Rick´s News

The other day my youngest grandchild Inez asked my wife, 

”What do you do all day grandma?”

She was obviously referring to the both of us, revealing her concern for two people she cares about. With no jobs to go to and and not enrolled in any school she was not only inquisitive but apparently also concerned about her grandparent` s  ability to cope with what to her seemed like an empty life. I think Gunilla put her mind to rest by listing a few of our ”old people` s” activities. 

A somewhat quizzical expression hinted that she didn` t  fully accept that these were an acceptable substitute for her own school- life or her parents work-life. I there and then suspected she would never become an investigative journalist as she let her good upbringing get the better of her and didn` t  press the matter.

This mundane everyday sort of intermezzo might easily have been passed off with a laugh but the fact is it began doing laps in my head faster than anything you might see at Silverstone. The existential questions it left in its wake had me pondering.

Is a job resting on the foundations of an education or learned skills the only true fullfilment in life?  To put it simpler. Do we live to work or do we work to live?  For me a job is a sophisticated form of survival honed to perfection from our days as hunters.

I have always enjoyed working if not having to get up early five days a week. Furthermore I have never been in doubt that it is the means to the end and not the goal itself even though a successful job/career quite clearly has an enormous amount of scope for personal fullfilment.

Reaching retiring age does of course deprive most of us of this and in quite a few instances has tragic consequences as many find it hard to adapt to 24/7 freedom.

Adapt is the key word here as for a period of two years the Covid pandemic curtailed some very important activities in our lives as pensioners. Travelling, traditional family gatherings and social intercourse in general. The very things we worked to be able to enjoy and that like gas expanded to fill the vacuum created by not having a job. 

Covid changed the rules and we had to adapt once again. The gist of things being indoors becoming outdoors or the internet. 

The pandemic would seem to be over and a return to a somewhat more normal life is a welcoming thought but the world is forever changing and with that come new challenges on our ability to adapt.

Below is an extract from a speech recorded in the US and then sent to the BBC for broadcasting to a war-torn Europe.

The above lines were quoted on Twitter together with an excellent translation by Mart Kuldkepp associate professor of Scandinavien History and Politics at UCL.

For the benefit of Sarah Wagenknecht et al. I hereby submit my own translation.

The resistance of Ukraine, the help it receives from America and the EU are denounced by the leaders in the Kremlin as ´prolongation of war`

They demand ”peace.”  They who drip with the blood of their own people and that of other peoples dare to utter this word.

What they mean is subjugation, the legalization of their crimes, the acceptance of the humanly unendurable. 

But that is not possible.

With a Putin there can be no peace, because he is thoroughly incapable of peace and because this word in his mouth is nothing but a dirty, pathological lie.

Been there done that, Europe 2023

standforukraine.com

The 24th February 2023 marks the anniversary of what has been described by Germany´ s Chancellor Olaf Scholz as ”Zeitenwende”.   Political slogans are often simple, exaggerated and seldom contain material for serious analysis.  Not so with ”Zeitenwende,” a word closely related to Bob Dylan´ s  song title ”The Times They Are a-Changing;” although unlike Dylan´ s  gentle reminder of a generation in waiting and expectations for the future, ”Zeitenwende” has us looking to the past.  Like the sharpest of knives slicing through the softest of flesh, this word pregnant with memories of recent European history and our determined efforts to avoid a reprise, has left us in agony.  The coming year will see a thousand and one more anniversaries of events that have turned our world upside down. ”Zeitenwende” encapsulates them all whether they be in the realm of politics, the military or human suffering.

In the realm of politics: 

The ugly return of Fascism with imperialist lipstick claiming to protect speakers of Russian by incorporating them into the Russian Federation. Swap Sudetenland 1938 for Crimea 2014.

The invasion of a neighbouring country in order to create a military buffer zone and in the process eliminate any democratic influence.  Swap Poland 1939 for Ukraine 2022.

Russia´ s   faster than ever decline into dictatorship where censorship inhibits freedom of speech and political opposition with those not complying, shown not the door but the window. Hair-raisingly enough this is not the sole reason for the lack of resistance to Putin´´ s ”Special Military Operation” There are still people in Russia who support the war, whatever the label. The excuse often heard is that people believe the propaganda depicting Russia as the victim. It´ s  a sorry excuse at best, where the events of the past year have brought about a better understanding that the problem runs deeper than Putin and his cabal.

