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Politics, Democracy and The Icarus Complex

Fleur Boya
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Politics, Democracy and The Icarus Complex

The greek mythological tale of Icarus depicts the fall of a man who flew too close to the sun. It is less of a “pride comes before the fall” tale and relates more to the damages that overambitious decisions can cause – a complex that both the UK and US are all too familiar with.

In the last couple of weeks, we’ve seen the Brexit deals and negotiations turn to mush, whilst the European Union constantly checks it’s watch, and the US government completely shutting down for the longest period of time in history to date. The question I’d like to ask is, for once, not to the politicians, but to us, the people – the “everyday Joe’s” – is the state of our government our fault? 


Does our over-ambition cause the issues that we see in our governments today? The most common answer would most likely be a resounding no. This response would be based on the belief that those in government are in fact the overambitious ‘Icaruses’. Let’s look at America. There wasn’t a referendum or poll advocating the border “wall” that Trump so fervently lusts after, yet it has caused a sharp divide between the congressional members and select members of the executive.

 

 According to the hill.com, Michigan representative, Justin Amash, hammered the thought of President Trump “declaring a national emergency to direct construction of a border wall”, further stating that Trump “can’t claim emergency powers” in order to get his way when Congress doesn’t comply. 


CNN reports that “a bid by Trump to short circuit Congress by using executive power to build the wall could cause a constitutional firestorm”. 
This is one of many other examples where political elites have become overambitious, ignored the opinion of those that there are entrusted to represent and cause more damage than good with their pursuit of fulfilling these policies.


Shifting our gaze onto the smoke and flames coming from Westminster, one could argue the contrary – that the UK citizens are guilty of arson due to our overambition. According to the Guardian, last September, French President Macron stated that “Brexit was a choice pushed by those who predicted easy solutions”, before adding salt to the wound by calling them “liars”. 


As a result of this, the petition for a second referendum has become laughable. Many outside spectators and dissatisfied remain advocates believe that the UK deserve what’s coming to them. Though the possibility of a second referendum is highly unlikely, there are worries that there would be continuous demands for yet another referendum – “best of three”. Or that if the UK voted to remain in the EU after that second referendum, it would be regarded as a highly unstable member. In other words, the UK have very limited options – we made our overambitious bed and now we must lie in it. 


Herein lies a lesson for both ordinary citizens and political elites, making overambitious political decisions is likely to have longer lasting repercussions than positive effects – a concept that one would expect the politically respected to be aware of but the current state of both the UK and US exemplifies the contrary. 

Matt Hancock Alludes That the Government May use ‘Martial Law’ in the Event of a no-deal Brexit

Timi Awoniyi
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Matt Hancock Alludes That the Government May use ‘Martial Law’ in the Event of a no-deal Brexit

On Sunday, Matt Hancock, the Health Secretary, announced what contingencies the government are looking at operating in the event of a no-deal Brexit. Are they foreseeable?

Martial Law is defined as:

A “military government,” involving the suspension of ordinary law.”

Martial Law usually involves the imposition of curfews, censorship, travel bans and a suspension of civil rights.

When asked on the Andrew Marr show whether the government is looking at using martial law, Hancock responded that while it is “not specifically” an option the government are looking at, it “remains on the statute book.”

In the United Kingdom there is not actually a provision for martial law in statute, nor would it be in the government’s interest to declare martial law. Hancock was more than likely referring to the controversial Civil Contingencies Act 2004, which was passed under Tony Blair’s Labour government.

Under the Civil Contingencies Act, there may be an imposition of curfews, censorship and travel bans but our rights under the Human Rights Act are protected.

What is the Civil Contingencies Act 2004?

  • The CCA was enacted following fuel protests in 2000, 9/11 and the foot and mouth disease breakout in 2003. The government was of the opinion that the United Kingdom had an outdated national emergency contingency system.
  • The CCA allows for the government to have additional powers in the event of an “emergency”.
  • An emergency is widely defined under section one of the CCA, covering any event which threatens serious damage to human welfare and environment of a place in the United Kingdom or threatens the security of the United Kingdom. All of which can arguably apply to what can happen in the event of a no deal Brexit.
  • The CCA allows the government to temporarily amend any legislation, bar the Human Rights Act 1998 and sections of the CCA itself, for a period of up to thirty days unless parliament votes to extend the duration of any temporary amendment.
  • Opposition MPs at the time criticised the definition of an emergency in the CCA as too broad and also failed in an effort to include seven primary legislation of “constitutional importance” under the list of unamendable statute.

This development comes just a day before the Prime Minister directed conservative MPs to vote for an amendment in Parliament that would push through her withdrawal agreement but replace the backstop with “alternative arrangements.”

This is likely to annoy a large portion of the EU 27 who are in near-unanimous opposition to removing the backstop from the withdrawal agreement. The European Commission president, Jean-Claude Juncker, has stood firm on his assertion that the EU will not be renegotiating the withdrawal agreement. The Taoiseach (Ireland’s prime minister) has also previously voiced reluctance to remove the controversial backstop.

Sabine Weyland, the EU’s deputy chief Brexit negotiator said today that it is a “big challenge” for parliament to secure a majority on any withdrawal agreement. She also poured cold water on the prospect of the EU reopening negotiations with the UK on Brexit.

Trump’s Call For Venezuela Intervention: A Neo-Imperialist Echo of the Past?

Catherine Sirotkin
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Trump’s Call For Venezuela Intervention: A Neo-Imperialist Echo of the Past?

Protests have continued in Venezuela since 2014 as a reaction to the economic crisis that started under the leadership of Hugo Chavez and has continued under Nicolas Maduro. Following the opposition leader, Juan Guaido, declaring himself interim president of Venezuela on Thursday, the UN conducted an emergency session over the weekend where America voiced the need to “pick sides”. 

