Trust what is alien.
Alienated the trusted.
Thursday, 21 January 2010
THE LANGUAGE OF HATE
That love your enemies thing is on my mind.
Language lets us down, lets us off the hook.
"I made friends with him." Glory be to me.
"We fell out."
"We don't see eye to eye."
"She's not my cup of tea."
See how the language subtly shifts the blame?
"I made them my enemy."
Language lets us down, lets us off the hook.
"I made friends with him." Glory be to me.
"We fell out."
"We don't see eye to eye."
"She's not my cup of tea."
See how the language subtly shifts the blame?
"I made them my enemy."
Wednesday, 20 January 2010
LOVE YOUR ENEMIES
Some time ago when I had a pied a terre in London I used to get a taxi regularly from there to the airport. In the taxi we generally drove past a particular church. Outside it was a sign. The sign said:
LOVE YOUR ENEMIES.
AFTER ALL, YOU MADE THEM.
That made me think.
LOVE YOUR ENEMIES.
AFTER ALL, YOU MADE THEM.
That made me think.
Sunday, 6 December 2009
Saturday, 5 December 2009
A CONVERSATION WITH A CEO
CEO: "....................... and as it's often been said, CEO's are the loneliest people in the world."
ME: "No. The loneliest people in the world become CEO's."
Was I just trying to be smart?
No.
It's obvious.
The more mastery, the less intimacy.
The more intimacy, the less mastery.
ME: "No. The loneliest people in the world become CEO's."
Was I just trying to be smart?
No.
It's obvious.
The more mastery, the less intimacy.
The more intimacy, the less mastery.
Thursday, 3 December 2009
A VINTAGE OCCASION
ME: ............. and to go with that we'll have a bottle of your Barolo 2005.
WAITER: Very good, sir.
Waiter brings the bottle.
WAITER: How's that?
ME: Mmm. It's a Barolo, but not the one on your wine list. This is a 2006. Could you bring me the 2005 please?
WAITER: Ah. Sorry about that. Goes off to collect correct wine and returns.
Er, I'm sorry but we don't actually have the 2005 wine.
ME: I see. Let's have another look at the list. We'll choose another. This Chianti Classico 2005 will be fine.
Waiter disappears and reappears with the bottle.
ME: That also appears not to be the 2005, but the 2006.
WAITER: Ah, Yes. I don't think we have the 2005.
ME: OK. How about you just take the wine list and tell me which of your advertised wines you do have?
WAITER: Returning. I've had a look and it appears this Tempranillo is the only one.
ME: Interesting. And looking at the wine list, that wine isn't the same as advertised either. It is, again, a different vintage.
WAITER: ...................................
ME: So none of the wines on your list is actually available; only a different set of wines not advertised....
WAITER: ....................................
ME: I'm sure you can see the problem here.
WAITER: Yes.
ME: And I'm sure a Trading Standards Officer would see it too.
WAITER: ..................................
ME: Well, here's what I suggest. As I am pointing this error out to you and therefore saving you a lot of potential hassle and cost, not to say quite possibly a prosecution, I suggest you provide me free of charge with a decent wine of your choosing and I'll agree not to call trading standards in the morning to give you a chance to sort the matter out.
WAITER: ............................ OK then.
Thursday, 19 November 2009
MONOPOLY
When my son, George and I play Monopoly, there are a few extra rules we observe.
- You are the enemy
- We are the axis of evil and will use any means to bring you down
- Whenever possible we will helpfully volunteer to be the banker
- We will then filch between us as much money from the bank as we possibly can
- In the early stages of the game we will steal property cards too.
- Even though you think we are against each other we will gradually work you over towards our evil intent
- If you are foolish enough to leave the room say to go to the loo it is fair game to steal your property
- The number of moves made on the Board is exactly equal to advantage and has no relationship to the number of dots showing on a pair of dice
- The wording of a Chance card is exactly what I just invented
- Ditto Community Chest
- Where you left your counter is where we just put it without you seeing
- The rent due is what we say it is
- I did just pass go and will collect £200.
- Again.
You have been warned!
I add to this confession only one counter - that, as someone who likes to deal ethically and responsibly in my actual business life, this sort of behaviour is the perfect antidote.
Thursday, 12 November 2009
HOME, THE HERO
There are several recent homecomings which have grabbed my attention since my last posting (and thank you to keen readers who, through email, have been kickin' my ass).
One is the triumphant homecoming of David Haye, newly crowned WBA World Heavyweight champion of the World, having defeated Nikolay Valuev in Nuremburg.
A second is the sombre sight of the repatriation of six soldiers, killed in Helmand, their coffins saluted by the good people of Wootton Bassett, plus a few politicos trying to cash in.
And a third, the "unexpected" return of Simon Mann, a British mercenary, imprisoned in Equatorial Guinea for basically trying to steal that country and its rather extensive oil supplies.
