Islam: The Enemy of Democracy and Freedom | Reupload

MARK ALEXANDER: Until 9/11, the western world was largely ignorant of the religion of Islam, of its goals, of its aspirations. Indeed, even since 9/11, most people, and that includes our politicians, would not score very highly in a test of their knowledge on the subject. It should be obvious to all thinking people that our politicians are actually unaware, dare I say blind, to the dangers that Islam will increasingly cause us. It is truly a case of the blind leading the blind! That means to say, uninformed and unthinking politicians leading an ill-informed electorate. But this is what we have right now. The same can hardly be said of Muslims in the Islamic world, though; for their knowledge of Christianity far surpasses - even though much of their knowledge is quite distorted - any knowledge of Islam by the man in the street in the West.

As the old saying goes, knowledge is power. But what we often don't hear uttered is its converse: Ignorance is weakness.

The West is far weaker than it need be because of this ignorance of Islam, since Islam is our greatest enemy. The greatest enemy since Nazism and communism. I'll give you some good reasons why this is so. And none of them - absolutely none of them - are based on hatred.

Islam is the enemy of the West for a plethora of good, solid reasons, and if we wish to survive as a civilization, we are going to have to bite the bullet and deal, head on, with the issues these reasons raise. Let us begin...

First and foremost, we are dealing with a religion which does not recognize any separation of politics and religion, any separation of the political from the spiritual. For Muslims, life is one coherent whole: the political and spiritual both meld into one. This has always been so, and always will be. No re-classification of the religion into two separate parts is possible because of Islam's very nature.

In Islam, all power rests with Allah, the god of Muslims. The Qur'an, their holy book, is always taken literally. Those words are considered to be the actual words of Allah. Therefore, none of these words can be changed, for to change any of them would be tantamount to tampering with Allah's words. This would be a grave sin in their eyes.

For the same reason that the words contained in the Qur'an cannot be changed, they cannot, therefore, be re-interpreted either. So do not hold your breath for any kind of reformation in this religion, because it’s not going to happen.

In Islam, all power rests with Allah, and it filters down via his vice-gerents on earth to the people. Hence the great desire among Muslims to restore the caliphate. Contrast this with the Western model of government.

In the West, the ideal political system is democracy. In democracy, all power rests with the people, and they exercise that power at the polls. In a democracy, all power filters in the opposite direction from Islam. In democracy it filters up; in Islam, down! Herein lies the greatest barrier to the miscibility of the two worlds: the western world and the Islamic world.

Without digressing too much here, I should like to add that this is the main reason why George W Bush and Blair's venture into Iraq to bring democracy there was a grave error of judgment. We are now seeing the experiment failing before our very eyes. How can one bring democracy to a region of the world where the people who inhabit that region believe that all power rests with Allah, and where they believe that Allah has prescribed their way of life for them for then, for now, and for all time?

I would suggest that where such a dichotomy exists, the most sensible and prudent thing to do would be for us to lead our lives as we see fit, and for those people to be allowed to live their lives as they see fit. That way, there would be hope of some peace in this world.

But this is not what we have done. We have done the very opposite of this: We have entered the Middle East in the hope - the vain hope in my opinion - of bringing our way of doing things, our way of life, to them; furthermore, we have allowed millions and millions of Muslims into the West - and at the very time when Christianity, the religion which underpins the West, is greatly weakened anyway - which will only give us headaches for the years ahead. Why? Because Muslims who immigrate bring their hopes and dreams and aspirations with them, hopes and dreams of establishing Islam everywhere on earth. To Islamize the world is the main aspiration of the Muslim; and we have seen in France in the recent past the manifestation of aggression in its cause. For what happened in France was in no small part because of the Muslim's desire to establish Allah's caliphate here on earth. These were the first rumblings, the first roar of the lion! Expect more of this in the future, as Islam grows stronger and stronger.

Muslims, by and large, do not respect non-Muslims. How can they? Their religion does not allow them to do so. Their religion preaches that Muslims are superior to non-Muslims; indeed, they use the derogatory term infidel for us. This word to some Westerners might simply mean that they call us infidels because we are people who do not subscribe to their faith. This, after all, would be quite logical, since to us it simply means not fidèle, or not true to the faith. But this does not completely describe what Muslims mean by this term. To Muslims, to be called an infidel is an insult indeed. It has connotations of inferiority, backwardness, and even uncleanness.

You see, Muslims believe that Islam is the perfection of religion for man for all time. They call it ad deen al kamal, the perfect religion. In their eyes, people who have not yet submitted to the will of Allah are in a state of pre-Islamic chaos, a state known to them as jahiliyyah. To Muslims, all Muslims, the whole world is classified in two parts: that part of the world which has submitted and is therefore in the Islamic state known as Dar ul Islam, or 'the House of Islam'; and that part of the world which has yet to submit and is therefore in a pre-Islamic, chaotic, jahiliyyic state known as Dar ul Harb, or the 'House of War'.

The 'House of War' is the part of the world which has yet to be taken over, and must at some point be taken over in the future. We, I am sorry to inform you, are in the 'House of War'. So we can expect anything at anytime.

Some people would ask why we were able to go for quite a long time without problems with Muslims. The answer to that is a simple one indeed. First of all, there were relatively few Muslims living in the West, so the ones that did live here were not powerful. Secondly, Muslims living in the Islamic world were, for the most part and for many years, poor by anyone's standards. This all changed with the Oil Embargo of the 70s - a time when the price of oil on the world markets soared. As a result of this, the Islamic world became rich and empowered. Money is power; and it talks loudly. In recent years we have seen evidence aplenty of Islam being on the move. I tell you now: If we do not find a way of clipping its wings here in the West, we shall lose our democracy, and we shall be in deep, deep trouble.

So the trouble we will have with Muslims will not come only from without, but in the future we can expect trouble from the Muslims within. The millions of Muslims living here in the West will not integrate, because it is not in their worldview to do so. It is also forbidden them by their very own Prophet Himself, the Prophet Muhammad. He forbade Muslims even to befriend infidels. He also exhorted them to kill us. And he certainly told them that they should live separate lives, and dress and behave differently, so that they could easily tell themselves apart.

No Western politician is going to be able to change these facts, for facts they are indeed. Moreover, as Islam will grow here, their numbers will become greater and greater, and they will be able to use our democratic system to outvote us and introduce their form of government based as it is on their beloved Shari'ah, or Quranic laws. How do you propose we shall be able to stop them? We shall be outnumbered, and as the outcome of democratic elections depends on the number of votes cast, we shall be able to do nothing about it. This time will come quicker than we might think, because so few babies are being born to infidel families.

The only thing left for people to do, will be to fight. Inevitably, at some point, civil war will ensue. If the political process fails people, then this will be all that will be left for them: civil war, guerre civile, Bürgerkrieg, call it what you will.

But one thing I can assure you, no politicians' sweet talk, posturing, or manœvring, will get us out of this one without conflict at some point in the future.

One of the biggest problems for the West is its devotion to the concept of freedom of religion. This is a lofty concept indeed, an ideal; but this devotion blinds people to one important reality: To the reality that Islam is not just a religion, but a political system, too. Indeed, it is more of a political system than anything else, and it is, in addition, a political system diametrically opposed to our own. It abhors freedom of choice, freedom of religion, freedom of speech, freedom of anything that we so cherish. The only thing one is free to do in Islam is become a Muslim, and submit to the will of Allah.

These two systems are totally immiscible, and unfortunately, we have imported this immiscibility right into the heart of the West; and to our own great disadvantage, and to the disadvantage of our long-term peace and security. What, I ask you, will the Americans do when the ever-growing Muslim population in America starts wanting to tinker with the Americans' beloved Constitution? When Muslims will see their way clear to supplant the Constitution with Shari'ah law?

Questions like these are the ones we should be grappling with NOW. To wait until the time comes would be foolish indeed.

Wake up to the harsh realities of life in the twenty-first century! We've got some collective thinking to do if we wish to save ourselves from darkness. Perhaps we shall, indeed, be forced to think about having to re-classify Islam as a political system first and foremost, a political system immiscible with our own, and one whose advance needs to be forestalled. This may be one of our only sensible alternatives. Since to give complete, unhampered freedom to Islam to grow here in the West is tantamount to digging our own graves.

© Mark Alexander
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This essay first appeared on this blog very many years ago. On April 20, 2007 to be precise. It was read right across the world, bringing in thousands of readers/visitors.

I am re-publishing this important essay today, because its message is as important to the free world today as it ever was. Our politicians are still as ignorant and naïve about Islam, its nature and its intentions, as they ever were. Until this changes, the future of the Western world is very much imperilled, lies very much in the balance.

With all the resources available to our politicians today, there really is NO EXCUSE for their IGNORANCE on matters relating to Islam. The mere fact that they do nothing about the growth of Islam here in the West shows me, and should show you, that our leaders are craven. They can hide behind political correctness and wokery/wokeism as much as they like, but the hard fact remains that they are CRAVEN. They are scared stiff of dealing with the thorny problem of Islam, problems which they themselves have created for us, the people. Do you really want your children to grow up in a society which lacks the freedoms which you yourselves have enjoyed? Is this truly acceptable to you? If not, then it is high time that we hold our political representatives to account. – © Mark Alexander

This essay first appeared here.

