heller and Patrick Marber in this month’s Prospect. The conversation takes in the painful process of turning Heller’s bestselling novel, Notes on a Scandal, into the award-winning film for which Marber wrote the screenplay, as well as plans for Marber’s film adaption of Heller’s latest book, The Believers. Heller to wonder if she is a “much meaner, bleaker, nastier person” than she has given herself credit for, while Marber announces “my problem as a writer is that I have achieved everything I wanted. Now I think maybe I could do something else.” But which is better, the novel or the film adaptation? As ever, let us know your thoughts below.

What I think is this: What do

2009-07-29T21:12:30.382+02:00

What I think is this: What does an established playwright do when he hasn’t written a new play in a decade? “Plunder” and “violate” the work of a widely acclaimed novellist, apparently, according to John Nathan’s exclusive interview with Zoë Heller and Patrick Marber in this month’s Prospect. The conversation takes in the painful process of turning Heller’s bestselling novel, Notes on a Scandal, into the award-winning film for which Marber wrote the screenplay, as well as plans for Marber’s film adaption of Heller’s latest book, The Believers. Heller to wonder if she is a “much meaner, bleaker, nastier person” than she has given herself credit for, while Marber announces “my problem as a writer is that I have achieved everything I wanted. Now I think maybe I could do something else.” But which is better, the novel or the film adaptation? As ever, let us know your thoughts below.

What does an established playw

2009-07-29T21:12:12.325+02:00

What does an established playwright do when he hasn’t written a new play in a decade? “Plunder” and “violate” the work of a widely acclaimed novellist, apparently, according to John Nathan’s exclusive interview with Zoë Heller and Patrick Marber in this month’s Prospect. The conversation takes in the painful process of turning Heller’s bestselling novel, Notes on a Scandal, into the award-winning film for which Marber wrote the screenplay, as well as plans for Marber’s film adaption of Heller’s latest book, The Believers. Heller to wonder if she is a “much meaner, bleaker, nastier person” than she has given herself credit for, while Marber announces “my problem as a writer is that I have achieved everything I wanted. Now I think maybe I could do something else.” But which is better, the novel or the film adaptation? As ever, let us know your thoughts below.

What does an established playw

2009-07-29T21:12:07.574+02:00

Nope! Nopenopenopenopenopenope

2009-07-29T21:10:40.749+02:00

Nope! Nopenopenopenopenopenopenopenopenopenopenopenopenopenopenopenopenopenopenopenopenopenopenopenopenopenopenopenopenopenopenopenopenopenopenopenopenopenopenopenopenopenopenopenopenopenopenopenopenopenopenopenopenopenopenopenopenopenopenopenopenopenopenopenopenopenopenopenopenopenopenopenopenopenopenopenopenopenopenopenopenopenopenopenopenopenopenopenopenopenopenopenopenopenopenopenopenopenopenopenopenopenopenopenopenopenopenopenopenopenopenopenopenopenopenopenope! Okay?

Nope!

2009-07-29T21:09:59.256+02:00

Nope!

Paul Krugman was awarded the 2

2009-07-29T05:10:35.014+02:00

Paul Krugman was awarded the 2008 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences for devising a new theory to answer questions about free trade. He is just one in several economics experts that have advised recently that the recession appears to over and that the economy is growing again this quarter.

You cannot request policy advi

2009-07-28T16:40:08.819+02:00

You cannot request policy advice to ministers under the FOI legislation.

One cannot request policy advi

2009-07-28T16:39:15.873+02:00

One cannot request policy advice to ministers under the FOI legislation.

Twelve days later, and a reall

2009-07-28T14:01:27.528+02:00

Twelve days later, and a really riveting twelve days it was, too... hello, is there anybody there? I'm wondering if you missed the point slightly. This is durational art. One of the dimensions of the art work is the fact that it lasts for a number of hours. Just because you saw a woman jump off a staircase and then go back and jump again does not mean that you have seen the work. She is not repeating the jump so that everybody has a chance to see her do it. When you have watched her for so long that you begin to will her to fly in your blood and bones with every attempt, then maybe you have seen the work, or a part of it. I didn't see the 'awkward crowd'. Eye of the beholder?