The declaration by former Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez in 2010 of an “economic war” has now escalated to what economists and officials are calling the worst crisis in Venezuelan history. Hyper inflation and food shortages has meant many citizens are on the brink of famine and poverty, with the ENCOVI finding that nearly 75% of the population has lost an average of almost 9kg in weight due to malnutrition. This economic crisis was reflected into the country’s socio-political sphere following the deaths of protesters in 2017, causing even more discontent with the government. As discontent grew, so did support for the leader of the Popular Will opposition party, Juan Guaido. Guaido has now declared himself as the interim president of Venezuela, with the UN emergency session over the weekend seeing support from many Western Countries including the Trump administration, France and the UK. 

However, these moves of support by the West must be seen in light of previous Western Interventions in Latin America and their unpopularity as a result of the Washington Concensus – a set of economic policies applied to direct economically unstable countries. The legacy left by intervention in both Chile and Argentina has rightly caused suspicion around American support and readiness to interject. This is further emphasised by the status of Venezuela as one of the worlds largest established oil reserves, with 90% of their exports previously coming from oil. Although the US is condoning the Venezuelan government on the grounds of Maduro imposing a defacto dictatorship, questions have surfaced surrounding if this motivation is indeed purely based on democratic values and international norms, or if it is more so grounded in economic and strategic incentive. Regardless of incentive, American Intervention would remove the agency of Venezuelans to manoeuvre the change in regime that they have the right to dictate.

Whilst the verbal international recognition of Guaido as interim president over the weekend has accelerated his legitimacy, any economic or military intervention would add an international complexity that would make the Venezuelan’s people struggle subject to international influence and containment. If the West’s rally cry for democracy is one of transparent legitimacy, there must be respect for Venezuelan agency and sovereignty. 

If the actions of Maduro accelerate to become representative of a more violent and oppressive regime where it is appropriate for the Right to Protect legislation to be implemented, only then should there be steps towards discussions of regional interference. Due to its controversial and imperialist past, Western intervention should be reserved only for a last option scenario. The Venezuelan people must remain at the forefront of the regime change, specifically through Juan Guaido as the leader of the opposition as he seems to be the only viable option. 

What does the other side say? 

During the emergency UN session, American Delegate Michael Pompeo argued for the need of an international observation of re-election due to the majority of Venezuelans living in poverty, and the overwhelming number of political prisoners taken in during Maduro’s rule. The french echoed this in stating that international interventions are necessary as the crisis is spilling over into neighbouring countries, whilst Peru agreed due to the 700,000 Venezuelan migrants that the country has received since the crackdown on opposition started.  

Is Recognising Juan Guaidó as Venezuelan President the Correct Way To Go?

Timi Awoniyi
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Is Recognising Juan Guaidó as Venezuelan President the Correct Way To Go?

Following the ultimatum issued by European Countries, is recognising Juan Guaidó as the incumbent Venezuelan President really the correct way to go?

Following allegations that the recent Venezuelan presidential elections in which Nicolás Maduro was re-elected for a second term were rigged, Juan Guaidó, the Leader of the Venezuelan national assembly, has declared himself as president while the country looks for a way to move forward from the alleged corrupt election. Guaidó is arguably within his rights to do so, as the leader of the national assembly can declare themselves president if there is no legitimate presidency. Guaidó argues that since the elections are widely alleged to be rigged, the result should not be honoured.

The Maduro administration has denounced Guaidó as a United States sponsored “attempted coup d’état,” with the aim of installing a “puppet government.”

Several regional powers such as Brazil and Argentina, have thrown their weight behind Guaidó, declaring that they recognise him as the incumbent president. Similarly, several European countries (including The United Kingdom, France and Germany) have issued a joint ultimatum requiring that Maduro, the current president of Venezuela, holds legitimate elections within eight days or they will recognise Guaidó as the legitimate president. The United States have now taken matters a step further and imposed new sanctions on Venezuela in an aggressive attempt to force Maduro to concede the presidency to Guaidó.

Meanwhile, other countries such as Russia, China and Turkey have outright rejected Guaidó’s declaration, insisting that they only recognise Maduro as the legitimate president of Venezuela.

Is recognising Guaidó’s declaration the correct way to go?

Looking at the facts, it is immediately clear that on the road to re-election Maduro has been in breach in swaths of electoral law. Maduro gifted away items bought with state resources whilst campaigning and also directed government officials to bribe hungry Venezuelans with food on the condition that they vote for him in the election.

Even disregarding this, Maduro’s poor track record as president speaks volumes. Over the course of the past year, the Venezuelan Bolivar has devalued 2,400,000% (yes, that is two million, four hundred thousand percent) against the US Dollar, Venezuela is now entering its sixth year of recession and a host of large multinational businesses have left Venezuela as the economic climate is currently untenable.

Emigration from Venezuela between 2012 and 2015 increased by 2,889%, with at least seven percent of the population leaving the country between 2016 and 2018. The situation is so dire that a United Nations Refugee Agency official for Refugees regional representative compared the emigration and refugee crisis to that caused by the Syrian civil war.

The only positive that can be spun out of this presidency is that whilst the murder rate is still the highest in the world (81.4 per 100,000 people), it has dropped from 92 per 100,000 in 2016. The Venezuelan Observatory of Violence partly attributed the drop to outward migration, as murderers, or would be murderers, have emigrated out of the country.

A presidency with a record like this would have been removed from power long ago in any properly functioning democracy and has no business winning re-election campaigns.

Recognising Guaidó as interim president of Venezuela may allow for the country to experience a change of direction and policy – also allowing a legitimate election to be held. In any case, it certainly cannot get any worse than it is now.

Fyre Fest: The Greatest Party That (Happily) Never Happened.

Justice Waul
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Fyre Fest: The Greatest Party That (Happily) Never Happened.

Is Social Media making us lose Common sense?

On the 18thof January Netflix released its highly anticipated documentary Fyre Fest: The Greatest Party That Never Happened. It followed the planning and events leading up to the April 2017 disaster of Fyre Festival, a proposed 2-weekend luxury music festival being held in the Great Exuma island in the Bahamas. The event was organised by entrepreneur Billy McFarland and Rapper Ja Rule. Although the festival itself resulted in disaster, the organiser’s use of social media as a marketing tool is something to be praised and sums up the millennial generation extremely well. The festival promotion video was posted on the 12thof January and starred some of social medias biggest influencers such as Bella Hadid, Emily Ratajkowski and Chanel Iman. The video also had endorsements from influencers such as Kendall Jenner who was reportedly paid $250,000 to announce the ticket sales over a single Instagram post. As a result of this 95% of tickets being sold in 48 hours.