Sunak’s Incremental Smoking Ban

It appals me that our king has joined our unelected prime minister in calling for an incremental smoking ban. However, it doesn’t surprise me, since as Prince of Wales, he had a history of involving himself in political affairs, even though we all know that our monarch is supposed to stay well out of politics.

Both our king and our prime minister are unelected. Therefore, they have no right whatsoever in a so-called democracy to make decisions on the people’s behalf.

The mere idea of banning smoking for adults — a habit which brings great pleasure to many adults even to this day — is undemocratic, autocratic, in fact, and, quite frankly, stupid. There are far more unhealthy habits than smoking cigarettes. Excessive sugar consumption springs quickly to mind, alcohol consumption, the smoking of marijuana and cannabis, and the use of ketamine, and increasingly, of cocaine. How many young people have a cocaine habit, I wonder? London is, in fact, said to be the cocaine capital of the world.

So, cigarette-smoking is the least of our concerns.

I would be the last person on earth to advocate smoking. However, I must admit, until nearly two years ago, I had a twenty-a-day habit, which brought me enormous pleasure. It also kept me slim and free of type-2 diabetes. Since quitting, I have gained weight quickly; and this worries me. Why? Because I know that my metabolism has slowed right down since I gave up. I am not gaining weight because I am eating more; rather, I am gaining weight because of my now slow metabolism.

You can talk of lung cancer, and lung cancer is a terrible thing. But the fact remains that only about 5 – 10% of HEAVY smokers contract it. Indeed, I recently read of an Israeli rabbi many years over a hundred who died of old age despite being an extremely heavy smoker. Like 60 cigarettes a day!

Please do not misconstrue my message: I neither advocate smoking nor condone it. However, I do defend the right of an adult to make his own choice without people in the Establishment interfering in their decisions. (By the way, I am not a republican. Far from it. However, interference like this could push me in that direction.)

The NHS argument holds no water. Smokers contribute approximately £10.5b in taxes, whereas they cost the NHS only £3.5b.

It should also be remembered that a person’s health is more than being about remaining cancer-free. One also wants to be free of Parkinson’s disease and Alzheimer’s disease and type-2 diabetes. One also wishes to remain as slim as possible. Nobody wants to be obese. Smoking has a protective effect on all these maladies.

It is imperative that we look at the big picture; it is also imperative that we keep meddlesome people out of our decision-making process.

If you wish to ban anything, ban meddlesome people from interfering in the democratic process. Keep people’s right to choose. Ban interference from the Nanny State.

© Mark Alexander
All Rights Reserved

Oh God! Here we go again! When is the risk of type-2 diabetes reduced after quitting sugar? Or the risk of a car accident when you quit driving your car? Or the risk of liver disease after you quit drinking alcohol? Or the risk of an STD once you quit sexual contact with your partner, straight or gay? Unfortunately, life is for living; and we cannot get out of this life alive. All this preaching is oh so tiresome. For heaven's sake, live and let live! It behoves us all to live moderately; and to enjoy life, to get our kicks where and when we can. One of these fine days we will not wake up! We'll all be dead! – © Mark Alexander

Cruelty and Heartlessness in a Post-Christian World

MARK ALEXANDER: I should like to write a few words on my observations on government policies in our post-Christian Britain.

The news today that our Supreme Court has determined that this country’s government policy of sending unwanted asylum seekers to Rwanda is unlawful is as welcome as it is encouraging. These days, our increasingly populist, right-wing government, which appears to have no understanding of traditional, one-nation conservatism, and certainly no recollection of it, come up with some pretty heartless and hare-brained ideas and policies. Most of these people are Thatcher’s babies, people who have taken the worst of Thatcher’s uncaring policies and are busy peppering them with even more acridity and pungency. To these extreme right-wingers, being caring, merciful and compassionate is redolent of left-wing wimps and wussies.

Suella Braverman was the epitome of this heartlessness. It has come to my attention in recent years that if you are looking for examples of cruelty, you must often turn to women! Politics in the West is replete with cruel women. It seems that the longer that women have been in the workplace, the traditional domain of men, the tougher and crueller they have become. Forget about the fair sex! We are all men in a man’s world now, it seems!

Suella Braverman’s utterances recently on being homeless and on homelessness being a “lifestyle choice” were as cruel and insensitive as they were absurd and dead wrong. Then there was her dream of seeing unwanted asylum seekers on a plane, flying off to Rwanda. Ostensibly, such a scenario floated the heartless woman’s boat!

Clearly, our government policies appear to be becoming crueller, the further away we turn from Christianity. In a post-Christian world, anything, it seems, is possible. Anything goes.

We should all note well that the void left by Christianity’s demise will most definitely be filled; and so obviously by the ever-growing presence of Islam in the West, which our clueless, ignorant and cowardly politicians have allowed to happen. Furthermore, our politicians have busily prepared the way into the heart of the West for the these Muslims. And instead of insisting on full integration and assimilation, and their adoption of Western ways and standards as a prerequisite of entrance to the West, they have encouraged these immigrants to bring with them the ways of their own countries of origin. So, if no stop is put to this nonsense, we can look forward to the recent cruelty of Hamas replacing the gentleness of our hitherto Christian ways. A post-Christian Western world will be harsh and merciless – a world devoid of compassion.

The Islamic world provides us no example of a gentler way of life. In the Islamic world, as we must all surely know by now, it is not uncommon for hands to be amputated for theft, beheadings are common for more serious transgressions, whippings for those who indulge in alcohol and stonings to death for adulteresses. Their treatment of gays is unimaginably cruel.

We abandon our Judæo-Christian heritage at our own risk, and if we continue to abandon it, we will all have a rude awakening. Be you a devout or just a nominal Christian, you are better off in our Judæo-Christian world. Turn your backs on it at your peril!

© Mark Alexander
All Rights Reserved

Jesus, Christianity, and Homosexuality

MARK ALEXANDER – ESSAY: Christians make such a big thing about homosexuality and often, if not usually, try to deny a homosexual’s right to love and be loved. Christians always cite Biblical teachings for their aversion to homosexual love. Fact is, however, that Christian teachings, as we all know, should be based on Jesus Christ’s teachings. In truth, however, Jesus Christ uttered not a single word condemning homosexuality; he said absolutely nothing about it.

For a Christian to condemn homosexuality, he/she must look back to Leviticus in the Old Testament, to Genesis, and to Sodom and Gomorrah–hence the use of the word ‘sodomy’—and to Paul’s letter to the Romans.

Regarding Leviticus, if we were to follow the proscriptions in that book in the Old Testament, one of the books which forms the basis of Jewish law, we would be forbidden from doing many things. Leviticus proscribes tattoos, the eating of shellfish (bottom feeders in the oceans, hence they eat all the crud that falls to the bottom of the oceans rendering them unclean), and it proscribes many other things besides. Isn’t it strange how Christians cherry-pick the things that they dislike and which do not pertain to their own lifestyles and then conveniently ignore the rest of the proscriptions?

Further, the Bible proscribes men and women from sleeping together and making love/having sex before marriage. It is surely an abomination unto God. But how many straight people do you know that abide by this Biblical proscription? Most straight people I have known in my life have almost invariably slept with their husbands/wives before marriage. So why the big deal about two men or two women loving and sleeping with each other? What’s sauce for the goose is also sauce for the gander. Such hypocrisy!

However, I should like to add one very important fact about Jesus’s silence on homosexuality. Jesus lived in Palestine. At that time, Palestine was part of the Roman Empire. And the harsh reality about the Roman society at that time is this: Homosexuality was rife in the Roman Empire. It was commonplace for upper class Romans to surround themselves with pretty, young boys. Apparently, it was a status symbol, and they would often be paraded openly in Roman society, too. So that makes it even harder to understand why Jesus did not utter even one single word about this behaviour. Surely, if Jesus had thought it was such a sinful activity in the eyes of God, he would have said plenty against it.

What Paul had to say on the matter interests me far, far less. Paul, previously Saul of Tarsus, was a convert to Christianity. (In actual fact, it wasn’t even called Christianity in those days.) We all know the nature of converts, or reformed people, anyway.

In any case, Christian teachings should be based on the teachings of Jesus Christ, not on the teachings of Paul. It is what Jesus thought that is important, not what Paul taught.

Isn’t it high time that we in the West came to terms with the fact that homosexuals, just as heterosexuals, deserve an opportunity in life to pursue their own happiness? We all, gay or straight, deserve to be able to love another and be loved by another. It is time to stop making heavy weather of this. Furthermore, for believers, if it is truly unacceptable to God, then God will sort it out on the Day of Judgment. It is not for man to play God.

© Mark Alexander
All Rights Reserved

We Are All Raised on a Diet of Bullshit, Legend, Myth and Fable

MARK ALEXANDER – ESSAY: We in the Occident are raised on lies and make-believe. People in the Orient are no different, except that the stories they are told and forced to believe are different from ours. But for our purposes today, let us stick to the fabulous stories we are fed from birth.

We are fed these stories throughout life: it goes on from the cradle to the grave. The crap keeps on coming our way unrelentingly!

It all starts at birth. The early crap is pretty and pretty harmless. It stretches from the tooth-fairy to Father Christmas coming down our chimneys at Christmas. I am not quite sure about those hapless kids who live in houses that don’t have chimneys (but that’s a story for another day). Having travelled through the sky on his pretty little sleigh, packed full with parcels and presents for the children in the whole wide world, being drawn by his helpful and extremely hard-working reindeer: Dasher, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner, Blitzen and Rudolph (the most famous and helpful of all the little critters).