Thanks for this excellent arti

2009-07-28T13:39:24.585+02:00

Thanks for this excellent article and interview. Should more people on MA’s side mention that ‘Catholic-Marxist’ (tee-hee) Eagleton doctored the quote to remove ‘there is an urge, don’t you have it...’? Either he can’t read or he’s smearing a great writer and one of the few intellectuals brave enough to engage with Islamism and its fellow travelers. And it worked. IRA groupies like Ronan Bennet were eager to join in and it will propagate on the net as long as the digital medium survives. Shameful. Time I had the energy to edit the Wikipedia page which has gone with Eagleton’s lies. Or someone younger and fitter. More importantly: who looks better in a leather jacket? Fat bum-face Eagleton or the Dark Prince of Literature? ‘Semi-autobiographical’ fiction coming up? Most excellent. More experience and less conjecture. I’ve got a ‘semi’ already.

jonathan, you are surrounded t

2009-07-27T16:51:33.325+02:00

jonathan, you are surrounded there by truely great artists...

Bust? NO! We will be bust if o

2009-07-25T13:24:33.956+02:00

Bust? NO! We will be bust if our external debt exceeds the value of our assets in total. The value of our assets depends on our productive capacity from now to eternity. I have no idea what that is...but given an annual output of about £1,500 billion and TOTAL govt debt of less than £800 billion (might be a bit out of date) then unless we have a phenomenal level of private net debt to foreigners (we don't) we are not bust. In the brown sugar yes, but not bust.

James Crabtree's statement: 'i

2009-07-24T09:04:55.550+02:00

James Crabtree's statement: 'in 1999, Brown, as chancellor of the exchequer, launched a programme of public spending unparalleled in British peacetime. Public spending rose from 36 per cent of GDP in 1999-2000, to 41 per cent in 2007-2008' is wildly misleading. Graphs of government expenditure as a percentage of GDP show that spending of 41% is not high for the post-1967 period. Even the rise in public spending is not as fast or as great as occurred in the years 1972-75 (see e.g. http://www.ifs.org.uk/bns/bn25.pdf, Fig 1.2, p3; http://www.policyexchange.org.uk/assets/Pub_spend_3Jun.pdf, Table 2, p6)

“Also, very poor colon use at

2009-07-10T19:16:01.289+02:00

“Also, very poor colon use at the end.” i am in total agreement with George. I also question whether you really felt the full force of the works. The lady who eventually jumps is interesting, because when she does jump, we are left feeling only the disappointment of anti-climax. You are right, work like this IS about the viewer, not the performance itself. You seem to dismiss this as inherently bad. Sarcastically, you write “convince a group of people to contrive appreciation from something which yields very little, and enjoy the spectacle which ensues from this process.” Well, this statement is needlessly negative. You may be pathologically negative mate. Sorry to have to break it to you like this. NEXT TIME- GET INVOLVED A BIT MORE!!! I much preferred the piece about “cutting hair down” that you wrote. Didn’t you win a prize for that? Also, Marina is a close friend of mine, and i know she found your comments hurtful, perhaps not as bad as falling down that staircase every few hours. Still, she wasn’t happy, please sheathe your sharp tongue sir!

Did you get your certificate,

2009-07-16T18:31:27.229+02:00

Did you get your certificate, Tom?

From the article: [Sweden] was

2009-07-11T16:16:16.768+02:00

From the article: [Sweden] was the only western nation to give significant funds to the African National Congress. Not correct. Norway, Denmark and Finland also supported the ANC and other anti-apartheid organizations for years, directly and through NGOs. http://www.metafilter.com/83120/In-Search-of-the-Swedish-Soul#2642406

I am living in Sweden for a wh

2009-07-16T00:15:40.294+02:00

I am living in Sweden for a while. Before I came here, I haven't experienced racism or xenophobia (the latter as the fear meaning); and I'm not an afro-descendant person. If you are a foreigner, it is 'expected' that you must behave more Swedish than the Swedes; if not, you will never be accepted in their discriminatory society. Of course, there are exceptions, but they are just that, an exception.

I really liked this article. O

2009-07-14T14:43:15.760+02:00

I really liked this article. Originally from southern country and living the most of time in southern Europe,I do not know at all this country and the article gave me a desire to discover it. I am sure that we still can find a lot of positive things there.