The documentary itself provides not only information about the festival but also an insight into the frantic events behind the flawless marketing campaign. Within the documentary we see organisers such as Marc Weinstein and Andy King give their accounts of McFarland refusing to pull the plug on the festival and push them to their limits to make it happen. Weinstein (at 51:05) recounts sending a final warning to McFarland 1 day before festival stating that festival goers turning up to the island with nowhere to stay, nothing to eat and no way to get home would be much worse than any cancellation blowback. This fell on death ears as McFarland seemed to be so afraid of the social media backlash that he ordered staff to delete all negative comments that Fyre was getting about the lack of organisation pre-festival. McFarland is a good example of someone who indulges in social media to the point of losing grip of the real world which evidently landed him in debt and in jail. He wanted to keep up with the hype that the promo video had created on social media so deperately that he disregarded the real world consequences of his actions.

Organiser, Andy King 1Source: https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DxjPxVBWkAUfVuJ.jpg:large

Within this documentary, many questions are raised such as who is to blame for enabling this to happen beyond McFarlen? Whom do we feel most sorry for nearly two years on? Can it be said that the current social media generation, millennials if you will, fear online confrontation more than they fear real-life consequences? Social media enabled Fyre to sell a vision of what people wanted, to live the lives of the influencers they follow in one weekend and put up a facade of luxury that in actual fact didn’t exist. Although we may see this as a radical instance this is what occurs on social media on a daily basis. Influencers are constantly selling us a lifestyle, convincing us that we can live the way they do if we puchase the items they have. As a result of the rise of influencers on the 23rd of January the CMA released a new guide for influencers titled “Social Media: Being transparent with your followers” which states the rules in which influencers must follow when posting sponsored material in order to give those viewing their content the most informed idea of what they are buying.This has been well overdue.

View this post on Instagram

BAhamas #normanscay ?

A post shared by Chanel Iman (@chaneliman) on

Chanel Iman on the original Fyre Fest island, Normans Cay. Fyre Fest hashtags have now been removed.

However, we cannot blame social media as a whole. If Fyre has taught us anything it is that we must take responsibility for ourselves and understand that people choose what they want you to see and in no case, should we assume that what we are seeing is the full picture? We live in a time where a dog has more followers and gets paid more than a doctor for simply existing and somehow we will be convinced to buy a £12.99 stuffed animal from that dog because of a cute picture. Therefore, as consumers it can be damaging to indulge in a world of followers and lighting rather than taking it for face value, appreciating aesthetics, closing the app and going outside rather than paying 99p to see who unfollowed you because realistically what does that add to your existence? You have no idea who they are and will probably never meet them.

In this instance who do we feel sorry for? Personally, I cannot bring myself to feel sorry for the influencers who spent house deposits to see Major Lazer on a (rather obviously) photoshopped island. I sypathise with the locals who worked day and night on a site that was later abandoned without being paid for their efforts.

The documentary can be found on Netflix

Oscar Nominations 2019: Absurdity and Artistry at the Forefront of the Academy

Common Sense Contributors
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Oscar Nominations 2019: Absurdity and Artistry at the Forefront of the Academy

by Ellie Tivey

It was Tuesday 22nd Jan 2019, that the nominations https://oscar.go.com/nominees for this year’s Academy Awards were announced. Outcries against the accuracy and importance of these nominations seem to be as reliably annual as the nominations themselves. It is undeniable however that, whether you agree with them or not, these nominations serve as an excellent lens through which to closely observe the workings, preferences, and tastes of modern Hollywood

The factoid that any movie-lover is most keen to get under their belt each year is that of which film earned the most nominations. In 2019’s case, it is a dead tie between Roma, Alfonso Cuaron’s exquisitely subdued Mexican drama, and The Favourite, Yorgos Lanthimos’ predictably insane and powerful period piece. Both films are up for the more eminent awards of the evening, laying claim to Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress nominations, among others.

These two films taking top spot seems indicative of a shift in Hollywood’s priorities, and audience’s tastes. It seems to be that big-time director’s are getting ever more comfortable indulging their more artistic, non-consumerist desires, with increasingly positive consumer response.

Admittedly, Lanthimos’ wonderfully absurd filmic approach has been blazing this trail for years already. The beautifully crafted surrealism of The Favourite is a continuation of the fully-realised filmic style already entrenched in his past works, including The Lobster, and Killing of a Sacred Deer. But with The Lobster being nominated only for Best Original Screenplay in 2015, and Killing of a Sacred Deer receiving none at all, this is the first year that the Academy has allotted such wide reaching praise to Lanthimos’ technique. On the contrary, the delicate artistry and restricted tone of Roma stands worlds apart from Cuaron’s past work, with the seismic blockbuster Gravity being his most recent release.

Clearly, this seems to be the year where otherwise ‘off-the-wall’, more independent films are given the praise and recognition once reserved only for Hollywood blockbusters and cinema smashes. It could all be down to timing, although one has to question how much of Roma’s success can be allotted to the ever increasing cultural influence of streaming service Netflix. Netflix have hosted the film since December 2018 and have undeniably granted it wider reach than its fleeting display in selected independent theatres did.

Either way, the emergence of reinvigorated respect for films that many would once have labelled as ‘inaccessible’ to wider audiences is an irrefutably positive thing. The Lobster and Roma are in a league of their own among these nominees. They both represent an international audience on the precipice of discovering and loving more about film than ‘blow ‘em up’ fight scenes and gushy love stories. They display an industry’s recognition of the modern audience’s ever increasing desire to be intellectually and emotionally challenged. When these deeply entrenched consumerist priorities of Hollywood are challenged by the success of such films, who knows what could happen?