Then, when we have grown up a little, that story is moulded a different way: we are told about the story of Jesus, the shepherds who watched their flocks by night, and the three kings who brought the baby Jesus gold, frankincense and myrrh.

All well and good and pretty harmless. Children lap it up, as indeed did I.

As one gets older, one learns to modify the story to make it easier to swallow and a tad more believable.

The problems with all these stories, myths and legends is that some people never seem to grow out of them. They believe them throughout life. Never coming to the point of realising that whilst there might be an element of truth in some of these stories, much is simply embellishment and make-believe.

However, the children’s stories are generally rather harmless. But as we age, we get told far more nonsensical stuff. We are taught to fear the Almighty and the all-seeing God. Such myths are told to us to control our behaviour of course, told to us to make us behave in a way that the authorities can control us in an acceptable way. This is where it starts to get sinister.

Then, as we get older, the government gets involved. At this point the real nonsense starts being told! And it is truly unrelenting. In recent years, we have had scares about the eating of eggs, the drinking of coffee, the big one about the eating of saturated fat, the amount of salt we eat, the exercising myth, the extreme dangers of smoking cigarettes and tobacco. Smoking. Ah, that will make you prematurely wrinkled, give you all manner of cancers, your hair will fall out, as will your teeth, you will lose your limbs and become impotent! Moreover, you will stink to high heaven of that awful substance called tobacco. Your teeth will be yellow and your gums will shrink and bleed. Smoking is the root of all evil in today’s world. Naturally, most of it is a load of BS.

Then we come to the myths and legends told us by the politicians. Lizzie Truss and Kwazi Kwarteng’s crap, for example, is the latest nonsense we have been told. The utter crap that cutting taxes for the rich will shore up growth. IT WILL NOT! And nor will giving more money to the richest in society trickle down to the middle and working classes. They sold us that crap back in the Eighties under Thatcher. What we ended up with is a wealth gap today not seen since the Gilded Age and a society built on greed and egocentricity. Who cares for his neighbour anymore? You can forget Christianity with such a politico-economic doctrine. All you will get is a widening wealth gap, a growth in foodbanks, a growth in homelessness, more selfishness and a society based on greed.

I shall add more to this another day. Suffice it to say that we are being led by liars and incompetent fools. We are being force-fed nonsense. We need to change course if we truly wish to save the Occident. In the UK, the Tories are incapable of the course change.

© Mark Alexander
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What a Bloody Mess This Country Is In!

MARK ALEXANDER: I have lived a few years already and I must say that I have never lived through times like this before. Absolutely everything is going pear-shaped! Food prices are going through the roof. Prices for energy are scandalous, and for many, are becoming unpayable. People at the top are rewarding themselves with multimillion pound salaries and bonuses for doing FA. Ordinary folk are expected to suffer in order to pay for these excesses of the people at the top. Wages are stagnant. Savings, because of double-digit inflation, are being eroded very rapidly. The prime minister is largely absent. The last I heard, he was away in Greece having a ball whilst ordinary folk are having to suffer.

Brexit was always a very, very stupid idea. Now, the stupidity of the move is being shown to all, being shown to be as stupid as all sensible people knew it would be from the start. There are many things impoverishing us Brits now, but Brexit is one of the main things causing that impoverishment.

When I was growing up, we could always depend on the Conservatives to run our economy in a sensible way. We could always depend on the Conservatives to lead the nation to relative prosperity. That was once. Once upon a time. Alas, no longer. Now, the Conservatives are the architects of our demise. They are the ones enabling the rich to get even richer, and the poor to be impoverished beyond their wildest nightmares. The wages/salaries of the working classes and even of the bulk of the middle classes have been stagnant for years now. Yet the Conservatives, or Tories, have been in power for about twelve years already; therefore, it is the Tories who are the architects of this fiasco. We can blame no-one else other than the Tories.

This country’s politics was historically dominated by two parties: the Whigs and the Tories. The Whigs went the way of the dinosaur: into extinction. It is high time that the Tories did exactly the same. This country can do better than the Tories. What this country needs is a business-friendly party which is both pro-Europe/pro-EU and progressive. The Tories are neither pro-EU nor progressive. On the contrary, the party has ossified. Indeed, it is made up of fossils from a bygone age. Let the party go the way of the dodo. This party is unable to bring prosperity to this nation. Under this backward party, the country can look forward to only one thing: sliding into oblivion.

Trump is not one of my favourite politicians. But he did get one thing right: he spoke of “sh*thouse countries”. Unfortunately, he got the nomenclature right, but he forgot to include the UK in the list! This country is truly becoming one of those nations.

© Mark Alexander
All Rights Reserved

The Conservative Leadership Race

All of the candidates running to lead the Conservative Party are lacklustre, boring, and clueless. They have shown me that they have absolutely no understanding of economics or geopolitics. If I were able to assess them I would give none of them a grade above C-.

Is this truly the best that the once proud Conservative Party has to offer? Can’t the Party do better than this? Has it been reduced to such mediocrity?

I am old enough to remember leaders in the Conservative Party who were not only sound and able, but formidable too. One could look up to them. One felt that one’s country was in good hands in their hands. Do any of these contenders make YOU feel that way?

Not one of the contenders to lead the Conservatives, and by extension this country, have shown me that he/she understands economics, and still less geopolitics. Not one of them! All they come out with are platitudes to mollify the old dears in the Home Counties and Shires.

This is NO WAY to run a modern country.

Penny Mordaunt is one of the few contenders who has any presence as a leader. But who is this woman really? What does she really stand for. Apart from being a devoted Brexiteer? And for me, that proves that she understands no economics at all!

Moreover, all the candidates have come up with the same ol’, same ol’ line of “cutting taxes”. The Conservatives have been peddling this poppycock since Maggie was in power. That was circa forty years ago! One would be forgiven for thinking that if the success of the economy rested solely on cutting taxes, then the British economy would be in the stratosphere by now! Flying high. We have had lots and lots of tax cuts in the past forty years. And what have they achieved? Our economy has never been in a direr state than it is today! Never in my lifetime have I had to read about people, families having to go to foodbanks to be able to put food on the table for their children. Never! When I was growing up, this phenomenon was unheard of. Homelessness was almost unheard of.

The fact of the matter is this: Nobody with an ounce of common sense and/or understanding of economics or geopolitics would have walked away from the largest single market in the world: The Single Market. Any economist that would advocate such a stupid, idiotic move would not be worthy of the nomenclature 'economist'. Walking away from a ready market of 500,000,000 plus consumers is not only a nonsense; it is economic suicide. And this from a party which prides itself on being the party of business! The business-friendly party. Go figure!

I heard not one word from the lips of these lacklustre, uninspiring ne'er-do-wells, our so-called potential leaders, potential prime ministers, that he/she would make any move to reverse the madness of Brexit. I therefore declare that they are all—ALL—unfit for the office they are aspiring to hold. Conservatives need to go back to the drawing board.

© Mark Alexander
Sunday, July 17, 2022

The Conservative Candidates for the Premiership: One Duck, Two Ducks, Three Ducks, Four…

The candidates running to become the next prime minister are, to say the least, lacklustre . They are bereft of creative thought: there is not an original idea between them! The record goes around and around, but like a malfunctioning gramophone record, it is stuck in circa 1980! Clearly, they are stuck on stupid! And as an American with a colourful turn of phrase once told me: You can’t fix stupid!

Now let me get a few things straight here: I am no left-winger. And I am no anti-Conservative either. Indeed, I was raised in a Conservative-voting home. The ‘S’ word was a dirty word chez nous. Maggie was a big hit in my home, too. As indeed she was with me personally.

However, in retrospect, I am not blind to her failings. She did a lot of good things for our nation; but she made some fundamental mistakes, too. In short, she was a human being; and human beings err.

To admit this is not an attack on a remarkable lady; and nor is it an attack on the remarkable lady’s accomplishments It is merely my trying to be reasonable in my assessment of the lady and her accomplishments. It is not the hallmark of a mature person to assess someone’s accomplishments only through rose-tinted spectacles; indeed, it is childlike to do so.

Margaret Thatcher stood for small government and low taxation. Those ideas were right for the time. After all, we had lived through a protracted period of socialism; and as a result of that, the country wasn’t working. In fact, in many sectors of the economy, it had come grinding to a halt.

However, just because Thatcher’s medicine was right for the economy in the Eighties, it doesn’t mean that the same medicine is right for the economy today. Today, our economy is ailing, but for very different reasons.

The gap between the superrich and ordinary folk hasn’t been as great as it is today since the ‘Gilded Age’.

Gilded Age: “The unequal distribution of wealth remained high during this period. From 1860 to 1900, the wealthiest 2% of American households owned more than a third of the nation's wealth, while the top 10% owned roughly three-quarters of it. The bottom 40% had no wealth at all. In terms of property, the wealthiest 1% owned 51%, while the bottom 44% claimed 1.1%.” [Source: Wikipedia]

Today, we are in a similar situation regarding wealth distribution. A few people own billions at the same time as millions of parents are unable to put food on the table for their children! To add insult to injury, the billionaire class pay little or no taxes; indeed, many of them hide their wealth offshore to avoid paying any taxes at all. And that goes for many in the Conservative Party itself. In fact, more especially people in the Conservative Party. Moreover, these contenders running for the premiership want to lower taxes for them still further.