Dear Jonathan, I like the art

2009-07-13T14:47:22.143+02:00

Dear Jonathan, I like the article for several reasons. I can see your point that Swedes in general (and Danes for that matter) are basically puritan-hedonists, a contradiction in terms, with a tendency towards binge drinking/sex/anything. At the same time they are rather uptight and then totally way out 'orgaistic' episodes which are accepted, without shame. But still. Secondly, the role of women since the middle ages, because of extreme bilateral inheritance made sure that women never could be totally subjugated. Thirdly, an irritating self-assurance that what 'we' do is always the right thing, to such an extent that it tolerates criticism and irony. Finally, the close ties between land (nature) and city (civilization) which can be extended to human biology, and perhap salso amszing equanimity in emotion and pragmatism. Denmark seems to be the same in so many respects.

But, did they ever had a soul?

2009-07-11T17:52:36.987+02:00

But, did they ever had a soul? I wonder

Jonathan Power´s essay is a be

2009-07-11T16:16:36.768+02:00

Jonathan Power´s essay is a beauty. It only lacks to have written about the typical arrogance of the Swedes. For them, it does not matter what they do, say or think, they show their arrogance, specially if the other part is a foreigner. They treat others, their nationals included, with contempt and rudeness. I believe they still think of themselves as the conquerors of Europe and the only thing they have really accomplished well was to betray its neighbours by becoming an ally og Hitler for their own benefit. History is written and it has not been written wrong or changed. Swedes are arrogant, racists and discriminating because they still believe they live in the times of Nazi Germany.

I blame the inappropriate colo

2009-07-11T04:05:56.038+02:00

I blame the inappropriate colon for the level of sarcasm you gleaned from the penultimate sentence: I had used a full stop, which would have given a more neutral sense to the final statement. Also, it emphasised that the joke was on the viewer, specifically individuals such as myself. (You weren't able to find a Tom Jackson anywhere in Britain?) As a bad workman and frustrated writer, I have to insist that all has been lost in this piece through shoddy editing. Tell Marina I'll make it all up to her somehow, even if it means jumping anticlimactically a thousand times off all sorts of flights of stairs.

WHo is tom jackson? i just sea

2009-07-10T20:14:29.219+02:00

WHo is tom jackson? i just searched the home office database, and he doesn't seem to exist.

I'm sorry about those two erro

2009-07-10T18:46:47.325+02:00

I'm sorry about those two errors, but have just confirmed that neither was in the original draft I sent to the editor.

"...I suppose I expected OF so

2009-07-10T18:05:24.092+02:00

"...I suppose I expected OF something akin..." makes absolutely no sense at all. Also, very poor colon use at the end. I much preferred the other pieces about the festival.

Salad Days .. Martin Amis' pol

2009-06-19T20:40:18.947+02:00

Salad Days .. Martin Amis' political views might be mad as a box of frogs ( albeit , bible page one for many Prospectlings of his generation ) but he is still the supreme chronicler of London Fields : http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/5570003/Martin-Amis-me-and-my-terrible-twin.html

Salad Days .. http://www.tele

2009-06-19T20:29:53.101+02:00

Salad Days .. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/5570003/Martin-Amis-me-and-my-terrible-twin.html

No, it certainly wouldn't be N

2009-06-12T23:13:26.209+02:00

No, it certainly wouldn't be Nouriel Roubini. Which is to say, Roubini is no Minsky. Those of us who have been visiting Roubini's aggregator website (RGE Monitor) for years know full well that he got the outcome vaguely right but the causation completely wrong. I heard him present in 2006 at JP Morgan Investors conference (held at the Barclays Intercontinental in New York) and this is what he had to say: US home prices are too high, they will fall, households will feel poorer, they will save more, a US recession will follow, the US dollar will plummet, inflation will be imported into the economy because of the weak currency, the US Fed will then have to raise rates to forestall a surge of inflation, this will worsen the recession, etc, etc. Now tell me does this sound at all like the way things turned out? No mention at all of the shadow banking system, the securitization that was rotting the guts of the financial system, the regulatory arbitrage which allowed banks to put assets back ontheir books by "roundtripping" the capital ratios, the vulnerability of the monoline insurers, the huge dollar liquidity that had gone into cross-currency lending to some of the emerging economies, and so on. Even in 2007, when Roubini did his year-ahead outlook, he did not see the timebomb in the financial sector that would soon detonate, create a credit crunch, push up unemployment, and only that way weaken consumer spending and produce a deep recession. People love to say Roubini "connected all the dots" before anyone else. I think he failed to even see all of them.