Ellie is a recent graduate in History and Politics from the University of Manchester. Originally from Bristol, Ellie moved to Manchester in 2015 and has no intention of leaving any time soon. She spent the final year of her degree as Editor of the university’s only historical publication, The Manchester Historian, and continues to present/produce weekly news videos for a Manchester start up, Student Inspire Network. She has dreams of becoming a journalist and hopes to embed her passion for politics and popular culture in all of her work

2019 NBA All-Star Starters: How the fans, players and media voted

Jireh Antwi
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2019 NBA All-Star Starters: How the fans, players and media voted

The 68th annual NBA All-Star Game is fast approaching – there’s a new star in the West, and some surprising observations across the board from this years voting.

The 2019 NBA All-Star starters have been announced this week with the Western Conference leading with LA Lakers’ LeBron James (captain), Golden State Warriors’ Steph Curry & Kevin Durant, Houston Rockets’ James Harden and OKC’s, Paul George. Some interesting observations can be made from the players votes, notably, Steph Curry edging out James Harden in the backcourt – Curry receiving 161 votes to Harden’s 153. Curry also received nearly a million more fan votes than Harden.

Luka Dončić was second highest overall in the fan vote with around four million votes in the Western Conference, however, he didn’t get a starting place due to low media and player votes. If Ben Simmons wasn’t able to get an All-Star spot last year with his rookie performance, Luka’s inclusion is questionable – even with his massive European fan base. If the fan vote was the final decider, though, the likes of Luka Dončić, and veteran’s Wade and D-Rose would have all possibly been starters. Derrick Rose has had a resurgence in his performances this season with the Timberwolves, but whether that’s deemed All-Star worthy is debatable.

Anthony Davis also missed out on a starting position as the media and players votes placed him third on the front-court starters, but the fan vote ultimately saw Paul George get the spot in the tiebreaker. Not all is lost, though, as Davis will surely be one of the first players picked by either captain due to the superstar ability we’ve seen from him night in night out since he’s come into the league.

Eastern and Western Conference starters revealed

For the Eastern Conference, we have Milwaukee Bucks, Giannis Antetokounmpo leading (captain), Boston Celtics Kyrie Irving, Toronto Raptors Kawhi Leonard, Philadelphia 76ers’ Joel Embiid and Charlotte Hornets very own star man Kemba Walker!

With LeBron leaving the Eastern Conference and heading westward, the next expected captain would have certainly been Kyrie Irving. However, Kyrie has been berated for not possessing the leadership quality he thought he had when he joined the Celtics, as his team still struggle to stake their claim as worthy championship contenders.

It seems amongst fans that Giannis is a more exciting prospect to watch, receiving nearly half a million more votes than Kyrie. Can we be too surprised, though, with his incredible athletic ability in relation to floor coverage, dunking, defending and ease of scoring? Giannis has been constantly building upon his previous years, and is somewhat now starting to shoot more confidently – his rise to stardom is well deserved.

Since the NBA All Star Game will be held in Charlotte this year, fans will be ecstatic that they’ll have their own representative in Kemba Walker. This will be sure to put to ease any trading rumours surrounding him, as Walker enters into free agency this summer.

Based on these starters alone it’s fair to say that the West is still as stacked as ever, having four of possibly the top five players, if not top ten, in the whole league.

The All-Star Game is shaping up pretty nicely with these team selections. Steph and LeBron on the same team, and defensive juggernauts in Leonard and Embiid on the other. Now we await the live televised team selections by each captain to see the final match up for the 68th NBA All-Star Game. The captains will draft 8 players each from the Starter Pool in the first round and then 14 players from the Reserves Pool in the second round. Positions or conference affiliations won’t matter with the picks that the captains make. This All-Star game is geared to be a thrilling one!

The 2019 All-Star Game will take place in the Spectrum Centre, Charlotte on the 17th February 2019, coverage on TNT from 7PM (ET).

Keep updated with TCS for more sports news.

The Red Menace

Richard Bolton
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The Red Menace

You’d imagine I’m going to be discussing the return of Darth Maul from Star Wars, and for the new threat that has sprung from relative anonymity, you’d be forgiven for thinking so. Except that I’m referring to the Red Dawn that has befallen Congress. 

The new representative of New York’s 14th district, at 29 years old, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, is the youngest women ever elected to the House. 

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez

Eighteenth months ago, she was working as a waitress, and beat her big spending – 15:1 – opponent in the race to the House of Representatives. NBC News reported Cortez earned support from 78 per cent of voters. 

Miss Cortez identifies problems in American society that need addressing, particularly the need to transition energy dependency, bankrupting medical fees, inequality and access to resources from inflated asset prices.

These are not particularly novel. It’s her panacea solutions by adding greater government intervention to address them at a time when debt is at precipitous levels that smacks of irresponsibility and naivety.

When politics is concerned, the well-intentioned often do more harm than good. Especially when they go in with the bull in the china shop attitude.

Don’t be fooled by her amicable and empathetic appeal – she is a danger to herself, her district and to America

When mainstream policies flop, and we enter periods of crisis as England did with the rise of right-wing nationalism leading to the rise of UKIP and thereafter Brexit. 

People look for scapegoats and fringe solutions. Cortez fills these voids.

It’s like the mob in The Dark Knight turning to The Joker when they were pressed with their backs against the wall and nowhere to turn.

As Alfred sagaciously admonished Bruce Wayne for pressing on the jugular, “And in their desperation, they turned to a man they didn’t fully understand.”

Statism – Policies so good, they must be mandatory

Miss Cortez believes there is no problem a government programme can’t solve. Got healthcare issues? Medicare for all. 

Want college? Free tuition 

Global Warming? Try her “green-infrastructure” programme. 

Need a job? How does job guarantee become you? 

You may be wondering how she is intending on affording all these policies. Fear not! She has just the solution up her sleeve. 

Tax the rich – Squeeze them until the pips squeak!

A Green New Deal with measures such as 70% income taxes on the super-rich. 

It may only apply to those with more than $10 million a year in earnings, so most people would naturally be for it. Who needs that kind of money, right? 

Trouble is, many of these individuals already pay their share of taxes on their incomes, and this proposal would make New York’s high earners pay an effective rate of 85%. For those who are creating the companies and jobs that employee much of the country’s private sector employees, it rather smacks of biting the hand that feeds you. Not to mention this bracket of individuals already pays the lion’s share of the overall tax revenues.

