Different
Everyone is different.
Everyone has a different skill.
Everyone has different limitations.
Everyone thinks differently.
Everyone are not the same.
Some people can hold their breath.
Some people can drive fast.
Some people can climb mountains.
Some people are good at languages.
Some people can cook.
Some people are good with children.
Some people can put bricks on top of another.
Some people can chop down trees.
Progressives want everyone to be the same.
They want everyone to have the same wage.
They want everyone to have the same education.
They want everyone to have the same job.
They want everyone to have the same health.
They want everyone to have the same chances in life.
They want everyone to have the same views.
They want everyone to have the same opinion.
Independent thinking people want people to be different.
They want some people to do poorly paid jobs.
They want some people to not work.
They want some people to have very public lives.
They want some people to control other people.
They want some people to hate their jobs.
They want some people to give money to others.
They want some people to be clever.
They want some people to dangerous things.
They want some people to give pleasure to others.
SBML
Inspired by Hidden Talent
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1
May 24, 2012 at 07:02 -
I love that photo. Interesting. Can I add a quasi – spiritual observation. There is a paradox here. In one sense the Universe delights in the individuality of us all. I read somewhere that for all the billions and billions to the power of Lord knows what, no two snow flakes are ever identical. Amazing. At the same time, some spiritual works say. Yes, that is right, but at the same time we are all part of one:
“Every mind contains all minds,
For every mind is one”
(The Course in Miracles)
Please feel free to debate.
G the M-
2
May 24, 2012 at 09:03 -
Hi Gildas –
I’m not sure I’d ever be described as spiritual but you touch on something I’ve come to feel is true from reading. The universe itself is one entity and we are all separate manifestations of it, experiencing it in very individual and novel ways.
Who knows? Maybe we are like individual software programmes, and we write onto the hard drive of the universe itself ? Or maybe the universe is a giant brain and we are like individual neurons within it?
I know it’s all reductive, but fun to speculate and gives us more ways of looking at each other, I hope.
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3
May 24, 2012 at 09:12 -
I think that you put that very well Gladiolys. It has always seemed to me that the Universe involves endless paradoxes. It a strange a mechanical world on one level, and a strange and spiritual one on another. However, where I believe many quantum physicisist and those of a “spiritual” nature may now be concurring is that you can’t have a Universe without thought. I read a lively quote the other day: “The Universe came into being with just one gentle thought”. I suspect there is a great deal of truth in that. But who and what is thinking?
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4
May 26, 2012 at 18:15 -
The amazing thing about snowflakes is not just that the’re all different, (after all, no two coffee stains or piles of rubbish or holes in the ground are identical), but that they’re (fairly) symmetrical yet all different.
The explanation is subtle, but fascinating.
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5
May 24, 2012 at 08:18 -
John Tamsin’s Bairns
If o’or house be built wi’ globbers or juist dry-stane dyken
Wi’ a coom-ceil roof wi’ a reek-hole thro’ the thykin
Or o’ pure Carac marble wi’ minerets to heaven,
We’re a’ John Tamsin’s bairns as shure’s ye’re livin’.
The big wi’ the sma’ o’ them; the dowdy wi’ the braw o’ them,
The wale wi’ the waste o’ them – John Tamsin’s bairns.If we maister for oorsels, or do as we’re bidden,
Like scouthered, herded stirks, or be be cocks o’ oor ain midden;
If we piffer wi’ a bruch; or reesel smiddy-airns
In the rough an’ the tumble, we’re John Tamsin’s bairns.
We may cut the oddsome capers o’ fan-tail doos,
Wear geegaw glitterin’ burgonets that sit ill on oor broos;
Ower a’ he is the king wha gets dunts an’ isna cairin’;
He’s a son o’ his ain faither, is John Tamsin’s bairn.The muckle wi’ the less o’ them; rags or purple be the dress o’ them,
An we’re a’ ane, when we’re stripit – John Tamsin’s bairns.
If we ha’e bit ord’nar smeddum we’re giftit as the best o’ them,
No juist gomerals a’ thegither we’re as good, faith, as the rest o’ them.
It’s no’ the heepit bicker, or the jimpness o’ oor sairns,
An’ hunger mak’s guid kitchen to John Tamsin’s bairns.Then let’s dad the stoor oot o’ it, sweeten what is sour o’ it
Be a credit to oor faither! John Tamsin’s bairns.
Ane an’ a’ whiles miss their foot, to slip is human nature,
But – losh, it’s service kind to dicht a fylt an’ draiglet craiter;
Wi’ mony a nappit pow, a wean its toddlin’ lesson learns
An’ every heart-sad mither kens ther’s differences o’ bairns.
Steery weans an’ sober anes, girnin’ weans an’ lauchin’ anes,
But we’ll a’ be bonnie aince we’re washed – John Tamsin’s bairns.Robert Couston.