Security treaties and international agreements intended to prevent war in Europe have been virtually incinerated by Russia, leaving only the most naive or cynical professing peace in the belief that there is a future in trusting Putin. But where to from here? It took awhile but it now looks as if the first part of that question is being answered with an ever increasing flow of war material to Ukraine. There is consensus in the decision to beat Russia but not in how much, with Macron at the fore of ”just enough”  and the other perhaps more realistic view, from a Ukrainian point of view, ”to the point where they won´ t  try this sort of crap again.” 

Russia is in flagrant breach of the UN charter thus humiliating an organisation that requires voting consensus in its security council.  In other words it would require Russia as a member of that same council to vote in favour of its own exclusion if it is to be excluded. You couldn´ t  make it up!

This was the day the alarm clock not only rang  but went crashing to the floor brutally reminding Europeans of democracy´ s  fragility and the need for closer EU co-operation as well as NATO´ s  vital role in the face of revanchistic imperialism.

”Zeitenwende” has also offered us a political litmus test with the strong, the weak, and the shifty, mercilessly pinpointed in the spotlight on the world stage. Political colour seems to have given way to backbone and personality.  Indecisive Social Democrat Magdalena Andersson finally plucked up the courage and paved the way for Sweden´ s  NATO membership application.  Neutrality is said to be in Sweden´ s  DNA leaving Putin with egg on his face and guaranteeing Andersson a place in history.  Women are said to be less bellicose than men which I have no reason to doubt.  All the more impressive is how female politicians have shown themselves steadfast in the face of Putin´ s  aggression.  From Sanna Marin in Finland to Annalena Baerbock in Germany not forgetting Kaja Kallas in Estonia. 

The far right and far left in Germany holding hands in their opposition to the war not Putin leaves a foul taste in my mouth, not least with their disgusting so called manifestations for peace ignoring the suffering of Ukrainians at the hands of their oppressors.  Ukrainians want to live in peace and in democracy and are prepared to die for that.  Swap negotiations with Putin for negotiations with Hitler and things begin to fall into place.

In the realm of the military:

The military theatre in Ukraine is perhaps the biggest give away of all as to the kind of country we are dealing with.  From a few weeks of success at the outset of the invasion to a botched attack on Kyiv the Russian army proved itself to be unfit for purpose.  The great Russian bear had mould in its fur and rotten teeth.  The army that the world feared was bested by Ukraine which showed better motivatation and leadership all the way from the top down.   Democrat faces autocrat comes to mind; not quite that simple but indicative.  The incompetence shown by Russia on the battlefield was compensated for by targeting civilians.  The stories of survivors are horrendous with the events in Bucha serving as a showcase for this degenerate behavior.  That Putin then expressed his gratitude by decorating the perpetrators of the slaughter in Bucha gives us an insight to the mindset of Russia today.  Vladimir Putin is obviously not of this Century and his army reflects this in no uncertain terms.  I have seen pictures of a bare-chested Putin posing with rifles and riding a horse.  I´ m not sure if that impresses anybody although it most certainly reveals a few things about his character. 

In the realm of human suffering:

There seems little point in repeating the long list of suffering caused by this war as most people, including those in Russia I dare say, are already informed of what is happening.  Pictures and video clips flourish on the internet sometimes only minutes or even seconds after occurring, making this war and its suffering the most documented ever.  War crimes have been abundant and according to legal experts this evil will in time see justice.

The future:

”Zeitenwende”  is very clear about one thing, with people like Putin around you need a strong military deterrent.  Although Scholz initially dithered in his follow up to this promise it would seem he has either changed his mind or is being dragged in the required direction by the chain of events; or could it be Annalena?   Dependency on Russian mineral resources is now permanently off the cards and ”Wandel durch Handel,” (change through trade) also at least as far as Russia is concerned. Not that any of these things were priorities in most other EU countries.  Perhaps the time has come for Germany to cast aside its sackcloth and ashes and realize it´s not the sword that is the problem, it´ s  the way you swing it.  On top of that a lesson or two on what true and thereby often successful leadership entails might not go amiss. As far as anything else is concerned the future is uncertain.  Ukraine has made its goal crystal clear; Russians out and that includes Crimea.  A stance supported by international law but so far has only hesitant support from the US and Europe.   The outcome on the battlefield and the eventual consequences in Russia will not only define whether Ukraine achieves its goal but also define the future of Europe.    