It overlooks well established concepts of brain-drains, incentives to earn and work harder if you can keep more of your spoils, and the fact that much of the income and wealth is within companies that lobby the government for tax breaks and engage in clever accounting practices to boot.

This comes as rather puzzling from an economics student from the University of Boston.

As for the sober observers, an array of shaking head, disbelief or disdain, but many would rightly be concerned.

For those who call it “crazy”, “delusional” or state “it will never pass”, only need look to the pages of history to see how quickly order can descend into chaos. Crazy schemes have an uncanny old way of becoming le cri du jour.

When existing laws of the land oversee bankruptcy and chaos, people turn to more absurd ideas. 

The first New Deal passed when Franklin Delano Roosevelt offered a campaign for change in 1932’s elections. A reshuffling of the deck carries metaphor of resetting the playing field for your average Joe to get back on their feet after the Great Depression. An  enticing proposal for the desperation imbued in American at the time.

He pulled the aces out in set in motion a series of costly programmes. 

While Cortez’ programmes may seem loopy today in the shining bastion of the free world, when the next crisis hits, people will suddenly perk up and take notice. 

Financial disaster will see discredited Republicans replaced by radical Democrats elected to office throughout the states. 

It won’t matter that economists point out the dangers of 70% marginal rates on the rich will backfire spectacularly. Producing less income, not more for everybody. 

The masses won’t care as they turn out in their droves, eager to punish the rich, not just exploit them. 

The masses will want simple quick-fire solutions. Where Donald Trump promised the American people easily digestible, punchy slogans from his political speech writers in ‘drain the swamp’, ‘MAGA’ ‘crooked Hillary or little Marco’; Cortez has her versions of socialist rhetoric to hand too. 

From what I’ve seen Miss Cortez was a competent bartender. 

Too bad, America’s lost a capable waitress and gained another delusional, incompetent, and menacing member of Congress. 

What the other side says

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez represents a powerful, driven woman as a figurehead to drive female representation in politics and push back the crony corporatism that wraps its ugly head around the annals of power. The disdain endemic in the incumbent political realm has outraged and dispirited in equal measure millions of Americans. ACO represents a glimmer of hope for these people. For those who said she edged in her wins fail to suitably credit her. It is not just her mixed-race, working-class background or the trials and tribulations she has had to overcome along the way.

The steamroller victories on her journey into Congress have inspired many, endorsing her as a role model for accomplishing that which thought impossible.

And she breaths a new breath of life into those disenfranchised, those forgotten, those who suffer from underinsurance, underbanked or overlooked in favour of outsourcing. The dark underbelly of the American dream that fails so many.  

Are unsympathetic doctors to blame for low smear test turnout?

Ellen Lovell
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Are unsympathetic doctors to blame for low smear test turnout?

With the number of cervical screening tests (or ‘smear tests’) being carried out reaching a twenty-year low in the UK, a lot is being done to break down the barriers patients face to access the essential service. But are we falling short when it comes to supporting victims of sexual assault and rape?

This week saw Chloe Delevingne, co-founder of the Gynaecological Cancer Fund, had a smear test live on BBC show ‘Victoria Derbyshire’ to combat the fears that many people have concerning smear tests. Prime Minister Theresa May also spoke candidly about the importance of smear tests on BBC’s Prime Minister’s Questions this week, and whilst both women are likely to have encouraged thousands of women to book their smear tests, there are still many other barriers to overcome. Perhaps the most important is the barrier that sexual assault and rape victims face in accessing reproductive healthcare.

Chloe Delevingne having a smear test, BBC ‘Victoria Derbyshire’

Despite every eligible person (except trans men, who have to opt in to the service) between the ages of 25-49 being invited to a test every three years (and every five years for those older than 49), 1 in 4 skip their screenings. The UK’s leading cervical cancer researchers, Jo’s Cervical Cancer Trust, revealed ground breaking research on non-attenders this week. The reports show that 75% of those eligible who do not attend their smear tests do so because it makes them feel vulnerable, with 67% claiming that the lack of control they experience during a smear test is enough to stop them from attending.

In the UK, where 1 in 5 women have been sexually assaulted past the age of 16, these statistics begin to make a bit more sense. Vulnerability and lack of control, whilst not indicating sexual assault themselves, can be just a couple of the long-term mental effects that sexual assault or rape can have on an individual. Smear tests, which are invasive but essential vaginal procedures in which a speculum is inserted in the vagina and cells are collected to determine if there are any cancerous or pre-cancerous cells present, can produce a triggering effect to the patient, causing panic, fear and trauma.

Photo courtesy of Louis Reed, Unsplash

These tests can be lifesaving, and there is no question that they should be carried out. But if this is the case, then medical professionals carrying out these tests need to be prepared to combat these feelings and take every step to comfort the patient. Unfortunately, this isn’t always the case.

“I booked a double appointment for my smear test, so that I could discuss my past sexual trauma with my doctor.” Sophie*, a 44-year-old mother of two told me during a telephone conversation.

“The first thing she said when she sat me down and looked over my notes was ‘it’s been ten years since your last test, glad you could finally fit us into your busy schedule’. I broke into tears right there and then. She simply gave me a tissue, told me to relax as it ‘isn’t that scary’, and pulled the curtain around me so that I could get undressed. I was frozen, numb, and so angry that I didn’t even get a chance to discuss my trauma. It took me five minutes to get my trousers off.”

Most practices recommend having a chaperone for support when attending a smear test, and will often provide chaperones of the same sex whenever requested. Currently, it is not clear how much training in dealing with sexual assault survivors that those carrying out smear tests must undertake, a fact that can be unnerving to those still dealing with the trauma of this type of assault.

“I sobbed into my hands as she placed my legs into the stirrups. When she told me that the speculum was about to go in, I went into a full panic and started thrashing around.” Sophie explains. “It was awful, and I feel so embarrassed thinking about it… but the situation was so horrible and brought back so many traumatic moments in my life. I couldn’t help it.”

“She became a lot more compassionate after that, and we booked another appointment for me to come back. I didn’t attend that appointment, and now I’m even more terrified of going back.”