Interesting article, but the q

2009-06-06T10:28:19.261+02:00

Interesting article, but the question of what our children should be learning was fudged. I've been in the classroom for 37 years now and I am sure children's reading skills have improved. The multi-communicational world we live in has forced this. However, intellectually demanding subjects like maths and languages have deteriorating standards because modern life - for all its stress for younsters - is easier intellectually. The internet et al has persuaded the younger generation that life ought to consist of short cuts, and therefore the hand-holding references in the article were spot on!

Re : “In another review in 200

2009-06-03T21:15:20.762+02:00

Re : “In another review in 2008, commissioned by the Office of the Examinations Regulator, none of the experts consulted could suggest a way of keeping standards consistent over a long period” – well sack them as they are not only not experts they are not even average – Have French verbs changed in the past 20 years, has the area of a circle changed, have Newton’s equations changed ? – it can’t be difficult to do the same sort of questions at the same standard for 20 years on these things. Computer science has changed but most of the rest are pretty much the same Re Iftikhar’s rant : First Islamophobia - fear of Islam is a made up pseudo-medical word copied from the other made word Homophobia - fear of homosexuals. You suggest that we should sack English teachers and hire bi-lingual foreign teachers instead – otherwise that’s fear of Islam ! You say that Muslim schools do well because of their Islamic ethos (how can this be ? Muslim girls are taken out of school and sent to Pakistan to be married off at 14 and 15 – how can they pass their exams and do well ? or are the ‘results’ taken from only those kids left in the school by 16 ?) In Saudi one of the biggest academic courses is Islamic theology – usually blokes. So if you had it your way the boys would get A levels in the Koran while the girls would be pushing a pram – I’m not sure that’s such an improvement in ‘education’ … and a focus on traditional discipline (– Yieks what is the Koranic punishment for a kid stealing sweets ? – Oh you don’t chop their hands off – why not ? – the Islamicphobia institutionally racist British law doesn’t allow you to ? or are you against it yourself and hence against the Koran ? if so, you are not a Muslim and so should not get a government grant as these are meant to be given to Muslims ) and “traditional teaching methods” – what is a traditional Muslim teaching method ? – the only one I’ve seen is kids sitting down all day reciting the Koran by memory.

I'd be happy for both to be de

2009-06-02T00:15:03.550+02:00

I'd be happy for both to be deleted too---as should be obvious from the last sentence of mine---but if the former remains then it shouldn't go unchallenged. Fashionable nonsense becomes received opinion when enough people fail to reject it.

A smart piece of writing, wres

2009-06-01T23:05:49.109+02:00

A smart piece of writing, wrestling thoughtfully with difficult questions — unlike most of the government's thoughts, comments and actions on education which tend to avoid the very questions raised in the piece. I quite fail, though, to understand why the two comments above have not been trashed on account of having little bordering on nothing to do with the topic. Online comments only work properly if they are subject to the same rigorous thoughts about standards that Brian Semple put to work in his article.

The invention of the thoughtcr

2009-05-30T19:04:33.674+02:00

The invention of the thoughtcrime of "Islamophobia" itself echoes the tactics of racists. It lumps together multitudes of human individuals of different ethnic backgrounds and origins and attempts to assign to them a single label and, with it, a set of presumed characteristics and/or grievances. It also seeks to protect a group of believers from legitimate criticism of their beliefs by condemning anyone who disagrees with them as bigoted. I'm an immigrant to the UK from West Africa. I've learned the language, respected its laws, and asked for no special treatment. I would expect any Briton moving to an African country to try to do the same---indeed, I count such individuals among my friends. Imagine if they instead expected that African host countries laid on special bilingual "Christian schools" for UK immigrants and you can see how outrageous your demands are for privileged treatment for adherents to your particular collection of superstitions. Religion is not race. Faith is not fact. It's not the job of schools to indoctrinate children into Islam; it's to educate them about the World as a whole. It's typical that someone who believes otherwise should attempt to hijack a discussion about standards in education and to hope to exploit western guilt about actual racism to advance a political cause.

