Matt Gets Political

How would the press react to an announcement that the Conservatives intended to slaughter all kittens? How could you?! You monster! In the wake of the Conservative Party announcing they wished to punish dementia sufferers by seizing their assets to pay for care, and sections of the press falling over itself to attempt to justify this policy I imagine its reaction to an announcement of a policy of murdering kittens, and the Guardians, but just because it's fun to rag on the Guardian - it is still my favourite newspaper: The Economist would still run an op-ed about what a master stroke it was compared to Labours insane policies of investing in educating the young, rather than instruments with which to club kittens. They will knowingly explain that any policy that didn't involve the wholesale slaughtering of feline infants would surely mean an increase in inflation - although never bothering to explain why, but providing a metaphor that led one to suspect the policy wi

On why punk was never punk, and grime is punk as fuck Trim getting totes emosh' Every so often a former member of the Sex Pistols says something more fitting of a middle aged home counties man six bitters deep stumbling over his words and then subsequently over a bar stool - making you listen to his boring views about shit that he reckons you find offensive but actually you just find tedious. All this before he goes home and fails to have disappointing intercourse with the wife that no longer loves him and wonders if she ever did - than of a representative of a radical oeuvre in music. At these points there is a chorus that rings out "Punk is dead!" or in the era of social media optimised head-lines "Is punk dead? Don't buy another album before you read the SHOCKING thing that former SEX PISTOL John Lydon said about FARAGE,  BREXIT and TRUMP"(1). Spoiler alert: He said he liked them and wanted to be their friend. Now, the extent to which the

The Simpson's Get's Political - SE01 E06 - Moaning Lisa Script synopsis:  Lisa becomes depressed, which begins to affect her performance in school. Neither Marge nor Homer are able to make Lisa happier. One night, she hears distant Jazz music and sneaks out of her room to follow it. She meets Bleeding Gums Murphy, who teaches her how to express her feelings via the saxophone. When Marge drops Lisa off at school the next day, she suggests that Lisa smile no matter how she feels. However, Marge sees that Lisa is being denied her creativity and realises that that's what is disappointing her. Marge tells Lisa to just be herself, and the entire family go to see Murphy perform at a local Jazz club. Issue raised: Depression as a political issue. Note:   In this post I examine a cultural artefact and a social position which is not my own, namely rap music and it's relation to racialised oppression. I do not occupy the social position of which I am talking about. The

The Simpsons Gets Political - SE01 E05 - Bart The General "We are happy, we are merry, we've got a rhyming dictionary!" Script synopsis: After defending Lisa from school bully Nelson Muntz, Bart becomes Nelson's latest school bullying target. Sick of the harassment and torment, Bart, Grandpa Simpson, and Herman (a slightly deranged military antique store dealer with a missing arm) rally the town's children into fighting back against Nelson and his cronies. Ultimately forcing Nelson to sign an armistice treaty recognising Bart's right to exist and relinquishing any official power and agreeing to never again raise his fists in anger - only remaining a figure of menace in the neighbourhood. Issue raised: Just War Theory - which claims that war, whilst generally undesirable, is not always the worst option. Furthermore, certain things can justify going to war and sets certain criteria which must be met in order to claim a war as just. Traditiona

According to Google this evokes automation. There's humans there though' - so I don't see it. But the guy on the far right is in the same pose as "the thinker" so it kind of works for my purposes.  I don't know if you know, but I'm doing a masters - ya'know? No? Well let me tell you, bro(1). ---- Automata, artificial intelligence, robots, computer programmes, whatever you want to call them, they're coming for your job. It's been my job (kinda) for the last year to think about what this means for our idea of property. The idea being that when robots make everything, and do all the paperwork, we should probably let go of that notion of private property that's been holding us back for so long. The idea being that if no one made it, how can anyone claim to own it. With an associated thought being that if robots do all the work we might want to let go of the idea of wages being linked to actually doing anything. So basically wh

The Simpsons Gets Political - SE01 E04 - There's No Disgrace Like Home Script Synopsis:  After a disastrous family picnic at Mr Burns mansion. Homer decides its necessary for the family to go to counselling together. He pawns the TV and they head over to Marvin Monroes Family Therapy Centre. A shocking time is had by all. Realising that his methods aren't working Munroe terminates the therapy session - Homer reminds him that the advert promised results, or double their money back. Meaning the Simpsons get to leave to buy an even better TV - which ultimately brings them all closer together. Issue raised: The situation where-by the Simpsons find that the only way to afford the family counselling - is to pawn the TV. And the alternative to expensive credit - mutual aid and credit unions. One of which is a theory, the second of which refers to a concrete alternative to legalised loan sharks such as Wonga. No person, and no family, should ever find itself in the positio