Sophie’s story is not an isolated case, as a quick search on line will find hundreds of similar tales in a plethora of different forums, but it is also not true for everyone. For every negative story, there are five positive stories of supportive and helpful medical professionals.

But until every person carrying out a smear test is well informed about the difficulties that sexual assault victims experience during the procedure, then it is very possible that the statistics will never improve.

*names have been changed to protect Sophie’s identity

Rape Crisis Helpline: 0808 802 9999 (12-2:30 and 7-9:30) rapecrisis.org.uk

Cervical cancer prevention week campaign, by Jo’s Trust UK

Kamala Harris announces she is running for President in 2020: What do we know?

Fleur Boya
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Kamala Harris announces she is running for President in 2020: What do we know?

On Martin Luther King Junior Day, Kamala Harris announced she’ll be running against Donald Trump in the 2020 US Presidential election. Aside from her announcement making history, is she America’s saving grace?

Kamala Harris, Californian Democratic Senator, announced that she would be running for the 2020 presidential election, essentially making history by being the first African-American woman to enter the race for the presidential seat at the White House; cleverly making this announcement on Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

Who is Kamala Harris?

 Kamala Harris has been serving as the junior US Senator for California since 2017. Between 2004 and 2010, she served as District Attorney of San Francisco, then between 2011 and 2017, she served as the 32nd Attorney General in California. Harris, who is currently the only black woman in Senate, conjured popularity throughout her peers for her rigid interrogation of Trump nominees, including Brett Kavanaugh, Trump’s Supreme Court nominee, and Jeff Sessions, former Attorney General. “She’s also known as being a tough critic of President Trump’s immigration policies and has pushed for policies to protect immigrants from deportation”. Currently being the only black female with a seat in the upper chamber.

According to Politico, a recent poll showed that 53% of voters had never previously heard of Kamala Harris, yet she proposes compelling solutions to issues facing the Democratic Party. Harris’ positions are often anti-extremist. She enjoys the chance to discuss how her “civil rights activist” family were shocked when she chose become a prosecutor. As opposed to attempt to resist America’s affection for law and government. Harris is attempting to reshape that intuition, turning from ‘tough on crime” to “smart on crime”, the title of her 2009 book. The Guardian however, reports Harris as a leader “whose success inspires young women of colour”, which brings rise to the first criticism of her nomination: society is excited because she is black.

Many people hold the view that Harris will be the next Barack Obama – whether that’s even a good things a whole other discussion. Holly Thomas at CNN reports: “There are similarities between Harris and Obama, to be sure. Both are Democrats, both have a background in law, both have a mixed-race background. There is an obvious convenience to the comparison. It neatly captures the public imagination at a time when Harris is yet to be world famous, but is charismatic, on the rise and prepared to challenge President Donald Trump, while Obama’s name continues to conjure a nostalgic, anti-Trump emotion.” Thomas calls for people to look beyond the “superficial”  for advocating Kamala and identify with the differences between Obama and Harris as political beings. Taking the prison system for example: though Obama was against mass incarceration, he did not prioritise prison reform, to Harris, it is of the greatest concern.

In addition, a few Democrats are sceptical of Harris due to her previous record as a prosecutor. After Democrats grasped “tough on crime” strategies that inflated jail populations, progressive activists are pushing to make the criminal equity framework “less punitive and racist”. Though she argues that her “views align with the new progressive movement”, according to Vox.com, her record in California, where she was a prosecutor, district attorney, and state attorney general before representing the state in the US Senate, is likely to come in for harsh scrutiny and debate in the coming months. Harris argues that she’s “fought to reverse incarceration, scale back the war on drugs, and address racial disparities in the criminal justice system.”  


Either way, it’s too soon to make a concrete decision on whether Harris is America’s saving grace or whether she’ll dig a deeper hole for  and already socio-politically sensitive country. 

6/10 The Cost of Artistry | Jamal Gerald

The Common Sense Network
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6/10 The Cost of Artistry | Jamal Gerald

In a time where crime in our capital is at an all-time high, the narrative we often see in the mainstream media is that people of colour, (particularly black men) are using violence to channel their pain.

This is only part of the story. There is a growing group of BAME men and women, using their experiences to inform their art. 

In our 10 part feature, we meet some of these artists. These artists are swimming against the tide, creating a lane for themselves.  They talk to us about the Cost of Artistry.

6/10 meet Jamal Gerald

When did you discover you had a “talent”?

I competed in my first poetry slam when I was 13. It was Voices of New Generation which was run by Leeds Young Authors. It’s a poetry slam festival for teams. I used to take part in things just to be in the centre of attention, but then I realised that it was something I was quite good at. So, I kept on doing it.

What have you had to sacrifice to nurture your talent?

Hmmm. I personally don’t feel like I’ve had to sacrifice anything. Because I always wanted to nurture my talent. I’m not really good at many other things, trust me, the amount of jobs I’ve applied for and nothing. One thing I might have had to sacrifice is not always having money in my account. Ha! Coming to terms with the reality that working in the arts isn’t really sustainable financially. But, I’m still happy to do what I love.

Who inspires your artistry?

Prince
Danez Smith
Tim Miller
Freddie Mercury
Selina Thompson
Kendrick Lamar
Scottee
Zodwa Nyoni

What is the biggest misconception people have about poets?

I think one of the biggest misconceptions is that poets are cry babies.

In an age where digital echo chambers are growing wider, what role do you think poetry can play in this?

Poetry could continue to be used as a tool to convey any type of message. It’ll be nice to continue see and hear poetry elsewhere, besides the page and the stage.

Some poets claim that a poem is like a living creature: once it’s out there is not much you can do to ‘correct’ or ‘improve’ it, while others edit meticulously, not leaving much from the original, draft form. What is your take on it?

I think with a lot of work, you could always edit it whenever you want to. No matter if it’s out there or not. I think even if a work of mine is out in the world, either published or on film, and I wanted to change it, I could, especially since it’s my work.
I don’t think work should automatically be done just because it’s been published or filmed. That’s boring and limiting to me.

How do you define success?