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6
May 24, 2012 at 08:59 -
Hmmm…. yes, variety is essential to any community, but surely you don’t want people to be greedy, spiteful, hateful, rude, mean or arrogant (amongst many others)?
I’d differ on your definition of progressives – for me, that’s about “from each, according to their abilities, for each, according to their needs”. I think being progressive is more about seeing people as individuals and not expecting everyone to want to be go-getting Apprentice types, which means, yes, some people will not be able to be as “productive” as others, so how do you ensure their basic needs are met? Just because they don’t produce economically, does not mean they are not good parents, partners, friends, carers or thinkers.
And in your desire to be celebrate difference, where does that leave your views on multiculturalism? I’m one of those who actually still believes in it. We are one world, with many cultures, They are always going to butt up against each other. Unless we get off the planet, the issue will become more acute. Cultures, or specific populations, should not be walled off in separate geographies. Yes, there are problems now in this country, but if we look at how Caribbean, African and Hindus and Sikhs have integrated, those problems diminish with time and patience. The same will happen with Muslim communities.
Feel free to call me a hopeless idiotic dreamer.
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7
May 24, 2012 at 11:14 -
I feel that a lot of the political debate around ‘equality’ and (to some extent) ‘multiculturalism’ rather hinges around envy and a misplaced sense of history.
The phrase ‘from each according to ability, to each according to need’ has rather become associated with the demonstrably negative aspects of communism – the old USSR, for example. One also has little respect for clearly well-heeled politicians and media commentators calling for more taxing of the rich, because it just sounds so hollow and hypocritical. If we are to ‘equalise’ society, better to equalise up rather than equalise down. Less taxing of the poor rather than more taxing of the rich, for example.
The ‘multiculturalism’ thing seems to revolve around a belief that we must make amends for the evils of the British Empire, and rather ignores that for many people and nations, British rule was better than the alternatives at the time – a mixed and complex picture, of course, but not wholly negative. I think you’re right that time will help with intergation, but there are some who need to assimilate some British values, and don’t seem to be making much effort yet.
Equality of opportunity is also, I think, a rather difficult concept to realise. The opportunities in Abernethy will always be different to those in Ahford, Andover, Aberystwyth or Alnwick. We should aim for decency, but not necessarily ‘equality’. We’ve seen with education that (well meaning) attempts to provide equality can lead to reduction in standards everywhere, which is something we’d all rather avoid.
I believe that many problems will be solved, or at least alleviated, by allowing people to get on with producing local solutions to local problems. The top-down state-controlled bureaucratic solutions imposed from afar often don’t work, as we’ve seen.
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8
May 24, 2012 at 12:50 -
Multiculturalism is an oxymoron because by adopting it the host culture is altered. A further irony is that the imported cultures are static variants of their own dynamic source cultures, why should we become a museum for other peoples’ junk? It is daft if ‘X’land-British continue to wear traditional non-geographically appropriate clothing when back in ‘X’land everyone is in T-shirts and shorts.
On Radio 2 a primary school head said that her school was ‘multicultural’. She was challenged that the proportion of Muslims in the UK is similar to the proportion of Christians in Pakistan yet it is hard to believe that that state would ever describe itself as ‘multicultural’.
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9
May 24, 2012 at 17:03 -
Gladiolys said
“you don’t want people to be greedy, spiteful, hateful, rude, mean or arrogant”
Hmmmm, like those well known progressives Ed Balls, Polly Toynbee, Bono, Gordoom Brown and others, you mean? Progressives have no monopoly on nice, on the whole I find them more avaricious and nasty than most.
“if we look at how Caribbean, African and Hindus and Sikhs have integrated”
Well some have integrated better than others, Caribbeans and Sikhs still seem to prefer their ghettoes, I would not necessarily be proud about the degree of integration or deference to British social norms, which seems to me a repudiation of any reason to leave their home countries.
The same will happen with Muslim communities.
Perhaps, though one has to consider that devout muslims believe non-muslims are second-class and should be lied to and killed if they do not submit to Islam. It seems like a big mistake to believe they are going to renounce their religious beliefs.
Just hoping for a better world will not work, immigrants particularly must see the host country as more than a cash machine from which they can extract wealth back to their relatives in their home land or enjoy the benefits of the welfare state without contribution. Beveridge and Atlee’s welfare state was meant to support people who strived to contribute not the feckless.
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10
May 24, 2012 at 10:08 -
Echoes of Bob Dylan SBML…
“Now, each of us has his own special gift
And you know this was meant to be true
And if you don’t underestimate me
I won’t underestimate you.” -
11
May 24, 2012 at 10:15 -
It’s the bed of Procrustes, really.
The progressives won’t rest until every one of us fits their established paradigm.
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12
May 24, 2012 at 11:12 -
If we really were all “the same”, there’d be no need for ‘progressives’ to try to force us all to be the same.