Lowering taxes sounds like a sensible and grand plan – until one starts unpicking it.

This is what lower taxes means: Lower taxes means smaller government. Smaller government translates into spending less—far less—on hospitals and the building of new ones, on the NHS in general, on schools and other educational establishments, on roads and infrastructure, and in general on all projects in the public sector. But very importantly, it will mean lower taxes for corporations and the superrich, the groups of people who are awash with cash anyway.

Is this the medicine we truly need for our economy at the moment? Think about it! Think long and hard about it!

Further, I heard at least one of the contenders talking about ‘trickle-down economics. That theory has been well and truly debunked. In fact, it is poppycock. It just doesn’t happen that way. Indeed, it would be more accurate to call it ‘trickle-up economics’, because such policies end up making the rich richer, and the poor poorer.

We have come out of the biggest and the most successful single market in the world, The Single Market, a market of 500 million + consumers. And Tories have the nerve to call themselves the business-friendly party! Go figure!

Most of these candidates are sharpening their swords for a trade war with the European Union. How stupid are these people? How stupid can anyone be?

It is we who stupidly decided to exit the European Union; we were not asked to leave. Indeed, Brexit was the last thing that the EU wanted. But many in the Conservative Party did Putin’s bidding for him. The Kremlin’s tentacles have tightened its grip on Westminster, I fear; especially among the Conservatives.

On the doorstep of Number 10 during BoJo’s resignation speech, if indeed that it can be called, he spoke of a sparkling and bright future for the UK in the years to come if Conservative policies are followed. Such twaddle! I have lived long enough to realise that the UK will never be anything other than what it is: a struggling country trying to make its way in the world. Why do I say this? Because there is a continual fight between the left and the right, each side thinking that it has a monopoly on the truth. Fact is, neither side does.

For the UK economy to become super successful, both sides need to work together for the common good. A properly-functioning economy should, after all, work for all, not just for the select few.

There is nothing wrong with enabling people to become very rich; in fact, such an economy is to be encouraged and applauded. However, the less fortunate in society also need to be helped to improve their lot in life. But this cannot be done without a good education system and a good healthcare system, both free at the point of delivery.

Oh, and another very important thing: We cannot hope to have a hugely successful economy based on the service industry alone. One of Maggie’s biggest mistakes was her decimation of industry. But the fact remains that Germany has not made the same mistake. Germany has a very strong manufacturing sector. Who makes some of the best cars in the world? The Germans. Who makes some of the best white goods in the world? The Germans. And who looks after its workers better than we do? The Germans.

Perhaps, dear Conservatives, there is a lesson to be learnt in these facts. The truth can often be hard to swallow, just like a bitter pill is. But swallowing the pill and cogitating over some harsh realities is the road to self-improvement.

The best medicine for this economy would be to reverse Brexit. But if a full reversal cannot be executed, a second-best solution would be to re-join the Single Market. You know it makes sense to do so!

© Mark Alexander
July 13, 2022

Sir Ed! With the Conservatives in Total Disarray and Labour Having Ruled Out a Return to the EU, This Is Your Big Chance. Carpe Diem!

At the risk of stating the obvious, the Conservative Party is clearly in total and utter disarray. Further, it is a divided party – divided between the pro-European wing and the anti-European wing, the so-called Remainers and Brexiteers.

David Cameron exacerbated the problem, of course, by calling the Brexit referendum. In so doing, he projected the longstanding rift in his party onto the nation. And what a rift it has caused! It has divided the regions and even divided families. Many of the divisions are based particularly on age, but also to a great extent on class as well.

Older folk are often more inclined to be Brexiteers, many of whom lived through the Second World War or were told many stories by their parents of life at that time. There is no doubt many have been unable to put the war behind them. They live in the past. In addition, many of them are resentful of Germany's clear and enormous economic success. How many times in my life have I heard old folk say "we won the war, but Germany won the peace"!

In my humble opinion, many of the people who fought hard for Brexit, people like Nigel Farage and his trouble-making partners surreptitiously played on past prejudices to bring people to the point of voting for the suicide of our nation. This, of course, was just what the fossilized Tories needed to pull the wool over people’s eyes.

Coming out of the European Union was the greatest mistake this country has made since World War II. It was an act of self-harm. One could call it national suicide. To walk away from the greatest and best single market in the world—The Single Market—made absolutely no sense at all. It is a market of approximately 500 million consumers. A market with free movement of goods and people, and no impediments to the sale of services either. Moreover, despite Margaret Thatcher’s hostility to a federal Europe, she was for the Single Market. Very much so. Indeed, she was one of its architects! Would the Single Market exist today had it not been in part due to her tireless efforts? And we have walked away from it! Go figure! Further, to add insult to injury, we have walked away from it when ruled by a Conservative administration, the Party which prides itself on being pro-business. My word! What a topsy-turvy world we now inhabit!

By coming out of the European Union, we Brits have relinquished all the privileges that came with our membership: We lost our rights as European citizens. Rights such as the right to live, work and retire to any member country. The right to free healthcare, which is based on reciprocity. Free education for our children, too. In fact, I believe that Germany offers free university education to many, as well. In addition, we have also relinquished the right to fall in love and marry across borders. And so much else besides. Our leaving of the European Union was nothing short of insanity.

A small number of people at the top have been able to gain from our leaving. For most, however, it has been, and will remain, a great loss. For the billionaire class, free European healthcare is not an issue. For most people, it is. A big issue.

As a result of Brexit, many businesses have ceased trading. So how many small businesspeople have seen all their hard work to build up their businesses supplying goods and services to Europe going down the tubes? How much hardship has this act of insanity really, truly caused? Clearly, the MSM is reluctant to inform us.

But even apart from all the economic losses that we have suffered, and all the inconveniences, there was another very important goal of the European Union: the goal of maintaining and cultivating peace and good relations between our European nations. There was cross-cultural exchange between us, the importance of which should never be underestimated.

Despite being raised as a Conservative, and despite having been a lifelong Conservative voter, when Brexit came along, I was disenfranchised. I simply could not vote for a party—any party— which is anti-Europe. Europe is my home. Even outside of the EU, I still consider Europe my home. Wales is a European country/principality. Yes, it is part of Greta Britain, but it is also part of Europe. Certainly, geographically speaking. But also, politically. We have so much in common with our European sistren and brethren.

Keir Starmer of the Labour Party has ruled out trying to re-join the European Union. This, in my opinion, gives the Liberal Democrats a huge opportunity. At the next election, whenever that will be, it can put clear blue water between it and the Conservative Party and the Labour Party. It can offer the electorate a clear choice; it can offer the Remainers, of whom there are so many, and with the increasing disillusionment of voters by the obvious false promises offered by Brexit—remember those sunny uplands we were promised, ‘dem da’ hills of gold yonder? Eldorado?—well it didn’t happen, did it? It came to nothing. And it will come to nothing in the future, too.

The Liberal Democrat Party is a good, solid party with a great liberal history—liberal in the British sense, not the American sense—and it has a great leader: Sir Edward Jonathan Davey , usually known as Ed Davey, who is, I feel sure, a thoroughly decent man. Decency is not a quality readily found in politicians. But from what I have read about this man, he is decent. Decent and solid.

I therefore have a suggestion for him. It is as follows: Be brave and give the electorate a real choice. That way, the LibDems will be able to capitalize on great recent successes in by-elections. I am as certain as anyone could be that if the British electorate were offered the chance to return to the European Union, they would vote for you in droves.

Go for it, Sir Ed! As you well know, fortune favours the brave.

© Mark Alexander
Thursday, July 7, 2022

Ed Davey: Leader of the Liberal Democrats. MP for Kingston & Surbiton. »

BoJo’s Chickens Are Coming Home to Roost!

Mr. Johnson weaseled his way to Downing Street by betting on Brexit at the last minute, thinking that he would have more chance of being handed the keys to Number 10 that way; but he was never a committed Brexiteer. Brexit was just a convenience for him to achieve his lifelong ambition: becoming prime minister.

Boris played a dishonorable game to achieve his goal and now, he is paying the price: his administration is falling apart.

We the people, the hapless electorate, were lied to about Brexit. We Remainers didn’t buy into the lies; alas, the Brexiteers did. However, ithe following must be said: the electorate was lied to about the benefits of Brexit and the prosperity it would bring. In addition, we had no robust national debate on this most important of decisions – the most important decision taken by the British people since the end of World War II.

The result of this ill-judged decision to leave the European Union has come with a very high price: a high price for the nation, especially in terms of much slower economic growth and enormous ongoing cost to the economy; and a high price for the people, especially because we Brits have lost all our rights as citizens of Europe: the right to live, work, or retire to Europe; the right to set up businesses there; the right to free health care based on reciprocity; the right to marriage and being able to love across borders, and much else besides.

Boris achieved his ambition by foul means; and now it looks as though, very soon, he might well have to pay the ultimate price himself. Boris’s chickens are coming home to roost.

© Mark Alexander
All Rights Reserved

Tuesday, July 5, 2022

Time for the West to Grow a Spine! | Republished from March 1, 2022

We need to re-think our strategy re the Ukraine. Isn’t it high time that NATO and the West change rhetoric on giving full military support to our brave Ukrainian brothers and sisters?