Being happy with where you’re at. I find it hard to label myself as ‘successful’. Even though, I’ve done quite a bit. I just feel the need to constantly outdo myself and to do more. But, I’m trying to celebrate the things that I’ve accomplished. And once you can get to that point, I feel that’s where you could define it as success.

Do you ever regret sharing your work publicly? Do you trust the reader in a world of instant gratification and instant communication?

No, I don’t regret it. People respond to my work however they want to. If they love it, great! If they hate it, great!

Jamal’s new show ‘Idol’ is premiering at Transform Festival in Leeds in Spring 2019. The dates of the festival are 26th April – 4th May.

www.jamalgerald.com

That 70s Excuse – Football’s Apathy in the Face of Racial Adversity

Fergus Macphee
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That 70s Excuse – Football’s Apathy in the Face of Racial Adversity
Kalidou Koulibaly’s failed appeal against his controversial red card is just the latest in a recent series of footballing brushes with racism.

There was a moment during the 2018 World Cup where England seemed different. It wasn’t the unusually extended heat wave the nation was experiencing, nor the team’s great performances at the tournament. No, this specifically was a difference in feeling towards the England team. A feeling, that for 2 weeks, everyone seemed to put all their differences and political discord aside in a unified show of support for the national side not seen since the 90s. Football commentators were (rightly) keen to point out how this young and diverse team were the perfect representation of modern Britain. Their success was seen as a triumph of multiculturalism in uncertain political times – even the tabloids put the knives normally aimed at Raheem Sterling away for once. Racism in English football was no more.

Fast forward to December and the picture looked far less rosy. All within a month of one another, a Tottenham supporter threw a banana skin at Arsenal’s Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Raheem Sterling was racially abused at Stamford Bridge and a further set of Chelsea fans were suspected of performing anti-Semitic chants during a Europa League game. UEFA have now charged these Chelsea fans, but the Italian Football Federation (IFF) were not so generous last week, when they confirmed the rejection of Napoli’s appeal against Koulibaly’s red card that he received for protesting against racist abuse in their 1-0 defeat to Inter Milan on 26 December. The vast majority of the football world has been quick to condemn all of these actions and, in particular, come out in support of Sterling, who has faced his own personal battles against systemic racism for years. One common thread between almost all these responses, however, is a refusal to confront racism’s place in football; English football in particular. The events were dismissed with assertions that they were ‘like something from the 1970s,’ that had ‘no place in the modern game;’ nothing more than isolated incidents which had been left behind by all, both in football and wider society.

This misses the point entirely. While we may no longer be readily accustomed to witnessing this kind of abuse every week, it doesn’t mean that these views have disappeared entirely. Football matches exist in a microcosm, where behaviour that would not be tolerated anywhere else is not only accepted, but actively encouraged. Yes, all fans know that racist abuse will result in a lifetime ban and likely conviction, but when tens of thousands of people are all screaming in unified rage week in week out, some masks inevitably drop and their prejudices manage to slip out. It is no coincidence that there are still no openly gay footballers in the English Football League. Football may be a facilitator for some of these views, but the problems go far deeper.

In an interview with the BBC, Ben Holman, of the anti-racism charity, Show Racism the Red Card, had this to say:

“Racism isn’t a problem intrinsic to football. These fans are at a football match for two hours a week, but for the other 166 are members of society, taking the bus, going to work.”

Source: BBC Sport

This hits every nail on the head. Pundits and journalists cannot expect these incidents to vanish from football, until systemic racism and casual prejudice are addressed in the wider British conversation. A conversation where almost 50% of the FTSE 100 still have no non-white board members; a culture in which black citizens are nine times more likely to be stopped and searched than their white counterparts; and a footballing dialogue where Paul Pogba and Raheem Sterling are treated by their own, media-specified standards. While admittedly taking place overseas, Koulibaly’s failed appeal represents the apex of this issue. It clearly demonstrates an official view of total apathy and sets the precedent that a few ‘bad apples’ are nothing for any governing body to be concerned about in a wider context. Napoli’s passionate club statement on the matter reaffirms this point.

The banana skin throwing Tottenham fan and anti-Semitic Chelsea supporters won’t behave like that in all walks of life, but they might engage in casually prejudice ‘banter’ after the game. I’m sure certain pundits would refute any suggestion that they could possibly be racist, and yet they’ll continue to belittle Pogba regarding how he decides to live his life as a young, black footballer. Many simply don’t take these things seriously and until that passive culture changes, football will continue to be undermined. If the World Cup really was a triumph of multiculturalism, then the months since have been damning indictment of how far modern society still needs to come.

Social Media’s Positive Impact on Youth Violence and Gang Culture: A Dismissed Apparatus for Improvement

Catherine Sirotkin
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Social Media’s Positive Impact on Youth Violence and Gang Culture: A Dismissed Apparatus for Improvement

As violent crime in the capital continues to rise, authorities struggle to find substantive solutions to these tensions. Is social media paving the way for positive influence and transformation within society?  

In the midst of an age where youth violence and gang culture is supposedly said to be becoming digitised, social media is often portrayed as a tool for glamourising and romanticising gang culture and success through illegitimate means. However,  it is also this perception that dismisses its potential to act as a tool of empowerment and advancement for those vulnerable to gangs and violent crime.

Not only did 2018 see a devastating number of stabbings and gun related deaths and injuries, a toll reaching 153 in London (Met Police Statistics), but it also saw the government fruitlessly try and pin the blame on social media. As violent crime continued to spiral, the government made moves towards censoring and further criminalising drill music on Youtube and other social media sites. However, a countering trend, especially within London, has been the creation of YouTube short films meant to portray the struggles of living within the midst of areas susceptible to gang activity and violence; The most notable of which, “Shiro’s story” and “Amani” both star Joivan Wade, a Lewisham born actor who used Youtube as an apparatus to propel himself into the film industry. This conceptualises social media within a new light – is it the demonised entity that it is described to be? Or can social media sites, such as YouTube, positively impact the rise in violent crime? 

