Sigmoid Social

In the DarkAn Island of StrangersIn the light of Keir Starmer’s <a href="https://telescoper.blog/2017/01/30/this-is-the-strangers-case/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">deplorable Faragist rhetoric</a> about Britain becoming an ‘Island of Strangers’, and the obscene deportations and detentions without legal process of immigrants in the United States, I thought I’d repost this speech from the play <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sir_Thomas_More_(play)" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Sir Thomas More</a> which is widely attributed to William Shakespeare. It’s from Act 2 Scene 4, at which point in the drama <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_More" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Thomas More</a> (who was then London’s Deputy Sheriff) is called upon to put down an anti-immigration riot in the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Martin%27s_Le_Grand" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Parish of St Martin Le Grand</a>, that took place on <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evil_May_Day" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">1st May 1517</a>. In reality  More’s intevention wasn’t effective, and it took the arrival of 5000 troops to disperse the mob.As well as being powerful for many other reasons, this speech especially fascinating because <a href="https://www.bl.uk/collection-items/shakespeares-handwriting-in-the-book-of-sir-thomas-more" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">a hand-written manuscript</a> (thought to be by Shakespeare himself) survives and is kept in the British Library.The backdrop to this story is that, between 1330 and 1550 about 64,000 immigrants from all across Europe came to England in search of better lives. Locals blamed them for taking their jobs and threatening their culture. Tensions reached breaking point in 1517 and a mob armed with stones, bricks, bats, boots and boiling water attacked the immigrants and looted their homes.  Five hundred years on, and we still haven’t learned.Here is the text of the opening part of the speech ‘This is the strangers case’. <pre>Grant them removed, and grant that this your noise Hath chid down all the majesty of England; Imagine that you see the wretched strangers, Their babies at their backs and their poor luggage, Plodding to the ports and coasts for transportation, And that you sit as kings in your desires, Authority quite silent by your brawl, And you in ruff of your opinions clothed; What had you got? I’ll tell you: you had taught How insolence and strong hand should prevail, How order should be quelled; and by this pattern Not one of you should live an aged man, For other ruffians, as their fancies wrought, With self same hand, self reasons, and self right, Would shark on you, and men like ravenous fishes Would feed on one another…. Say now the king Should so much come too short of your great trespass As but to banish you, whither would you go? What country, by the nature of your error, Should give you harbour? go you to France or Flanders, To any German province, to Spain or Portugal, Nay, any where that not adheres to England, Why, you must needs be strangers: would you be pleased To find a nation of such barbarous temper, That, breaking out in hideous violence, Would not afford you an abode on earth, Whet their detested knives against your throats, Spurn you like dogs, and like as if that God Owed not nor made not you, nor that the claimants Were not all appropriate to your comforts, But chartered unto them, what would you think To be thus used? this is the strangers case; And this your mountainish inhumanity. </pre>Better an Island of Strangers than an Island of Starmers, I’d say…<a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://telescoper.blog/tag/island-of-strangers/" target="_blank">#IslandOfStrangers</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://telescoper.blog/tag/keir-starmer/" target="_blank">#KeirStarmer</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://telescoper.blog/tag/sir-thomas-more/" target="_blank">#SirThomasMore</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://telescoper.blog/tag/william-shakespeare/" target="_blank">#WilliamShakespeare</a>

Solarpunk Presents Podcast7.2: Ariel & Christina Discuss: Why Must Utopia Be Cruel?In this episode, Ariel and Christina try to get to the bottom of why our fictional visions of utopia are so negative. They often involve mindless acquiescence to an authoritarian nanny state, the oppression and labor of an underclass, or both. It’s as if we can’t imagine a situation in which we all voluntarily treat each other (reasonably) decently and life can be good for everyone. We discuss the literary origins of utopia, how it has evolved (or not) as a concept, and Ariel gives a few examples of sci-fi futures that are about as close to her style of solarpunk utopia as can be. Ultimately, the topic of utopia raises more questions than answers.<a href="https://youtu.be/WR8yg2cOcMk?si=AwMMgH2MNFHmO8Ct" rel="nofollow noopener" translate="no" target="_blank">https://youtu.be/WR8yg2cOcMk?si=AwMMgH2MNFHmO8Ct</a><a href="https://climatejustice.social/tags/solarpunk" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#solarpunk</a> <a href="https://climatejustice.social/tags/SolarpunkPresentsPodcast" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#SolarpunkPresentsPodcast</a> <a href="https://climatejustice.social/tags/Season7" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#Season7</a> <a href="https://climatejustice.social/tags/Episode" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#Episode</a> <a href="https://climatejustice.social/tags/PodcastEpisode" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#PodcastEpisode</a> <a href="https://climatejustice.social/tags/YouTube" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#YouTube</a> <a href="https://climatejustice.social/tags/utopia" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#utopia</a> <a href="https://climatejustice.social/tags/SirThomasMore" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#SirThomasMore</a> <a href="https://climatejustice.social/tags/SaintThomasMore" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#SaintThomasMore</a> <a href="https://climatejustice.social/tags/ThomasMore" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#ThomasMore</a> <a href="https://climatejustice.social/tags/Dystopia" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#Dystopia</a> <a href="https://climatejustice.social/tags/Protopia" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#Protopia</a> <a href="https://climatejustice.social/tags/WakandaForever" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#WakandaForever</a> <a href="https://climatejustice.social/tags/BlackPanther" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#BlackPanther</a> <a href="https://climatejustice.social/tags/Indigenous" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#Indigenous</a> Futurisms <a href="https://climatejustice.social/tags/Afrofuturism" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#Afrofuturism</a> <a href="https://climatejustice.social/tags/Utopias" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#Utopias</a> <a href="https://climatejustice.social/tags/Anti" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#Anti</a>-Utopia <a href="https://climatejustice.social/tags/LiteraryHistory" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#LiteraryHistory</a> <a href="https://climatejustice.social/tags/Cruelty" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#Cruelty</a> <a href="https://climatejustice.social/tags/Despair" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#Despair</a> <a href="https://climatejustice.social/tags/Hope" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#Hope</a> <a href="https://climatejustice.social/tags/UntopiaParadox" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#UntopiaParadox</a> <a href="https://climatejustice.social/tags/Omelas" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#Omelas</a> <a href="https://climatejustice.social/tags/TheOnesWhoStayAndFight" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#TheOnesWhoStayAndFight</a> <a href="https://climatejustice.social/tags/TheOnesWhoWalkAwayFromOmelas" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#TheOnesWhoWalkAwayFromOmelas</a>

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