Слава Україні

The last few days has seen increasing pressure on German chancellor Scholz and his SPD party to send German manufactured Leopard tanks to Ukraine. Not only has this been rejected but Germany has also prevented other EU countries, under terms of sale, supplying Ukraine from their own stocks. The latter policy has apparently now been abandoned if the statement made by Annalena Baerbock (the Green Party foreign minister in Scholz`  coalition government) in an interview with French television is to be believed. It is not unlikely that Poland` s ”stuff you” stance, ”we will send them anyway,” was the final straw. As things go it looks increasingly likely that Germany will soon be sending its own Leopards. All` s well that ends well you might think concerning this kerfuffel.

Maybe, but not for Germany. In my opinion it exposes a geo-political rift that trashes any reputation that Germany has painstakingly managed to build up since the second world war. 

It spotlights Germany` s political weakness and its inability to shed its past and take its rightful place as a leader in a democratic Europe. Once again going it alone, albeit now on a quasi pacifist, aggressor appeasing tack. 

A quote from Swedish national Svenska Dagbladet on Germany´s decision not to send Leopard tanks that I translated into German for a Twitter tweet. 

”Feige und gefährlich..schickt starke Signale deutscher Schwäche nach Rußland..Deutschland ist das schwächste Kettenglied des westlichen Zusammenhalts.” Being labelled as cowardly and weak is painful coming from a country with a two hundred year history of avoiding conflict.

After sending that tweet, a helpful defender of the Chancellor responded with a list of war material that Germany has already sent to Ukraine. The list is impressive, containing a large amount of wartime supplies, with the onus on need rather than aggression, although there are exceptions.  Machine guns, missiles, rocket launchers with ammunition, hand grenades, Marder infantry fighting vehicles. Enough lethal material debunking any excuse Scholz has of not wanting to fan the flames of war. Another of Scholz ´ excuses has been of not going it alone which, considering his isolation in an otherwise almost unanimous Europe, is easily translated as without America that is. The insinuation here being that Biden the Boss says no. Judging by statements in Washington denying this, either the US is lying through its teeth or Scholz is using them as a pinafore. Whichever is true, the indecisiveness of the German government, its lack of leadership in the face of brutal aggression not seen in Europe since world war two, will leave Germany holding the baby whatever the outcome in Ukraine. 

History will not be kind. 

In my early twenties I supplemented my income by giving London evening class lessons in German. Apart from meeting a host of interesting people this also brought me into close contact with Dennis and Tony, as I have mentioned earlier.  Drinks after class in the local pub were not unusual which might have been an added motivator for learning German, who knows?  

Another of my courses was attended by Eli who spoke an accentuated English I couldn´t  place, neither geographically nor language wise. On one occasion Eli appologised for missing class one week as it had coincided with a religous holiday. Unlike today, minority religous festivals were not on everybody` s lips unless you belonged to a minority of course. Eli didn` t look ”foreign” either, so I was rather curious as to what that holiday might be. 

”Yom Kippur,” he replied, continuing with, ”I` m an Israeli.” 

I learnt a great deal from Eli, with cloven hoof animals being kosher food, sticking to mind. Pubbing and partying with the occasional curry filled my non-working hours in the late sixties and Eli` s religion never once got in the way of things. In fact we shared a number of likes. Eli had a penchant for buying fresh bread direct from the bakery in the early hours of the morning. Another thing we shared and here I choose to be explicit in order to avoid any misunderstanding, was female company. 

One weekend Eli said he had promised to stop by and pay an elderly couple a visit. Whether friends or family friends he didn` t say although he was sorry he couldn`´ t take me along and suggested we meet up a little later that day. In not so many words it became apparent that my presence in the elderly couple` s home would be uncomfortable for them. Having been born after the war and under the circumstances, the irony of being exposed to this curse didn` t escape me. I fully understood however and the feeling of relief at being spared my own discomfort, neatly juxtapositioned in. 

There is no way I will condemn Ukrainian hatred of Russia and Russians. What Russians are yet to become aware of is, that the hatred will extend to the yet unborn.

As I think I have already mentioned in an earlier post the last five years have offered more suspense than the seventy years before that. What with Trump, Brexit turbulence, the pandemic, climate change, N. Korean rocket man, the invasion of Ukraine, all bundled up to coincide with my otherwise quite satisfactory life as a pensioner,  

Most of this has left me pretty much unscathed with the exception of Covid and the two years of coffin dodging making its mark on my daily priorities. 

