WHY ISN’T EVERYONE A SOCIALIST?

Posted on June 28, 2018 by Norwich Radical in Inter|national, Perspectives and tagged authoritarian, benefits, capitalism, communism, control, featured, feminism, hardworking, margaret thatcher, neoliberalism, politics, poverty, practice, praxis, Reagan, socialism, state, theory, Thomas Mann, wealth, welfare.

by Jonathan Lee

It’s a dirty word for many who don’t really understand what it means. People often broadly sweep Socialism into a single ideology, which is much maligned as an unworkable and authoritarian regime, seemingly unsuitable for the modern day, and unpopular amongst the electorate.

I’ll start out being optimistic, and assume that this ignorance of what Socialism is explains why some people discount it out of hand. Because the premise of Socialism is generally one that I have to believe most people should aspire to in some way. “Every human being should be a moderate Socialist,” Thomas Mann said.

Why? Because Socialism is a general set of social, political, and economic views that places people first. And what’s the point of having a democratic society, in which we the people place power in the hands of a select few to manage our lives, if not to make things generally better for people as a whole?Continue Reading

‘SHITHOLES’ AND GLOBAL PERCEPTION OF DEVELOPING COUNTRIES

Posted on February 2, 2018 by Norwich Radical in Inter|national and tagged Africa, countries, development, discrimination, featured, global, Haiti, perception, politics, racism, shithole, Trump, US, wealth.

by Gunnar Eigener

The term ‘shithole’ allegedly used by US President Donald Trump to describe Haiti and African countries drew widespread condemnation from a number of world leaders and US domestic politicians. Although no attempt was initially made to denounce the comment, it was only until a while later that the White House denied it happened. Since the source regarding the comment was the only US Democrat in the room with the President and others and those others can’t seem to remember whether or not it was said, we can’t be absolutely certain that it was made. However, the comment represents a bigger issue at hand: the blatant disregard that the current US administration has for developing countries.Continue Reading

THE CASE FOR A ‘NORWICH POUND’

Posted on December 14, 2017 by Norwich Radical in Community and tagged Berkshares, Bristol, brixton, crisis, economics, economy, gbp, high street, lewes, local, local currency, NCC, norfolk, norwich, pound, small business, spending, Stroud, Totnes, wealth.

by Oliver Steward

The concept of a local currency is one way to encourage people to go to the high street through a creative use of supply side economics. A local currency would enable towns and cities across the country to stimulate economic activity in their floundering high streets. We need to encourage small business activity during this time of economic uncertainty, as small and micro businesses encourage entrepreneurship and form the backbone of our economy. Independent shops give our high street character and provide an incentive for people to visit our historic towns. The so-called ‘Death of the High-street’ is not just about national chains relocating, but the closure of small businesses. The use of a local currency would help reinvigorate it.Continue Reading

SAIL AWAY, PROFESSOR HOLMES. YOU WON’T BE MISSED.

Posted on August 3, 2017 by Norwich Radical in Student and tagged 2008 crash, academic staff, amorality, banks, Barclays, Bentley, Bolton University, Brexit, Brexit divorce bill, capital, capital flight, capitalism, commentary, commitment, conflict of interest, corporate tax, corporations, corruption, emigration, EU referendum, fair pay, financial crash, Financial Times, George Holmes, government, higher education, HSBC, hubris, inequality, jeremy corbyn, jo johnson, Jose Mourinho, markets, narcissism, neoliberalism, pay equality, pay gap, pay rises, prime minister, regulation, role models, senior management, success, talent flight, tax, uk, universities, university staff, university vice chancellors, vice chancellor pay, wage gap, wealth.

by Rowan Gavin

As the farce of university bosses’ salaries has finally entered mainstream debate this year, I’ve often found myself wishing that the kind of people who are comfortable taking pay rises six times larger than their average member of staff, and who don’t see a problem in sitting on the committees that decide their salary, would just piss off out of our universities altogether. So when I read the FT’s interview* with Bolton Uni VC Prof George Holmes the other day, I’ll admit I was a little surprised to read his proposal for a method of achieving just that.

AFTER TRUMP AND BREXIT, THE LEFT NEEDS TO REDISCOVER CLASS ANGER

Posted on November 18, 2016 by Norwich Radical in Inter|national and tagged anti-establishment, Bernie Sanders, Boris Johnson, Brexit, british politics, class, corbyn, Donald Trump, economics, economy, election, elections, elite, establishment, EU, EU ref, EU referendum, Europe, European Parliament, european politics, european union, Hilary Clinton, inequality, international, international politics, jeremy corbyn, joan williams, Labour, labour party, middle class, referendum, Trump, US election, US president, US presidential election, USA, wealth, working class, xenophobia.

By Robyn Banks

I’m in the break room at work choking on my out of date sandwich. I’ve just been informed by two of my colleagues- good, down to earth working class people who probably think I bang on about my degree too much- that Boris Johnson is a “lad”, and I have no idea what to say. But none of us have any money, I want to shout. And he wants us to have less! Before I can respond, the conversation moves on to laughing about his hair, which is much more tolerable. Later, as I complain about Trumps victory, I am told that all I want is for “everyone to sit in a circle and hold hands”.

