This is (i.m.h.o) the best interview on TNE so far.
This is to Charlie directly. In the closing part of the interview I 100% agree with you government is not government. In the opening part of the interview I 100% disagree with you that you deemed yourself (and others) to be 'cowardly' in taking the vaccine.
To put this into context. Why this interview so resonates with me is in March I felt chest pains. In April I was diagnosed with unstable angina. In May - I went for a routine blood test and before leaving the house tying my shoe laces put me in such pain - I drove to hospital - camped in A&E for 11 hours & ended up released following heart surgery 7 days later.
I am nearly twice Charlie's age so I perfectly fit the 'profile' of who would be expected to be in the cardiology ward. His perspectives from someone not in the 'normal' mould are very real.
I hear his comments about the 'fear' of some professionals opening up to talk about vaccines or medication validity in general. I am not jabbed. If I had been jabbed - I am fairly sure by now I would not be alive. I base this on a known family history on one side of the family - coupled with seeing how fast my last surviving parent (from the other) went downhill after two Pfizer shots in early 2021. In my case however, I was lucky. I was self employed and largely working on my own or with very small teams of people (for the length of a project) and the rest of the time being a carer to said last parent. I was not in 'employment'. I was not 'ring fenced' by people pressuring me to get jabbed after a deluge of directives from H-R. Had I been in either of those situations - it's highly likely I would have taken the jab. That's not cowardice.
What's extremely clear (to me at least) from this interview are two things:
One - the identification of a lack of independent thinking. 'Group - think', as described by Prof Irving Janis when he published a book on the subject in 1972. From my perspective, group-think is the single largest potential killer on Earth. Worse than any 'pandemic', worse than any conflict. It has the power to strip away humanity and replace it with something sub-standard and potentially - infinitely - more threatening. The ability for people to round on members of their own species just because the fear the consequences of not doing so. It so perfectly explains the private messages but the lack of any public support for Charlie's stance. I experienced very much the same w.r.t the Brexit debate back in 2016. Peter Hitchins - historian and writer / love him or hate him - attempted to address the Conservative party conference shortly before the 'coalition' election with elements of concern around many elements that went against Cameron's good ship 'The Group Think'. At the end of his speech to the party rank & file - apparently you could hear a pin drop. A true "I'll get my coat" moment. They should have listened.
Two - the prison of money. Money is filtering upwards exponentially. Even though I have never believed in socialism - I have (in one of the many 'quirks' we all have) listened to a great deal of the output from Professor David Harvey. Whilst Harvey has built a career on the foundations of Marxism - I've learned there are many different 'shades' of Marxism. Marxism (in essence) is also more of a religion than an economic framework. This may explain why so many powerful people have bastardised it so successfully and galvanised their crusades with it. Harvey was agog a decade ago by just how many new billionaires had been created in India during the period leading up to - and after - the world fiscal collapse of 2008. He called it out as a warning for things to come (most of which have largely come to pass - including funding the meteoric rise of our latest P.M).
It is when you combine group-think with fiscal handcuffs together that you create a monster.
This is important in the context of Charlie's reduction on his dependence on 'paymasters' as a young man in his thirties. People rejecting this combination in their thirties are much more impressive (and powerful) than people rejecting them in their sixties. Quite frankly - in your sixties - it's expected. In your thirties - it is not. And, those - in any capacity - in any organisation - will be unsettled by a rise in people prematurely downsizing their dependence early in life and living a more self-controlled life. We want them unsettled. It is only by unsettling this group-think/money prison combo that anything will change.
He is 100% right that government will be very slow to change. Of course it will. It's a blueprint career. It's an industry. Neither of those entities are designed for swift changes in tack. They are ocean supertankers - taking miles to slow down and move a few degrees to port or starboard. We saw with the blocking of the Suez Canal a few years ago - how dependent we have become on supertankers. To continue this analogy in the context of Charlie's generation and the world they will shape - is to start reducing the traffic dependence on supertankers - one container at a time.
I'm heartened (through the heart surgery) that people his age are prepared to push back on what those sitting well above him 'expect' him to do. One container has fallen off the tanker. We need more...
Richard, a wonderful and inspiring comment. It was also a pleasure to talk earlier today. Also, I.must say, you write beautifully and - pun intended - from your heart. I look forward to welcoming you as a guest feature writer on TNE in the coming weeks.
This is (i.m.h.o) the best interview on TNE so far.