Three things, in particular, need to happen: The European Union needs to suspend its bureaucracy and make an exception to admit the Ukraine into the EU, with immediate effect; NATO needs to grow a spine and give the Ukrainians all the military support it needs, including combat troops; and a no-fly zone needs to be declared over Ukrainian airspace. Call Putin’s bluff! Challenge him! Defy him! Destroy his economy and destroy his military! Bring Russia to its knees!

We need to face-off with Russia. Putin is a bully; and bullies are usually weak little men when all is said and done.

The Ukrainians are not simply fighting for their own beloved country; rather, they are also fighting for our freedoms, fighting for liberal democracy. It is a disgrace that we are allowing them to do this alone, allowing them to do our dirty—and dangerous—work for us.

If Ukraine falls, which country will be next to fall? Poland? One of the Baltic states? The former Yugoslavia? If we value our freedoms, our liberty, our democracies, then we need to step up to the plate and help the Ukrainians to repel the barbarians by whom they are being attacked.

Sanctions are all well and good; but they are not enough to defeat the Russian bear.

Let the Ukrainians join the EU; let Western nations send real military support to help the Ukrainians fight their enemy; let there be controlled airspace for the Ukrainians, too.

These measures are the decent measures to take. They are also Christian measures. How can we, in good conscience, sit idly by and allow a good Christian country be destroyed by barbarians? Moreover, while we are at it, the British government needs to seize the property and chattels of the Russian kleptocrats who have splendid homes here in the UK, particularly in London and Surrey. Let no stone go unturned to help our brothers and sisters in the Ukraine, who find themselves in great difficulties and indescribable danger, and who find themselves having to fight for our freedoms. Let the real war commence!

© Mark Alexander
All Rights Reserved

Europe Must Be Totally United in These Desperately Difficult Times

The war in the Ukraine has shown all thinking people the importance of unity on our continent. Europe needs to be strong and powerful. This can only be achieved through unity.

Vladimir Putin has worked hard over the years to weaken the European Union. He wanted desperately for the United Kingdom to leave the Union, in order to weaken the EU and also to weaken the United Kingdom.

By leaving the European Union, the United Kingdom has been cut adrift from its moorings. Putin knew this would happen; so, he worked assiduously in the background to fund the Brexit referendum. How did he do this? By funding the Russian kleptocrats living in the UK, who have been allowed to infiltrate the corridors of power in Westminster. They have poisoned British politics, especially through their influence in the Conservative Party. One can but wonder how many Conservative politicians are actually lining their pockets with ill-gotten gains from the kleptocrats, with ill-gotten gains from the Kremlin!

Perhaps the start of the cancer metastasizing was Putin’s influence on the election of Trump as president of the USA. Clearly, Trump was Putin’s marionette; and were Trump to be re-elected—Heaven forfend!—the cancer will metastasize still further.

There is absolutely no doubt that Trump helped bring about Brexit. Wasn’t that, after all, what Putin wanted? Trump clearly did Putin’s bidding for him! The unsuspecting British electorate who had been lied to played along with it. They were taken in by the lies.

Even Boris Johnson himself has Russian blood and family connections; hence the given name Boris. What role does he play in all of this? One can but wonder.

Johnson loves to liken himself to Churchill. The current war in the Ukraine and the current crisis with Russia are heaven sent for him. If he really wishes to fulfil his Churchill moment, he should find a way of convincing the British electorate that we need to re-enter the European Union as full members. Such a move would strengthen the EU at a time when it needs all the strength it can muster; moreover, it would strengthen the United Kingdom, too.

This is your chance, Mr. Johnson. You’ve got the gift of the gab. Use it! Convince the electorate that they have made a grave error in choosing to leave the European Union.

This, Mr. Johnson, is the patriotic way forward. Everyone wants to join the European Union. No wonder! It’s a great institution! Even today, two more countries have put in their applications to join the Union Georgia and Moldova; and we all know that the Ukraine is desperate to be able to do so. We are the only country to mis-read the geopolitical situation by voting to leave the Union.

Show us all how great a man you can be, Mr. Johnson! Change course! Get us back into Europe! You know it makes sense!

© Mark Alexander
All Rights Reserved

Time for the West to Grow a Spine!

We need to re-think our strategy re the Ukraine. Isn’t it high time that NATO and the West change rhetoric on giving full military support to our brave Ukrainian brothers and sisters?

Three things, in particular, need to happen: The European Union needs to suspend its bureaucracy and make an exception to admit the Ukraine into the EU, with immediate effect; NATO needs to grow a spine and give the Ukrainians all the military support it needs, including combat troops; and a no-fly zone needs to be declared over Ukrainian airspace. Call Putin’s bluff! Challenge him! Defy him! Destroy his economy and destroy his military! Bring Russia to its knees!

We need to face-off with Russia. Putin is a bully; and bullies are usually weak little men when all is said and done.

The Ukrainians are not simply fighting for their own beloved country; rather, they are also fighting for our freedoms, fighting for liberal democracy. It is a disgrace that we are allowing them to do this alone, allowing them to do our dirty—and dangerous—work for us.

If Ukraine falls, which country will be next to fall? Poland? One of the Baltic states? The former Yugoslavia? If we value our freedoms, our liberty, our democracies, then we need to step up to the plate and help the Ukrainians to repel the barbarians by whom they are being attacked.

Sanctions are all well and good; but they are not enough to defeat the Russian bear.

Let the Ukrainians join the EU; let Western nations send real military support to help the Ukrainians fight their enemy; let there be controlled airspace for the Ukrainians, too.

These measures are the decent measures to take. They are also Christian measures. How can we, in good conscience, sit idly by and allow a good Christian country be destroyed by barbarians? Moreover, while we are at it, the British government needs to seize the property and chattels of the Russian kleptocrats who have splendid homes here in the UK, particularly in London and Surrey. Let no stone go unturned to help our brothers and sisters in the Ukraine, who find themselves in great difficulties and indescribable danger, and who find themselves having to fight for our freedoms. Let the real war commence!

© Mark Alexander
All Rights Reserved

The Mess That Is Britain!

In my not so short lifetime, I have never known such a balls up as this! Never in my lifetime have I experienced such an almighty mess in my beloved country! Everything is in a mess, from soaring prices to empty shelves in supermarkets to an increasing and obscene differential between the wealth of the haves and the have-nots. And worse it will get under BoJo’s régime.

The supply chain is clearly broken, with even worse to come. When the full negative effects of Brexit kick in, things are going to get a whole lot worse. And more expensive. Far more expensive!

There is one lesson we should all have learnt in life: If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it! When we were in the European Union, things were not perfect. But they were not broken. And they were a hell of a lot better than they are now. Moreover, we should all have learnt the lesson that ‘Rome wasn’t built in a day’. The EU was indeed not perfect, but it is a work in progress; and with determination and common sense, progress it will. We Brits now have no say at all in its future direction. We are no longer at the top table. Gee, thanks Brexiteers!

Global Britain? Don’t make me laugh! This is not the nineteenth century. We are living in a very different age from that. This is no longer an age in which we can fight opium wars with China; rather, we in the West are in grave danger of being overtaken by China. China’s economy is growing apace; ours is shrinking. America’s economy, too, depends on China to prop it up. Go to the States these days and visit their shops (what’s left of them). So many goods in the shops bear the label ‘Made in China’. Few items these days are American-made.

If America is struggling to compete with China, what hope does little Britain have of competing?

Britain’s future rested in Europe. European nations, if they work together, have a chance. Alone, no European nation has any chance of being able to compete with the increasing might of China. Working alone, the future is China’s for the taking.

Boris Johnson is a classics major. Clearly, he has little or no understanding of economics, still less of geopolitics. He should have stuck to the classics. I’m sure he’s very knowledgeable in such classical subjects.

As things stand at the moment, there is very little to give anyone any hope for the future. And with Donald Trump in the States hoping to regain the White House, one can only despair. Donald Trump is an empty vessel. He has no chance of competing with the intellect of Xi Xinping. Indeed, Xi must be praying for his re-election!

Sad times!

© Mark Alexander
All Rights Reserved

In a Hate-filled World, Making Love Is Always Good

Our world is filled with ‘hate’. We all know it is, because the news is filled with hatred from each and every corner of the world. For this reason, I say clearly, and without reservation, that bringing love into the world is always good, whichever way that is, or can be, done between two CONSENTING ADULTS.

But when it comes to relationships, be they in the straight or gay community, there is a vast difference between “making love” and “having sex”.

As my visitors and followers will surely be aware by now, I am strongly in favour of ‘gay rights’. By ‘gay rights’, I mean the right of gay people to fall in love with whomsoever they please. But that comes with a caveat: The two people involved should always be CONSENTING ADULTS. The converse is NEVER acceptable.

Further, when I refer to “making love”, I use that term in stark contradistinction with “having sex”. Animals “have sex”; human beings are meant to “make love”.

When and where this website refers to kissing and expressing love, it should always be borne in mind that I always mean “making love”, not “having sex”. Promiscuity, be it in the homosexual or heterosexual community, is always unacceptable and abhorrent in my view.

Further, there is absolutely nothing wrong with abstinence. Being celibate is an acceptable option until the right person comes along. I know – I have actually spent most of my adult life being celibate. I have never bed-hopped; and I am very proud of that!