AMANI | Short Film (2019) – Based On A True Story

I interviewed ‘D’, a young woman from Birmingham, who grew up surrounded by violent crime and gang culture, to seek and express the opinion of those on the frontline of the crisis – those that are often neglected in policy making. Much of the legislation created in the attempt to stop the rise of violent crime and gang culture, for example the criminalisation of drill music, has been by those in power who have never experienced it first hand. If we want to gain a productive insight for shaping future policy, we must focus on the grassroots. For privacy reasons, names have been changed to keep identities anonymous. 

When asked about the role of social media, D expressed “cynicism”, especially due to the use of media platforms to spread illegitimate activity even more ferociously than before. For example, Snapchat and Facebook have had several instances where they could actively, and rightly, be accused of inciting trouble, as seen through the sale of acid prior to Notting Hill Carnival in 2017 on snapchat. During the 2011 Riots, Facebook and BBM was censored by the government due to its pivotal role in aiding the riots to spread. We see a new manifestation of violence as a result of the rise of technology – violence now is much more difficult to regulate. Regulation often means violation of data policy, causing a paradox of moral hierarchy between privacy or prevention of violence. However, we must remember that this isn’t just monopolised to crime, with the global tech revolution that occurred in the last three decades, it has caused a widespread compression of time and space, making beliefs in general easier to spread, not just negative notions such as violence.

Regardless of these negative effects, D was quick to recognise the potential for a positive impact outweighing the dangers of social media. Social media platforms provide opportunities that extend past those that are offered by formal institutions and thus often override the formal biases that face many that are vulnerable to gang culture and violent crime. Institutionalised racism and classism is easier overcome within the realm of the internet, especially with the rising popularity of crowd funding sites, such as “Gofundme” providing an alternative to traditional financial structures. These positives further extend to social aspects of gang culture, with D arguing:  “Although everyone watches YouTube for entertainment, short films such as “Shiro’s Story” makes teenagers realise how far people can really go to obtain and sustain their status. It allows viewers to analyse the gang culture and lifestyle from an exterior perspective whilst relating to producers coming form similar [socio-economic] backgrounds to them”. There is thus an opportunity to relate to those behind the film. Social media in general is a platform which allows people to identify the goals and successes they want to achieve, and in the process also identify role models that people may to aspire to be.

With such under representation of ethnic minorities in industries such as law, finance and medicine coinciding with the over representation of them within the criminal justice system, it is easy for young ethnic minority kids, already statistically more at risk of gang recruitment in comparison to their white counterparts, to get caught up in a self fulfilling prophecy. This further is reinforced by stereotypes held in other formal societal institutions. Yet, social media provides a window to see those such as John Boyega, Joivan Wade, and Stormzy as positive role models that found success through pursuing legitimate means, with the latter of which providing a joint scholarship programme for Cambridge University. Stormzy, at his book launch in the Barbican in 2018, in fact urged youths “Don’t think because you come from a certain community that studying at one of the highest education institutions in the world isn’t possible.” The role of social media platforms such as YouTube in assisting Stormzy’s widespread success is un-ignorable, and thus cannot be dismissed in playing a role to social initiatives widening prospectives and opportunities for those coming from deprived communities. 

What my interview with D essentially suggested was that whilst social media is still used as a tool to instigate drama, we cannot eradicate it as a positive apparatus in slowly implementing change. Instagram, for example, has created a platform in which organisations such as 4mation campaign were able to materialise to connect to youths nationally. Social media is not only a platform for the advancement of youths that have limited access to formal institutions that drive success, but it is a platform which is used to unite. We cannot rely on policy change within the government to implement change when those that are most affected are those that have the most strained relationship with governmental powers. Social media allows change from the bottom up, a strategy that looks to be the most realistic in stopping youth violence and gang crime. 

The Re-Emergence of Coercive Conversion: The Right to (No) Religious Freedom

Catherine Sirotkin
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The Re-Emergence of Coercive Conversion: The Right to (No) Religious Freedom

Following the year anniversary of the death of Ji-In Gu, the conversation surrounding coercive conversion taking place in South Korea has brought a new wave of outrage to the human rights violations of the Christian Council of Korea (CCK). Gu was murdered by her parents after protesting against the ‘cult like’ methods of the CCK in 2018, whilst the conversion programmes continue with little legal opposition. 

Coercive conversion is by no means a new problem, nor only confined to Korea. According to the Office of Social Justice, nearly five million Syrians have fled religious persecution from ISIS, whilst the muslims of Myanmar have been stripped of all citizen rights and forced into camps for not adhering to Buddhism as the majority religion. However, Korea is an anomaly due to its status as a highly respected democratic and constitutional state. Yet despite this, Korean authorities continue to dismiss it as an issue consistent with family matters, rather than matters appropriate for governmental action.

Coercive conversion, according to the End Coercive Conversion organisation, means to force someone to change their original religion to another against their will, with techniques including kidnapping and assault. Within Korea, this is encouraged by the CCK, a protestant organisation adopting cult-like ways of gaining members. With a $10,000 ‘thankful offering’ to cover the expenses of the conversion, and the targeting of whole families, the CCK can claim that it is all a voluntary process instigated by the families themselves and thus avoid legal prosecution.

The dark reality of the situation contrasts unimaginably to this perception. “Conversion education agreements” are written by force whilst those they are converting are kept in confinement. This conversion education is an essentially a process of radicalisation which had ended in the death of both Ji-In Gu, as well as the death of another woman in 2007, who’s ex husband murdered her with a hammer after she refused to convert. It encourages families to abduct other relatives so to confine them within their facilities until conversion is complete. Gu was abducted for 44 days in 2016 before escaping and lobbying for an end to coercive conversion directly through appealing to the Korean president using a widely signed petition. Yet her efforts were fruitless with her second abduction occurring in December 2017, causing her death in January 2018 through suffocation carried out by her parents.

Many human rights organisations and advocates have vowed for Gu’s legacy to be fulfilled, with marches taking place to mark the one year anniversary of her death globally, including in South Africa, America, the UK and 12 other countries around the world.  Yet, South Korea has still not taken any steps to ensure the end to this blatant violation of the “right to religious freedom” within their constitution. It is on the shoulders of the international community to recognise its social responsibility to pressure policy change and uphold universally valued human rights. 

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