This is to Charlie directly. In the closing part of the interview I 100% agree with you government is not government. In the opening part of the interview I 100% disagree with you that you deemed yourself (and others) to be 'cowardly' in taking the vaccine.
To put this into context. Why this interview so resonates with me is in March I felt chest pains. In April I was diagnosed with unstable angina. In May - I went for a routine blood test and before leaving the house tying my shoe laces put me in such pain - I drove to hospital - camped in A&E for 11 hours & ended up released following heart surgery 7 days later.
I am nearly twice Charlie's age so I perfectly fit the 'profile' of who would be expected to be in the cardiology ward. His perspectives from someone not in the 'normal' mould are very real.
I hear his comments about the 'fear' of some professionals opening up to talk about vaccines or medication validity in general. I am not jabbed. If I had been jabbed - I am fairly sure by now I would not be alive. I base this on a known family history on one side of the family - coupled with seeing how fast my last surviving parent (from the other) went downhill after two Pfizer shots in early 2021. In my case however, I was lucky. I was self employed and largely working on my own or with very small teams of people (for the length of a project) and the rest of the time being a carer to said last parent. I was not in 'employment'. I was not 'ring fenced' by people pressuring me to get jabbed after a deluge of directives from H-R. Had I been in either of those situations - it's highly likely I would have taken the jab. That's not cowardice.
What's extremely clear (to me at least) from this interview are two things:
One - the identification of a lack of independent thinking. 'Group - think', as described by Prof Irving Janis when he published a book on the subject in 1972. From my perspective, group-think is the single largest potential killer on Earth. Worse than any 'pandemic', worse than any conflict. It has the power to strip away humanity and replace it with something sub-standard and potentially - infinitely - more threatening. The ability for people to round on members of their own species just because the fear the consequences of not doing so. It so perfectly explains the private messages but the lack of any public support for Charlie's stance. I experienced very much the same w.r.t the Brexit debate back in 2016. Peter Hitchins - historian and writer / love him or hate him - attempted to address the Conservative party conference shortly before the 'coalition' election with elements of concern around many elements that went against Cameron's good ship 'The Group Think'. At the end of his speech to the party rank & file - apparently you could hear a pin drop. A true "I'll get my coat" moment. They should have listened.
Two - the prison of money. Money is filtering upwards exponentially. Even though I have never believed in socialism - I have (in one of the many 'quirks' we all have) listened to a great deal of the output from Professor David Harvey. Whilst Harvey has built a career on the foundations of Marxism - I've learned there are many different 'shades' of Marxism. Marxism (in essence) is also more of a religion than an economic framework. This may explain why so many powerful people have bastardised it so successfully and galvanised their crusades with it. Harvey was agog a decade ago by just how many new billionaires had been created in India during the period leading up to - and after - the world fiscal collapse of 2008. He called it out as a warning for things to come (most of which have largely come to pass - including funding the meteoric rise of our latest P.M).
It is when you combine group-think with fiscal handcuffs together that you create a monster.
This is important in the context of Charlie's reduction on his dependence on 'paymasters' as a young man in his thirties. People rejecting this combination in their thirties are much more impressive (and powerful) than people rejecting them in their sixties. Quite frankly - in your sixties - it's expected. In your thirties - it is not. And, those - in any capacity - in any organisation - will be unsettled by a rise in people prematurely downsizing their dependence early in life and living a more self-controlled life. We want them unsettled. It is only by unsettling this group-think/money prison combo that anything will change.
He is 100% right that government will be very slow to change. Of course it will. It's a blueprint career. It's an industry. Neither of those entities are designed for swift changes in tack. They are ocean supertankers - taking miles to slow down and move a few degrees to port or starboard. We saw with the blocking of the Suez Canal a few years ago - how dependent we have become on supertankers. To continue this analogy in the context of Charlie's generation and the world they will shape - is to start reducing the traffic dependence on supertankers - one container at a time.
I'm heartened (through the heart surgery) that people his age are prepared to push back on what those sitting well above him 'expect' him to do. One container has fallen off the tanker. We need more...
Richard, a wonderful and inspiring comment. It was also a pleasure to talk earlier today. Also, I.must say, you write beautifully and - pun intended - from your heart. I look forward to welcoming you as a guest feature writer on TNE in the coming weeks.
Thanks for your above comments and your time today (and the shared humour).
Charlie was impressive in his candour. Thanks for posting up the interview - and send him my best.