PROMISCUITY is NEVER a good option. It leads to no good place for either party. It is far better to wait until the right person comes along. Then, you can express your love, your true love, for that person and go on and have many years of pleasure and enjoyment together.

© Mark Alexander

All Rights Reserved

Europe! We’ll Be Back!

MARK ALEXANDER – ESSAY: Britain’s destiny lies in Europe. One day, we’ll be back. That is if our European brothers and sisters will accept us back and forgive us for our stupidity. We Brits are Europeans, whether inside or outside of the European Union. It is a historical, geographical, and geological fact. Nobody can deny that because it is undeniable.

Unfortunately, the British electorate was erroneously given a referendum on our membership of the European Union. They shouldn’t have been given the choice to leave in a referendum. Why? Because the issue was extremely complicated, so most people didn’t understand the complexities involved. Very few politicians in Parliament truly understood what was involved in our membership of the Union or the impact of leaving would have on our economy or standing in the world. So, if our parliamentarians didn’t understand what was at stake by leaving, how could we possibly have expected the man in the street to understand what was at stake?

The fact of the matter is simple and clear: The British electorate has been cheated and lied to. They were and still are being lied to apropos of this very important issue concerning Britain’s future and destiny.

But it is very important that we understand why the electorate were lied to, and by whom. They were lied to so that the squillionaire class could make lots of dosh, even more squillions, from our exit from the EU. The fact that by doing this, they stole the average man’s European rights away from him is of no interest, consequence, or importance to them. All they cared about was self-aggrandizement, lining their own pockets, and furthering their own careers. Their perspective? The electorate be damned! And these people have the audacity to call themselves patriots. Go figure!

The people who have stolen the British people’s European rights away from them—rights such as the right to set up a business in Europe, buy properties and homes in Europe, love across frontiers in Europe, receive universal and reciprocal healthcare, and much else besides—is of no consequence or importance to these fools. In any case, most of these self-serving clowns have never done a proper job in their lives. Most of them have been born with a silver spoon, nay golden spoon, in their mouths. Do you think they care about hard-working businessmen and businesswomen losing their businesses because of Brexit? Do you think they care about goods becoming more expensive and scarcer in the shops? Not at all! I doubt that even one of them knows the price of a pint/litre of milk!

These people are just playing around. Politics is all a game to them. They are not serious politicians at all. In fact, do they truly understand national politics, still less understand international politics? I know what I think. I will leave that question with you for you to make up your own minds.

As for being tied to America’s apron strings, I have this to say… We Brits are not Americans; rather, we are Europeans. We share a common ancestry with our brothers and sisters in Europe. Even our royal families are all related; they all have DNA in common. Queen Victoria, for example, was known as the “grandmother of Europe”! We Europeans share so much common ancestry.

As for America and Americans, of course we should be close to America and its people. Americans are our close friends and allies. It is right that they are; and they always will be. However, we can be far, far more useful to America and Americans inside the European Union that we can ever be outside of it. Inside the EU, we can be America’s English-speaking gateway to the continent. Outside of it, Britain is in danger of becoming an irrelevance.

So, I don’t know how long it will take for this folly of Brexit to play out; but I am as sure as anyone can be that one day, hopefully in the not-too-distant future, we Brits will come to realise the folly of our decision to leave you all. I hope that when the time comes, you will again give us the welcome you gave us the first time around. I, for one, feel European with every fibre of my being. I dream of a united Europe. Free and whole – a Europe with a shared common heritage. Vive l’Europe ! Es lebe Europa! Long live Europe!

All Rights Reserved
© Mark Alexander

America, the World’s Superpower, Has Been Humiliated – Big Time!

Joe Biden and his henchmen can put all the positive spin on this disaster in Afghanistan as much as they like. There is but one way to interpret this: The mighty USA has been routed! And by whom? By a ramshackle group of ill-equipped, ill-educated, ne’er-do-wells! So much for the power of the Superpower!

The mere fact that Americans thought they could bring democracy to a backward, unenlightened country such as Afghanistan beggars belief! That they have even tried has been bad enough; but to have tried and allowed their ridiculous experiment to fail before the eyes of the world is not only sad, it is a demonstration of the inability of successive administrations to understand not only Islam, but how it functions, or Islam’s intentions. It is also a first-class demonstration to the world that Americans don’t even know how a true democracy should function or why their own system of government is able to survive!

If Americans don’t even understand the underpinnings of their own governmental system, then what hope is the for them to understand how a radically different system of government, based on Shariah law, operates?

The mere fact that Americans have been trying to bring democracy to Afghanistan over a protracted period of time–twenty years–would be laughable were it not so misguided and sad. This débâcle has exposed not only the sadness of the lack of leadership in America today, but it has also exposed its leadership’s ignorance, both in the government and in the military.

All Rights Reserved
© Mark Alexander

Islam: The Enemy of Democracy and Freedom

MARK ALEXANDER: This essay was first published on April 20, 2007. It is relevant even today. In fact, given what has happened in Afghanistan in the past few days, it is arguably even more relevant today than ever.

I wish our leaders and politicians would take the trouble to understand the nature of Islam. It would save us all a great deal of pain, heartache, trouble and wasted tax dollars!

Islam and democracy are wholly and totally incompatible. They have never been compatible; and never will be!

To say this is not in any way to cast Islam in a bad light. Not at all! Being different doesn’t have to mean bad at all. Simply put: In many fundamental ways, they are poles apart. And if the Islamic world and the Western world are ever to get on, those differences must be understood and respected.

Democracy cannot be imposed on a nation as different as Afghanistan is from the USA, UK, or any European country. Democracy must emerge. But whilst Islam is these people’s guide, true democracy will never spring forth. My reasoning is given in the essay that follows. I stood by my words in 2007 and I stand by my words today. No politician can change the nature of a faith.

Whilst Christianity and Islam resemble each other in some ways, there are many, many fundamental differences; and those differences cannot be reconciled.

I ask you to read my essay that follows and give it some serious thought. I mean no harm to any Muslim; indeed, in years gone by, I had some wonderful friends who were Muslims and surely still are. I will say this now: You will never get a warmer welcome from anyone than you will get from a good Muslim. Muslims are given to warmth, hospitality, generosity and kindness. In many ways, they are so misunderstood. But it is the sine qua non of good relations that each side understand the other. Moreover, differences must not only be understood; they must also be respected in a reciprocal manner. Without reciprocity, there will always be potential conflict.

I hope you enjoy the essay that follows:

Until 9/11, the western world was largely ignorant of the religion of Islam, of its goals, of its aspirations. Indeed, even since 9/11, most people, and that includes our politicians, would not score very highly in a test of their knowledge on the subject. It should be obvious to all thinking people that our politicians are actually unaware, dare I say blind, to the dangers that Islam will increasingly cause us. It is truly a case of the blind leading the blind! That means to say, uninformed and unthinking politicians leading an ill-informed electorate. But this is what we have right now. The same can hardly be said of Muslims in the Islamic world, though; for their knowledge of Christianity far surpasses - even though much of their knowledge is quite distorted - any knowledge of Islam by the man in the street in the West.

As the old saying goes, knowledge is power. But what we often don't hear uttered is its converse: Ignorance is weakness.

The West is far weaker than it need be because of this ignorance of Islam, since Islam is our greatest enemy. The greatest enemy since Nazism and communism. I'll give you some good reasons why this is so. And none of them - absolutely none of them - are based on hatred.

Islam is the enemy of the West for a plethora of good, solid reasons, and if we wish to survive as a civilization, we are going to have to bite the bullet and deal, head on, with the issues these reasons raise. Let us begin...

First and foremost, we are dealing with a religion which does not recognize any separation of politics and religion, any separation of the political from the spiritual. For Muslims, life is one coherent whole: the political and spiritual both meld into one. This has always been so, and always will be. No re-classification of the religion into two separate parts is possible because of Islam's very nature.

In Islam, all power rests with Allah, the god of Muslims. The Qur'an, their holy book, is always taken literally. Those words are considered to be the actual words of Allah. Therefore, none of these words can be changed, for to change any of them would be tantamount to tampering with Allah's words. This would be a grave sin in their eyes.

For the same reason that the words contained in the Qur'an cannot be changed, they cannot, therefore, be re-interpreted either. So do not hold your breath for any kind of reformation in this religion, because it’s not going to happen.

In Islam, all power rests with Allah, and it filters down via his vice-gerents on earth to the people. Hence the great desire among Muslims to restore the caliphate. Contrast this with the Western model of government.

In the West, the ideal political system is democracy. In democracy, all power rests with the people, and they exercise that power at the polls. In a democracy, all power filters in the opposite direction from Islam. In democracy it filters up; in Islam, down! Herein lies the greatest barrier to the miscibility of the two worlds: the western world and the Islamic world.

Without digressing too much here, I should like to add that this is the main reason why George W Bush and Blair's venture into Iraq to bring democracy there was a grave error of judgment. We are now seeing the experiment failing before our very eyes. How can one bring democracy to a region of the world where the people who inhabit that region believe that all power rests with Allah, and where they believe that Allah has prescribed their way of life for them for then, for now, and for all time?

I would suggest that where such a dichotomy exists, the most sensible and prudent thing to do would be for us to lead our lives as we see fit, and for those people to be allowed to live their lives as they see fit. That way, there would be hope of some peace in this world.

