A sense of the inevitable

A lot has changed since I began writing this blog more than three years ago.  One change is that I am now far more likely to believe in the power of the inevitable.

When Leo Tolstoy wrote War and Peace, he believed that all of history is an inevitable process which people cannot influence - not even supposedly powerful people like kings and emperors.  On the one hand, this might seem an utterly bizarre notion, but on the other hand there are always exceptions to just about any rule.

Consider football.  Suppose Everton play Swansea.  It is easy to envisage either team winning the match.  Now suppose that Tottenham play Chesterfield.  It is hard to imagine any realistic outcome other than a victory for Tottenham.

Tolstoy wrote his novel about the French invasion of Russia in 1812.  The invasion was a complete disaster which proved to be the beginning of the end for the Emperor Napoleon.

It is hard not to see a strong sense of inevitability about the events of 1812.  Napoleon led a very large army into Russia with little in the way of supplies.  It had apparently not occurred to him that it would be very difficult to keep such a large army supplied by foraging.  Many of his troops were killed in battle as he marched towards Moscow - notably at the Battle of Borodino - and many more died of hunger.

Eventually the French captured Moscow, but found that almost the entire population had fled.  As winter began to draw in, the French abandoned Moscow, and began the long march home. Tens of thousands of soldiers died from the effects of hunger and extreme cold, while many others were either killed in battle or murdered by Russian civilians.

But enough of history.  As I write, the British people are looking forward to the long-promised referendum on Britain's membership of the European Union.  I have not so far spoken out about this, partly because I have a sense of inevitability.

I have previously said confidently that I expect Scotland to leave the United Kingdom at some point in the future, and now I confidently expect Britain to leave the European Union.  Even if the outcome of the referendum is a victory for staying in, then I still think it would be only a minor setback.  Nothing is more likely to bring the European Union to its knees than its own continued exisence.

As a final points, the European Union has nothing to do with the European Court of Human Rights.  That is an agency of the Council of Europe, an entirely separate body.

Related previous posts include:
Austerity versus democracy in Greece

Jeremy Corbyn is close to the truth

There has been a lot of fuss in the press recently about allegations of anti-semitism in the Labour Party.  If I've got it right, three councillors have been suspended because of remarks they made which were deemed to be unacceptable.

I don't know the full facts, but it appears that in at least one case the supposed anti-semitism revolves around a quite reasonable although tongue-in-cheek criticism of Israel.  I interpret anti-semitism to mean an irrational dislike of Jews, and therefore I will not use that particular label about criticism of the terror state of Israel.

I remember how a year or two back a famous newspaper columnist asserted that people who criticise Israel also want Britain to have sharia law.  Am I perhaps the exception which proves that particular rule?

More recently another newspaper columnist asserted that people who condemn Israel for its various crimes are unwilling to condemn other countries for similar crimes.  However I will happily condemn any government in any country which perpetrates acts of terror.

While Jeremy Corbyn has reacted to the negative press coverage about his party by expelling a few people, his response has still been dismissed as inadequate by many people in the media.  Apparently Jeremy Corbyn said publicly just before the local elections that there are more important issues facing the country than anti-semitism, and so there are.

What exactly is a Jew?  A few months ago I read an essay on the internet about the causes of anti-semitism which argued that Jews are not a race, which is absolutely correct.  Nevertheless the law in the United Kingdom on inciting racial hatred does protect Jews - but how many people in the Jewish community ever protest about this?  It seems that the non-race of the Jews are quite happy to be treated as a race when it suits them.

Pretty well anyone can become a Jew because pretty well anyone can pretend to follow a religion based on the Old Testament.  Once you have asserted that you are a Jew, you acquire a privileged status whereby you apparently have the right to label anyone who annoys you as an anti-semite.

Of course being Jewish - or claiming to be Jewish - does not exempt you from being unemployed or homeless or hungry.

Jeremy Corbyn was right to say that there are more important issues facing Britain than anti-semitism.  If you dispute that, then maybe you should try going without food for a couple of days.  It might help you to reassess your values.

Related previous posts include:
Starvation Britain
Are you anti-semitic?