The Sunday Reflection #62 - The more stones you lift, the more snakes you find

 Life often deals us a curveball. We see life in the context of our own experiences. Sometimes things seem inexplicable, cruel, just strange, only for it to all become clear years later. Let me give you a random example. When I was just a wee nipper, all of my mates joined a local youth organisation. With this, they did all manner of exciting activities. They even went away camping. I desperately wanted to join, but my Dad said no and made it clear it wasn't up for discussion. With my Dad, the one thing I learned was no was no. Decades later, long after Dad had passed, the leader of the group was arrested. It came out that he'd been up to all sorts of despicable things. I never got the chance to ask Dad if he had an inkling of what was going on or a it was a more general distrust of such group. I suspect my Dad just had a general dislike of the leader of the group. He often took seemingly irrational dislikes to people, who invariably turn out to be wrong uns. 

Dad had several tests of a mans character. He never trusted anyone who didn't drink too much on occasion. He always reckoned they had something to hide. He never trusted anyone who spoke ill of their wife. He figured that if your wife wasn't your best friend, then you were an idiot and if you did speak ill of your best friend, you were a fool and you shouldn't go around slagging her off to the world. He disliked people who didn't stand their round in the pub, people who sat on committees, spouted opinions on everything but were always busy when their was work to be done. I recall on one occasion, a member of one charity committee Dad was on made a disparaging comment about my aunties husband, who was also on the committee, but didn't have a fancy job. Dad said "Well at least he gets off his backside and actually does some work, rather than just telling the rest of us what we are doing wrong". Dad found the indignation of the said chap hilarious. Dad recounted the story. After he said it, he added "I can't stand these pompous types, you can just imagine how they treat the people who work for them". Explained that such people were highly untrustworthy, as they thought they were better than everyone else and so felt a God given right to take liberties with people.

I have always born these tests in mind when dealing with people. What I didn't realise at the time, was that my Father was as much telling me the sort of behaviours I should not exhibit, as telling me how to be cautious with other people. If I am in a large round and we all go home before it gets to me, I feel guilty. If I get cross with the guys who work for me and express my displeasure, I feel bad. But I see other people doing these things and thinking they are clever and it really puts me off them. My wife is far less judging of people and often castigates me for not liking people for what she considers the most trivial of reasons (not buying their round being the main one). When I am proven right, as almost invariably happens with such shady characters, she will inform me that she never liked them either. 

Sadly though, some people pass all the tests and still turn out to be snakes. I have concluded that they are crafty enough to have figured out how to beat the snake test. There is one character who was a friend for many years, only to show his true character in the most upsetting of fashion. The most horrifying thing was that the signs were there all along and I'd just missed them. The one that is easiest to miss is the way that people treat the people that they don't have to treat nicely, such as employees, waiters, etc. 

Another thing Dad said to me is that "the more stones you lift, the more snakes you find". Dodgy characters lurk everywhere. The worst people are those that glory in having power over other people and use the opportunity to make the people who rely on them miserable. Why am I writing this blog today? Well actually there is a good reason. Today is the first day of the first Labour party conference since they won power last year. We look at the party leaders. Labour - Sir Keir Starmer. Conservatives - Kemi Badenoch, Lib  Dems - Sir Ed Davey and Reform Nigel Farage. Would you trust any of them? What do you think they would be like as your boss? Do you think they'd stand their round in the pub? How do they treat and do they respect their wives/husbands/partners. Do they actually get stuck in and do work, or do they just spout opinions? 

Here are a few facts about each. Draw your own conclusions.

Sir Keir Starmer worked as a lawyer. He is married.  He supports Arsenal. He's a pescitarian, who doesn't eat meat. In the 1980's he edited a Trotskyite magazine called Socialist Alternatives and he ownes a cat. 

Kemi Badenoch, worked in Software for Logica and RBS before becoming involved in politics (I used to work for SPL who viewed Logica as the opposition, so I have an irrational dislike of her). I couldn't find out a football team who she supports. She was born in Wimbledon of Nigerian heritage, but has given up her Nigerian passport and claims she no longer identifies as Nigerian. Wikipedia claims she doesn't like people from the North of Nigeria. She is married. 

Sir Ed Davey. Supports Notts County. Worked as an anylist and researcher before becoming an MP, married to his wife since 2005, has two kids, one of whom who is severely disabled and who Davey acts as a carer for. 

Nigel Farage has been married twice, once to an Irishwoman and once to a German. He worked as a commodities trader, and 

Farage eas a commodities trader, a former Tory member as well as a Green voter. likes cricket and supports Crystal Palace. He claims to be both a Christian and a lapsed member of the Church of England. He claims to be a big beer fan, but I once saw him dining at the Rising Sun pub in Mill Hill and he seemed keener on expensive red wines from what I saw. He also, if my eyes were not deceiving me, did not pay the bill. Having said that, we've all had mates buy us expensive dinners haven't we?

In my life I've worked in music, IT and also been active in politics locally. The most alarming thing I've learned is that politics is full of snakes. A PhD in backstabbing and shafting your mates seems to be a pre-requistite. If I was choosing a politician based on character, I'd choose Ed Davey. If I was choosing a politician to lead the country and do trade deals with the likes of Donald Trump, or negotiate peace deals with the likes of Putin, etc, I'd choose Sir Keir Starmer every day. His former job as a lawyer, involved dealing with criminals, shady characters, murderers and not getting too upset about their behaviour. The world is full of snakes. If I want to get to heaven, I ask the vicar what to do. If I find an adder in the garden I ask a snake specialist what to do. Of the four, Starmer seems to me to be the only one who is a career snake charmer. 

I actually have a theory about Nigel Farage. I think he is an establishment stooge, who's job was to shaft the far right. His brief is to spout the most ridiculous rubbish to attract the most fringe members of the right to him, so that when his career crashes and burns, which will inevitably happen before the next election, he will take down the dreams of his supporters with them. The more I see of Stephen Yaxley-Lennon (AKA Tommy Robinson), the more I think he is another one. Never underestimate the ability of the British Establishment to some up with cunning plans to maintain its supremecy. 

The phrase "Perfidious Albion" originates from a 1793 poem by the French playwright Augustin Louis de Ximénès, who used the term "la perfide Albion" to describe Britain as treacherous and untrustworthy. "Albion" is an ancient name for the British Isles, and the term "perfidious" means deceitful or disloyal. The phrase became popular in the late 18th and early 19th centuries to criticize British diplomacy and international dealings, which were often seen as self-serving and a betrayal of agreements. A quick Google search will give you a whole list of fine examples. 

Mind you, however bad we are, we haven't found ourselves a Donald Trump (yeT)