But this is not what we have done. We have done the very opposite of this: We have entered the Middle East in the hope - the vain hope in my opinion - of bringing our way of doing things, our way of life, to them; furthermore, we have allowed millions and millions of Muslims into the West - and at the very time when Christianity, the religion which underpins the West, is greatly weakened anyway - which will only give us headaches for the years ahead. Why? Because Muslims who immigrate bring their hopes and dreams and aspirations with them, hopes and dreams of establishing Islam everywhere on earth. To Islamize the world is the main aspiration of the Muslim; and we have seen in France in the recent past the manifestation of aggression in its cause. For what happened in France was in no small part because of the Muslim's desire to establish Allah's caliphate here on earth. These were the first rumblings, the first roar of the lion! Expect more of this in the future, as Islam grows stronger and stronger.

Muslims, by and large, do not respect non-Muslims. How can they? Their religion does not allow them to do so. Their religion preaches that Muslims are superior to non-Muslims; indeed, they use the derogatory term infidel for us. This word to some Westerners might simply mean that they call us infidels because we are people who do not subscribe to their faith. This, after all, would be quite logical, since to us it simply means not fidèle, or not true to the faith. But this does not completely describe what Muslims mean by this term. To Muslims, to be called an infidel is an insult indeed. It has connotations of inferiority, backwardness, and even uncleanness.

You see, Muslims believe that Islam is the perfection of religion for man for all time. They call it ad deen al kamal, the perfect religion. In their eyes, people who have not yet submitted to the will of Allah are in a state of pre-Islamic chaos, a state known to them as jahiliyyah. To Muslims, all Muslims, the whole world is classified in two parts: that part of the world which has submitted and is therefore in the Islamic state known as Dar ul Islam, or 'the House of Islam'; and that part of the world which has yet to submit and is therefore in a pre-Islamic, chaotic, jahiliyyic state known as Dar ul Harb, or the 'House of War'.

The 'House of War' is the part of the world which has yet to be taken over, and must at some point be taken over in the future. We, I am sorry to inform you, are in the 'House of War'. So we can expect anything at anytime.

Some people would ask why we were able to go for quite a long time without problems with Muslims. The answer to that is a simple one indeed. First of all, there were relatively few Muslims living in the West, so the ones that did live here were not powerful. Secondly, Muslims living in the Islamic world were, for the most part and for many years, poor by anyone's standards. This all changed with the Oil Embargo of the 70s - a time when the price of oil on the world markets soared. As a result of this, the Islamic world became rich and empowered. Money is power; and it talks loudly. In recent years we have seen evidence aplenty of Islam being on the move. I tell you now: If we do not find a way of clipping its wings here in the West, we shall lose our democracy, and we shall be in deep, deep trouble.

So the trouble we will have with Muslims will not come only from without, but in the future we can expect trouble from the Muslims within. The millions of Muslims living here in the West will not integrate, because it is not in their worldview to do so. It is also forbidden them by their very own Prophet Himself, the Prophet Muhammad. He forbade Muslims even to befriend infidels. He also exhorted them to kill us. And he certainly told them that they should live separate lives, and dress and behave differently, so that they could easily tell themselves apart.

No Western politician is going to be able to change these facts, for facts they are indeed. Moreover, as Islam will grow here, their numbers will become greater and greater, and they will be able to use our democratic system to outvote us and introduce their form of government based as it is on their beloved Shari'ah, or Quranic laws. How do you propose we shall be able to stop them? We shall be outnumbered, and as the outcome of democratic elections depends on the number of votes cast, we shall be able to do nothing about it. This time will come quicker than we might think, because so few babies are being born to infidel families.

The only thing left for people to do, will be to fight. Inevitably, at some point, civil war will ensue. If the political process fails people, then this will be all that will be left for them: civil war, guerre civile, Bürgerkrieg, call it what you will.

But one thing I can assure you, no politicians' sweet talk, posturing, or manœvring, will get us out of this one without conflict at some point in the future.

One of the biggest problems for the West is its devotion to the concept of freedom of religion. This is a lofty concept indeed, an ideal; but this devotion blinds people to one important reality: To the reality that Islam is not just a religion, but a political system, too. Indeed, it is more of a political system than anything else, and it is, in addition, a political system diametrically opposed to our own. It abhors freedom of choice, freedom of religion, freedom of speech, freedom of anything that we so cherish. The only thing one is free to do in Islam is become a Muslim, and submit to the will of Allah.

These two systems are totally immiscible, and unfortunately, we have imported this immiscibility right into the heart of the West; and to our own great disadvantage, and to the disadvantage of our long-term peace and security. What, I ask you, will the Americans do when the ever-growing Muslim population in America starts wanting to tinker with the Americans' beloved Constitution? When Muslims will see their way clear to supplant the Constitution with Shari'ah law?

Questions like these are the ones we should be grappling with NOW. To wait until the time comes would be foolish indeed.

Wake up to the harsh realities of life in the twenty-first century! We've got some collective thinking to do if we wish to save ourselves from darkness. Perhaps we shall, indeed, be forced to think about having to re-classify Islam as a political system first and foremost, a political system immiscible with our own, and one whose advance needs to be forestalled. This may be one of our only sensible alternatives. Since to give complete, unhampered freedom to Islam to grow here in the West is tantamount to digging our own graves.

All Rights Reserved
© Mark Alexander

We Need a Rebirth of the Enlightenment!

Wir brauchen eine Wiedergeburt der Aufklärung! / Nous avons besoin d'une renaissance de l'Éclaircissement !
Perhaps unbeknownst to us all, we are falling backwards: And as a result, darkness is befalling the world! We need a rebirth of the Enlightenment. The Enlightenment ‘mark 2’, if you will.

Each day, we read stories of anti-Semitism, homophobia, confusion of homosexuality with paedophilia and even with bestiality. We also hear of people believing in demons and in eastern Europe and in the Middle East, stories of their ‘exorcism’, and much else dark besides.

In my lifetime, I have seen a seismic shift in values and ideas. In my childhood and early years, I never heard people talk seriously of demons and their power over man. (Yes, ‘man’! I don’t do politically correct jargon if I can help it.) Further, I never heard my parents’ generation talk in such derisory, derogatory terms even about homosexuals, though I feel sure that they probably didn’t understand it or condone their mode of loving. That’s a generational thing. However, it appears that with increased access to higher education, people have become more certain of their ignorance! They speak with certitude about matters they simply don’t understand; they quote the Bible, even though most of them have never read it, still less led a life based on its teachings.

I do not profess to be religious; indeed, I do not wish to be. These days, I prefer to say that I am spiritual. But I have lived my whole life, as best as I have been able to, based on sound Christian principles, as set out by Jesus: not to judge others lest you yourself be judged; not to harm others; not to steal; not to kill and to help others when are where possible.

But these days, it seems that so many people, though ignorant of the core teachings of Christianity, are willing to cast the first stone – the very thing that Jesus Christ Himself told us not to do. So many people live dissolute lives; yet are willing to judge the lifestyles of others, even when they know nothing about those lifestyles they are judging.

It is, perhaps, worth noting that Jesus said nothing—zilch—about homosexual love in his teachings. Upon close examination of Jesus’s teachings in the Bible, precisely nothing is to be found. You’d think if He thought it so important that He would have done so, wouldn’t you? In fact, in the Bible in its entirety, there is very little to be found about homosexuality at all; and NOTHING about homosexuality in its modern understanding. What is to be found, comes not from Christ Himself, but from Paul, for example, who was a convert to Christianity. Paul was previously known as Saul of Tarsus, who had his conversion to Christianity on the road to Damascus. Incidentally, Paul was in a protracted dispute with Jesus’s brother James about how Christianity should develop after Jesus’s death. James, apparently, wanted Christianity to remain close to its Judaic origins. Had James won the dispute, perhaps we’d all be donning phylacteries, or tefillin, when in prayer now! Just as practising Jews do.

What people of yore understood about loving someone of the same sex was very different from what we understand by this attraction today. Indeed, the very term ‘homosexuality’ was coined in recent times. People who lived in Biblical times had no understanding of ‘being gay’ as we understand it.

Now back to the Enlightenment…

The Enlightenment brought with it an ability to put aside superstition and irrational thought. Nowadays, we are losing that ability: so we are reverting to irrational thought!

This pandemic should have shown us all just how fragile life truly is. None of us can be sure of tomorrow. Not one of us! So why can’t we just learn to live together, side by side, in harmony, regardless of skin colour, sexual orientation, nationality, etc. If we are to believe in the Almighty, then one thing is certain: We are all God’s children; and we are just as He created us – with skin colour, eye colour, varying degrees of abilities and intelligence, and yes, sexual orientation, too.

To question God’s judgment is itself a manifestation of lack of religiosity. It is tantamount to questioning God’s wisdom. Further, how can we worship God and ask for and expect His mercy when we cannot ourselves show mercy to others? He who expects God’s mercy must, of necessity, show mercy to others. Not to do so, if one is a believer, is asking for God to judge you too – and be merciless! We are all God’s children; and He alone is our judge. The Day of Judgment will come soon enough! And I speak as a spiritual person rather than a committed religious one. I am simply applying Christian teachings as I was taught them and as I understand them. If I have erred, then the errors are mine alone.