Although a glance in the rear mirror of time also reveals a rather stubborn resistance to a world gone mad, resulting in no side effects other than me having aged mentally, slightly faster than usual.  In a young person this might be considered as a pro, though at my age I have a sneaky feeling it is much more of a con.

Whatever, things haven` t let up as this month of October bears witness to. None of the above have been sorted and in fact another horror show added in the form of the not so holy, holy men in Iran.  Women being beaten and tortured by the henchmen of the priesthood  for wanting to be able to choose what they wear,  fits in with the spirit of things. 

In Ukraine of course Russian army violence makes no gender distinction, except when it comes to raping that is. From being seen as the 2nd best army in the world to beyond a doubt proving itself to being the 2nd best army in Ukraine, unless you count killing unarmed civilians that is.

Listening to Putin and his side show of diplomat cum spokesman clowns, Lavrov and Peskov, knowingly debasing themselves in the eyes of the world with logic matching Orwell` s wildest imagination. All to appease the home front in an attempt to persuade the population to sacrifice their menfolk for the sake of an imperialist` s wet dream.

The list is long and the logic at times comical enough to neutralize the meaning of the word parody. 

This is the tip of the iceberg. Hidden below the surface is a country in an emotional state more suited to the first half of the last century. Like an armed gangster demanding respect where respect has not been earned nor quite rightly given. A country seeking to justify the violation of any treaty or agreement blocking the path of its intentions. A country seeking to justify its use of force and the murder and destruction of anyone or anything that gets in its way.  Although nationalism is a not uncommon global disease, when combined with the above we know how it ends.

”We need to negotiate a peace,” someone said. 

It beggars belief that there are still people who believe negotiations resulting in treaties are a panacea for peace. If they were, we wouldn´ t be where we are today.

Sanna Marin, the Prime Minister of Finland was asked, ”…The way out of the conflict?” 

Without hesitation she replied, ”The way out of the conflict is for Russia to leave Ukraine, that is the way out of the conflict.”

It has been said that moments before dying your brain offers you flashbacks of your life. Strictly speaking the truth of this might be considered difficult to verify and must I suppose, be an assumption based on the narrative of people suffering close calls. Thankfully, I am still a part of this world and watching the Queen` s funeral involved a number of emotions, yet hardly any resulting in what might be deemed as a close call. 

Despite this my brain insisted on taking me back to the time Elizabeth and I became part of one another`s lives. Don` t get me wrong, , we had never actually met, the closest I ever came was catching a glimpse of her at the Braemar Highland Games about 40 years ago. No, it goes back further than that, to be precise a little over 70 years to 1952 when her father George VI died and she became queen.  I was five years old and had already lived in England for two years together with my mother and my R.E.M.E. lieutenant colonel stepfather. 

It was on that day the 6th February 1952 that our relationship began. For all intents and purposes she became my queen and I became her subject, with the formalisation of the former in June 1953 and the latter a number of years later. Since the day of her coronation when I first became aware of our affiliation on receiving  a coronation mug at school, she has been part of my life. Again please do not misunderstand me, neither of us really got into each other` s hair, not least me of course. Although she might be considered as having been indirectly responsible for my upbringing, in school, including mugs and other manifistations of the monarchy, though never effusive, together with my immediate upper middle class surroundings of family and friends. 

I have never considered myself an obsessive royalist although see sense in the institution itself. At the early age of round about eight, I was quite shocked when one of my friend` s mother was frank about her thoughts on royalty as she sat breast-feeding an infant. Recalling this incident many years later brought on the understanding that her child had been gulping down large helpings of republican milk. At the time I was just a little confused but realize today that it was my first awakening to politics and class. I recall relating the incident at dinner that same evening and there was not only a complete absence of outrage but almost no response at all. That I had a working class friend whose republican mother spoke badly of the monarchy whilst breast-feeding her infant, was obviously just one of those things and nothing to get excited about. The attitude at that dinner in response to my story was certainly telling and although only a minuscule part of my upbringing, definitely not insignificant.