What weave together these homecomings in my mind is an enquiry into the nature of heroism. It can be a difficult thing to unravel. So much of what we ascribe to it is societally conditioned.
Haye's struggle was inevitably labelled as David vs. Goliath, the rematch. Valuev was paraded as a freak in a freak show (especially by that most abject of freakmeisters, Don King), though in fact he showed himself to be more poised and thoughtful than many a boxer. The actual bout made for dull viewing, unless, like me, you have a taste for the tactical rather than the gladiatorial in matters pugilistic. Haye's tactic was correct. Hit and run. Don't get caught by that awfully weighty, long jab. Tire your man. Forget combinations unless you rock him and get a fleeting chance to work the inside. Hit once, and be gone. Take few shots but make each shot count. Use a deeply controlled violence. Heroism? Maybe.
The bodies of the soldiers returning from Afghanistan betray a losing game, the wrong end of a tactical game that any idiot can see is failing, and where we are the Goliath not the David. Moreover, can anyone distinctly define the mission? I think not, and this raises the question of for what these young men died. Heroism? Maybe.
And Simon Mann. I wonder if we will ever know the truth of his mission. Greed? Maybe. Deniable operations? Maybe. Sanctioned regime change of a tyrant? Maybe. Preferable oil trading interests? Maybe. Heroism? Maybe.
One is the triumphant homecoming of David Haye, newly crowned WBA World Heavyweight champion of the World, having defeated Nikolay Valuev in Nuremburg.
A second is the sombre sight of the repatriation of six soldiers, killed in Helmand, their coffins saluted by the good people of Wootton Bassett, plus a few politicos trying to cash in.
And a third, the "unexpected" return of Simon Mann, a British mercenary, imprisoned in Equatorial Guinea for basically trying to steal that country and its rather extensive oil supplies.
What weave together these homecomings in my mind is an enquiry into the nature of heroism. It can be a difficult thing to unravel. So much of what we ascribe to it is societally conditioned.
Haye's struggle was inevitably labelled as David vs. Goliath, the rematch. Valuev was paraded as a freak in a freak show (especially by that most abject of freakmeisters, Don King), though in fact he showed himself to be more poised and thoughtful than many a boxer. The actual bout made for dull viewing, unless, like me, you have a taste for the tactical rather than the gladiatorial in matters pugilistic. Haye's tactic was correct. Hit and run. Don't get caught by that awfully weighty, long jab. Tire your man. Forget combinations unless you rock him and get a fleeting chance to work the inside. Hit once, and be gone. Take few shots but make each shot count. Use a deeply controlled violence. Heroism? Maybe.
The bodies of the soldiers returning from Afghanistan betray a losing game, the wrong end of a tactical game that any idiot can see is failing, and where we are the Goliath not the David. Moreover, can anyone distinctly define the mission? I think not, and this raises the question of for what these young men died. Heroism? Maybe.
And Simon Mann. I wonder if we will ever know the truth of his mission. Greed? Maybe. Deniable operations? Maybe. Sanctioned regime change of a tyrant? Maybe. Preferable oil trading interests? Maybe. Heroism? Maybe.
Friday, 23 October 2009
I AM NOT A NAZI
............ said Nick Griffin of the BNP in the controversial Question Time programme last night.
Oh yes, I'm thinking, you probably pretty much are.
But there's a problem.
Pouring venom on you, shouting you down, censoring you, and using anger and hatred as the weapons against you make your critics look as much, or maybe even more guilty of the hatred and bigotry of which they accuse you.
And that's what happened. Understandable, very understandable. But, in an open public arena, unfortunate.
It would have taken a statesmanlike leader to have calmly given you the space to hang yourself as a closed minded, nasty and brutish fear monger. It would have taken a real leader to have properly acknowledged the real human fears and injustices upon which you prey, and better still to be constructing and executing policies that address them and the dangers inherent in them, so that you have no political ground to hold. Sadly, there wasn't one present.
Watching someone getting publicly reviled, no mattter how odious they are, is a brutal and freakish form of entertainment with the danger that the object of revulsion actually becomes a figure capable of attracting sympathy.
Oh yes, I'm thinking, you probably pretty much are.
But there's a problem.
Pouring venom on you, shouting you down, censoring you, and using anger and hatred as the weapons against you make your critics look as much, or maybe even more guilty of the hatred and bigotry of which they accuse you.
And that's what happened. Understandable, very understandable. But, in an open public arena, unfortunate.
It would have taken a statesmanlike leader to have calmly given you the space to hang yourself as a closed minded, nasty and brutish fear monger. It would have taken a real leader to have properly acknowledged the real human fears and injustices upon which you prey, and better still to be constructing and executing policies that address them and the dangers inherent in them, so that you have no political ground to hold. Sadly, there wasn't one present.
Watching someone getting publicly reviled, no mattter how odious they are, is a brutal and freakish form of entertainment with the danger that the object of revulsion actually becomes a figure capable of attracting sympathy.
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