A Collection of Writings
If I spend £200 on a dress I intend to use it! If you spend £10,000 on a car you intend to use it! If Sven Ericsson spends £10,000,000 on a player he intends to use him! If President Bush spends $7,000,000,000,000,000,000 (that’s seven trillion - I hope) on weapons of destruction he intends to use them! What for? Spending that dizzying amount of noughts on food and accommodation could win a lot more friends and make the world a lot safer place. The same mistake was made in Iraq. If the amount of money spent on the invasion was showered down on the Iraqi people, Baghdad would be a happier place now and we wouldn’t all be war criminals.
And the argument that the atrocities of 9/11 were an act of war doesn’t wash. It was probably the most heinous atrocity in the history of atrocities - but that doesn’t make it an act of war. And no way can it be justification for the invasion of Iraq when it had complied with the UN resolution to get rid of its weapons of mass destruction and no longer presented a danger to territories outside its own borders. And, at that time, was probably more anti Bin Laden than the average Westerner. London’s bombing, which is being posted as 7/7 in a weak and nauseous imitation of American 9/11, was small in comparison but the British government’s reaction could have been similar. Luckily with our long history of being the subject of attacks from disillusioned minorities, such as the US funded IRA, our instant reaction wasn’t based on hysteria. It was seen for what it was, a criminal act. It is being dealt with appropriately by searching out the criminals and prosecuting them through the legal courts.
The problem with being the most powerful nation in the world is that it is easy to deceive yourself into believing that what you think is right. The British are well aware of that. The only difference between the British Empire and American Imperialism is that the Brits had to fight mano a mano for what they sought to dominate whereas America has developed such hellish weapons that they can virtually eliminate whole nations, if they have a mind to, from the comfort of their bomb-proof shelter. Remember the US is the only country to have dropped a nuclear bomb in anger. It is said, and I believe it, that the A - bomb shortened the war and saved lives and by setting a precedent showed what could happen when nations are pushed to extremes. I also subscribe to the theory that the threat of Nuclear warfare was enough to keep the leaders of the Soviets and the UN well away from the provocation which would have resulted in their counterparts thumbing the red button of total annihilation. While that balance existed the world was safe. No third party was going to be stupid enough to try and stand in defiance between the two Goliaths. Now there is no counter balance. Nobody for the US to give a grudging respect. Bush want - Bush do!
The United Nations of Europe are sometimes mooted as being that necessary counter balance to the madness that assails nations when they claim omnipotence. Really? When? The 25 nations which now make up the union can’t even agree on a single currency. France, Germany and Great Britain stand behind their bulwarks and posture and flounce but when it comes to acting in unison sound like the first session of a junior school orchestra. The French smite their chests and promise to work for the good of all nations - as long as their way of life goes on and they aren’t expected to make sacrifices. Germany plays a long suffering card and blames the past for any problems they now have and refuse to put a shoulder to the wheel in a way that would benefit the whole of the Union. And the UK? It regrets that it wasn’t in the Union at the beginning and blames the insufferable General de Gaul for keeping it out. Somewhere along the line the various parties to the treaty have to make up their collective minds whether they want in or out. When will that be.? Don’t know! But not in my life time for sure.
So what of the future? With the trillions being invested in armaments which neither feed nor educate nations the prospect are not good. And, unfortunately, the future still rests in the hands on the most powerful nation on earth, a power dedicated, it seems to forcing their way of life and ideology on what are now sovereign nations. Which means? That only the people of America have the power to change attitudes. Do they want a War President or a Messiah? It is ironic that the Bible Belt of America, it is claimed, were responsible for electing a man who relishes the title of War President. What do the ordinary Americans think? I spend a reasonable amount of time in the States each year and I guess I must speak as I find. I find that the average American is friendly, helpful, courteous and willing to listen to views that are not naturally their own. But, by and large, they are ignorant of what goes on outside their own borders and cannot conceive a reason for other countries being suspicious of their efforts to change the world for what they believe is the better.
BRAM STOKER MUSEUM DUBLIN
Went to Dublin recently to see the Bram Stoker Museum. I was invited over by Dennis McIntyre, the curator and founder of the museum. The Museum in small but well worth the trip. Of course the suburbs of Dublin is where Stoker was born, in Clontarf. And Dennis is very happy to be honouring his memory. And more! Dennis claims that only a late intervention by Stoker’s publisher, Constable, placed the exploits of the king of the Vampires in Transylvania. Until then his magnum opus was to be called The Vampire and set in Ireland. Even the name, Dennis claims, is Irish. Drochfhola - bad blood! And Whitby was a late substitute for Baldock Baile an Duil - town of the dark stranger. Next year Dennis is hoping to invite some world-wide experts to Clontarf to debate his claim. Should be interesting.
WILD IN NEW YORK
Another interesting fact I experienced recently was bears only a score or so miles away from the centre of New York City. I was in New Jersey working on a film called Sea of Dust. Sitting outside my Winnebago waiting to be called I saw what I thought was a couple of dogs playing nearby. Then one of them reared up on its hind legs and I realised in was a bear. I retired elegantly to the safety of the trailer and watched the wild bruins play just a few yards away. I must admit that if anyone had told me that there were wild bears less than a hour’s drive from the concrete jungle of New York I would have thought they were having me on. I must say it makes the occasional mangy fox picking through my trash can look very tame.
AFTERTHOUGHT
‘We must recollect what we have at stake, what it is we have to contend for. It is for our property, it is for our liberty, it is for our independence, nay, for our existence as a nation: it is for our character, it is for our very name as Englishmen, it is for everything dear and valuable to man on this side of the grave.’ A bloke called Pitt wrote that a couple of hundred years ago. Cut out the jingoistic bit about ‘Englishmen’ and substitute something like Citizen and it’s a fair summing up of what we all want, I guess. Or a browse through the American Constitution might be enlightening. And, do I dare ask the Muslims to take another look at the Koran?