A lifetime of posting letters in EIIR letter-boxes, travelling the continents of the world carrying the comforting, although in some places not quite so reassuring text, ”…Requests and requires in the Name of her Majesty all those whom it may concern to allow the bearer to pass freely without let or hindrance and to afford the bearer such assistance and protection as may be necessary,”  has come to an end.

A curious relationship, so distant yet so close.

Having watched the respect shown to Elizabeth at her funeral and the kaleidoscope compilation of mourners from all corners of the world, I am just one. Yes, that is how I feel.

Generally speaking, I find Swedish politics about as exciting as sitting on a wobbly camping stool in the middle of a noisy campsite eating a bowl of soggy cornflakes doused in lukewarm milk. 

Admittedly this year´s political scene offers a little more spice with perhaps the most outstanding feature being, that I run the risk of being shot off my stool. 

Undoubtedly a flavour adding political ingredient galvanizing even the most lethargic lawmaker into some sort of action. There is general agreement on the problem with the political left putting the onus on better integration and anything remotely associated with the blatantly obvious need for the same and the political right sailing on the other tack, bemoaning the wishy washy, if any legal consequences for criminal gangs, hinting that getting rid of ”them” will solve the problem. ”Them” being an often used term in reference to any shade of immigrant colour, not necessarily criminal. ”Getting rid of,” meaning longer prison sentences, deportation and an almost total moratorium on low skills immigration. 

I think most people are aware that a good mix of the two approaches is a necessary prerequisite for anyone to be allowed to finish their cornflakes in peace.  A gigantic political challenge highlighted by almost daily gang shootings. 

Significantly, the populist right wing SD party (Sweden Democrats) envisages a return to the Swedish ”folkhem,” or home for the people, where basically everybody did as they were Social Democratically told, people weren´t too fussy about locking  their doors at night and there were few foreigners, not to mention Muslims. NB a large proportion of SD´s voters are former Social Democrats.  Ignoring climate change also fits in well with the ”folkhem” scenario and the absence of Pride is enough to warm the cockles of any homophobic SD heart.

Surprise surprise, Sweden´s Prime Minister, Magdalena Andersson also says she wants to return to, ”the Sweden we love.” No prizes for guessing what that means. Although to be fair, it comes across as cheap political rhetoric rather than anything else, underlined by her pragmatic but defining move in applying for membership of NATO, unequivocally distancing the country from its Social Democratic ”folkhem” history and ending 200 years of neutrality.

The jaw dropping dishonesty that the future lies in the past is as laughably obvious as the benefits of Brexit or Russia´s reincarnation of Peter the Great.  As a vote magnet for the disgruntled?  Understandable. As a political agenda?  

Doomed to failure. 

Polling day, the 11th of September, will show us how many people in Sweden understand the difference.

Churchill is to have said,  ”The best argument against democracy is a five-minute conversation with the average voter,” mitigating this somewhat provocative remark with, ”Democracy is the worst form of government, except for all the others.” His words reveal why most of the world´s democracies favour political representation as opposed to direct democracy, with a number of democracies going as far as outlawing referendums. 

Even if not completely sharing Margaret Thatcher´s views that referendums are, “A device of dictators and demagogues,”  there is an obvious awareness that the will of the people is an extremely fragile democratic tool and easily manipulated. In this context, Facebook et al and the ability for harvesting personal data have been a game changer of enormous proportions. If fascism was the scourge of the 20th Century, populism is leading the race just 22 years into this Century. 

At first sight the voice of the people may seem to never have been stronger, with every Tom, Dick and Harry (OK, I know) being able to share opinions on social media platforms to large audiences. Ironically, instead of furthering democracy, this cultural revolution has translated into a superficial will of the people often giving no heed to logic or consequence and, once reality sets in as after Brexit, demanding reality be castrated. 

The Brexit referendum split the UK in two. There is little point in raising doubts about its legitimacy or its flaws. These should be saved for political processes demanding change for the future. For now, done is done.  Half the nation mourned the loss of their EU citizenship and its benefits and the other half got what they voted for, either unaware of these benefits or not caring.

 This rather highlights the problems associated with populism. A dishonest or laissez-faire attitude towards reality or just plain ignorance are not prescriptions for a successful future. The reality now, is that the UK is no longer a member of the EU. The reality now, is that this has consequences and that these consequences have to be dealt with. 

In the words of Abraham Lincoln, “You can fool some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time, but you can not fool all of the people all of the time.”

Just a matter of time in other words.

PS

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