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13
May 24, 2012 at 11:30 -
I’m definitely up for equality of opportunity, especially in education. Whereas I accept that, for example, the employment opportunities will be different in Abernethy from those in Ashford, Andover, Aberystwyth or Alnwick, there is no need for that to be true of education, at least while the state runs it. And once one has become an adult and has benefited from an education equal to that of one’s peers, taken to whatever level is appropriate to one’s skills and aptitudes, one can then seek the employment opportunities anywhere.
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14
May 24, 2012 at 12:26 -
But all people are different. Each will benefit best from different types of education. One size fits all quite demonstrably hasn’t worked, so the ‘equality of opportunity’ being enforced until recently was the result of incorrect assumptions about the human condition.
I’m quite sure that nobody wants anybody to have a poor education, but unfortunately, for whatever reasons, that’s what has been happening for too many of late, especially in some inner cities. The challenge is getting the best possible for all, whatever their talents and abilities – whether they take that opportunity is, unfortunately, another matter, and leaves us with the problem of how to rectify the situation later. The less ‘rectifying’ we have to do in the future, the better for all.
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15
May 24, 2012 at 17:36 -
I said “equality of opportunity”, not “equality of education”. I’m with you on this point.
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17
May 24, 2012 at 12:32 -
There is only one person behind my eyes, and only I know who I am.
I sometimes think I know other people, but I am so often wrong.
Some people have similar characteristics, but no two people are the same.
That to me is the beauty of my Universe.
There are many other Universes, and no two of them are the same.-
18
May 24, 2012 at 19:36 -
Please name just one other universe.
Thanks
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20
May 24, 2012 at 12:36 -
That word “want” is still a bit pushy.
I’d rather people are just free to do their own thing and succeed where they can and do.
It’s so simple: Individual freedom. Individual responsibility. (-> individual flourishing.)
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21
May 24, 2012 at 12:50 -
Er, how do we know that no two snow flakes are ever the same?
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22
May 24, 2012 at 13:26 -
I only read it! Maybe it can proved by some sort of….science/test/thing!
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23
May 24, 2012 at 17:38 -
Scientifically proven – http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2007/02/070213-snowflake_2.html
It depends on how detailed you want to go. At the atomic level it’s pretty much a given that every snowflake will be different. Different number of atoms etc.
However at a macroscopic level, just after creation, all snowflakes are pretty much the same.
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25
May 24, 2012 at 13:44 -
Straw man argument.
I don’t think that there are any “progressives” according to the definition that you gave of them. “Progressives want everyone to be the same.”
Kindly give an example of someone who wants everyone to be the same.
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26
May 24, 2012 at 14:44 -
It is fairly clear there is a policy to bring about a homogenised human entity and to remove individuality.
With a bit of honesty one can identify the trends in education, immigration, religion, politics . . . .
I don’t suppose it is a requirement that everyone is the same, rather that they are a manageable, homogenised workforce free of any dangerous originality.
“Socially mutual” was the phrase in The Prisoner.
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27
May 24, 2012 at 15:07 -
“It is fairly clear there is a policy to bring about a homogenised human entity and to remove individuality.”
No, I don’t see it. So it can’t be as clear as you think it is.
Anyway, back to the question I posed – the original poster defined “Progressives want everyone to be the same.”
Clearly this is as bad as saying “Gupluks want everyone to be blue”, and we can all get behind hating gupluks. Problem is, there aren’t actually any gupluks.
Kindly give an example of someone who wants everyone to be the same, so that I can be annoyed at this person.
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28
May 24, 2012 at 16:24 -
How about Mao Tse Tung?
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30
May 24, 2012 at 16:28 -
OK, I’ll bite.
Comprehensive education controlled by a centralised (and seemingly unaccountable) ‘education establishment’. The same shall be given to all, whether it suits them or not – the Fiona Millar approach.
Possibly the most successful minister in the current government is Michael Gove, simply because he wants to set teachers free to teach, and wants to improve the standards by which all are measured. The complete opposite of ‘Progressive’, but nonetheless very progressive.
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31
May 24, 2012 at 15:55 -
Getting annoyed is not the point.
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32
May 25, 2012 at 00:18 -
drsolly – what about the makers of Coca Cola?
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33
May 26, 2012 at 13:04 -
John Malpas: Coca Cola shares one similarity with comprehensive education. The producer advertising/propaganda implies that the formula is exactly the same everywhere, so that each consumer/student receives the same product regardless of geography. But in fact in neither case is it explicitly stated that either product is universally the same in a way that could be contested in a court of law. An important difference is that one is not obliged to pay for Coca Cola.
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34
May 26, 2012 at 18:39 -
“Multiculturalism” tolerates people belonging to different groups, but requires those within such groups to conform to that particular culture. It’s still a form of tyranny.
I was born in this country, but I don’t fit in. Why should an immigrant conform, if I don’t have to?
Actually, most people want to fit in somewhere. That’s okay, as long as they don’t try to drag me in too.
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