ARTS IN ASIA: A REFLECTION

Posted on October 12, 2016 by Norwich Radical in Arts, Inter|national and tagged art, arts, asia, Bali, Bangkok, buddhism, childcare, Chua Bai Dinh, Da Nang, dance, Ethnology, expression, galleries, Haiphong, Hanoi, Hindu, Indonesia, inequality, karaoke, Kecak Fire, language, Laos, luxury, malaysia, mental health, music, Ninh Binh, open mic, poet, poetry, privilege, religion, sexism, singapore, singer, Singlish, South East Asia, thailand, theatre, tourism, Trance Dance, travel, travel writing, Vietnam, wealth, women.

by Carmina Masoliver

I spent four months in South East Asia; two and a half were spent working in Vietnam, but I also got to go to Thailand, Laos, Singapore, Indonesia and Malaysia. Although it has been the longest time I’ve been away from the UK, it would be impossible and presumptuous for me to generalise the arts in the whole of South East Asia, or even just one country. Instead, this will be a reflection on the things I experienced whilst travelling.Continue Reading

MONEY AND MONA LISA – THE VALUE OF ART

Posted on June 28, 2016 by Norwich Radical in Arts and tagged art, art criticism, art history, arts, auction, capitalism, Charles Saatchi, Christie's, da Vinci, exhibit, gallery, Leonardo da Vinci, Leonardo di Caprio, Louvre, modern art, money, museum, My Bed, paris, public perception, reception, Renaissance, Tate, Tracey Emin, value, visual, visual art, wealth, Youtube.

by Jess Howard

My younger brother is 14, and with that is coming all manner of traditional 14 year old behaviours. Sulking, door slamming, wearing a can of Lynx per day, and spending eternity glued to his Xbox. In addition to this, he has also discovered the wonderful world of procrastinating on YouTube, and so we are being treated to a delightful array of narration on a daily basis.

During one particular conversation revolving around a group of people who seem to sit and chat rubbish for hours, with one relevant fact thrown in for good measure, he asked why the Mona Lisa was such a valuable painting. An interested and insightful question, but one we only arrived upon after he asked if Leonardo DiCaprio was around during the Renaissance period.Continue Reading

DEAR STUDENTS: IT’S OK TO BE RICH

Posted on April 21, 2016 by Norwich Radical in Student and tagged access, Bullingdon Club, class, dear students, distribution of wealth, financial instability, financial stability, grant, international students, privilege, rent, rich, scholarship, society, student fees, student loans, students, study, tuition fees, university, wealth, work, working class.

by Candice Nembhard

As someone who prides themselves on coming from a Black, working class background, I can honestly say that my attitude towards wealth, especially inherited wealth is not as big a deal as many may think. I am fully aware that an institution such as university is a privilege, which in itself brings together people of different backgrounds and different experiences in their upbringing. That in part is what makes the experience of being a student all the more interesting — being invited into a world unbeknownst to you.

In that respect, university life is a microcosm of our society: people of differing economic status and political alliances co-existing (for the most part). As I said, my attitudes to wealth are largely unaffected, but I cannot deny that I have noticed that attitudes towards wealth from students who come from a ‘privileged’ background, often come with the feeling of shame.Continue Reading

THE CORPORATE UNDERGROUND

Posted on April 3, 2016 by Norwich Radical in Arts and tagged art, arts, brand, capitalism, Converse, corporate, creative freedom, expression, industry, internet, mainstream, Mass Appeal, Mike Vinti, money, music, music industry, music that matters, nme, O2, pop, promotion, punk, radio 1, Red Bull, Red Bull Music Academy, Reel Big Fish, Relentless, Rubber Tracks, Rude Kid, sell out, Sprite, trend, underground, wealth.

by Mike Vinti

The lines between the underground and mainstream music worlds have been blurring for a while now. As with the majority of issues facing the music industry these days, this is largely because of the internet. While it’s been an undeniably positive force on music itself, allowing fans and artists to connect more easily as well as opening whole new worlds of music to potential fans, it’s also made underground music more marketable.

This may not sound like a bad thing, and to a large extent it isn’t. While it would be great if musicians could live off credibility alone, in the ruthless world of capitalism in which we live, you need to be stacking that P if you want to survive. Where this increased marketability becomes less positive however is when corporations start getting involved.Continue Reading

BEAUTY IS IN THE HANDS OF THE AFFLUENT

Posted on December 12, 2015 by Norwich Radical in Perspectives and tagged beauty, class, ethnicity, Europe, Perspectives, physicality, privilege, race, self, society, travel, wealth.

By Sunetra Senior

This article is inspired by the bizarre reaction I have encountered as a reasonably dressed British-Asian travelling through the less diverse, major cities in Western Europe. At first I thought I was being paranoid – after all it is hard not to be aware of your starkly contrasting skin-colour in a sea of predominantly white faces. But this particular behaviour became undeniable in places of public transit – such as the queues at passport control and the underground – where you would need to cut the tension with a laser from a high-quality diamond factory. People weren’t just looking, they were gawking.

And the most interesting part was that it wasn’t malicious. There was no sneering or narrowing of eyes, but rather lingering looks of astonishment and intrigue. Eventually I began to wonder, and do excuse my ‘French’ when I say this, could it be that these dear people were not used to seeing a person of ethnic minority actually looking good?Continue Reading

wealth

WHY ISN’T EVERYONE A SOCIALIST?

‘SHITHOLES’ AND GLOBAL PERCEPTION OF DEVELOPING COUNTRIES

THE CASE FOR A ‘NORWICH POUND’

SAIL AWAY, PROFESSOR HOLMES. YOU WON’T BE MISSED.

AFTER TRUMP AND BREXIT, THE LEFT NEEDS TO REDISCOVER CLASS ANGER

ARTS IN ASIA: A REFLECTION

MONEY AND MONA LISA – THE VALUE OF ART

DEAR STUDENTS: IT’S OK TO BE RICH

THE CORPORATE UNDERGROUND

BEAUTY IS IN THE HANDS OF THE AFFLUENT

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