But one thing is sure: The world would be a whole lot better and more peaceful place to live in if we adopted one simple principle, which is in accord with Christian teachings: Live and let live!

All rights reserved

© Mark Alexander

Islam: The Enemy of Democracy and Freedom

This essay of mine originally appeared here on Saturday, November 12, 2005! It found its way around the world because many, many people linked to it.

Nothing much has changed since that time: Our politicians are equally ill-informed of the nature of Islam and its immiscibility with democracy and freedom. They keep kidding themselves that there is no problem. But the demands of Islam remain: the Islamization of the the lands of the kufaar, or infidels, the so-called Dar ul Harb, or the ‘House of War,’ and the introduction of Shari’ah law, the immutable injunctions of Allah, mean that Islam and democracy do not sit well together.

As a response to the tragic terror attack in London this week, I have decided to republish this essay. It should in no way be construed as an essay which demonizes Muslims. That is definitely not my intention. Truly, over the years, I have found Muslims often to be exceptionally pleasant people. This essay simply points out that there is a problem concerning Islam, freedom, and democracy. They don’t go well together, regardless of how much our leaders tell us they do.

I hope you enjoy the essay. And of course, please feel free to link to it. – Mark

The essay:

Until 9/11, the western world was largely ignorant of the religion of Islam, of its goals, of its aspirations. Indeed, even since 9/11, most people, and that includes our politicians, would not score very highly in a test of their knowledge on the subject. It should be obvious to all thinking people that our politicians are actually unaware, dare I say blind, to the dangers that Islam will increasingly cause us. It is truly a case of the blind leading the blind! That means to say, uninformed and unthinking politicians leading an ill-informed electorate. But this is what we have right now. The same can hardly be said of Muslims in the Islamic world, though; for their knowledge of Christianity far surpasses - even though much of their knowledge is quite distorted - any knowledge of Islam by the man in the street in the West.

As the old saying goes, knowledge is power. But what we often don't hear uttered is its converse: Ignorance is weakness.

The West is far weaker than it need be because of this ignorance of Islam, since Islam is our greatest enemy. The greatest enemy since Nazism and communism. I'll give you some good reasons why this is so. And none of them - absolutely none of them - are based on hatred.

Islam is the enemy of the West for a plethora of good, solid reasons, and if we wish to survive as a civilization, we are going to have to bite the bullet and deal, head on, with the issues these reasons raise. Let us begin...

First and foremost, we are dealing with a religion which does not recognize any separation of politics and religion, any separation of the political from the spiritual. For Muslims, life is one coherent whole: the political and spiritual both meld into one. This has always been so, and always will be. No re-classification of the religion into two separate parts is possible because of Islam's very nature.

In Islam, all power rests with Allah, the god of Muslims. The Qur'an, their holy book, is always taken literally. Those words are considered to be the actual words of Allah. Therefore, none of these words can be changed, for to change any of them would be tantamount to tampering with Allah's words. This would be a grave sin in their eyes.

For the same reason that the words contained in the Qur'an cannot be changed, they cannot, therefore, be re-interpreted either. So do not hold your breath for any kind of reformation in this religion, because it’s not going to happen.

In Islam, all power rests with Allah, and it filters down via his vice-gerents on earth to the people. Hence the great desire among Muslims to restore the caliphate. Contrast this with the Western model of government.

In the West, the ideal political system is democracy. In democracy, all power rests with the people, and they exercise that power at the polls. In a democracy, all power filters in the opposite direction from Islam. In democracy it filters up; in Islam, down! Herein lies the greatest barrier to the miscibility of the two worlds: the western world and the Islamic world.

Without digressing too much here, I should like to add that this is the main reason why George W Bush and Blair's venture into Iraq to bring democracy there was a grave error of judgment. We are now seeing the experiment failing before our very eyes. How can one bring democracy to a region of the world where the people who inhabit that region believe that all power rests with Allah, and where they believe that Allah has prescribed their way of life for them for then, for now, and for all time?

I would suggest that where such a dichotomy exists, the most sensible and prudent thing to do would be for us to lead our lives as we see fit, and for those people to be allowed to live their lives as they see fit. That way, there would be hope of some peace in this world.

But this is not what we have done. We have done the very opposite of this: We have entered the Middle East in the hope - the vain hope in my opinion - of bringing our way of doing things, our way of life, to them; furthermore, we have allowed millions and millions of Muslims into the West - and at the very time when Christianity, the religion which underpins the West, is greatly weakened anyway - which will only give us headaches for the years ahead. Why? Because Muslims who immigrate bring their hopes and dreams and aspirations with them, hopes and dreams of establishing Islam everywhere on earth. To Islamize the world is the main aspiration of the Muslim; and we have seen in France in the recent past the manifestation of aggression in its cause. For what happened in France was in no small part because of the Muslim's desire to establish Allah's caliphate here on earth. These were the first rumblings, the first roar of the lion! Expect more of this in the future, as Islam grows stronger and stronger.

Muslims, by and large, do not respect non-Muslims. How can they? Their religion does not allow them to do so. Their religion preaches that Muslims are superior to non-Muslims; indeed, they use the derogatory term infidel for us. This word to some Westerners might simply mean that they call us infidels because we are people who do not subscribe to their faith. This, after all, would be quite logical, since to us it simply means not fidèle, or not true to the faith. But this does not completely describe what Muslims mean by this term. To Muslims, to be called an infidel is an insult indeed. It has connotations of inferiority, backwardness, and even uncleanness.

You see, Muslims believe that Islam is the perfection of religion for man for all time. They call it ad deen al kamal, the perfect religion. In their eyes, people who have not yet submitted to the will of Allah are in a state of pre-Islamic chaos, a state known to them as jahiliyyah. To Muslims, all Muslims, the whole world is classified in two parts: that part of the world which has submitted and is therefore in the Islamic state known as Dar ul Islam, or 'the House of Islam'; and that part of the world which has yet to submit and is therefore in a pre-Islamic, chaotic, jahiliyyic state known as Dar ul Harb, or the 'House of War'.

The 'House of War' is the part of the world which has yet to be taken over, and must at some point be taken over in the future. We, I am sorry to inform you, are in the 'House of War'. So we can expect anything at anytime.

Some people would ask why we were able to go for quite a long time without problems with Muslims. The answer to that is a simple one indeed. First of all, there were relatively few Muslims living in the West, so the ones that did live here were not powerful. Secondly, Muslims living in the Islamic world were, for the most part and for many years, poor by anyone's standards. This all changed with the Oil Embargo of the 70s - a time when the price of oil on the world markets soared. As a result of this, the Islamic world became rich and empowered. Money is power; and it talks loudly. In recent years we have seen evidence aplenty of Islam being on the move. I tell you now: If we do not find a way of clipping its wings here in the West, we shall lose our democracy, and we shall be in deep, deep trouble.

So the trouble we will have with Muslims will not come only from without, but in the future we can expect trouble from the Muslims within. The millions of Muslims living here in the West will not integrate, because it is not in their worldview to do so. It is also forbidden them by their very own Prophet Himself, the Prophet Muhammad. He forbade Muslims even to befriend infidels. He also exhorted them to kill us. And he certainly told them that they should live separate lives, and dress and behave differently, so that they could easily tell themselves apart.

No Western politician is going to be able to change these facts, for facts they are indeed. Moreover, as Islam will grow here, their numbers will become greater and greater, and they will be able to use our democratic system to outvote us and introduce their form of government based as it is on their beloved Shari'ah, or Quranic laws. How do you propose we shall be able to stop them? We shall be outnumbered, and as the outcome of democratic elections depends on the number of votes cast, we shall be able to do nothing about it. This time will come quicker than we might think, because so few babies are being born to infidel families.

The only thing left for people to do, will be to fight. Inevitably, at some point, civil war will ensue. If the political process fails people, then this will be all that will be left for them: civil war, guerre civile, Bürgerkrieg, call it what you will.

But one thing I can assure you, no politicians' sweet talk, posturing, or manœvring, will get us out of this one without conflict at some point in the future.

One of the biggest problems for the West is its devotion to the concept of freedom of religion. This is a lofty concept indeed, an ideal; but this devotion blinds people to one important reality: To the reality that Islam is not just a religion, but a political system, too. Indeed, it is more of a political system than anything else, and it is, in addition, a political system diametrically opposed to our own. It abhors freedom of choice, freedom of religion, freedom of speech, freedom of anything that we so cherish. The only thing one is free to do in Islam is become a Muslim, and submit to the will of Allah.

These two systems are totally immiscible, and unfortunately, we have imported this immiscibility right into the heart of the West; and to our own great disadvantage, and to the disadvantage of our long-term peace and security. What, I ask you, will the Americans do when the ever-growing Muslim population in America starts wanting to tinker with the Americans' beloved Constitution? When Muslims will see their way clear to supplant the Constitution with Shari'ah law?

Questions like these are the ones we should be grappling with NOW. To wait until the time comes would be foolish indeed.

Wake up to the harsh realities of life in the twenty-first century! We've got some collective thinking to do if we wish to save ourselves from darkness. Perhaps we shall, indeed, be forced to think about having to re-classify Islam as a political system first and foremost, a political system immiscible with our own, and one whose advance needs to be forestalled. This may be one of our only sensible alternatives. Since to give complete, unhampered freedom to Islam to grow here in the West is tantamount to digging our own graves.

© Mark Alexander

All Rights Reserved