It is absurd to say that insti

2009-05-30T17:18:16.294+02:00

It is absurd to say that institutional racism is dead. It is still alive in the form of Islamophobia. . One of the deepest expressions of institutional racism affecting immigrant communities, and one that has been long documented is the unequal treatment of their children by the education system. They are motivated, but knocked back by their experiences of the school system. They are often treated more harshly and viewed with lower teacher expectation on the basis of teachers’ assumptions about their motivation and ability. LAs are failing in their duty to combat racism in schools, according to OFSTED, Education system exhibits “aspects of racism”. A quarter of authorities are not doing enough to promote equal educational opportunities. A Brighton University study found that the Britain education system is institutionally racist, with pupils and teachers vulnerable to abuse by peers, teachers and management. I discovered the element of racism in early 70s. National Curriculum does not reflect cultural diversity and minority pupils are being held back by native teachers. London Borough of Newham was judged by OFSTED as unsatisfactory in tackling racism. There are big issues about racism in schools needed to be tackled but could not understand that Bilingual Muslim pupils need state funded Muslim schools with bilingual Muslim teachers as role models during their developmental periods. It is a crime against humanity to deprive a child of his mother tongue but in the name of integration every thing is fair. Independent schools are also racist in nature. The parents of a Pakistani boy who was racially abused by his classmates and teachers are suing St. Christopher School. Education report by Birmingham Advisory Service recommends that school lessons should take into account cultural differences in order to improve pupils’ performance. It calls for teaching “the need for mutual respect and understanding”. Minority pupils are underachieving at school because the curriculum is racist. The study found lessons often failed to motivate or interest pupils because curriculum did not provide enough positive role models. The curriculum needs to be more balanced and less Eurocentric. Pupils grow up thinking there is no other playwright than Shakespeare. An ethnicity “Tsar” should be appointed to reform British schooling. Muslim schools performed best overall, although they constitute only a fraction of the country’s 7000 schools. Muslim schools do well because of their Islamic ethos and a focus on traditional discipline and teaching methods. They teach children what is right and what is wrong, because young children need structural guidance. Muslim school is responsible for the development of the whole child. Muslim schools give Muslim children “pride, identity and a sense of culture and languages. Iftikhar Ahmad

I don't know about children, b

2009-05-29T20:17:50.860+02:00

I don't know about children, but editors certainly are. The question should be 'are children today less intelligent?' Dumb means mute.

There are a large number of
2009-05-27T21:18:25.324+02:00
There are a large number of university graduates who, a few years ago, would have left school at 16 without a single GCSE or O-level?

Large numbers are being edu

2009-05-27T21:14:47.104+02:00
Large numbers are being educated to age 18 or 21 who in the past would have left with few or no qualifications at 15 or 16. There are a large number of university graduates who, a few years ago, would have left school at 16 without a single GCSE or O-level?

WG Sebald is both late and Ger

2009-05-17T15:02:27.640+02:00
WG Sebald is both late and German. A towering genius, but not really in the running for the title of greatest living, or even recent, British author....

Hello, Reviewer: The greatest

2009-05-17T02:40:22.588+02:00
Hello, Reviewer: The greatest UK writer of our times is the late Max Sebald. If you have read him, you don't expend too much energy on much else. fbenjul Madison, WI, USA

coComments related to First Drafts - The Prospect magazine blog

If you ask me about my family,

We are not far off from being

I think this: What does an es

What I think is this: What do

What does an established playw

What does an established playw

Nope! Nopenopenopenopenopenope

Nope!

Paul Krugman was awarded the 2

You cannot request policy advi

One cannot request policy advi

Twelve days later, and a reall

Thanks for this excellent arti

jonathan, you are surrounded t

Bust? NO! We will be bust if o

James Crabtree's statement: 'i

“Also, very poor colon use at

Did you get your certificate,

From the article: [Sweden] was

I am living in Sweden for a wh

I really liked this article. O

Dear Jonathan, I like the art

But, did they ever had a soul?

Jonathan Power´s essay is a be

I blame the inappropriate colo

WHo is tom jackson? i just sea

I'm sorry about those two erro

"...I suppose I expected OF so

Salad Days .. Martin Amis' pol

Salad Days .. http://www.tele

No, it certainly wouldn't be N

Interesting article, but the q

Re : “In another review in 200

I'd be happy for both to be de

A smart piece of writing, wres

The invention of the thoughtcr

It is absurd to say that insti

I don't know about children, b

There are a large number of 2009-05-27T21:18:25.324+02:00 There are a large number of university graduates who, a few years ago, would have left school at 16 without a single GCSE or O-level?

Large numbers are being edu

WG Sebald is both late and Ger

Hello, Reviewer: The greatest

There are a large number of
2009-05-27T21:18:25.324+02:00
There are a large number of university graduates who, a few years ago, would have left school at 16 without a single GCSE or O-level?